Mars Exploration
By Jacob Stinar
Water on Mars
Past, Present, and Future
Missions to Mars
• early on most missions to
Mars failed
• 25 missions from 1960-1970
• only 17 missions since
http://www.impactlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Marsmission-graphic.jpg
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/428154main_Planetary_Science.pdf
Mars Exploration Budget
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/428154main_Planetary_Science.pdf
Mars Exploration Program
Analysis Group
(MEPAG)
• Broke priorities of Mars exploration into 4
goals:
• Life
• Climate
• Geology
• Future Human Exploration
Life
• Determine if Mars was ever habitable for
life or whether habitable environments exist
on Mars now
• Look for sources and distribution of organic
molecules on Mars, mainly carbon.
• After finding places where life may be or
may have been on Mars go look for that life
Climate
• Study the Martian atmosphere,
present Martian climate, and
climate processes on Mars.
• Study how the climate on Mars has
changed over time.
• Examine polar, glacial, and
periglacial processes
Geological
• Examine the geologic processes that have
shaped the surface of Mars.
• Determine the interior structure and
composition of Mars.
• Understand the origin, composition, and
dynamics of Phobos and Deimos.
Future Human Exploration
• Gather knowledge about Mars in order to
design a safe cost effective mission to Mars
• Test the technology to make it safer and less
expensive
• Study the Martian atmosphere critical for
safe operation of the spacecraft
Southern Polar Ice Cap
• Image taken by the
Mars Advanced Radar
for Subsurface and
Ionospheric Sounding
(MARSIS) on the Mars
Express Orbiter.
• Estimated the water in
the Southern Polar Cap
would cover the entire
surface in 11 meters of
water.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
(MRO)
• Went into orbit around
Mars in March 2006
• Primary mission was to
study the history of water
on Mars to see if water
was present on Mars for
long enough to support
life
MRO Instruments
• HiRise camera which takes high resolution images of selected
areas with resolution of 25 centimeters per pixel.
• Context Camera (CTX) which takes wide angle images of
HiRise image locations
• Mars Color Imager (MARCI) monitors clouds and dust storms
• CRISM take spectrums in the optical to near-infrared to identify
minerals on the surface
• MCS detects variations in temperature, dust, and water vapor in
the atmosphere
• SHARAD uses radar to see water ice is present under the
surface. It works from 1 meter down upwards to 1 kilometer
down.
• Now MRO is also used to relay signals from spacecraft on the
surface with it’s large 3 meter antenna and to scout out landing
sites for Mars Landers such as Phoenix and Mars Science
Laboratory.
Mars Exploration Rovers Spirit
and Opportunity
• Spirit is making preparations for the winter, however it was
unable to increase the tilt angle of it’s solar panels toward the
Sun.
• It may lose contact with the Earth for a few months due to
low power.
• The rover team programmed Spirit to take images to study
winds at the surface and positioned it’s arm to study
atmospheric composition when it has enough power.
•Opportunity is located near the equator and is not having
power issues.
Mars Odyssey
• Launched in April, 2001
• Main objective is to study the
composition Mars’ surface and look for
shallow buried ice and water by
looking at Hydrogen in the soil
• Also serves as a relay communication
for Mars’ Landers such as Phoenix.
• Listen for Phoenix earlier in the week
and heard nothing. Will try again in
April.
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/missiondetails.cfm?mission=Odyssey
Future Missions: Mars Science
Laboratory (MSL)
•
•
•
•
•
Set to launch in fall 2011
Largest most mobile rover yet
Can move 90 meters in one day
Can drive over obstacles 75 centimeters high
Examine samples of Martian soil for climate
geological history
• Test for building blocks of life
Mars Atmosphere and Volatile
Evolution Mission (MAVEN)
• Set to launch in 2013
• Will study the current
loss of atmosphere from
Mars to understand it
past
• Will study the
interaction between
upper atmosphere and
solar wind
Questions?
Sources
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/multimedia/images/?ImageID=3180
http://www.uahirise.org/PSP_007338_2640
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/phoenix/images/phx-17072.html
http://nowscape.com/star_city/images/sunset_on_mars_PIA07997.jpg
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_347.html
http://www.impactlab.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Mars-mission-graphic.jpg
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/428154main_Planetary_Science.pdf
http://lasp.colorado.edu/maven/docs/MAVEN_fact_sheet.pdf
http://mepag.jpl.nasa.gov/reports/index.html