Space exploration missions to Mars have been in the news in 2008.
Red Planet Basics
Our rocky, rust-colored neighbor is the fourth planet from the sun and is about 1.5 times Earth’s distance from it. Mars, named for the Greek god of war, has an average temperature of -70 degrees Fahrenheit, no liquid water, dry ice polar caps, 38% Earth’s gravity and is dotted with giant active volcanoes. Despite the inhospitable and hellish conditions, Mars has captured the curiousity and imagination of many generations.
Spacecraft Missions
One might think that Mars was made of magnets, considering how many metal machines the USA, Japan, USSR and Russia have hurled through space at it. Mars exploration missions come in three types:
- Flybys
- Orbiters
- Landers/Rovers
According to NASA, there have been 38 attempts with 19 successes for Mars explorations missions since the 1960s. The first successful flyby came in 1964 from Mariner 4. Since then it has been a global effort to observe, explore and analyze as much as possible about the Red Planet. NASA is responsible for 13 successful Mars missions.
Why Study Mars
Studying Mars tells scientists a lot about planetary evolution, the solar system's history, and how biological and ecological environments evolve. Once of the biggest questions is why life evolved on Earth but not on Mars-- that is, of course, if life never did occur on Mars.
Meteorite ALH84001 excited planetary biologists world-wide with the possibility that life once existed on Mars. The discovery of the small Martian rock in Antarctica spurred several rover and orbital missions from NASA. The metal machined science bots scoured the Martian surface for signs of liquid water, considered a vital sign of past or present life, but has thus far failed to find any. Some argue that manned mission could be so much more thorough than robots on the surface of Mars, but critics maintain that unmanned Mars missions are the safest and most cost-effective way of exploring the Red Planet.
Terraforming-- Is Mars The Next Earth?
Though scientific inquiry is the main reason the world’s space centers meticulously engineer the monumental task of sending scientific robots millions of miles away, another goal is to research the possibly of transforming the barren, lifeless hills of Mars into a habitable, Earth-like eco-system. Much more must be learned about the conditions the Martian landscape before the process, known as terraforming, can be completed, but it is a tantalizing idea that someday humans could live and thrive on Mars.
The Future of Mars Exploration
As of 2008, NASA has three functioning rovers on the Martian surface: The Spirit, Opportunity, and the Phoenix lander. Scientists are gleaning hordes of information the arrays of computers, camera, robotic arms and onboard sample analyzers that the machines were launched with. Future exploration missions may include:
- Balloons and Airplanes
- Subsurface explorers
- Sample Returns
No doubt the red iron-rich planet has captured the imaginations of scientists and lay people alike.
Squyres, Steven W. "Mars." World Book Online Reference Center. 2008. World Book, Inc.
