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When a woman astronaut sets foot on the moon in 2024,
the historic moment will represent a first step towards another NASA: finally
put humans on Mars. NASA's latest robotic mission on the red planet, Mars
2020, aims to help future astronauts brave this inhospitable landscape.
Although the scientific goal of the March 2020 rover is to
for signs of ancient life – this will be the first spaceship to take samples
of the Martian surface, hiding them in tubes that can be returned to Earth
on a future mission – the vehicle also includes a technology that paves the way
for the human exploration of Mars.
Crazy Engineering is exploring a technology demonstration aboard NASA's Mars 2020 rover directly from sci-fi novels such as "The Martian". It is an oxygen generator called MOXIE, designed to convert carbon dioxide – which constitutes about 96% of the Martian atmosphere – into breathable oxygen.
The atmosphere on Mars is mainly composed of carbon dioxide and extremely
thin (about 100 times less dense than the Earth), without breathing oxygen.
There is no water on the surface to drink either. The landscape is frozen,
without protection from solar radiation or dust storms. the
Technology, research and testing are the keys to survival.
March 2020 will help on all these fronts. When he starts
in July 2020, the satellite will carry the latest scientific and technical data
tools, which come together as the rover is
built NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. here is
to look closer.
Landing
Each landing on Mars offers a learning opportunity. With Mars
2020, which includes how the heat shield and the parachute of the space shuttle
perform in the atmosphere of the planet, and how his radar can detect the
surface of approach. Sensors in the aeroshell of the spacecraft (the capsule that
includes the rover) will study how it heats up and behaves during atmospheric entry.
These March
Instrumentation of entry, descent and landing 2 (MEDLI2) sensors could help engineers improve their landing
designs for large payloads such as equipment and habitats of astronauts.
Landing a rover like this also gives more to NASA
experience of placing a heavy spacecraft on the surface of Mars; the challenge of
to land in the fine Martian atmosphere sways with the mass. The first equipped
spacecraft will be titanic in comparison, taking with it life
systems, supplies and shielding.
Finally, March 2020 has a
guiding system that will take a step forward towards safer landings. called Ground
Relative navigation, this new system determines where the
spacecraft is directed by taking camera images during the descent and corresponding
landmarks in a preloaded map. If the spaceship drifts towards dangerous
field, he will head to a safer landing target.
The navigation relative to the field allowed the 2020 team
select a landing site, Jezero Crater,
this was considered too risky for previous missions. This kind of autonomy
advice could prove to be essential for safely disembarking humans. It would also be useful
to land the equipment in several drops before a human crew.
Oxygen
Living on Mars will require a constant supply of oxygen,
which would be expensive to transport the Earth in the necessary volumes. A form of cube
device called the Mars Oxygen
In situ Resource Utilization Experience (MOXIE) explores a space-saving alternative that converts
carbon dioxide – which constitutes about 96% of the Martian atmosphere –
in oxygen. Although MOXIE is a small product
demonstration, the hope is that its technology could evolve towards larger and more efficient technologies.
more efficient oxygen generators in the future. These would allow astronauts to
create their own breathable air and provide oxygen to burn the rocket fuel
necessary to send humans back to Earth.
Most importantly, MOXIE
descendants would save valuable space on the first crewed vehicle to Mars. do not
this would leave more room for supplies, it could also reduce costs and
difficulty getting from Earth to Mars.
Water
Satellites orbiting the red planet take a look
underground using a radar but Mars 2020 carries a radar penetrating the ground
called it Radar Imager
for Mars' Subsurface Experiment (RIMFAX) it will be the first operated on the Martian
area. Mars 2020 scientists will use its high-resolution images to examine
buried geology, like the old lake beds. But such a radar could one day be used
to find underground ice shops that astronauts could access for drinking
water. It is unlikely that Jezero Crater has such caches, but there are many
elsewhere on Mars.
spacesuits
Dust and radiation are part of every Martian climate
provide. The dust blows everywhere, sticking to the spaceship and covering the sun
panels. And because the planet does not have a magnetic field, like the Earth,
solar radiation bathes the Martian surface. The orbits of the Earth and Mars
aligns best for interplanetary travel every two years, which means first
Astronauts on the red planet are likely to suffer long exposure to radiation.
Helping engineers design space suits to protect astronauts
NASA sends five samples of space suit material along
with one of the scientific instruments of March 2020, called Scanning
Living Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics &
Chemicals (SHERLOC). A piece of astronaut helmet and four
types of tissue are mounted on the calibration
target for this instrument.
Scientists will use SHERLOC, as well as a camera that photographs visible light,
study how materials degrade under the effect of ultraviolet rays. It will mark the
first space suit material was sent to Mars for testing and will provide
an essential comparison for ongoing trials at NASA's Johnson Space Center.
Shelter
Humans exploring the red
Planet will need more than good diving suits; they will need a place to live. March
2020 will bring together science that could help engineers design better shelters for
future astronauts. Like NASA's rover Curiosity and InSight lander, 2020 has
meteorological instruments to study the behavior of dust and radiation in all seasons. This
suite of sensors, called > the
Environmental Dynamics Analyzer Mars (MEDA), is the next step in the kind of meteorological science
Curiosity is gathering.
More information about Mars
2020 is at:
https://www.nasa.gov/mars2020
Media contact
Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California
818-393-2433
[email protected]
Alana Johnson
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1501
[email protected]
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