So, you want to go to Mars: sorry, you can't pack your toothbrush yet. But in January 2004, two NASA rovers will bring you closer than ever to our planet next door.Pluto seems like a cool planet. So why are more people interested in visiting Mars? "Of all planets in the solar system solar system, the sun and the surrounding planets, natural satellites, dwarf planets, asteroids, meteoroids, and comets that are bound by its gravity. The sun is by far the most massive part of the solar system, containing almost 99.9% of the system's total mass. , Mars is the most Earthlike," says planetary scientist Steven Squyres of NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. and Cornell University Cornell University, mainly at Ithaca, N.Y.; with land-grant, state, and private support; coeducational; chartered 1865, opened 1868. It was named for Ezra Cornell, who donated $500,000 and a tract of land. With the help of state senator Andrew D. . "It's the one we can most readily imagine that can support life. That's what makes it special." But before you can blast off, scientists have to work out the details, including ... A LONG BUMPY RIDE Mars and Earth are always on the move around the sun. So the distance between the two planets Two Planets (in original German Auf zwei Planeten - lit. "On Two Planets") is the name of a novel by Kurd Lasswitz, published in 1897. Written before the exploration of the North Pole, it tells the story of a fictitious group of explorers who find a Martian base. constantly varies. At an average distance of 78.4 million kilometers (48.7 million miles), it'll take many months to travel from one planet to another, First, scientists need to design a spaceship to get you there quickly. MARTIAN FASHION On the Red Planet, wearing the right outfit is a matter of life or death. Since Mars is farther from the sun than Earth is, it receives about 2.5 times less solar energy solar energy, any form of energy radiated by the sun, including light, radio waves, and X rays, although the term usually refers to the visible light of the sun. . The average temperature is a frigid -60[degrees]C (-76[degrees]F)! Also. Mars' atmosphere is 95.3 percent carbon dioxide carbon dioxide, chemical compound, CO2, a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is about one and one-half times as dense as air under ordinary conditions of temperature and pressure. . Earth's atmosphere “Air” redirects here. For other uses, see Air (disambiguation). Earth's atmosphere is a layer of gases surrounding the planet Earth and retained by the Earth's gravity. It contains roughly (by molar content/volume) 78% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0. is 78 percent nitrogen and 21 percent oxygen. Scientists need to invent a heavy-duty spacesuit so you Call survive the harsh environment. ROOM AND BOARD If you plan to explore Mars, you'll have to stay on the planet for a while. How are you going to build a habitat (home)? What kind of energy will power your Mars lab? And don't forget, your stash stash Drug slang noun A place where illicit drugs are hidden of food from Earth may run out. Are you going to farm on Mars? THE RESEARCH CONTINUES ... Right now. NASA doesn't have formal plans to send humans to Mars. Bill two NASA rovers, named Spirit and Opportunity, will touch down on the Red Planet in January 2004. Will they help scientists gain the knowledge needed to send people there? Squyres, the science equipment chief of the mission, talks to Science World about what these smart robots will do on Mars. Q: Besides NASA's rovers, the European Space Agency's Beagle 2 will also land in January. Why this sudden Mars-fest? A: If you want to send something from Earth to Mars, you want to do it efficiently. You don't want to waste rocket fuel time, or money. Since the planets are always moving, we had to wait for Earth and Mars to line up so that we could get an efficient trajectory (path) from one place to another. The best time to launch was around June or July, arriving in January. Q: What are the rovers going to do on Mars? A: The purpose of the mission is to go to two places on the Martian surface where we think there may once have been liquid water. Spirit is heading to an enormous crater that has a dried-up riverbed going into it. We think there may have been a lake there once. Opportunity is going to Meridiani Planum Meridiani Planum is a plain located 2 degrees south of Mars' equator (centered at ), in the westernmost portion of Terra Meridiani. It hosts a rare occurrence of gray crystalline hematite. , a place where we see a mineral that usually forms because of liquid water. In both cases, we have evidence that water was once present. So we want to explore the geological records there. Q: What's the big deal about water? A: As far as we know, it's required for life. There's no liquid water on the surface of Mars today, so assessing if Mars could have been habitable habitable adj. referring to a residence that is safe and can be occupied in reasonable comfort. Although standards vary by region, the premises should be closed in against the weather, provide running water, access to decent toilets and bathing facilities, heating, in the past depends on whether its surface Slice had liquid water. Q: What's so special about these rovers? A: They're like robot geologists, and they're more advanced than anything we've sent to Mars it the past. Each rover call drive up to 40 meters (131 feet) a day across the Martian surface. They also have many human capabilities--for instance, they can see and touch the soil for us. Q: What can't they do? A: Lots! I wish they could send more data back. I wish they could bring samples hack to Earth. But that's all engineer's dream mission, not one that could he built in the real world. A mission like that would cost billions of dollars and involve technology that we don't have yet. NASA plans to explore Mars by a series of missions--with each one being more advanced than the mission before. Q: What are you doing while you wait far the rovers to reach Mars? A: We're earning our "Martian drivers license." We need to practice operating these complicated rovers. We actually built four, and we've kept two on Earth to practice on. We've been maneuvering them around a huge indoor Mars simulation facility filled with red sand and rocks. It's hard work! Q: Earth spins on its axis once every 24 hours. It takes Mars 39 minutes longer, making for a longer