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Curiosity’s Journey to Mars

Our Agenda Today

• Mysterious canals

• The first spacecraft to visit

• What is life?

• Experiments on the MSL

• How do we ‘fly’ to Mars

• Landing profile

• What will we find?

• Quiz at the end…Journey to Mars 2

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1877 Giovanni Schiaparelli

What Did Schiaparelli See?

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First Images of Mars Mariner 4 Spacecraft 1965

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Mariner 9 —1971• Orbited Mars• Imaged entire planet.• A bit more earth-like

erosion patterns

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What is Mars Like?• Diameter 3,400 KM (4,200 miles)• Atmospheric pressure .9 kPa (.2” hg)

• Atmospheric composition 95% CO2

• Is there Life?

What is Life?• 1965 NASA report; “An analysis of the

Extraterrestrial Life Detection Problem,” • Established five characteristics shared by virtually

all living things. – metabolism (assimilate food… eliminate waste)– growth– reproduction – movement – irritability

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Viking 1 & 2 1976 — First Landing

Temp min mean max − 87 °C −46 °C −5 C

−122 °F −50 °F +23 °F

Viking’s Search for Life—1976

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Pyrolytic Release ExperimentGas Exchange Experiment

Inconclusive!

Previous Spacecraft

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Phoenix 2008 800 lbs Airbag-mediated Touchdown

Pathfinder/Sojourner 1997 23 lbs

Opportunity & Spirit 2004 408 lbs

Landing Sites

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Mars Science Laboratory—Curiosity Launched November 2011 Will land August 2012

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Mars Science Laboratory

• Assess if Mars ever had an environment capable of supporting microbial life.

• Determine past habitability to give scientists a better understanding if life could have existed

• If it could have existed, an idea of where to look for it...– Where should we send a “sample

and return mission”?

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Equipment

Cameras:     MastCam   |   MAHLI   |   MARDI   

Spectrometers:     APXS   |   ChemCam   |   CheMin   |   SAM

 

Radiation Detectors:     RAD   |   DAN   

Environmental Sensors:     REMS   

Atmospheric Sensors:     MEDLI   

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Biological objectives:• Determine nature and inventory

of organic carbon compounds• Inventory chemical building

blocks of life (carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorous, and sulfur)

• Identify features that may represent effects of biological processes

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Geological and geochemical objectives:

• Investigate chemical, isotopic, and mineralogical composition of Martian surface geological materials

• Interpret processes that have formed and modified rocks and soils

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Planetary process objectives:• Assess long-timescale

(i.e., 4-billion-year) atmospheric evolution processes

• Determine present state, distribution, and cycling of water and carbon dioxide

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Surface radiation objective:

• Characterize broad spectrum of surface radiation, including galactic cosmic radiation, solar proton events, and secondary neutrons

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Cameras• Mast Camera (Mastcam)

– color video of Martian terrain. create panoramas of landscape around rover; view frost and weather phenomena; and support driving and sampling operations

• Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI)– close-up views of minerals, textures, and structures in rocks and surface

layer. to 12.5 micrometers, diameter of human hair.

• Mars Descent Imager (MARDI)– Following heatshield jettison produces 5-frames/sec high-res overhead

views of landing local site environment.– help planners select optimum path of exploration provide larger geologic

context surrounding landing site. determine spacecraft's precise location.

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(MEDLI Integrated Sensor Plugs)

• Spacecraft generates extreme heat during entry into the Martian atmosphere,

• MISP will measure how hot it gets at different depths in the spacecraft's heat-shield material.

• Predicted about 3X higher than the Space Shuttle

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MEADS (Mars Entry Atmospheric Data System)

• Measures atmospheric pressure on the heat shield at 7 locations during entry and descent through Mars' atmosphere.

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Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS)

• Will detect elemental composition more quickly and work both day and night.

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Chemistry & Camera (ChemCam)• From 7 meters, able to

rapidly identify rocks,• determine composition

of soils and pebbles;• measure chemical

elements, including those hazardous to humans;

• recognize ice and minerals with water molecules in their crystal structures

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Chemistry & Mineralogy X-Ray Diffraction Instrument (CheMin)

• Identify and measure abundances of minerals on Mars.

• A rotating wheel in the center of the rectangular housing carries individual rock and soil samples for chemical analysis.

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Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM)

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• Three instruments take up half science payload. • Search for compounds of carbon (i.e. methane) associated with life

• Explore ways they are generated and destroyed in the Martian ecosphere.

Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD)

• Looks skyward to measure galactic cosmic rays and solar particles that pass through the Martian atmosphere.

• Allow scientists to calculate effect radiation has on humans exposed on the surface of Mars.

• Assess hazard presented by radiation to potential microbial life, past and present,

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Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN)

• Water (liquid or frozen) absorbs neutrons more than other substances.

• DAN uses this trait to search for subsurface ice on Mars. Russian Federal Space Agency

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Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons (DAN) (Russia)

• Can detect water content as low as 1/10 of 1 %• Focus neutron beam 2 meters below surface before

being absorbed by hydrogen atoms in subsurface ice.• Near the poles, scientists estimate water ice makes up

30 percent to 50 percent of shallow subsurface deposits. • If the beam encounters a layer of water ice, DAN will

detect a relatively greater number of slower neutrons • If there are no ice layers or water-logged minerals

beneath the surface, DAN will detect a relatively greater amount of faster neutrons.

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Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS-Spain)

• Provide daily reports on atmospheric pressure, humidity, ultraviolet radiation, wind speed and direction, air temperature, and ground temperature

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How do we get the MSL to

Mars?

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Atlas V Launch Vehicle 541

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1800 lbs lands on Mars

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Sun

Earth

Earth’s Rotation

Earth Orbit

Mars Orbit

Mars

Martian Orbit Compared to Earth

93 million miles

365 Day Period

66,000 mph

142 million miles

687 Day Period

53,000 mph

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Earth’s Rotation

Mars Orbit

Mars

Mars

Hohmann Transfer Orbit to Mars

Mars at Conjunction

Mars at Opposition

Sun

1

2

3

6

7

9

12

1

2

4

67

9

11

Earth

Earth Orbit

Mars

Typical transit time 9 months

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Sun

Earth

Earth’s Rotation

Earth Orbit

Mars Orbit

Mars

Relative position at time of Curiosity launch

Path of Spacecraft

Hohmann Transfer Orbit to to Mars

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Sun

Earth Orbit

Mars Orbit

Mars

Earth

Relative position at time of Curiosity Arrival at Mars

Path of Spacecraft

Hohmann Transfer Orbit to to Mars

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Where is the MSL-Curiosity now?

Gale Crater

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Landing on Mars—A Complex procedure

MSL-Curiosity Payload

Configuration

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Atmospheric Entry

(Phase I)

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Parachute (phase II)

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Powered Descent (Phase III)

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Exploring Mars… what will we find?

Some Questions

1. Why were the first photos of Mars taken from Mariner 4 in 1965 ‘disappointing’?

2. What are the five attributes of life as defined by NASA?

3. Is Curiosity looking for ‘life’?

4. What are the three distinct segments of the landing phase?

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Our Agenda Today

• Mysterious canals

• The first spacecraft to visit

• What is life?

• Experiments on the MSL

• How do we ‘fly’ to Mars

• Landing profile

• What will we find?

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The unexpected?

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I’m your new First Sergeant!

I’ll tuck you in

tonight…

…to be continued…

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What will it take for Man to travel to Mars?

• Propulsion• Spacecraft• Electrical Power• Shielding from radiation• Life support for crew of

four

• Effect of weightlessness• Mars Landing• Habitation• Exploration• Return• Reentry to Earth’s

Atmosphere

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Sun

Earth

Earth’s Rotation

Earth Orbit

Mars Orbit

Mars

Mars

EarthRelative position at time of Curiosity launch

Relative position at time of Curiosity Arrival at Mars

Path of Spacecraft

Hohmann Transfer Orbit to to Mars

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• Temperature min mean max

− 87 °C −46 °C −5 °C

−122 °F −50 °F +23 °F

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