No Fragments Archive 10: Diskmags/nf_archive_10.iso/MAGS/MEGA/MEGA_02A.MSA/ISSUE_2.PAK/MARS.PK1/MARS.PK1

Text File | 1998-03-24 | 18KB | 294 lines

                                   MARS SURFACE EXPLORATION


     One  question  that  is  being  asked  by people is, "Why go to Mars"?  The
reasons are very simple.  People want to gain recognition of how they  were  the
first  people  who  went  to  Mars  and  opened  up  a  whole new world and most
importantly to move forward in economics.

     As humans waste the precious materials and resources found on  this  planet
we  have  to consider going to other planets to explore for materials and energy
resources.  Mars would be the first area for industrial development  and  mining
in the "new world".

     There  are  talks  that by the end of this century that a manned mission to
Mars should take place.  We must start preparing ourselves properly in order  to
explore  Mars better. Scientists and researchers hopes when exploring Mars is to
find interesting minerals or matter that will help us understand what  Mars  was
like millions and millions of years ago.

     The  first  manned  mission  to  Mars will be more complex then that of the
first Moon landing which the main goal for going to the Moon was  to  just  land
safely.    The  main  thing  that researchers and scientists are striving for is
exploratory, searching for useful raw materials such as water and  at  the  same
time  building  up  an  extensive  scientific  picture  of Mars-its state at the
present moment, its history and what the future developments are  going  to  be.

     As  astronauts journey to Mars and finally reach there the main concern and
top priority when landing will be the astronauts safety.   There  will  be  more
flexibility when choosing a landing site.  The astronauts will decide where they
want  to land but must take into consideration that the roving vehicles would be
able to provide extended range when travelling on the surface of Mars. This most
probably would ensure that the sites that are in the scientists  interest  would
easily be accessible.

     Possible  landing  sites  must  be chosen under one goal, that would be the
overall understanding of the surface and not by a place that looks attractive or
has special features even if they seem alluring.  The things  that  have  to  be
taken in account for possible landing sites are:

-  guaranteeing  that  the  explorers  will  touch  down  at  the place which is
specified; - choosing a place where possible interesting geological features may
be found; - choosing an area where rocks have recently been exposed; - a certain
area must be specified of where the roving vehicles may go.

     Regions on Mars that have extensive dune fields and barely any bedrock, the
surface mobilities should be within a few kilometres to guarantee  that  samples
can  be obtained without any difficulty.  Landing sites that have easy access to
more than one type of interesting terrain has  an  advantage  but  unfortunately
these  sites  lean  to  be more on the rough side and might pose to be a weighty
hazard and obstacles might be in the way of roving vehicles.

     There are a possible of ten prime landing sites that might be chosen when a
manned mission to Mars has taken place.  The Kasei and Mangala valles  are  made
up  of striking features which seem to have channels that are evidently engraved
by flowing water from the past.  Extensive  studies  would  provide  significant
clues  to why Mars lost reserves of water.  These locations would offer and give
explorers a big advantage as this area is  close  to  the  large  volcanoes  and
volcanic  plains  that  are  near  the  equator,  which will have affected their
geology a tremendous deal.

     There are other riveting sites other than these, but they are difficult  to
reach  for  a  manned mission to Mars.  The Polar region sites are precluded for
manned missions because fuel would  be  expensive  to  change  form  an  initial
parking orbit to a tilted orbit in order to make it possible to land there. With
non-polar  sites,  it  would  be  difficult  to  land on a gigantic volcanoes or
canyons.  The problems with visiting the southern hemisphere regions is that  it
is  less  attractive  then  the northern hemisphere and the terrain is much more
rougher.  These areas are also the origin of dust  storms  and  if a  spacecraft
were  to land there it would be foolish. Although these regions are not going to
be explored by explorers, at a later time  or  date  they  will  be  visited  by
long-range    vehicles,   with  men  or  without,  sent  from  bases  elsewhere.

     Once the space craft has landed on the Mars and a go-ahead for a long  stay
has  been given the crew they will eat and rest for their venture on the surface
the next day.  As walkers emerge onto Mars they will have to lower visors  which
is  coated  with  a  thin,  transparent  layer  of  gold which eliminates unsafe
ultraviolet radiation.

     As they emerge on the surface they will go around their spacecraft and look
for any damage done and then will grab soil samples in case the  explorers  have
to  make a quick retreat.  At the same time they will unload a roving vehicle in
which they will travel.

     On foot, explorers would be able to cover a little more  than a  mile  from
the  base  that  they  would  have set up.  If rovers (land vehicles) were taken
along then more area could be covered during exploring the planet and then would
easily be able carried back to their base.

     When travelling across the Martian surface there will be many  difficulties
encountered by the explorers when using the roving vehicles. On a manned mission
there  will  be two kinds of roving vehicles one for smooth surfaces and one for
not so smooth surfaces in an  effort  to  increase  the  range  of  exploration.
Unmanned  rovers  might  have  the  same  idea as the Soviet rover which has six
wheels, nuclear-powered design and weighing  several  hundred  pounds  and  each
rover  would be equipped with a standard set of sensors. Several rovers would be
dispatched and controlled possiblly by an orbiting satellite. After the crew has
left Mars the rover would still probe around Mars and collect samples. The rover
would be controlled from earth.

