Drilling for signs of life in Mars' subsurface

Limited power, unnegotiable mass restrictions, and delayed data transmission, drilling on Mars is a task that requires not just meticulous preparation but also extra-terrestrial patience. Signe Hansen talks to the scientists behind the technology that will take humans – or at least their robotic extensions – not just onto the surface of Mars, but below it.

Drilling for signs of life  in Mars' subsurface Drilling for signs of life  in Mars' subsurface Drilling for signs of life  in Mars' subsurface Drilling for signs of life  in Mars' subsurface Drilling for signs of life  in Mars' subsurface

To penetrate through Mars’ 20m of regolith and extract water from the planet’s ice deposits, HoneyBee Robotics has developed the Red Water system, which combines two proven terrestrial technologies: coiled tubing for drilling and Rodriquez Well for water ex-traction

While increasingly advanced drilling technologies have left a diminishing section of Earth's subsurface inaccessible to humankind, the surface of Mars has barely been scratched.