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.
A new release on the MSSS page gives some details about NASA's Mars announcement. Signs of both recent (as in over the course of the mission) cratering and gully activity (caused by liquid water?) on the surface of the red planet.
Continue reading "An Active Planet"
It seems that NASA is about to make a major announcement regarding Mars. However, as NASA Watch points out, they seem to be a bit clueless regarding the timing. What is the announcement? Water on Mars, maybe?
Scientists using the MARSIS and OMEGA instruments on the ESA's Mars Express have apparently found less water signatures in minerals than they thought they would. However, the search for life might want to move underground, as further signs of buried ice reservoirs have been seen.
The Mars Orbiter Camera on the Mars Global Surveyor has captured many images of what appears to be (geologically) recent gullies. There's been a lot of debate over what was the mechanism behind the formation of these gullies: something relatively simple such as water to some rather strange sounding mechanisms involving carbon dioxide. One paper at the 37th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference suggests that gullies may have been formed using a mechanism found on the moon: avalanches. The debate continues!
Some cientists believe that glacial deposits near the martian equator are the remains of snowfall on Mars (as recently as 350,000 to 4 million years ago).
"The findings are important because they tell us that Mars has experienced big climate changes in the past, the kinds of climate change that led to the Great Ice Age here on Earth," Head said. "The findings are also interesting because this precipitation pattern may have left pockets of ice scattered across Mars. This is good information for NASA as officials plan future space missions, particularly with astronauts."
Steve Squyres has posted his latest Mission Update (January 3, 2006). There's some good stuff here. For Spirit, after looking at El Dorado, its off to the races:
So now it's time for the sprint to Home Plate. Power is still reasonably good at Gusev, with about 500 watt-hours per sol, and we're going to drive hard and fast while the sun shines.
And what about Opportunity?
Continue reading "A "Lucky Break" On Mars"
Steve Squyres has posted another mission update (dated December 23, 2005). Spirit has wrapped up its examination of Comanche in Gusev and the next target (after a long drive) will be El Dorado. In Meridiani, Opportunity has been working with its balky arm. However, the team needs to consider future operations: stow the arm in its usual place and risk it being stuck there (and useless) or "stow" the arm stretched out (and risk a driving accident!). There's also a bit about the recent Mars-is-wet-or-dry controversy.
And a final note: If you want to know about our take on water at Meridiani, there is one good place to read about it...the papers that we recently published in Earth and Planetary Science Letters. Check them out.
Some recent studies are questioning the findings of the scientists behind Spirit and Opportunity. MER A & B principal investigator Steve Squyres counters the conclusions.
Continue reading "How Much Water?"
Thanks to instruments on the ESA's Mars Express probe, scientists are starting to get a glimpse at another watery past on the surface of Mars, one markedly different from the past being probed by Spirit and Opportunity.