Martian day than an Earth day. Will that make your life easier? A: Believe me, it won't. The rover doesn't care what time it is ill Pasadena, California--where our team is located. It only cares if it's daytime or nighttime on Mars. It is solar-powered and operates during the day and sleeps at night. This means lily team will have to live on Mars time. Q: How will you set your alarm clock? A: We have to meet every day t look at the data the rover sends us. We study that info and come up with instructions to send back to the rover. If we meet at noon one day, the meeting will start at 12:39 p.m. the next day. Pretty soon, we'll be meeting in the middle of the night. To make things crazier, we have two rovers going to different Martian time zones. So if you're working on one rover and need to switch, you'll get Martian jet lag jet lag Period of adjustment of biological rhythm after moving from one time zone to another, experienced as fatigue and lowered efficiency. It reflects a delay in the synchronization of changes in the level of blood cortisol, the major steroid produced by the adrenal cortex as you cross those time zones. Q: Are you nervous about the mission? A: I'm a little nervous about the landing. We've designed the best landing system possible. But it could still be defeated by one big pointy point·y adj. point·i·er, point·i·est Having an end tapering to a point. rock on the Martian surface. But as far as getting the job done once the rovers get there safety, I'm very confident. Q: Why is the landing a nail-biter? A: The spacecraft plunges front the top of Mars' atmosphere to the surface of the planet in just six minutes! When the spacecraft hits the atmosphere, it's screaming down at about 25 times the speed of sound. (The speed of sound is about 1,100 km per hour or 700 mi per hour.) Friction (resisting forces) with the atmosphere, along with a parachute that pops out at twice the speed of sound, slows it down. Then the craft will lower the lander with a long tether tether to tie an animal up by the head or neck so that it can graze but not move away. See also barton tether. . Airbags will inflate to form a protective cocoon cocoon: see pupa. around the lander. When the spacecraft is 30 to 40 ft above the ground, we fire three rocket motors away from the planet to slow the descent. Then, we cut the airbag bundle loose. The cushiony package bounces for five to eight minutes. And when it halts, the airbags deflate (file format, compression) deflate - A compression standard derived from LZ77; it is reportedly used in zip, gzip, PKZIP, and png, among others. Unlike LZW, deflate compression does not use patented compression algorithms. . Q: How will each rover make Its grand entrance? A: The lander is shaped like a pyramid. It opens like the petals of a flower, revealing the rover inside. The rover is folded up and needs to unfold over several days. Once it's done, we cut the cables to the lander and off we go to explore! RED ALERT! * Catch Steven Squyres on Mars Dead or Alive, a NOVA special on PBS PBS in full Public Broadcasting Service Private, nonprofit U.S. corporation of public television stations. PBS provides its member stations, which are supported by public funds and private contributions rather than by commercials, with educational, cultural, . it will include a live broadcast from mission control! Tune in on January 4 and 6, 2004, at 8 p.m. EST. For more Information, check out: www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ * Spirit will reach Mars on January 4, 2004, Universal Time (evening of January 3, Pacific and Eastern Time). * Opportunity will reach Mars on January 25, Universal Time (evening of January 24, Pacific and Eastern Time). * Read all about it! Visit the Mars Exploration Rovers' Web sites: www.jpl.nasa.gov/ and mer/athena.cornell.edu/ Did You Know? * Mars boasts the largest mountain in the solar system. The volcano Olympus Mons Olympus Mons Large volcano on Mars, the largest known volcano in the solar system. It consists of a central structure that ascends about 13 mi (21 km) above Mars's mean radius and is 335 mi (540 km) wide at the base; it is surrounded by an outward-facing cliff rising as much rises 27 km high, and its base is more than 500 km in diameter. That's three times taller than Mount Everest and an area as large as Arizona! * Mars is the Roman god of war. The planet may have been given this name because of its fiery color. Mars gets its red coloring from iron oxide The material used to coat the surfaces of magnetic tapes and lower-capacity disks. (rust)-rich soil. That's why it's often referred to as the Red Planet. * Spirit and Opportunity, the twin Mars Exploration Rovers were named by Soft Collis, a 9-year-old from Scottsdale, Arizona Scottsdale (O'odham Vaṣai S-vaṣonĭ) is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, adjacent to Phoenix. Scottsdale has become internationally recognized as a premier and posh tourist destination, while maintaining its own identity and culture as " . Collis won an essay contest to name the pair. She chose the names because the rovers' trip reminded her of her own journey. Collis was adopted from a cold and lonely Siberian orphanage at age 2. She believes coming to live in America has given her spirit and opportunity. Cross-Curricular Connection: Language Arts language arts pl.n. The subjects, including reading, spelling, and composition, aimed at developing reading and writing skills, usually taught in elementary and secondary school. : Have students write a science-fiction story about the first astronauts to land on Mars. How will they travel there? What do they plan to do? What will they encounter?. Will they come home? Critical Thinking: Hold a class discussion to brainstorm a "Mars packing list." If students could move to Mars, what would they pack? How would each item enhance or burden their trip? Resources NASA's Mars Exploration Program's "Mars for Students": mars.jpl.nasa.gov/classroom/students.html NASA's "The Space Place: Let's Go Let's Go may refer to: Television
The Planetary Society's "Red Rover Goes to Mars' page is filled with fun stories and activities for students: redroverestomars.org/ Since scientists can't head to Mars yet, many flock to Mars-like environments on Earth to gain a better understanding of our planetary neighbor. Two cool projects: www.extremeenvironment.com www.marsonearth.com |
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