In honor of the Perseverance rover being launched in a few days (July 30th to be exact), I wanted to share the importance of sending these little robots to our neighboring red planet. Are NASA and other international space companies just wasting money sending a bunch of robots to Mars? Or is there truly valuable information we can gather from these missions?
Illustration of the Mars Perseverance rover on the surface of Mars [Credits to NASA/JPL-Caltech]
So to begin, I want to give some background context on Mars itself before going into what the rovers are actually doing on the planet. Why is Mars so important? Why did we choose Mars of all the other planets in our Solar System? Why do we plan on sending humans here? These are questions that people ask about these missions. Mars has been an obvious target for exploration for years and it's caught the eyes of many scientists for many years. In fact, many early astronomers observed its similarities to Earth. Besides Earth, Mars is really the only true "hospitable" planet in our Solar System. This is for several reasons. Firstly, its temperature is more "bearable" than the other planets. It is not too cold or too hot. The length of day is similar to one on Earth, so it would not be difficult to get used to. Another reason is that its gravity is about 38% of the gravity on Earth, which is believed by many to be sufficient enough for the human body to be able to adapt to. This means that it was the perfect planet to study in depth compared to the others. After sending several landers to Mars, we've been able to take a glimpse into its past through observing its geological features. We've been able to discover key things, such as the fact that Mars was a VERY different planet several billion years ago.
There was evidence of liquid water being on its surface, based on a finding from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of ancient Martian riverbeds. The planet had a much different atmosphere, much warmer than it currently is. Based on the evidence from the Martian surface, it is a common belief amongst scientists that Mars was once like Earth. As you may know, Mars is now a cold, barren world with a thin atmosphere and no signs of water. These rovers are finding clues on the Martian surface that will further lead scientists to be able to piece together the past of the Red Planet.
This leads me into why the rovers are so important. NASA is able to use the data from Mars's atmosphere and its surface to further understand the "better" days of this planet and its habitability. The Curiosity rover was equipped with drilling and soil-analysis equipment and was able to identify organic matter in small deposits beneath that are different from the organic-rich sedimentary rock in Earth (The Atlantic). The material had came from two different sites from a crater that Curiosity had been surveying for almost 6 years. As we all know on Earth, organic carbon molecules are the building blocks of all life on Earth. Curiosity found similar material on Mars in one of the craters in 2013.
Additional findings from Curiosity showed that methane levels in the Martian atmosphere change seasonally. As a result, scientists think that there may be methane pockets buried beneath the Martian surface. Obviously, these findings are not evidence of any past life that could have called Mars its home. However, each new discovery from a rover is just
Curiosity rover taking a "selfie" [Credits to NASA]
as important as the last, because they all allow scientists and researchers to get closer to fully understanding what Mars looked like in the past. These rovers are looking for those clues, and allowing scientists on Earth to study and analyze the Martian surface and atmosphere without physically being there.
Even though we do receive a lot of data from rovers, it is still difficult sometimes to figure the origins of some of these discoveries. How did such organic material end up in a specific location and so forth. Another downside to such research with rovers is the hostility of the Martian environment. Mars receives a lot more radiation than Earth does due to its lack of an atmosphere, which means everything on its surface has been affected too. Not to mention the fact that it has frequent dust storms that can affect data collection for any rover on its surface and possibly even cause them to go offline and be unable to communicate with the researchers on Earth. Hopefully through future exploration, we are able to land in different spots on the planet and be able to better classify the materials that are found on its surface and potentially make more discoveries at the same time.
Possibly the BIGGEST question that has come out about Mars and its exploration is the possibility of life (or evidence of past life) on the planet. People have been very excited about the discovery of "water" on Mars, and that this had to mean that there was life lurking somewhere on the planet (even if it was subsurface microbial life). Hopefully sometime in the future during a Mars mission, we find signs of microbial life, lurking somewhere beneath the Martian surface.
Let's talk about Perseverance now. Each rover and orbiter has traveled to Mars with a specific purpose; whether that is to search for signs of ancient water flows, study the atmosphere, or even examine Martian soil samples to look for bio-signatures. They all contribute to the scientific advancement of our knowledge of what Mars might have been like in the past and if it is possible for humans to be able to settle and live successfully on this planet if we had to move away from Earth for some reason.
The Mars Perseverance Rover is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, which is a long term effort to send rovers to explore the Red Planet. This mission is going to address key questions in our search for life beyond Earth. This mission
A delta-like fan showing ancient deposits of transported sediment [Credits to NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems]
is going to be taking the next step in terms of previous Martian exploration by finding evidence that Mars was habitable in its past, but also by searching for signs of microbial life as well. This rover will have a drill that will be able to collect core samples of rocks and soils and set them aside in a "cache" on the surface of the planet. The Mars Perseverance Rover [Credits to NASA/JPL-Caltech]
This mission will also be able to further expand on the desire for humans to be able to travel to and one day be able to set foot on the Red Planet. Our biggest challenge will be creating technology that will be able to address the problems that humans will face on Mars. This would include the problems with a lack of oxygen in the atmosphere, identifying subsurface water, having better landing techniques, and characterizing weather, dust, and other potential environmental conditions that could affect and impact future astronauts that are living and working on Mars (NASA). This mission is scheduled to launch on July 30, 2020 and it will land on Mars sometime in February 2021. According to NASA, this is the proposed launch window due to Earth and Mars being in relatively good positions compared to one another so that it is easier for landing purposes. During this time period, it actually takes less power to travel to Mars.
It truly is incredible that we have such technology that allows us to send robots to other planets and gain valuable information that will allow us to further our scientific understanding of the other planets in our Solar System. We are basically able to explore Mars without having to set foot on it! Obviously, it is going to be a huge moment for science
Martian soil taken by NASA's Curiosity rover
and space exploration in general when the first humans do eventually set foot on Mars. We have never set foot on another planet, so this will be the first for us, and it could potentially be our new home. It sounds like science fiction when you think about it... Oh, how could we terraform another planet? But it's REALLY in our future. The technology keeps getting better, and we are getting closer everyday to finding signs of alien life. It all begins with our little robotic friends. They are truly doing such incredible work!
MARS 2020... we are go for launch!!!