The boreal plains northward of the mid-northern latitudes of Mars are believed to contain large quantities of sub-surface ice, in some places thought to be over 90% pure ice. This resource is of interest for future human explorers and settlers of the Red planet. HYDRATION is a proof-of-concept of a semi-autonomous Mars water production system which uses mechanical drilling to build and case a borehole through the overburden, followed by thermal ice drilling, melting and water pumping. 

The HYDRATION team built and tested the system and collected 5.6L of water at NASA's 2019 RASC-AL Special Edition Competition, where they received the Best Technical Paper and Honorable Mention awards.