Mars Exploration
Program Information
Series: Destination TomorrowProgram: Episode 6
Segment Number: 1 (Watch entire program)
Duration: 00:06:25
Year Produced: 2003
Description:
NASA Destination Tomorrow Segment highlighting NASA's contemporary exploration of Mars.
NASA's Destination Tomorrow™ is a series of 30-minute programs that focus on NASA research. Each exciting program gives the audience an inside look at NASA and demonstrates how research and technology relate to our everyday lives.
For more information visit: http://destination.larc.nasa.gov/Transcript
(St. Romain)
FOR HUNDREDS OF YEARS,
HUMANS HAVE DREAMED OF EXPLORING
THE PLANET MARS.
ONE IMPORTANT REASON FOR THIS
IS THAT, OTHER THAN EARTH,
MARS IS THE PLANET
WITH THE MOST HOSPITABLE CLIMATE
IN OUR SOLAR SYSTEM.
THE CLIMATE ON MARS
IS SO HOSPITABLE, IN FACT,
THAT MANY SCIENTISTS BELIEVE
THAT LIQUID WATER
MAY HAVE ONCE FLOWED
OVER ITS SURFACE
HARBORING PRIMITIVE
BACTERIAL LIFE.
IN AN EFFORT TO INVESTIGATE
THESE INTRIGUING POSSIBILITIES,
NASA'S PLANNED SEVERAL
NEW MARS EXPLORATION MISSIONS.
NASA PLANNERS HOPE
THESE MISSIONS WILL HELP EXPLAIN
MANY UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
ABOUT THE RED PLANET
AND HOW THOSE ANSWERS
WILL AFFECT US HERE ON EARTH.
I SPOKE WITH PRASUN DESAI FROM
NASA LANGLEY RESEARCH CENTER
TO FIND OUT MORE.
IN MID-2003,
TWO MARS EXPLORATION ROVERS
WILL BE LAUNCHED TO EXPLORE
THE SURFACE OF MARS.
YOU MAY REMEMBER
THE PATHFINDER MISSION
FROM A FEW YEARS AGO.
THESE ARE VERY SIMILAR,
BUT HAVE SOME MAJOR DIFFERENCES.
THE PATHFINDER MISSION
HAD A LANDER,
WHICH ACTED AS A BASE STATION,
AND A SMALL ROVER,
WHICH WAS ABOUT
A FOOT AND A HALF IN LENGTH.
THE 2003 ROVERS HAVE
MANY MORE INSTRUMENTS
AND WILL BE ABLE TO TRAVERSE
MUCH LONGER DISTANCES
ON THE SURFACE OF MARS.
THESE NEW ROVERS WILL ACT LIKE
MOBILE FIELD GEOLOGISTS.
THIS MISSION IS ACTUALLY
VERY EXCITING
COMPARED TO PREVIOUS MISSIONS.
FOR THE FIRST TIME,
THE ROVERS
WILL BE ABLE TO GO
MUCH GREATER DISTANCES
AWAY FROM THE LANDER,
AND FOR THE FIRST TIME,
IT COULD ALSO GET--
GO TO A HILL ON TOP OF IT
AND SEE WHAT'S OVER IT.
AND SO WE WOULD BE ABLE TO COVER
A LOT MORE DIFFERENT AREAS
AND SEE
DIFFERENT GEOLOGICAL FEATURES
TO TRY TO GET
A BETTER UNDERSTANDING
OF HOW MARS IS EVOLVING
IN THOSE REGIONS.
PRASUN, WHAT'S THE PROCESS
OF GETTING THE ROVERS TO MARS?
(Desai)
WELL, TONYA,
THE ROVERS WILL BE LAUNCHED
ON DELTA ROCKETS
IN JUNE AND JULY OF 2003.
THE ROCKETS WILL PROVIDE
THE APPROPRIATE SPEED NEEDED
TO GET THE SPACECRAFT
TO GO TO MARS.
