modern exploration mars odyssey

Modern ExplorationMars Odyssey

NASA’s theme for Mars exploration, “Follow the Water”, began with the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission

Odyssey, and every mission since, has addressed the Mars programs’ four goals: Determine whether life ever arose on Mars Characterize the climate of Mars Characterize the geology of Mars Prepare for human exploration

Modern ExplorationMars Odyssey

Objectives: Determine the abundance of hydrogen, most likely in the

form of water ice, in the shallow subsurface Globally map the elements that make up the surface Acquire high-resolution thermal infrared images of surface

minerals Provide information about the structure of the Martian surface Record the radiation environment in low Mars orbit as it

relates to radiation-related risk to human exploration

Modern ExplorationOdyssey

Launched April 7, 2001; arrived October 24, 2001

3 instruments: Thermal Emission Imaging

System (THEMIS); mineralogy Gamma Ray Spectrometer

(GRS); elemental composition Martian Radiation

Environment Experiment (MARIE)

Modern ExplorationOdyssey

Launched April 7, 2001; arrived October 24, 2001

3 instruments: Thermal Emission Imaging

System (THEMIS); mineralogy Gamma Ray Spectrometer

(GRS); elemental composition Martian Radiation

Environment Experiment (MARIE)

Modern ExplorationOdyssey

Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Modern ExplorationOdyssey

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Modern ExplorationOdyssey

Notable results from Odyssey Evidence for vast amounts of subsurface water ice at both

polar regions Can you see it?

Modern ExplorationOdyssey

Modern ExplorationOdyssey

Notable results from Odyssey Evidence for vast amounts of subsurface water ice at both

polar regions Can you see it? Where is it? Underneath the surface but… How deep? Is it dirty ice? Or icy dirt?

Modern ExplorationOdyssey

How is Odyssey advancing scientific understanding of Mars? Water-ice exists underneath the surface in the polar regions,

not just at the poles

What technological advance(s) does Odyssey carry? GRS; able to “look” below the surface

Modern ExplorationMars Reconnaissance Orbiter

“MRO is basically a spy satellite orbiting Mars.”

Modern ExplorationMRO

Objectives: Characterize the present climate of Mars and how the climate

changes from season-to-season and year-to-year Characterize Mars’ global atmosphere and monitor its

weather Investigate complex terrain on Mars and identify water-

related landforms Search for sites showing stratigraphic or compositional

evidence of water or hydrothermal activity

Modern ExplorationMRO

Objectives: Probe beneath the surface for evidence of subsurface

layering, water and ice, and profile the internal structure of the polar ice caps

Identify and characterize sites with the highest potential for future missions that will land on Mars’ surface, including possible missions to collect samples for returning to Earth

Relay scientific information to Earth from Mars surface missions.

Modern ExplorationMRO

Launched August 12, 2005; arrived March 10, 2006Aerobraked for 6 months, settling into its mapping orbit

in November 2006

Modern ExplorationMRO

Instruments: High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE);

providing the highest-res images EVER (30 cm/pix) Context Camera (CTX); wide-angle imagery Mars Color Imager (MARCI) Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Mars Climate Sounder

(MCS); spectrometer Shallow Radar (SHARAD)

Modern ExplorationMRO

Instruments: High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE);

providing the highest-res images EVER (30 cm/pix) Context Camera (CTX); wide-angle imagery Mars Color Imager (MARCI) Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Mars Climate Sounder

(MCS); spectrometer Shallow Radar (SHARAD)

Modern ExplorationMRO Instruments:

High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE); providing the highest-res images EVER (30 cm/pix)

Context Camera (CTX); wide-angle imagery Mars Color Imager (MARCI) Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Mars Climate Sounder (MCS);

spectrometer Shallow Radar (SHARAD)

Modern ExplorationMRO

NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Rome/SwRI

Modern ExplorationMRO

All images courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Modern ExplorationMRO

All images courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Modern ExplorationMRO

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Modern ExplorationMRO

Notable results from MRO It’s difficult to list results considering MRO is ongoing So much data coming back it will take years to go through the

data, if it even all be analyzed (citizen science!!)

Modern ExplorationMRO

How is MRO advancing scientific understanding of Mars? This is also difficult Structure of ice cap Better selection of landing sites

What technological advance(s) does MRO carry? Highest-res camera EVER Radar allowing us to peer under the ice cap(s)

DIRTY ICE, ICY DIRT &MAPPING THE SURFACEOF MARS!!!

Modern ExplorationMars Phoenix Lander

“The Phoenix has risen!” - Peter Smith, August 4, 2007

Modern ExplorationPhoenix

Objectives: Study the history of water in the Martian arctic Search for evidence of a habitable zone and assess the

biological potential of the ice-soil boundary

Modern ExplorationPhoenix

Launched August 4, 2007; landed on May 25, 2008 on the northern arctic plains

Operated for ~6 months; unlike the MER rovers, Phoenix had no chance of surviving more than 6-7 months

First Mars mission run by a university – University of Arizona

Modern ExplorationPhoenix

Instruments: Surface Stereo Imager (SSI); surface images Thermal & Evolved Gas Analyzer (TEGA); organics detection Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer

(MECA); wet chemistry lab Robotic Arm (RA); sampling & imaging Robotic Arm Camera (RAC); imaging RA scoop before dumping

samples, imaging below the lander deck Meteorological Station (MET); daily weather, first LIDAR on Mars Mars Descent Imager (MARDI); take images as Phoenix was

landing

Modern ExplorationPhoenix

All images courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University

Modern ExplorationPhoenix

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Modern ExplorationPhoenix

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Modern ExplorationPhoenix

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Modern ExplorationPhoenix

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Modern ExplorationPhoenix

Notable results from Phoenix Confirmation of Odyssey/GRS measurements of subsurface

water-ice Detection of falling snow Evidence from atmospheric studies that liquid water once

flowed across the Martian surface Perchlorate (toxic) found in the soils; caused the soil to be

surprisingly sticky, very similar to soils in the Antarctic Dry Valleys

Modern ExplorationPhoenix

How did Phoenix advance scientific understanding of Mars? Science is on-going

What technological advance(s) did Phoenix carry? LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging)

Future Exploration

What are the big questions that will guide future investigations of Mars? Did life ever evolve on Mars? And, if so, does it still persist in

the near- or deep-subsurface? How does one reconcile the growing evidence that the

ancient valley networks of Mars were formed by rainfall yet early Martian climate models fail to produce conditions suitable for water to exist as a liquid?

Did early Mars have a northern ocean? Was the detection of methane in the Martian atmosphere real

or the product of observational error? If real, what is the source of that methane?

A Final Thought

Success rate of all missions to Mars:

1/3 or 33%

Success rate of US missions to Mars:

2/3 or 66%