Facts About Mars

Mars Odyssey, launched in April 7, 2001, is a robotic spacecraft which is observing Mars from space. It came into Mars’ orbit on February 19, 2002 and started its scientific observation of the red planet. The mission is part of NASA’s Mars exploration program whose aim is to find out whether Mars contained liquid water and if it harbored life sometime before. Just 1 single celled organism will tell us that Mars is indeed capable of supporting life.

THE MISSION

• Look for rocks that is formed with the presence of water. We all know that some rocks can only form with the presence of water, just like the sedimentary rocks.

• Study the geography of Mars and look for possible water beds.

• Look for possible hydrothermal systems. Scientists are quite sure that there is water beneath the surface of Mars.

EQUIPMENTS

• THEMIS (Thermal Emission Imaging System) – A highly advanced camera that not only takes pictures of the surface of Mars, it also detects heat enabling it identify possible hydrothermal systems beneath the surface of the red planet.

• Gamma Ray Spectrometer – Used to analyze the chemical composition and elemental abundance of the Martian surface and it can also detect water in subsurface depths. It is also used to study gamma ray bursts and determine how the depths of the polar caps varies over time.

• MARIE (Mars Radiation Environment Experiment) – Used to determine the levels of space radiation on the way to Mars and in the orbit of Mars. The information that MARIE is providing is highly essential for the safety of the astronauts in space. This is also being done in preparation for possible human explorations of Mars.

It was also during this mission that the process of “aerobreaking” was completely applied. Aerobreaking was tested on the Magellan mission but it had its glorious moment on the Mars Odyssey mission.

Aerobraking is a process of using a planets atmosphere to slow a vehicle down or an orbiter in this case. Remember that the Mars Odyssey will be arriving in Mars at a great speed and if it don’t get to slow down, it might just fly by Mars instead of going into Mars’ orbit. It will take a series of aerobreaking’s before the desired orbit can be achieved. This was a great idea thought about by scientists that enable space crafts to carry more equipments that fuel.

Here is a great video about aerobreaking as explained by a NASA scientist.

The Mars Odyssey mission is a continuing success, right now it is acting as a communications port between the rovers and the Earth and is continuing to map out the Martian surface for future landing sites. As far as the goals of the Mars exploration program is concerned, Mars Odyssey has been living up to expectations, even beyond expectation since the mission has been extended.

Even though the Odyssey is not capable of detecting life on Mars, it is well capable of determining whether the environment in Mars was or is conducive to life. The Oddysey was the first spacecraft that has the capability of detecting subsurface water in Mars.

The Oddysey discovered that the atmosphere in Mars is too thin and it is too cold to have liquid water in the surface. However, it also discovered that there is water trapped beneath the surface of Mars.

It was also the oddysey who discovered the chemical elements and minerals that make up Mars (Carbon, Silicon etc…) and continues to monitor how the geography of Mars is formed over time.

Lastly, and probably the most important, the Odyssey is determining the level of radiation present in Mars. That way we can be prepared whenever a human exploration takes place.

Mars Express Orbiter is a joint project of the European Space Agency, the Italian Space Agency and NASA. The orbiter was launched on June 2, 2003 and reached the orbit of Mars in December 2003. The mission has been extended twice already and is set to end on May 2009 (If it’s not extended again).

The Mission

• Study the geology of the red planet.

• Study the Martian atmosphere.

• Study the surface environment.

• Study the history of water and life potential of the red planet.

The main focus of all Martian missions is on water, since it is a fact that whenever there is water, there tends to be life. The mars program has actually developed a strategy – Follow the Water. It starts with the understanding of the current surface of Mars, identifying dried riverbeds, studying the polar caps, and identifying rocks that could only form in the presence of water. Looking for hot springs and subsurface water deposits is part of the mission too.

We want to be able to understand if Mars hosted vast oceans before and how it became to be the dry and cold planet that it is today. Imagine how exciting this mission is and how exciting it is to hear our scientists say “Yes there is water on Mars and there is life”.

EQUIPMENTS

• Mars Lander (Beagle 2) – Geochemistry and exobiology

• High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) – Used for high resolution surface imaging, the HRSC have sent many great pictures of Mars.

• Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) – Used to study the red planets atmospheric composition and circulation. Mars could have a moody atmosphere and is such a mystery to solve.

• Sub-Surface Sounding Radar Altimeter (MARSIS) – Used to search for water in the subsurface. The ultimate source of life.

• The Radio Science Experiment (MaRS) – Sounding of the internal structure, atmosphere and environment

• Energetic Neutron Atoms Analyser (ASPERA) – Used to study the solar winds and the Martian atmosphere.

• Ultraviolet and Infrared Mars Atmospheric Spectrometer (SPICAM) – Used to determine what composes the atmosphere of Mars.

• Visible and Infrared Mineralogical Mapping Spectrometer (OMEGA) – Used to help scientists understand the Martian surface and how it evolved.

PICTURES FROM MARS EXPRESS ORBITER

The popular face of mars photo. It’s actually a massif that probably formed due to landslides. Viking 1 photographed it on July 1976 and it did look like a face.

The eastern scrap of the Olympus Mons

The Juventae Chasma.

One of Mars’ valleys that suggests that there was water before. They are 5-10 kilometers wide and 1500 ft deep.

A crater at the northwestern edge of a larger crater named Wirtz.

The mars express orbiter is successfully doing it’s job. Right now it’s working hand in hand with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to identify future landing sites and to relay communication between the rovers and the scientists here on Earth.

The Mars lander, Beagle 2, was not successful though, it got lost upon landing in Mars.

The Phoenix Mars lander is an ongoing success. It is creating its own Mars phoenix pics collection of some sort and is greatly contributing to science. I tried to collect some of the latest Mars pics direct from phoenix on board camera.

Mars phoenix pics collection.

Taken on sol 95 (Day 95) after Phoenix landed on the surface of Mars. This trench is called the “Stone Soup”. It is the deepest trench the Phoenix ever dug, about 7 inches deep. Scientists are very excited to analyze the composition of the soil at that depth.

Another picture of the “stone soup” trench where the depth is clearly seen.

As the Phoenix lander digs, it creates piles out of the dig. This one is called “caterpillar” which is a pile made from the “stone soup” dig. Piles like this also helps scientists identify the composition of the Martian soil. How the pile slopes and the texture of the soil provides information to the scientists. This pile though, does not seem to contain water ice.

A view of the Phoenix’s work place. Shows some of the trenches that Phoenix dug around his workplace. This picture was taken on Sol 90.

A Martian sunrise, taken during Sol 90. The sun doesn’t fully set during the Martian summer. The skylight shown above is a combination of atmospheric dust particles and ice crystals.

Taken during Sol 79. This picture shows a thin layer of ice on the surface of Mars, this picture was taken during sunrise and the ice disappeared after 6am.

This picture was taken on Sol 17. This was a very exciting moment since this was the very first time that Phoenix delivered soil samples to its MECA (Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer) instrument.

A 3D image of a Martian particle. Red is the highest point and purple is the lowest point. 3D images help scientists understand the dust particles that gives Mars its red appearance. The Phoenix Mars lander is the most successful Mars explorer to date. We are getting so close to knowing whether Mars contained an enormous amount of water before and if it is capable of sustaining life. Who knows, maybe Mars was once like Earth before. That’s all for now. Watch out for some more mars phoenix pics collection.