+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 4 of 4

Thread: Man on Mars?...... NASA's Maven spacecraft explores the possibility

  1. Link to Post #1
    UK Avalon Member Cidersomerset's Avatar
    Join Date
    16th May 2011
    Location
    Bridgwater somerset UK
    Age
    63
    Posts
    22,333
    Thanks
    33,460
    Thanked 79,637 times in 18,693 posts

    Default Man on Mars?...... NASA's Maven spacecraft explores the possibility

    Man on Mars? NASA's Maven spacecraft explores the possibility



    Published on 21 Sep 2014


    The Nasa Maven spacecraft is expected to complete a 10-month voyage to Mars on
    Sunday. Once in orbit, NASA scientists will gather information about the Red Planet’s
    atmosphere. Information that will hopefully offer clues about Earth’s climate and the
    future possibility of man landing on Mars. The NewsHour’s Miles O’Brien talks about the
    mission’s significance with Hari Sreenivasan.



    =======================================================



    22 September 2014 Last updated at 03:32

    Mars Maven mission arrives in orbitComments

    Science correspondent, BBC News



    Maven satellite Beyond its science mission, Maven will offer long-term communications

    support to surface rovers
    Continue reading the main story
    Related Stories
    India probe in 'Mars neighbourhood'
    Nasa mission to study Mars' lost atmosphere
    Mars lake 'much like early Earth'

    The US space agency's (Nasa) latest Mars satellite has arrived successfully in orbit
    above the planet.Hurtling through space for the past 10 months, the Maven craft
    slammed on the brakes by firing its thrusters.The 33-minute burn removed sufficient
    speed to allow the satellite to be captured by Mars' gravity.Maven has been sent to
    study the Red Planet's high atmosphere, to try to understand the processes that have
    robbed the world of most of its air.

    Today, the air pressure is so low that free water at the surface would instantly boil away.

    Maven's data will enable scientists to build better models of current and past climate conditions on Mars.

    "Previous spacecraft have made measurements and we've learned a lot about the upper-
    atmosphere, but we haven't been able to put the whole end-to-end picture together,"
    said principal investigator Bruce Jakosky.

    "I'm hoping Maven will be a mission of discovery, that almost everything we observe
    will lead us to fundamental new insights about the Mars environment today and how it
    has evolved over time," the University of Colorado, Boulder, researcher added.

    Busy time

    The American probe's arrival will be followed 48 hours later by India's first satellite to
    the Red Planet.The Mars Orbiter Mission, informally known as Mangalyaan, has slightly
    different objectives.But one important atmospheric study it will try to make is an
    observation of methane - a potential indicator of biological activity on the planet.

    "Nasa is really quite interested in cooperating and correlating data-sets," said Dr
    Jim Green, Nasa's director of planetary science.

    "As both spacecraft get into orbit and the scientists understand their data, those
    opportunities will open up."



    Reull Vallis channel on Mars as seen by ESA's Mars Express in 2004 (False colour)
    Mars orbiters have recorded ample evidence that water once flowed on the planet
    Monday's big manoeuvre on Maven's engines placed the satellite in a high,
    elliptical, 35-hour orbit around the planet.

    Confirmation of capture was received on Earth shortly before 0230 GMT (2230 EDT Sunday; 0330 BST).

    In the coming weeks, engineers will then work to bring Maven into a regular
    4.5-hour, operational orbit that takes the probe as close as 150km to Mars but also
    sends it out to 6,200km.These first few weeks will also be used to commission and
    test the instrument packages on board.The present-day atmosphere of Mars,
    composed mostly of carbon dioxide, is extremely thin, with atmospheric pressure at
    the surface just 0.6% of the Earth's surface pressure.The Martian landscape,
    though, retains channels that were evidently cut by abundant, flowing water - proof
    that the planet had a much denser atmosphere in the past.

