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An artist’s representation of MAVEN in
orbit
Photo from lasp.colorado.edu/home/maven/
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As summer has
officially come to a close, on the forefront of everyone’s mind is the snowy
winter ahead of us. What I’d like you to think about today, however, is not a
change in weather, but rather a change in climate – and not here on Earth. If
you have been paying attention to the news this weekend, you might already be
aware that NASA’s latest Mars orbiter, MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile
Evolution), successfully reached its orbit just before 10:30 pm the evening of September 21, after 10 months of traveling through space. With global attempts at Mars
missions beginning in 1960, the past 54 years have seen just under a 60%
success rate. This includes fly-bys, orbiters, landers, rovers, and now, MAVEN.
Why has so much time, effort, and money been put into learning about Mars when
the success rate is so low? The simplest answer to this question is to
determine whether Mars once did, can currently, or will ever support life - but
it goes further than that.
Throughout all of the missions to
Mars, many differences have been observed between our home planet and the red
planet, yet many parallels can be drawn between the two. While the differences
have been able to change the human perception of how planets work, the
similarities have the potential to teach us more about our Earth. Does the past
of Mars look anything like present day Earth? If so, how did Mars come to be
what it is now? Could Earth be on a track towards the same fate? The MAVEN
spacecraft is another installation in mankind’s search for knowledge about Mars.
MAVEN’s primary goal is to help us understand the upper atmosphere and what
controls it. During the mission, the spacecraft will dip low enough in its
orbit to gather information where the lower and upper atmosphere meet -
providing data from the whole upper atmosphere. Through an understanding of the
upper atmosphere, we will be able to discern how it has changed and how those
changes may have impacted the surface of Mars. In conjunction with the rovers
on the surface of Mars (most notably Curiosity, which successfully landed in
August of 2012), MAVEN will put us one step closer to being able to answer the
questions listed above.
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An Artist’s Representation of Mangalyaan
Photo from http://www.isro.org/satellites/mars-orbiter-spacecraft
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In other news - just 3 days after MAVEN reached its
orbit, another triumph was made in space exploration – India’s first
interplanetary mission (another orbiter named Mangalyaan) successfully reached
its orbit around Mars. About 50 years ago, the ISRO (Indian Space Research
Organization) was founded, marking the beginning of India’s space program. When
looking at the history of missions to Mars, it is quite impressive that India’s
first attempt at Mars exploration was a success – a feat that no other space
program has been able to accomplish. What is even more impressive is how much
the mission cost; according to an article posted on
extremetech.com, the cost
of Mangalyaan in US dollars is about $74 million. This is just about 11% of the
cost of MAVEN, which rang in at around $672 million. Mangalyaan was primarily
intended as a demonstration of the technology India has acquired as opposed to pursuing
a specific research goal (like MAVEN). This accounts for the majority of the cost
disparity between the two; however, the idea that a successful Mars mission
could cost so little (when compared to previous missions) gives hope that a
future of more cost effective space exploration is possible.
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The MAVEN team at the launch site the
day before launch
Photo from lasp.colorado.edu/home/maven/
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The importance of the missions to
Mars isn’t limited to the knowledge gained, but encompasses the achievements of
mankind. These projects take upwards of 10 years to come to fruition, with
countless people working on them. Successful missions aid in the progress of
science while simultaneously displaying how far we have come as a species. To
be able to launch a spacecraft one night, knowing that 10 months later it will
be orbiting Mars is something that was inconceivable just under 400 years ago
when Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens discovered the planet.
For More Information about
Mangalyaan visit
isro.org
Keely Criddle
JMuse/Physics &
Astronomy Blogger 2014-2015
