Ask an Astronomer: Human Expeditions to Mars, Helicopters on the Red Planet, and More

With each passing day, scientists continue to accelerate their attempts to develop new technologies and find new ways to study the past environment as well as future possibilities on our neighboring planet, Mars.

To learn about the past of the Red Planet and understand what the future holds for space scientists and technologies in Mars exploration, we spoke with Dr. Abhay Deshpande, a senior scientist (physicist) who works for the Government of India. He is also the Honorary Secretary of Khagol Mandal, a nonprofit group of astronomy enthusiasts that organizes various sky-watching programs, conferences, and study tours.

The main ingredient for life is water. The existence of water on Mars depends on atmospheric conditions, and as of now, the atmosphere is so thin that on the surface of Mars, water does not exist. Therefore, as of today, life on the Martian surface is totally ruled out. We have yet to find conclusive evidence of life on Mars. However, we believe that it contained water once, and therefore there could also have been life. While we agree that the water may not be on the surface of Mars, the pressure below the surface may be enough to retain the water, leading to the fascination of seeking life in the lower layers of the Martian soil. . Currently, the rate at which our missions advance is very slow. Looking for signatures of life in some regions is similar to looking for a small needle in an ocean. The chances of getting the right rock that clearly has traces of life are rare, and still we continue to search for regions that we considered abundant with water before. This should lead to some result in the next decade or so.

How has the Curiosity rover helped us better understand Mars?

Launched on November 26, 2011, Curiosity successfully landed on Mars on August 6, 2012. This one-ton Rover with a length of approximately 3 meters works with the plutonium isotope as an energy source. Curiosity’s main goal is to study climate, water, and surface geology, and try to estimate whether Mars ever had the presence of life.

In the first year, it drilled around the Welsh crater and demonstrated that streams and large lakes existed there approximately 3 billion years ago, to the relief of astronomers around the world. Since the days of Percival Lowell, we had suspected this, but could never obtain proof of it. This discovery finally put an end to the debate and doubts about water on Mars. Furthermore, the rover was also able to drill around the region and collected many samples, showing that the crater had the elemental composition necessary to support microbial life forms. This means that the energy generation mechanism necessary for life to exist was present, and this was a very essential point to demonstrate that living conditions existed on Mars. Around the crater is Mount Sharp. Many drilling and scrapping exercises near the base of the mountain helped us understand the geological evolution of Mars in the last billion years or so. If we go up the crater wall, the recent layers show the signs of the period of distress, in which the favorable atmosphere gradually diluted and the harsh landscapes of today were formed. Mars gradually became cold and sterile, and what would have been Earth’s twin along with its life-support system simply became a desert with no possibility of sustaining life. This also confirmed that the atmosphere on Mars changed dramatically, and that we should look for evidence in the Martian atmosphere.

Curiosity had no sensors for the direct mechanism of life detection, but it proved without a doubt that conditions on Mars about 3 billion years ago were very favorable for life.

What is the objective of NASA’s next Mars 2020 mission, including the Perseverance rover?

The main focus of Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover is to explore life on Mars. It will launch during the launch window from July 17, 2020 to August 5, 2020, and is expected to land on February 18, 2020. To continue the Curiosity saga, it will also look for past environmental issues that may have supported life on Mars. This new rover is almost 3 meters long and over 1025 kg of mass, and has eight main devices on board. Three main modules will focus on studying the mineral composition around the landing site near the Jezero crater. This crater was once part of the river delta, and is a potential site for finding life on Mars.

SHERLOC is a high-resolution built-in device for scanning habitable areas and finding microscopic life forms. The MEDA sensors will inventory environmental parameters, especially for life-related experimentation. One of the most striking devices is MOXIE, a technology demonstration experiment. Their idea is to use carbon dioxide (CO2) on Mars and convert it to oxygen, which can then be used to burn fuel to return home. Therefore, while searching for life on Mars, the perseverance of the Mars 2020 mission will also devise ways to establish a long-term base on the Red Planet. Therefore, this mission is very crucial and is being anticipated by everyone.

