Geoffrey A. Landis (both a real live scientist and a science fiction author) points to a paper of his, Footsteps to Mars. David Portree recently wrote about it on his site, Altair VI.
NASA has selected several mission proposals for future missions to Mars. They include missions where NASA is the primary driver, as well as participation by NASA on the ESA's ExoMars project.
Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission, or MAVEN: The mission would provide first-of-its-kind measurements and address key questions about Mars climate and habitability and improve understanding of dynamic processes in the upper Martian atmosphere and ionosphere. The principal investigator is Bruce Jakosky, University of Colorado, Boulder. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md., will provide project management.The Great Escape mission: The mission would directly determine the basic processes in Martian atmospheric evolution by measuring the structure and dynamics of the upper atmosphere. In addition, potentially biogenic atmospheric constituents such as methane would be measured. The principal investigator is Alan Stern, Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado. Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, will provide project management.
And several others.
David Beaty is NASA's Chief Scientist for its Mars program. Before that he was a prospector for 22 years. He has some hard advice for NASA. Hopefully NASA will listen.
Will swarms of tennis-ball-sized robots be deployed on Mars to search for life in underground caves? We should see prototypes of this unique probe within a year or so.
I am not sure what "final draft report on the Mars exploration program" the author of this article is referring to, but it appears that NASA is adopting Robert Zubrin's (The Mars Society) "Mars Direct" program for use in a mission to Mars. Launch date? 2030. Let's hope it is sooner than that!
What would planetary scientists like to do in exploring Mars through 2024? Here's a recent report outlining some ideas.
Following up on their first collection (On to Mars), Apogee Books has published a second collection of essays and papers presented at the annual meeting of The Mars Society.
NASA has released a long report examining risks that could be faced during a manned voyage to Mars.
Continue reading "Martian Risks"
An interdisciplinary team of scientists from the California Institute of Technology, the University of Arizona, and the U.S. Geological Survey has unveiled a proposal to make core changes in the robotic exploration of the Solar System. In addition to spaceborne orbiters, the "new paradigm" would involve sending orbiter-guided blimps (or other airborne agents) carrying instruments such as optical and thermal cameras, ground-penetrating radar, and gas and humidity sensors to chosen areas of a planet, as well as using herds of small, robotic, ground-based explorers.
Mars has undergone a remarkable evolution since the first probe from Earth went sailing past the planet, sending back a few shots. Given what we saw, Mars was declared a dead planet, somewhat like our Moon, not really worthy of our attention.
Continue reading "The Changing Face of Mars"