NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover - Why is Mars so interesting?

What is the issue?

• NASA's Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover touched down on the Martian surface.
• In this context, here is a look at Perseverance Rover’s plan and also why Mars remains so interesting for scientific experiments and exploration.

How had Mars Science been in the past?

• 1960s - From the time of the first generation missions in the 1960s, the world has come a very long way in understanding Mars.
• The Viking missions in the mid-seventies carried out the first chemical analysis of Martian soil.
  • It also did four biology experiments to detect biological activity.
• The experiments did not yield any conclusive evidence of life.
• 1980s - In the early 1980s, scientists hypothesised that certain meteorites might have a source region in Mars, in contrast to the asteroid belt.
  • This was based on mineralogic composition and rock texture.
• In 1984, a study showed that the isotopic composition of rare gases (Xenon, Krypton, Neon and Argon) matched the isotopic ratios of the Martian atmosphere measured by the Viking spacecraft.
• This discovery provided a way for geochemists to study Martian samples.
• It provided a huge boost to the understanding of the geochemical evolution of Mars.
• 2000s - Mars was considered to be a dry planet in the 20th century.
• This changed in 2001, when the Gamma Ray Spectrometer on board the Mars Odyssey spacecraft detected a fascinating hydrogen signature.
  • It seemed to indicate the presence of water ice.
• But there was ambiguity, as hydrogen can be part of many other compounds as well, including organic compounds.
• To test for the presence of water, NASA sent a spacecraft to land near the Martian South Pole in 2007.
• The spacecraft studied the soil around the lander with its robotic arm.
• It was able to establish, without any ambiguity, the presence of water on Mars for the first time.
• The Curiosity rover carries an instrument called SAM (or Sample Analysis at Mars).
• It contains a suite of spectrometers with the goal of detecting organic compounds on Mars.
• SAM has a mass spectrometer that can measure not just the elements, but the isotopes as well.
• This instrument has made the fascinating discovery of large chain organic compounds on Mars.
• It is not known how these organics form on Mars.
  • The process would likely be inanimate.
  • But there is a possibility that such complex molecules were formed by processes associated with life.
• Mars Insight is creating history right now, by monitoring seismic activity and heat flow on Mars.
  • This will help understand the composition of the Martian interior.

Why is Mars so interesting to scientists?

• First, Mars is a planet where life may have evolved in the past.
• Conditions on early Mars roughly around 4 billion years ago were very similar to that of Earth.
• It had a thick atmosphere, which enabled the stability of water on the surface of Mars.
• If indeed conditions on Mars were similar to those on Earth, there is a real possibility that microscopic life evolved on Mars.
• Second, Mars is the only planet that humans can visit or inhabit in the long term.
• Venus and Mercury have extreme temperatures – the average temperature is greater than 400 degree C.
• All planets in the outer solar system starting with Jupiter are made of gas – not silicates or rocks – and are very cold.
• Mars is comparatively hospitable in terms of temperature, with an approximate range between 20 degrees C at the Equator to minus 125 degrees C at the poles.

Why is Perseverance Rover significant?

• Perseverance addresses both the critical themes around Mars:
  1. the search for life
  2. a human mission to Mars
• It is not just another Rover Mission but the most advanced, most expensive and most sophisticated mobile laboratory sent to Mars.
• The results of the experiments on Perseverance will likely define the next couple of decades of Mars exploration.
• It will determine the course of search for life and a future manned mission to Mars.

What all will the Perseverance Rover accomplish?

• Sample Return Mission - Perseverance is the first step in a multi-step project to bring samples back from Mars.
• The study of the returned rock samples will hopefully provide a decisive answer on whether life existed on Mars in the past.
• Here are the steps in the Sample Return:
  • Collect rock and soil samples in 43 cigar-sized tubes - samples will be collected, the canisters will be sealed, and left on the ground
  • Mars Fetch Rover (provided by the European Space Agency) - land, drive, and collect all samples from different locations, and return to the lander
  • The Fetch Rover will then transfer the canisters to the Ascent Vehicle.
  • The Mars Ascent Vehicle will meet with an Orbiter after which the Orbiter will carry the samples back to Earth.
• This long-term project is called MSR or Mars Sample Return.
• MSR will revolutionise our understanding of the evolutionary history of Mars.
• If MSR is successfully executed, it will tell a reasonable answer of whether there was microscopic life on Mars.
• But MSR does have its risks.
  • If one of the components fails, like the Fetch Rover or the Mars Ascent Vehicle, MSR is doomed.
  • A hidden risk is strategic. At the cost of MSR, there could be 5-10 spacecraft missions to different parts of the solar system.
• Producing oxygen on Mars: A technology and infrastructure in place to manufacture oxygen on Mars using raw materials available on Mars, is crucial to make a human mission to Mars at reasonable cost.
• Perseverance will have an instrument – MOXIE, or Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilisation Experiment.
• This will use 300 watts of power to produce about 10 grams of oxygen using atmospheric carbon dioxide.
• Should this experiment be successful, MOXIE can be scaled up by a factor of 100 to provide the two very critical needs of humans:
  1. oxygen for breathing
  2. rocket fuel for the trip back to Earth

• Looking for underground water on Mars: Perseverance will carry the Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Experiment (RIMFAX).
• RIMFAX will provide high resolution mapping of the subsurface structure at the landing site.
• The instrument will also look for subsurface water on Mars.
  • If found, it would greatly help the case for a human mission or the cause of a human settlement on Mars.
• Testing a helicopter to fly on Mars: The Mars Helicopter is really a small drone.
• It is a technology demonstration experiment, to test whether the helicopter can fly in the sparse atmosphere on Mars.
• The low density of the Martian atmosphere makes the odds of actually flying a helicopter or an aircraft on Mars very low.

Source: The Indian Express