Mounted aboard the Perseverance rover is the Mars Helicopter. This will be the first time that an air sensing device will travel to any external body. The device must be able to take off, move autonomously over steep and difficult terrain, and communicate data with Rover. This is a solar powered device and can receive commands from Earth via Rover. If this technology is successful, in the future, such helicopters are likely to replace traditional rovers.

What are your views on future human expeditions to Mars?

The most important part of all Mars missions is to send a human expedition. It’s been 50 years since humans stepped on the Moon. The next target, Mars, is still far from us. Technology has matured enough, and so has our experience of staying in space for longer periods. It would take astronauts 7 months to get to Mars, a few days to stay there and experiment, and then 7 months again to return to Earth. In any case, an astronaut would need to spend more than 14 months nonstop in space, which will be extremely difficult, as multiple physiological and psychological problems can arise. We still have to send a human into space for so long. But then again, it has to be done someday, so why not now?

Currently, the expedition to Mars is exploring the same concept: that we created the ability to send space rockets and heavy orbiters to Mars, land them there, move them, and then bring them back. The hurdle is that as of today, we have not yet attempted to bring back any space landers from Mars. So unless we try a sample return program, it’s difficult to predict the timeline for a human mission. Fortunately, the sample return program has already been planned. Perseverance will roam Mars and begin collecting samples from 2020 to 2025. It will stack the samples in one location. The subsequent mission is slated to fly in 2026/2027 and reach Mars around 2028. The European Space Agency will deploy the Fetch Rover, which will collect the stacked material, board a rocket, and take off from the surface of Mars to reach an orbiting stable. around Mars. Then a special vehicle will capture the samples and fire them at Earth, and safely land here. It is slated to end by 2030. As far as NASA, ESA and the other major groups are concerned, sending humans to Mars won’t be on the cards until 2030.

In the same month of July 2020, China will also make a second attempt at Mars. China’s previous attempt in 2011 failed during launch. The Far East country has made many efforts in the past decade, with successful landings on the other sides of the Moon. This July, despite the coronavirus blockade, China will continue the HX-1 Mission to land on Mars in February 2021. Meanwhile, the UAE will also launch a mission to Mars called “Hope,” and they will fly using Japanese. rocket.

How important is it for India to start planning a landing / rover mission to Mars?

The Indian space program took a major initiative when it successfully launched Chandrayaan-1 on October 22, 2008. Chandrayaan-1 prompted ISRO to launch Mangalyaan-1, which was also seen as a precision launch on November 5, 2013 and orbited Mars on September 24, 2014. Mangalyaan obtained tremendous data from Mars and ISRO was able to measure the presence of methane gas in the Martian atmosphere. The analysis of methane is quite essential, since its presence could be an indicator of the presence of life forms on the planet. Mangalyaan’s measurement was able to explain the distribution of methane across the layers, prompting other nations to incorporate methane mapping probes into their missions as well.

We must continue the mission to Mars and try to land a rover on Mars. This will undoubtedly be an extremely difficult technological challenge. But looking at the ISRO profile, it can definitely be accomplished. It will establish our footprint on planetary missions and will be a great boost for future space explorations. A habitat on Mars is not seen as a remote possibility. It is expected that by 2050, there will be permanent space stations on Mars from which experiments can be done. The year 2050 is not too far away. It is only three decades away; Remember, three decades ago, in 1990, we had no satellite television, no mobile devices, no internet, no computers at home. In the past 30 years, we have made phenomenal progress at great speed, and unless we tackle equally ambitious technological challenges, those achievements will not materialize.

Indian technology is considered cheap and reliable for space launches. This is mainly due to the successful nonstop flights from PSLV, our flagship launcher. Furthermore, Indian technology is easily accessible to smaller nations that are trying to put their satellites into space. We can extend this assistance and also try to incorporate these small nations into our planetary exploration programs in the future.

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This article was produced in collaboration with Khagol Mandal.

It is part of a series of expert interviews; Expert opinions do not necessarily represent official views of The Weather Channel.