     Larger manned rovers will also be needed for transporting up to six hundred
and eighty kilogram loads on forty kilometre journeys round trip. They should be
able to go over twenty degree slopes and be able to  climb  one  foot  boulders.
Even  these rovers would be limited.  For more vast exploration a vehicle with a
laboratory would be sent.  The weight of the rover would be between four to five
tons but it would be able to transport two or three crew members for as long  as
thirty days.  The range of the rover would be 100 kilometres from their base and
reach  speeds  up  to  thirty-two  kilometres  per  hour  and  carry two tons of
equipment.  In the Soviet unmanned mission to Mars balloons  will  be  essential
when  the  soviets arrive there. They have many advantages such as being simple,
cheap and light and would be able to cover thousands of kilometres of land  in a
few weeks. After each balloon is unpacked the crew would test its instruments by
plugging  it  into standard test equipment and then attach a thin plastic object
to it and inflate it with helium which would be in a pressure  bottle  and  then
release  the  balloon  and  let  it  drift  independently.  The heights that the
balloon could be able to reach would depend on its volume,  the  weight  of  the
payload  that  is  in  the balloon and the atmospheric temperature which changes
during the course of the day.

     Later Manned Mars missions  would  have  planes  to  explore  the  surface.
Studies  have  shown  that  a  powered aircraft would be able to drop scientific
packages, penetrators and even deliver materials  needed  by  parties  that  are
exploring the planet.

     After  landing  on  Mars  the crew would bolt together the plane.  It would
look like large powered glider and would be launched by a catapult  or  rockets.
The  plane would have fifteen horse power engine and it would be driven by steam
which  would  be   generated   by   the   chemical   breakdown   of   hydrazine.

     The  tremendous benefit of having a Mars plane is that it can be reused, it
would be easy to manoeuvre and the range the plane  would  be  able  to  travel.
Maybe one day in a future mission planes would be able to glide over the surface
of    the    planet    which   would  benefit  scientific  surface  exploration.

     When the  explorers  are  on  the  planet  their  days  will  be  long  and
exhausting.    Human  explorers can explore more efficiently and more thoroughly
than robots can.  Humans are more adaptable than robots.  Humans would  be  able
to  assess a huge assortment of situations faster and would be able to adjust to
their actions accordingly to what has to be done.  A  trained  geologist  with a
rock  hammer  can  accumulate  more  samples  that would be available around the
planet in an hour than an automated  rover  would  be  able  to  do  in a  year.

     Humans  will  be extremely valuable in the search for life on the planet. A
professional astronaut would have the skills to  easily  spot a  protected  site
that  would  be favourable to life. An example of this would be a spot sheltered
by a rock. Equipment which is automatic  that  astronauts  have  is  better  for
things  like, repetitive measurements which would be stretched over long periods
of time.

     Scientific research will be divided into two main categories.  There  would
be  a  day  to day exploration by the astronauts which would have more difficult
tasks. They would also be responsible  for  long-term  monitoring  by  automatic
packages    which    would    be   left  behind  when  they  leave  the  planet.

     The main concern for the astronauts would be  geological  investigation  of
the  planet.   There might be one or more geologists in a mission to Mars. Teams
of geologists at mission control will plan exploration traverses  by  using  the
orbiter's  to take pictures of the surface.  These pictures will produce a route
map that would help the astronauts while they  are  exploring  the  planet.  The
astronauts  will  not be just responsible to collect samples and bring them home
but also they must study  the  rocks  while  on  the  planet  and  conduct  some
analyses.

     The  things  that  astronauts  are  looking for is the chemical and mineral
composition of the rocks which would provide them with the  information  on  the
geological  history  of  Mars,  at  which places were the rocks formed, at which
temperatures and pressures were they formed, development of the  atmosphere  and
the  history  of water on Mars.  Necessary information will be profited from the
rocks that are on the surface, but  when  drilling  deep  into  the  ground  and
dislodging  the  rock, it will uncover the historical development of the regions
geology.

     Each day the astronauts job will be to set on the surface in a rover  which
would contain standard geological tools like hammers, chisels, rakes, sieves and
tongs  which  would  enable  them  to  pick up essential rocks even if they seem
awkward to pick up with their space suits on.  Connected to  their  space  suits
there will be a gnomon.  This unique device is like a tripod with a free-hanging
central  rod,  which  is  able  to  photograph  against each sample before it is
dislocated from the surface so the exact location is  know  to  the  astronauts.
This  photograph  shows  the  scale  of each of the objects removed, slop of the
ground and its shadow that indicates the direction of the Sun. A colour  pattern
will  be  attached  to  the  photograph  which  allow  scientists  on  Earth  to
reconstruct the colours which surround  the  object  removed.  This  is  crucial
because    cameras  sometimes  tend  to  distort  the  colour  to  some  degree.

     After each sample  is  photographed  their  locations  would  be  carefully
written  down.  The astronaut will then place the samples in hermetically sealed
containers.  Geologists would highly recommend that a percentage of  the  sample
be  kept  refrigerated  at  Marslike  temperatures to prevent the soil sample to
change on the way back to earth.  The astronauts  rover  would  stop  every  few
hundred feet and soil samples would be tested automatically.

     Drilling  around  the  planet would be carried out on a regular basis. This
would be one of the astronauts most  vigorous  activities.   The  rover  of  the
astronaut  will  carry  electrical powered drills and a supply of aluminium tube
sections.  The drill will be similar to jack-hammers  used  in  construction  on
Earth.    The  drill  will be powered by a compressor using Mars' carbon dioxide
atmosphere.

     Mars' internal structure will be better understood when scientists find out
the rate of heat flow  from  the  interior.   A  method  of  doing  this  is  by
thermometers  which  would be placed at different depths of Mars. Little heaters
would be positioned near thermometers which would reveal how heat flows  through
the material that makes up the surface layers.

     Most  probably  on  a trip to Mars there will be complicated apparatus' for
extensive analyses of soil.  An electron scanning microscope would  probably  be
used  to look for any tiny fossils and aid in hopes of distinguish any minerals.
An X-ray fluorescence spectrometer will be used to record the X-rays emitted  by
materials  when  they are irradiated by a radioactive source which will discover
the materials present.  There also will be a combined gas  chromatography  and a
mass  spectrometer  which will separate and measure the gases that is driven off
when a sample is heated

     When humans and rovers finally get to the poles, their top priority will be
to get samples of the core which will be taken from the layers  of  deposits  of
ice  and  dust  (which  is  millions  of years old).  This would probably have a
record of how the climate  has  changed  over  hundreds  of  million  of  years.

     There  are  numerous  fascinating  surface  structures  of  Mars  and  when
explorers do go to Mars it will be interesting  to  see  what  information  they
bring back about the places that have already been identified and the things and
places  that  remain  a  mystery to us.  These places include the volcanoes, the
north and south poles of Mars,  the  equatorial  canyons,  the  unique  craters,
basins  etc.    All  these  places  when  studied  will  help  us  get  a better
understanding of the planet which has amazed us from pictures  that  were  taken
from non manned missions.

     The  volcanoes on the planet are the most startling features of Mars. There
are many volcanoes on Mars but the most sensational is found near the equatorial
region of Tharsis.  On the planet,  volcanoes  have  been  around  much  of  the
planet's history.  The general shape hints that eruptions of fluid lava has very
small  amounts  of  ash  in  it.    The  chemical composition of the terrestrial
volcanoes on the planet shows that lava and the  rate  at  which  the  volcanoes
erupted affected the volcanoes's final structure.

     The  craters  of  Mars  have  a huge ranges from little as a several meters
across to huge broad basins which are up to hundreds of kilometres in  diameter.
The  southern hemisphere contains hardly any craters which is visible but in the
northern hemisphere there an abundant amount of craters.

     There are about sixteen basins on Mars each one larger  than0  two  hundred
and  fifty  kilometres  in diameter somewhere on the surface of Mars. Each basin
appears to be vast and multi-ringed. Some basins are fairly new but  the  others
are significantly old which look considerable eroded

     There are many striking features of Mars but we must understand the dilemma
that  is  on Mars about the water.  There are many things on the surface of Mars
that look like water channels.  Many years ago  scientists  thought  that  these
channels  were  made  by  erosion,  by  lava,  or the wind might have made these
channels but this no longer holds true today. Scientists  know  that  water  did
once    exist    in    huge    quantities  by  the  visible  channels  of  Mars.

     We have found out that water did once exist on Mars but where  has  it  all
gone?    Unfavourable scientists can only take a guess by what is know about the
planet and then estimate at how much water Mars once had, how much of the  water
escaped  on  the  surface  and  how  much  of  it  is  hidden  to the naked eye.

     The amount of water that is on Mars is negligible.  The polar caps of  Mars
contain some water but they are mixed with frozen carbon dioxide and dust so the
quantity  of  water  is  not known.  The permafrost underground is another water
supply.  The colder the conditions of Mars  then  the  more  chance  of  finding
permafrost under the surface of Mars.  There are estimates that at the poles the
permafrost  is  well up to eight kilometres thick and lie just a few centimetres
below the surface.  Near the equator the permafrost is estimated to  be  up  to,
two to three kilometres thick and just a few metres deep.

     When  a  trip  to  Mars  takes  place  and  in the near future it will many
scientist, researchers and the people will be excited to learn what  the  planet
is  like.  There are many fascinating things on Mars that still remain a mystery
today and a manned mission  to  Mars  will  help  us  unravel  these  mysteries.



BIBLIOGRAPHY  Asimov,  Isaac.  MARS,  The Red Planet. New York: Lothrop, Lee and
Shepard Company. 1977

Asimov,  Isaac.  MARS:  Our  Mysterious  Neighbor.  Milwaukee:  Gareth   Stevens
publishing.  1988

Simon,    Seymour.       MARS.  New  York:  William  Morrow  and  Company.  1987

Frank Miles and Nicholas  Booth.   Race  to  Mars.  New  York:  Harper  and  Row
publishers.  1988