THE SPACECRAFT CONSISTS
OF A CRUISE STAGE,
WHICH SUPPLY
THE COMMUNICATIONS AND POWER
DURING THE SEVEN-MONTH JOURNEY
TO MARS,
AND A LANDER,
WHICH HAS THE ROVER INSIDE IT.
UPON ARRIVAL AT MARS
IN JANUARY 2004,
THE LANDERS ARE SEPARATED
AND ENTER
THE MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE.
(St. Romain)
ONCE THE LANDER ENTERS
THE MARTIAN ATMOSPHERE,
THE ARROW SHELL DESIGN
WILL SLOW THE ENTRY
FROM 12,000 MILES PER HOUR
TO ABOUT 900 MILES PER HOUR.
A PARACHUTE WILL THEN DEPLOY,
FURTHER SLOWING THE SPACECRAFT.
THEN AIR BAGS WILL INFLATE
AROUND THE CRAFT
TO CUSHION THE LANDING.
ABOUT 600 FEET
ABOVE THE SURFACE,
RETRO-ROCKETS WILL FIRE,
SLOWING THE CRAFT EVEN FURTHER.
ONCE THE SPACECRAFT
STOPS ROLLING,
THE AIR BAGS WILL DEFLATE,
AND PEDALS WILL OPEN UP,
BRINGING THE LANDER
TO AN UPRIGHT POSITION.
SINCE THE ROVERS CARRY ALL
OF THEIR INSTRUMENTS ON BOARD,
THEY'LL BE ABLE
TO START EXPLORING THE PLANET
ALMOST IMMEDIATELY
WITHOUT HAVING TO STAY CLOSE
TO THE LANDER.
HOW WILL THE ROVERS
BE COMMANDED?
WILL THEY BE DRIVEN
BY REMOTE CONTROL FROM EARTH?
(Desai)
ACTUALLY, THE CONTROLLERS
FROM THE EARTH
WILL ONLY COMMAND THE ROVERS
TO SPECIFIC SOIL
AND ROCK TARGETS.
IT'LL BE UP TO THE ROVERS TO
FIND THEIR OWN WAY TO GET THERE.
THE REASON WE HAVE TO DO THIS
IS BECAUSE A SIGNAL FROM EARTH
TAKES TOO LONG TO GET TO MARS
TO HAVE US OPERATE THEM
BY REMOTE CONTROL.
AS A RESULT,
THE ROVERS
MUST BE ABLE TO OPERATE
AUTONOMOUSLY.
WE WILL DECIDE FROM--
BASED ON INFORMATION WE GET
FROM THE CAMERAS AND INSTRUMENTS
THAT ARE SITTING ON THE ROVER
WHERE ARE GOOD SITES TO GO TO
AND THEN COMMAND THE ROVERS
TO GO THERE.
WE HOPE THE ROVERS WILL BE ABLE
TO TRAVEL UP TO A HALF A MILE
FROM THE LANDING SITE.
OKAY, SO ONCE A ROVER
GETS TO A ROCK OF INTEREST,
HOW WILL IT EXAMINE IT?
(Desai)
THE ROVERS
HAVE MANY DIFFERENT INSTRUMENTS
ON THERE
THAT ALLOW US
TO EXAMINE THE ROCKS
DOWN TO THE MICROSCOPIC LEVEL.
ONCE WE ANALYZE
THIS TYPE OF INFORMATION,
WE CAN TELL
A LOT OF DIFFERENT THINGS
ABOUT THE ROCKS THEMSELVES,
LIKE THEIR MINERALOGY,
ELEMENTAL CHEMISTRY,
THEIR SURFACE TEXTURE.
THIS TYPE OF INFORMATION
WILL GIVE US
EVIDENCE OF ANCIENT
ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS
AND THE POSSIBILITY
OF SOME TYPE
OF BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITY
OCCURRING.
