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.

The aim of the work has been to develop an efficient and robust turbine demonstrator that can efficiently operate under Mars environmental conditions. A combination of low friction and high inherent triboelectric charge density materials have been integrated into the Triboelectric Generator (TEG) architecture operating under a freestanding mode and including 4 generators. Each generator is compounded by Al+PTFE stator and H-DLC+Al rotor and the complete efficient design has 2 rotors and 4 stators.

In recent years, the traditional MCT (Mercury Cadmium Telluride) technology for near-infrared (NIR) sensing has been developed further to manufacture APD (Avalanche Photo-Diode) arrays, which enables sub-electron readout noise measurements. This technology is now routinely used for wave-front sensing on ground-based telescopes using small format devices. Further effort to increase the size of NIR APD sensors as well as improving the MCT material properties (e.g. lower dark current) is needed such that they can be used for future ground and space-based scientific instrumentation.

n/a

N/A