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.

Scientists get to have the coolest toys of all. Remember how you used to put a small camera in front of your remote control car so you can do some investigating and monitoring? Well, the Mars exploration rovers are like that, only with way better features. The rovers pack not only cameras but scientific tools as well, plus, they’re located in Mars.

The rovers were sent to Mars as part of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program, a long term robotic exploration of Mars, whose main mission is to look for signs indicating that Mars had abundant water supply and it harbored life some time before.

The rovers were sent to Mars on June 10 and July 7, 2003 and landed on Mars on January 3 and January 24, 2004 PST.

The rovers were named Spirit and Opportunity, they landed on the opposite sides of Mars. Spirit landed at the Gusev Crater, scientists suspect that this was a former lake, while Opportunity landed at the Meridiani Planum, where hematite is found.

Hematite is a mineral deposit that suggests previous water activity in Mars.

EQUIPMENTS

Panoramic Camera (PanCam) – Serves as the eyes of the rovers. It determines the structure of Mars’ terrain as well as mineralogy and texture.

Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer (Mini-Tes) – Located at the bottom of the rover. The Mini-Tes is used to identify rocks that are good candidates for further examination. It is also used to determine how the rocks formed and study the Martian atmosphere.

Mossbauer Spectrometer (MB) – Located on the arm of the rover and can actually be placed directly on a sample to be studied. It used to study rocks and soil with iron in them.

Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) – Determines the abundance of elements present in Martian rocks and soil.

Magnets – Used for collecting magnetic dust particles which will then be examined by the Mossbauer spectrometer and the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer.

Microscopic Imager (MI) - Used for close up images of Martian rocks and soil.

Rock Abrasion Tool (RAT) – Acts like a sweeper or hammer that removes particles on rocks to expose better quality materials that are worth examining.

Upon reaching Mars, the rovers are expected to travel 40 meters to 1 kilometer per day, which was exceeded by the rovers.

With the tools that Spirit and Opportunity has, they are like human geologists examining a site. It has arms that can put equipment directly on a rock or soil of interest, it has a magnifying lens, and if the rock is dirty or it wants to examine the inside of the rock, the Rat Abrasion Tool comes in Handy.

The rovers were launched using a Delta II 7925 launch vehicle. And, the same with other missions, the launch was a very suspenseful moment. We’ve had missions that failed during the launch phase so it’s very critical.

But the most suspenseful part of all is EDL phase or Entry, Descent and Landing. the purpose of the EDL is to make sure that the rovers arrive in Mars safely to be able to perform their task. There is a great risk that the mission could end at this phase. Here is a depiction of how the EDL goes.

Amazing!

As of today, the rovers still continue to investigate and roam around Mars. They’ve actually exceeded what was expected of them, much to the delight of the scientists who enjoying playing geologists. The rovers will eventually die out when it’s no longer able to recharge its batteries. But right now, they’re still on a roll!