TDEM for Martian in situ resource prospecting missions

Abstract

This paper presents a TDEM (Time Domain Electromagnetic Methods) application, addressed to the search for water on Mars. In this context, the opportunities for a TDEM system as payload in a future mission are investigated for different in situ exploration scenarios. The TDEM sounding capability is evaluated with respect to the expected Martian environment, and some considerations are made about the many unknown variables (above all the background EM noise and the subsoil composition) altogether with the limited resources availability (mission constraints in mass, time and power) and the way they could represent an obstacle for operations and measurements.