    'Deep dip'

    Some of the air would certainly have reacted with, and been incorporated into, minerals
    at the surface.But the most likely explanation for its loss is that the solar wind - the
    great outflow of energetic particles from the Sun - has simply eroded it through time.

    This has been possible because, unlike Earth, the Red Planet lacks a protective
    global magnetic field, which is capable of deflecting the abrasive assault from our
    star.Some of Maven's instruments will concentrate on the Sun's influence, looking
    at how much energy it puts into the planet and its atmosphere.

    Others instruments will investigate the composition and behaviour of the
    atmosphere itself, and this will involve some "deep dip" manoeuvres that take
    Maven closer to Mars' surface so it can sample air molecules directly.

    The intention is to measure the rates at which these different molecules are being
    lost today, distinguishing between the various processes responsible.

    Scientists will use this information to get some insights into the history of the
    Martian climate - from the time billions of years ago when it was warmer and
    wetter, and potentially habitable to life, to the present environment which is cold
    and desiccated.


    Curiosity Curiosity has been studying the atmosphere at ground level
    Important inputs will come from Nasa's Curiosity rover, which is studying the bottom of
    the atmosphere.

    Its onboard lab equipment regularly analyses Martian air.

    The robot has already used the concentration of argon to show an enrichment of the
    heavier form of this element has occurred through geological history.

    It is evidence that lighter argon atoms have been lost preferentially from the top of the
    atmosphere.

    Comet opportunity
    An early demonstration of Maven's capabilities will come in October when Comet Siding
    Spring makes a close pass of Mars.

    This is likely to dump a lot of dust on the planet.

    "If significant amounts of dust hit the upper-atmosphere, we'll see increases in the
    temperature… and it will expand," said Prof Jakosky.

    "In addition, the water from the comet that hits the upper-atmosphere will begin to
    populate it with an extra set of molecules.

    "We'll look at this perturbation, with the addition of energy and matter, and then see
    how long it takes to decay away.

    "That will tell us about the physical processes that are operating in the upper-
    atmosphere today."

    Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter:

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29253788

    ======================================================
    ======================================================


    NASA | MAVEN: NASA's Next Mission to Mars



    Published on 8 Nov 2013


    Ancient riverbeds, crater lakes and flood channels all attest to Mars's warm, watery
    past. So how did the Red Planet evolve from a once hospitable world into the cold, dry
    desert that we see today? One possibility is that Mars lost its early atmosphere, allowing
    its water to escape into space, and NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN
    (MAVEN) spacecraft will investigate just that. On September 25, 2013, MAVEN Principal
    Investigator Bruce Jakosky delivered a presentation at the Smithsonian National Air and
    Space Museum, discussing NASA's next mission to Mars.
    Last edited by Cidersomerset; 24th September 2014 at 14:52.

  2. The Following 3 Users Say Thank You to Cidersomerset For This Post:

    happyuk (23rd September 2014), linksplatinum (23rd September 2014), shadowstalker (23rd September 2014)

  3. Link to Post #2
    United States Avalon Member ghostrider's Avatar
    Join Date
    6th February 2011
    Location
    Sand Springs Ok
    Age
    58
    Posts
    7,427
    Thanks
    9,893
    Thanked 28,794 times in 6,634 posts

    Default Re: Man on Mars?...... NASA's Maven spacecraft explores the possibility

    I can save them some trouble , Mars lost it's atmosphere due to War , atomic wars damaged the sky and it was bye bye air , 389,000 years ago , this is why mankind departed and came to earth ... Sadly we still have the same mentality , Nuclear War and no concern for nature or our atmosphere/Air , we kinda need air to live no matter what planet we are on ...
    Raiding the Matrix One Mind at a Time ...

