European Space Agency European Mars Science and Exploration Conference: Mars Express & ExoMars ESTEC, Noordwijk,

The Netherlands, 12 - 16 November, 2007 CUPIDO: Biochemical and Basic Geophysical Field Study of Mars Orange Team, Summer School Alpbach 2007 Collaboration, presented by D. Heinzeller1, R. Higgins2 . 1Institut fr Theoretische Physik und Astrophysik, Leibnizstr. 15, 24118 Kiel, Germany. 2Department of Experimental Physics, National University of Ireland Maynooth, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland. hd@astrophysik.uni-kiel.de Context: Of all the celestial bodies in the solar system, Mars has held a unique status in human interest from the beginning. The current search for past and present life beyond Earth is primarily focused on the red planet. The proximity of Mars to the present habitable zone around the sun would appear to have granted it many key ingredients for the formation and evolution of life, at least to our present understanding i.e. internal activity providing a heat source and driving an internal dynamo, the existence of an atmosphere and possibly liquid water. Past and present missions to Mars have revealed promising discoveries like atmospheric CO2 concentrations similar to those found on Earth2, water vapor in the atmosphere7 and water channels on the surface1. Key questions on the internal structure and especially the habitability of the subsurface, which may be protected from destructive radiation, still remain unanswered. Aims: At the Summer School Alpbach 2007 on Astrobiology, the Orange Team designed a mission to Mars which will broaden our understanding of the planet. For the first time, biochemical analysis of the subsurface to a depth of 3-5m will reveal trace biomarkers and examine the habitability potential at different layers. Concurrent seismological experiments will investigate the internal structure to a much greater depth than those previously done (e.g. MARSIS4). Spectroscopic measurements observed within the scope of natural and controlled conditions will also contribute to our knowledge of the planetary atmosphere and surfaces composition. Methods: Based on an existing mission concept (Mars-966), two scientific stations will penetrate at separate sites to a depth of 3-5m into the Martian surface. Onboard, the biochemical package CHEMOVITA will detect organic molecules, geological particles and sugars along with investigating isotopic ratios, oxidation states of molecules, the acidity of the soil and the environmental conditions of three different depths, down to 5m, below the surface. The scientific stations will also contain highly sensitive seismometers located at their heads and hence buried deeply in the Martian ground. Additionally, two small seismic stations (based on the Deep Space 2 design5) will be placed close to one of the scientific stations in a triangular formation which will set up a seismographic network on Mars for the first time (Figure 1: Proposed landing sites for individual components). An artificial impact with known strength and location will be created by crashing an impactor into the center of this network. This will provide a standard measurement for seismographic activity which will continue to be monitored for one Earth year. Observation of the ejected plume of this impact with a visible-infrared spectrometer onboard the orbiter will reveal the composition, in particular the concentrations of water and methane, of the ejected surface material. Conducted from the orbiter, spectroscopic measurements of the atmosphere and surface will continue at least as long as the seismic experiments. Conclusions: The CUPIDO mission will search for extinct and extant life on mars. It will address key questions on the habitability of the subsurface and the internal composition of the planet in a unique and multifaceted way. We propose the mission as a successor to ExoMars3 and expect its scientific return to be invaluable to the success of any sample return or manned mission.

Figure 1. Proposed landing sites based on current knowledge and mission objectives. Yellow triangles: scientific stations; red stars: seismic stations; blue circle: impactor. References: 1Ambard, A., Mouginis-Mark, P.J. (2007), Seventh Inter-national Conference on Mars, held July 913, 2007 in Pasadena, California, LPIC 1353, Abs. #3043.

Cottini, V., Formisano, V., Grassi, D., Ignatiev, N.I. (2006), in: Second workshop on Mars atmosphere modelling and observations (Eds. Forget, F., et al.), held February 27-March 3, 2006 in Granada, Spain. 3 Kminek, G., Vago, J.L. (2004), LPSC, held March 15-19, 2004 in League City, Texas, Abs. #1111. 4 Picardi, G., Biccari, D., Cartacci, M., and 17 coauthors (2007), MSAIS 11, 15. 5 Smrekar, S., Catling, D., Lorenz, R., and 8 coauthors (1999), JGR 104, 27. 6 Surkov, Y.A., Kremnev, R.S. (1998), P&SS 46, 1689-1696. 7 Titov, D.V., Markiewicz, W.J., Thomas, N., Keller, H.U., Sablotny, R.M., Tomasko, M.G., Lemmon, M.T., Smith, P. H. (1999), JGR 104, 9019-9026.