The LifeSprings Mars science and engineering teams will be meeting on the 5th and 6th of September 2023 at UNSW’s Kensington campus in Australia to share their research and discuss the next steps of the mission.
The LifeSprings Mars science and engineering teams will be meeting on the 5th and 6th of September 2023 at UNSW’s Kensington campus in Australia to share their research and discuss the next steps of the mission.
LifeSprings Mars is a Mars sample return mission concept designed by a multinational consortium of scientists and engineers from Australia, Japan, the United States, New Zealand, and the European Space Agency. The mission is driven by the desire to investigate one of humanity's greatest scientific questions - are we alone in the universe?
Representatives from the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Australian Space Agency will be attending the meeting, as well as delegates from the CSIRO, academics from across Australia, New Zealand, and America, and Australian Space Industry representatives.
Topics to be explored include Australia’s capabilities in space, the properties of digitate sinter on both Earth and Mars, and different surface sampling strategies for the LifeSpringsMars mission. Dr Masaki Fujimoto, Deputy Director General of JAXA/ISAS will provide an update on JAXA’s new Mars landing program and Dr Jorge Vago, Head of ESA’s ExoMars mission, will provide an update on Europe’s continuing involvement with Mars.
The event will be livestreamed here:
Recordings of the key presentations will be uploaded to the ACA YouTube channel after the meeting.