  4. The Following User Says Thank You to ghostrider For This Post:

    shadowstalker (23rd September 2014)

  5. Link to Post #3
    UK Avalon Member Cidersomerset's Avatar
    Join Date
    16th May 2011
    Location
    Bridgwater somerset UK
    Age
    63
    Posts
    22,333
    Thanks
    33,460
    Thanked 79,637 times in 18,693 posts

    Default Re: Man on Mars?...... NASA's Maven spacecraft explores the possibility



    23 September 2014 Last updated at 20:50

    India gears up for big Mars moment



    Mars Orbiter Mission The spacecraft must slow itself to be captured by Mars' gravity


    Continue reading the main story
    Related Stories
    Mangalyaan: Will India's Mars mission reach the orbit?
    Mars Maven mission arrives in orbit
    How the Mars mission helps India

    India hopes to make history shortly by putting its first satellite in orbit around Mars.

    The Mangalyaan robotic probe is bearing down on the Red Planet following a 10
    month cruise from Earth.Wednesday will see the spacecraft light its main engine
    and small thrusters in a bid to slow itself down.If this 24-minute manoeuvre
    removes sufficient speed, the planet's gravity should capture Mangalyaan into an
    elliptical orbit.

    Only the US, Europe and Russia have succeeded previously in sending missions to Mars.

    Indeed the Americans placed their latest satellite, Maven, at Mars just this Monday.

    If Mangalyaan survives orbit insertion, it will set about taking pictures of the planet
    and studying its atmosphere.

    One key goal is to try to detect methane in the Martian air, which could be an
    indicator of biological activity at, or more likely just below, the surface.



    K Radhakrishnan Indian space chief K Radhakrishnan poses with a model of Mangalyaan

    Wednesday's critical engine burn will be initiated at 07:30 India Standard Time (02:00 GMT; 03:00 BST).

    Concern in recent weeks centred on whether the big motor would actually work
    reliably, having not been used since despatching Mangalyaan from Earth's orbit last
    December.But that issue was put to bed earlier this week when engineers
    conducted a four-second mini-burn on the engine to prove all systems were still
    functional.

    As Mangalyaan engages "the brakes", it will go behind Mars as viewed from both
    the Sun and Earth, meaning there will be a period when the satellite is in darkness
    and also out of contact with Earth.

    There are sure to be some anxious moments before ground controllers receive
    confirmation of the success or failure of the insertion.

    Mangalyaan - more formally referred to as Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) - was
    launched from the Sriharikota spaceport on the coast of the Bay of Bengal on 5
    November 2013.

    The total cost has been put at 4.5bn rupees ($74m; £45m), which makes it one of
    the cheapest interplanetary space missions ever.

    On a visit to Sriharikota in June, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went so far as to say
    that the "[making of the] Hollywood movie Gravity cost more than our Mars
    mission".

    Nonetheless, the Mangalyaan venture has been criticised both within and outside
    India by those who believe the expenditure would have been better directed at
    millions of Indians who still live without electricity and proper sanitation.

    The Indian government, on the other hand, sees the mission as an opportunity to
    advance its technical capabilities.

    In the eyes of some commentators, Mangalyaan also sends a powerful geopolitical
    message to regional rivals like China whose space activities have yet to get beyond
    Earth and its Moon.



    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-28268186

  6. The Following User Says Thank You to Cidersomerset For This Post:

    shadowstalker (23rd September 2014)

  7. Link to Post #4
    Peru Avalon Member seehas's Avatar
    Join Date
    19th April 2011
    Location
    Alpha Centauri
    Language
    German
    Posts
    753
    Thanks
    1,254
    Thanked 4,067 times in 698 posts

    Default Re: Man on Mars?...... NASA's Maven spacecraft explores the possibility

    The indian mission will never reach mars, so what coverstory will it be this time calculcation failure doesnt seem ligit for india

    Just like the russian probe...
    " Loka samasta sukhino bhavantu / May all beings in all worlds be happy and free and may the thoughts, words and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all "


    tibetian mantra

  8. The Following User Says Thank You to seehas For This Post:

    Cidersomerset (1st October 2014)

+ Reply to Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts