Master thesis defense by Robin Vinther Nielsen

Investigation of devices utilizing wind in the Martian atmosphere

The Martian atmosphere is comprised mainly of CO₂. It has a very low density, which allows for large temperature fluctuations. However, it does still have many similar features to its counterpart on Earth. The Martian atmosphere has weather systems and atmospheric circulation, which means that winds can be utilized for practical and scientific purposes. On Earth many devices utilize wind in their operation for a myriad of different purposes; for instance to directly study the atmospheric circulation or use the energy in the wind to drive other devices. These technologies can be adapted for Mars exploration in order to supplement the limited resource budget of exploration missions.

This thesis will describe the Martian atmosphere, and the conditions relevant for the wind to be utilized for scientific and exploration purposes, and go on to identify the areas on Mars best suited for these devices. The thesis will then describe how such devices could be designed and their uses and limitations. Three kinds of devices have been identified for this purpose; anemometers, wind turbines and a dust accumulating witness plate. The witness plate is intended to mimic accumulation of dust in the HEPA-filter of the Mars OXygen In-situ resource utilization Experiment (MOXIE) because this filter is not directly accessible to any of the cameras on board.