Exploring Space: Images from NASA

In the solar system, the planet Mars is Earth’s “nearest” neighbor. So, what is Mars like? Does it have water? Could it sustain life? People have asked questions like these for centuries. In 2003, NASA - seeking answers - spent some of its taxpayer dollars by sending unmanned spacecraft with exploration rovers  to the “red planet.”

Getting to Mars, even in today’s world of sophisticated rocket travel, is no easy task. If a spacecraft safely arrived in the Martian atmosphere - about 306 million miles away - how would it slow down enough to successfully send its rovers to the planet’s surface? Would those “robot geologists” land without damage?

If the rovers arrived intact, and exited their lander without incident, what happens if one (or both) somehow tipped over? What if some of their numerous interior parts failed? How does one plan remedies for seemingly endless contingencies?

NASA’s various teams and contractors worked on difficult issues for some time before two missions were successfully launched in the summer of 2003. It took about seven months for each spacecraft to reach Mars. When it was time to send the spacecraft through the Martian atmosphere, project managers on Earth - communicating with the spacecraft through the “Deep Space Network” -  endured “Six Minutes of Terror” as they guided the spacecraft through the tremendous heat of entry.

After entry, the rovers had to descend to the Martian surface. Then, with airbags in place - to soften impact when they arrived - they parachuted to their landing site, hitting the surface at the speed of “40 Gs.” At the moment of impact, the “packages” bounced - repeatedly - until they reached a final point of rest.

Along the way, anything could have happened to interfere with a successful mission. What if the parachutes didn’t open? At that time, no one was sure about the appearance of the landing terrain. What if jagged edges, along the ground, had ripped airbags at touch down? Fortunately, a rover named Spirit (MER-A) landed in early January, 2004, and Opportunity (MER-B) landed three weeks later.

Designed for both travel to Mars, and exploration once they arrived, the compact rovers needed nine days after landing to assemble themselves on the Martian surface. After checking all of its systems, the rover is ready to be “on its own.”  Project managers, back on Earth, hold their collective breaths - once again.

Both rovers were designed for flat terrain. After Spirit was deployed on the Martian surface, however, it sent images to NASA. The terrain wasn’t flat! And...one of the rovers got stuck in the sand, requiring its controllers - more than 300 million miles away - to figure out how to free it.

Notwithstanding myriad challenges, the hoped-for Martian exploration  of ninety days has become a three-year-plus sojourn.  Through it all, both Spirit and Opportunity - exploring on opposite sides of Mars - have performed  well beyond everyone’s expectations. So have their teams on Earth.

In August of 2005, NASA launched  another visitor - the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter  - to the red planet. Arriving the following March, the Orbiter now sends wonderful images  to Earth while “keeping an eye” (this is a NASA animation) on  Spirit and Opportunity.

While this activity is occurring on Mars, other explorations are underway at the planet with rings: Saturn. Let’s take a virtual space-visit there, to see what’s going on.