A Busy Time for Mars (in Real Life and Fiction.)
Added 2021-02-19 01:00:00 +0000 UTCThree different nations have spacecraft visiting the red planet this month.
Congratulations to the United Arab Emirates, whose spacecraft Hope entered Mars orbit on February 9. Hope will study the dust storms and other Martian weather affect the speed at which Martian air leaks into outer space.
One day later, on February 10, China's Tianwen-1 joined the party. Besides being an orbiter, Tianwen carries a lander and robotic rover that will attempt touchdown in the Utopia Planitia sometime in May or June. The name of the rover will be either Hongyi, Qilin, Nezha, Chitu, Zhurong, Qiusuo, Fenghuolun, Zhuimeng, Tianxing or Xinghuo. The choice will be made by a public vote so an eleventh possibility is Spacey McSpaceface.
Then, today (18 Feb 2021) at approximately 3:44 pm EST, NASA's Perseverance rover touched down in the interior of Jezero, a 30-mile-diameter crater thought to have formed when water flowed freely on Mars. Jezero, by the way, means 'lake' in several Slavic languages.
Perseverance has bunches of cool experiments on board but I must admit I am really anxious to see what happens when they begin testing the Ingenuity Helicopter, a 4-pound, 2-rotor drone whose blades have to spin 2,000-3,000 RPM to achieve lift in the thin Martian atmosphere.
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And here's a few paragraphs from Jumper 5: Vector.
Above the table a hexagonal array of outward facing flat screens lit up as the tech moved the single page beneath a camera pickup.
I cleared my throat. “This picture was taken at 12.75 degrees below the equator, 288.596 degree longitude. The camera is pointed south-southwest. In the background you can see the bluffs rising three kilometers from the bottom of the Valles Marineris up to the Solus Planum. The near background shows the basaltic sand dunes of the Melas Chasma.”
Almost as an afterthought, I added, “That’s me in the foreground.”
Although the suit I was wearing in the picture had my usual skin-tight mechanical counter-pressure inner layer and the scuff resistant coveralls I was wearing now, it looked more like a traditional, bulky NASA spacesuit in the photo because there were also multiple thermal-insulation layers; a layer of hydrogen-rich, polymeric, nanocomposite radiation shielding; and a disposable Tyvek hazmat suit over all.
You couldn’t see any of my usual Apex Orbital or sponsor patches on my coveralls underneath all the extra layers, but the sun-protective glare visor was up and my face was clearly visible through the polycarbonate helmet.
“So, yes. We feel pretty confident that we can achieve Martian orbit.”
There was a lot of shouting, mostly from the press seats, and it took quite a while for Dr. Kannambadi to restore order.
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Comments
I must admit I am far more of a proponent of Lunar development than Mars, and even more of a proponents of going after these guys: 2006 RH120, 2010 VQ98, 2007 UN12, 2010 UE51, 2008 EA9, 2011 UD21, 2009 BD, 2008 UA 202, 2011 BL45, 2011 MD, 2000 SG344 and 1991 VG. These are twelve asteroids that could be moved into Earth/Moon Lagrangian points with velocity changes less than 500 meters per second. Not only is this a good start on resource extraction, it offers great science on the origins of the Solar System. And it gives us the technology and practice to prevent potential Extinction Level Events from Earth-colliding asteroids and comets. I'm all for human Mars exploration, too, but not as our first priority.
Steven Gould
2021-02-26 21:31:19 +0000 UTCWhy go to Mars? It has no minerals, plants, or scenery to justify the cost, time, and resources to get there. And back. Let's not forget the Back! Mars has one thing we can't get on Earth: potential knowledge. Geological (or rather areological) knowledge could (emphasis COULD) help us better find valuable Earthly minerals and understand matters like erosion processes. Biological knowledge could be improved by finding life or life precursors on Mars. I am moderately optimistic about that last. A good deal of research has been done in chemical pathways to life. Some of it suggests that given a fairly ordinary collection of elements and conditions there are several pathways. So life or life precursors are almost inevitable. Or so the argument goes. Research on Mars may further that argument. Or contradict it, which would be useful knowledge also.
Laer
2021-02-24 16:11:50 +0000 UTCI tried hard. Obviously the development of an MCP suit goes back to Hans Mauch:1959-62 (creating counterpressure closed cell foams which expanded in a vacuum) and then Paul Web:1968-71 (who used newer developments in elastic materials,) Both worked in vacuum chambers. Webb's longest test was 2 hrs 45 minutes. But they didn't have access to electroactive polymers.
Steven Gould
2021-02-23 19:30:24 +0000 UTCExo rekindled my passion in our exploration into space. I've barely missed a live launch of a SpaceX flight (and few others) since I read it. I really can't wait to see where this series goes; I have been speculating a lot and am keen to see how right (or wrong) I've been.
Michael Wolff
2021-02-23 10:13:58 +0000 UTCI worked on NASA's spacesuit team for a few months, one of well over a hundred people. You'll be happy to know that YOUR spacesuit is very convincing!
Laer
2021-02-19 22:44:42 +0000 UTCThis is incredibly exciting!!!
Blake Moody
2021-02-19 02:23:08 +0000 UTCJumper 5 looks to be quite interesting. Looking forward to it! Also, I hope that the expanded exploration of Mars will turn up a lot of new information. Always wished, when I was a child, that I would be able to visit Mars in person.
Elizabeth Bennefeld
2021-02-19 01:14:09 +0000 UTCI'm so excited for Jumper 5, just as excited as I was to get up early this morning (I'm Australian) and watch Perseverance touch down on Mars. I just want to say thank you for allowing me to support one of my favourite authors and most definitely my all time favourite series of books.
2021-02-19 01:10:55 +0000 UTCJumper 5! Very excited to see how the space program is faring.
Chad Henderson
2021-02-19 01:07:38 +0000 UTC