(St. Romain)
RECENT SATELLITE IMAGES OF MARS
SHOW GEOLOGIC FEATURES,
LIKE CHANNELS,
WHICH SUPPORT THE THEORY
THAT LIQUID WATER ONCE FLOWED
OVER THE SURFACE.
TODAY, THE MARTIAN TEMPERATURE
IS TOO LOW
AND THE ATMOSPHERE TOO THIN
FOR LIQUID WATER TO EXIST
ON THE SURFACE,
BUT MANY SCIENTISTS BELIEVE
THAT LIQUID WATER
MAY STILL EXIST
BELOW THE SURFACE OF MARS,
WHERE TEMPERATURES
ARE NOT AS HARSH.
IF THE ROVERS FIND
CONVINCING EVIDENCE
OF LIQUID WATER ON MARS,
THEN IT'S ALSO POSSIBLE
THEY MAY FIND
PROOF OF LIFE ON MARS AS WELL.
(Desai)
THERE IS A LOT OF EVIDENCE
THAT THERE IS FROZEN WATER
JUST BELOW THE SURFACE OF MARS,
AND A LOT OF THESE MISSIONS
THAT WE'RE TRYING TO GO TO MARS
IN THE NEXT FEW YEARS
IS TRYING TO GET
A BETTER UNDERSTANDING
OF HOW MUCH WATER IS THERE,
AND IS IT IN THE LIQUID FORM
NEAR THE SURFACE SOMEWHERE?
3 BILLION YEARS AGO,
MARS AND EARTH
WERE VERY MUCH ALIKE.
MARS WAS, AT THAT TIME,
MUCH WETTER
AND MUCH WARMER THAN IT IS NOW,
AND SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED.
SO BY TRYING TO GET
A BETTER UNDERSTANDING
OF HOW MARS' ENVIRONMENT
HAS EVOLVED,
IT WOULD GIVE US
A BETTER UNDERSTANDING
OF POTENTIALLY HOW THE EARTH'S
ENVIRONMENT WILL EVOLVE
AND GIVE US AN IDEA
OF HOW IT'S GOING TO CHANGE
IN THE FUTURE.
(St. Romain)
SO BY STUDYING MARS,
IT MAY BE ABLE TO TELL
WHERE OUR FUTURE IS HEADED
ON THIS PLANET?
EXACTLY.
THE REASON WE
ARE EXPLORING MARS,
AND OTHER PLACES
IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM
FOR THAT MATTER,
IS TO HELP ANSWER
TWO FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS:
ONE, TO EXPLAIN THE FORMATION
AND EVOLUTION
OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
AND THE EARTH WITHIN IT;
AND TWO, TO SEEK
THE ORIGINS OF LIFE
AND ITS EXISTENCE
BEYOND THE EARTH.
(McGonegal)
DURING THE NEXT DECADE,
MARS WILL BE THE SOLAR SYSTEM'S
MOST POPULAR TRAVEL DESTINATION.
THERE ARE PLANS
FOR NEARLY A DOZEN MARS MISSIONS
BEING PLANNED
BY THREE COUNTRIES:
THE UNITED STATES,
RUSSIA, AND JAPAN.
COMING UP, A NEW DEVICE
DEVELOPED BY NASA
MIGHT HELP PARENTS
AND CAREGIVERS
KEEP AN ELECTRONIC EYE
ON THEIR CHILDREN.
BUT FIRST,
DID YOU KNOW
THAT THE VIKING I SPACECRAFT
WAS THE FIRST CRAFT TO LAND
ON THE MARTIAN SURFACE
ON JULY 20, 1976?
WITH ITS COMPANION CRAFT,
VIKING II,
THE TWO LANDERS ANALYZED
ATMOSPHERIC
AND WEATHER CONDITIONS,
COLLECTED SOIL SAMPLES,
AND TOOK OVER 56,000 PICTURES
OF THE PLANET'S SURFACE.