The ConversationFeb 11, 2021 12:44:31 IST
Three new spacecraft are expected to arrive in Mars this month, ending their seven-month journey through space. The first one, the Hope Arab Emirates’, should be on the red planet this week. It will stay in orbit and study the atmosphere for one full Martian year (687 days on Earth). The China Taiwen-1 mission will also go into orbit this month and will begin scouting the landing site for its Mars rover, which will be launched in May. If successful, China will be the second country to get a rover on Mars.
The third spacecraft to reach Mars this month is NASA’s Perseverance rover, which is expected to land on Feb. 18. It will look for signs of microbial life, but its mission will also looking ahead, testing new technologies that could support people visiting Mars one day.
These missions come with six orbiting spacecraft actively exploring the red planet from above:
NASA’s Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and MAVEN Orbiter, European Mars Express, Mission Mars Orbiter India (MOM), and the European-Russian partnership ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. The oldest active probe – Mars Odyssey – has been orbiting the planet for 20 years.
The Mars 2020 Perseverance rover astrobiology rover mission finds signs of microorganism life around and around the Jezero crater. Image: NASA / JPL
Laboratory on wheels
NASA has an amazing history of landing on Mars. He has run all eight successful expeditions to the Martian surface. What began with the two Viking lords in the 1970s continues today with the InSight dictator, who has studied the daily weather on Mars and discovered Marsquakes for the past two years.
Perseverance is the fifth rover to reach Mars that will be able to traverse the surface of another planet.
These amazing labs on wheels have expanded our knowledge of a long world. Here is what they have told us so far.
Sojourner, first rover
Twenty years after Viking 1 & 2 landed on stationery stops on Mars, a third spacecraft finally reached the planet, but this one could move.
NASA Sojourner Rover Mars Pathfinder. Image credit: NASA / JPL
On July 4, 1997, NASA’s Pathfinder literally kicked on the Martian surface, securely enclosed in a large set of airbags. When stable, the landlord released the Sojourner rover.
The first rover on Mars was able to move at a maximum speed of 1 cm per second and was as long (63 cm) as a skateboard – smaller than some of the boulders it encountered.
Sojourner explored 16 locations near the Pathfinder surface, including the “Yogi” volcanic rock. Photographs of his lying site, Ares Vallis, showed that it was full of round stones and conglomerate rocks, evidence of ancient flood plains.
Spirit and Opportunity – the geologists
A pair of upized rovers arrived on Mars in early 2004. The Spirit and Opportunity of the geologists, searching for minerals inside the rocks and soil, were hidden clues that Mars might be dry, cold once wet and warm.
The Spirit rover, also known as Mars Exploration Rover-2 (MER-2), during a test for maneuvering and maneuvering. Image: NASA
Spirit landed in Gusev Crater, which created a 150 km wide crater billions of years ago when an asteroid crashed into Mars.
Spirit found evidence of an ancient volcanic eruption, caused by hot lava meeting with water. Small rocks were thrown into the sky but then fell back to Mars. Examination of the impact or “sag bomb” showed that the rock had landed on wet ground.
Even when things went wrong, Spirit made new discoveries. As he pulled a broken front wheel, Spirit shook a trail of soil revealing a patch of white silica.
This mineral is usually found in hot springs or steam fins, excellent environments where life on Earth tends to thrive.
Chance – the rover kept going
Access to Mars arrived three weeks after Spirit. His original three-month mission was extended to 14 years as he traveled nearly 50 km over Martian land. Landing in the small Eagle Crater, Cothrom went on to visit over 100 impact crates. He also discovered a handful of meteorites, the first to be studied on another planet.
The rover was descending into Endeavor Crater when a dust storm completed its mission. But it was on the edge of the pit that Cothrom made his greatest discovery.
Picture of the Opportunity rover hitting a position. Image: NASA
The opportunity discovered signs of ancient flowing water and discovered that the walls of the crater are made of clay that can only form where fresh water is available – more evidence that Mars may have been be a place for life.
Curiosity – the chemist
Curiosity landed in Gale Crater on August 6, 2012, and he is still exploring the area today. During the coronavirus pandemic, scientists and engineers have been ordering their removal from their homes.
In the first for space exploration, NASA’s Curiosity descended to the Martian surface using a “sky mast.” After a successful landing, the mast cables were cut and the spacecraft’s rescue rate was removed to collapse elsewhere.
Curiosity is a fully equipped chemical laboratory. It can burn lasers at rocks and also drill into the soil to collect samples. Ancient Mars has been proven to have the right chemistry to support microbial life.
The Curiosity rover on Mars in early June, 2018.
Image courtesy of NASA
Curiosity also found evidence of ancient freshwater rivers and lakes. It appears that water once flowed into a basin at Mount Sharp, a central peak that rises 5.5km from inside Gale Crater.
From being on the surface of Mars, we have learned that it was once very different from the dry, dusty planet it is today.
With flowing water, possible oceans, volcanic activity and an abundance of key nutrients essential for life, the red planet was once more like Earth. What happened to bring about such a big change?
It’s inspiring to consider what the Perseverance and Taiwen-1 runners might discover while exploring their own patch of Mars. They may even lead us to the day when humans explore the red planet for ourselves.
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