C-LIFE is a landed camera suite, suitable for Ocean World surfaces, consisting of a color Context Reconnaissance Stereo Imager and an LED flashlight that can also identify biogenic material through fluorescence. The C-LIFE design leverages ongoing work (with industry partners Space Dynamics Lab, SRI International and Ball Aerospace) from our ICEE-2 and COLDTech awards in low-temperature detector qualification, radiation modeling and mechanical design. It takes advantage of our development work on the Descent Imager for Europa Hazard Avoidance and Radiation Durability (DIEHARD) and camera development on other missions. The C-LIFE camera head is mounted on the Europa Lander’s high gain antenna, which provides tilt and pan capability. Minimal electronics in the camera head control and read out the detector and LEDs. Electronics in the lander vault perform most camera functions and image processing. C-LIFE contains no moving parts. In lieu of a focus mechanism, C-LIFE utilizes high F/number optics and a field of view elongated in the vertical direction with progressive focus from top (infinity e.g. imaging horizon) to bottom (close e.g. imaging sample delivery port). Strip filters (that match Europa Clipper’s Europa Imaging System) on the detectors and partly-overlapping images provide color coverage. Heaters warm C-LIFE to operating temperatures, allowing self-heating to take over, but otherwise the camera is unheated in order to conserve energy. We combine two independent eyes into one mechanical housing (Figure 1) with a dual periscope design, which reduces the mechanical envelope, shielding mass, heating energy and total cabling distance. We use LEDs in three bands to illuminate and to excite fluorescence. Fluorescence excited by these three bands can identify the presence of key metabolic biomarkers and discriminate the quantities of live cells, dead cells and spores in a terrestrial setting. Figure 1. A dual-periscope design, with eyes 20 cm apart, folds optical trains (incoming rays in gray) to mutually shield focal planes. Fold mirrors locate LEDs inside the camera for shielding.

One of the next giant leaps for humanity—inhabiting our neighbor planet Mars—requires enough water to support multi-year human survival and to create rocket fuel for the nearly 150-million-mile return trip to Earth. Water that is already on Mars, in the form of ice, is one of the leading in situ resources being considered in preparation for human exploration. Human missions will need to land in locations with relatively warm temperatures and consistent sunlight. But in these locations, ice (if present) is buried underground. Much of the ice known to exist in mid-latitude locations was likely emplaced under climate conditions (and orbital parameters) different from today. So in addition to providing an in-situ resource for human exploration, Martian ice also provides a crucial record of planetary climate change and the effects of orbital forcing.This presentation will highlight techniques and recent activities to characterize Mars’ underground ice, such as the Subsurface Water Ice Mapping (SWIM) Project (Morgan et al. 2021, Nature Astro.; Putzig et al. In Press, Handbook of Space Resources; Putzig et al. this AGU; Morgan et al. this AGU). We present outstanding questions that will be vital to address in the context of ISRU (in situ resource utilization) and connections between these questions and the climate in which the ice was emplaced and evolved (e.g., Bramson et al. 2020, Decadal White Paper). Lastly, we discuss how these science activities intersect with future exploration, particularly that enabled by collaborations between space agencies as well as industry partners (Heldmann et al. 2020, Decadal White Paper; Golombek et al. 2021, LPSC).High-priority future work includes better orbital characterization of shallow ice deposits, such as radar sounding at shallower scales (<~10m) than that of SHARAD, as proposed for the International Mars Ice Mapper. Also needed are detailed studies of the engineering required to build potential settlements at specific candidate locations; this includes characterization of the nature of the overburden above the ice, which will inform future resource extraction technology development efforts. Ideally, initial landing sites would be chosen with a long-term vision which includes preparation and development of the basic technologies and designs needed for human landing on Mars.