Background and justification:

Conventional high-speed video cameras present major limitations for space applications, they are heavy, bulky and require a lot of resources to operate and to space qualify. The study proposes the use of the neuromorphic camera technology for high-speed imaging in space. Neuromorphic cameras, also called event-cameras, offer advantages such as small size, low power consumption, and high temporal resolution, making them suitable for detecting fast phenomena like lightning and space debris. The advantages also make them relatively easy to space-qualify.

Current European RF GaN power processes are optimised for up to K band, however the efficiency is less than is required to meet future planned missions. In order to meet the need for operation up to W band with up to 20% improvement in efficiency, together with improvements in linearity, a step change in device architecture is required.

EXOMARS features a multi-stem drill, pioneered by the MIRO driller (TRP result in 2001), capable of acquiring samples 2 meters down in the ground. Multi stem drills are the right solution for shallow depths, however for reaching deeper they present problems that are too difficult to solve within the constraint of space missions. Drillers of this type require a cumulated length of pipe as long as the depth reached, which translates into a large mass. Furthermore friction increases with depth so for any drill larger than few meters, the well must be lined.