Mars Sample Return DWI

The University of Leicester is leading a UK consortium of industry and academia to develop a Double Walled Isolator (DWI) Qualification Model (QM) for the NASA-ESA Mars Sample Return Campaign. The DWI is an ultra-clean, high containment system that will be a key to an MSR Sample Receiving Facility where samples will be initially characterised and curated. As a containment system, it will enable scientists to safely handle precious martian samples that have been carefully documented on the surface of Mars by NASA’s Perseverance Rover, and then returned to the Earth for laboratory analysis. This is a big step in answering one of the biggest space science questions of our time: “Has life existed elsewhere in the Universe?”, and by extension, “Are we alone in the Universe”?

The Mars Sample Return campaign will return martian samples in the form of rock and regolith (similar to soil), which will be handled inside the DWI, a specialist isolator that keeps the samples in a pristine environment so they do not become contaminated. A key feature of the DWI is the inclusion of analytical instruments, like a microscope and Raman spectrometer that allow scientist to begin documenting the samples before they are released to the scientific community for detailed scientific investigations in labs around the World, hopefully here in the UK and at Leicester.
The University of Leicester has been involved in DWI development since 2016 and are currently working under an ESA contract to deliver the uniquely designed DWI QM. The scope of work includes defining specialist facility requirements, designing and manufacturing a qualification model and finally using that model to demonstrate that MSR science and curation activities could successfully be performed within the DWI QM, and that all user requirements can be achieved whilst doing so.

A key challenge of the DWI QM project, which sets it apart from isolators designed for other industries, is that of material incompatibility, and the need to adhere to Mars Sample Return mission cleanliness levels. If scientific analysis within the DWI indicates evidence that life did or does exists within the returned samples, it is critically important that the DWI provides containment and contamination control so that scientists can be confident in their results. Earth based microbiology would be a serious source of contamination, which is why the DWI is aseptically clean.