Initial Laboratory Field Tests of the Rover-mounted GPR for China's First Mission to Mars

China's first Mars probe including an orbiter and a landing rover will be launched by 2020. A subsurface penetrating radar instrument has been selected to be a part of payload on the rover. The main scientific objective of the SPR is to characterize the thickness and sub-layer distribution of the Martian soil. The SPR consists of two channels. The low frequency channel of the SPR will provide a penetrating depth of 10 to 100 meters with a resolution of a few meters within the Martian soil. The higher frequency channel will penetrate to a depth of 3 to 10 meters with a resolution of a few centimeters within the Martian soil. The engineering model of the SPR was designed and manufactured. In order to illustrate and validate the equipment's performance, some laboratory field tests have been performed. The objectives of these tests were to evaluate the interaction between the radar and the rover and detect the internal objects buried in the pool filled with artificial volcanic ash.