MARS EXPLORATION PROGRAM NSTA/ITEA/NASA-NES ROBOTICS INSTITUTE

1. MARS EXPLORATION PROGRAM NSTA/ITEA/NASA-NES ROBOTICS INSTITUTE Sheri Klug Mars Space Flight Facility Arizona State University Jet Propulsion Laboratory

2. Earth / Mars Comparison

3. Earth Mars color shape shape polar caps polar caps color weather weather size life ? atmosphere magnetic field magnetic field life atmosphere size water temperature temperature water

4. Simple Facts About Mars Diameter:6794 km (53% of Earth - 4222 mi) Mars Day: 24 hours, 39.5 minutes Mars Year: 687 Earth Days Atmosphere: 95% carbon Dioxide, 3% nitrogen Gravity: 38% of Earth Temperature: -140C to 20C (-220F to 68F)

5. What is the main objective for the exploration of Mars? (Poll question)

6. MARS SCIENCE STRATEGY: Follow the Water! Common Thread Determine if Life Ever Arose on Mars LIFE CLIMATE Characterize the Climate Characterize the Geology GEOLOGY Prepare for Human Exploration HUMAN When? Where? Form? Amount?

7. Water is key to life as we know it on Earth.

8. Mars Exploration Program Timeline

9. How often does NASA launch a spacecraft to Mars? (Poll question)

10. Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) • MGS has returned more images than all past Mars missions combined… • so far!

11. Mars Odyssey • Science Results • Discovered water ice in the upper few feet of the surface, at near the poles • Tracked dramatic seasonal changes, such as the comings and goings of polar ice, clouds and dust storms. • Created maps showing radiation and minerals

12. Mars Exploration Rovers Opportunity Landed: January 24, 2004 Currently Sol 496 Spirit Landed: January 3, 2004 Currently Sol 517

13. Opportunity Rover Rolling Again!

14. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter represents the “next generation” of Mars orbiters.

15. MRO at Kennedy Space Center Clean Room

16. The Atlas V rocket will launch MRO into space.

17. Atlas 5 Rocket: Stage 1 blasts off from Earth and Stage 2 powers the spacecraft onto a precise trajectory toward Mars. Stage 2 Centaur engine Stage 1 Atlas booster MRO spacecraft Protective nose cone

18. As with any Mars mission, just getting to the target is half the battle. MRO has many obstacles to overcome…

19. Obstacle_01: Launch Sitting on top of a giant, controlled explosion, the spacecraft is subjected to intense vibration and incredible acoustic rumbling from the violent force of the rocket.

20. Obstacle_02: Cruise For seven months, the orbiter travels through the freezing vacuum of interplanetary space. Throughout the 300-million-mile journey, MRO is susceptible to damaging solar particles that can be spewed from the Sun without warning.

21. Obstacle_03: Orbit Insertion At the precise moment, MRO must execute a 25-minute rocket burn to slow down enough to be captured into orbit. As the spacecraft passes on the far side of Mars, engineers on Earth face complete radio silence. March_2006 < end orbit insertion < closest approach < start orbit insertion

22. Obstacle_04: Aerobraking Streaking across the Martian sky, MRO dips into the atmosphere to trim its orbit to the precise path. Come in too high, and the thin atmosphere isn’t enough to slow down the spacecraft… too low, and the intense friction destroys the spacecraft.

23. Obstacle_04: Aerobraking, Cont. This high-friction, high-intensity process repeats over 500 times! Each successive dip into the atmosphere tightens up the orbital path until the spacecraft is ready to begin its science mission.

24. In planning a mission to Mars, what is the most mission critical part of the procedure? (Poll question)

25. MRO – Searching for the Water SHARAD:Shallow Radar Instrument Objective: Penetrates the ground to search for water ice at depths greater than three feet. CRISM Spectrometer Objective: Analyzes the surface, creating a color map of mineral deposits that indicates where water recently lay.

26. Where is the next landing site for future habitat-seeking rover missions? CTX camera: Context camera Objective: Provides wide area views to give context to high-resolution data from other instruments. HiRISE camera: High-res camera Objective: Zooms in on landforms and debris in areas where water once flowed.

27. MRO will return a lot of data…. MRO will return 34 terabits of data -- equivalent to about 1,000 DVDs.

28. Classroom resources to reinforce STEM learning available Mars Robotics Education Poster & Activities http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/classroom

29. Rock Around The World ~ 6400 Rocks Received Send Us Your Rocks!

30. SCIENCE THROUGH ARTS & HUMANITIES The Imagine Mars Project is a science, technology and arts initiative that guides students to create a community on Mars. This program ties to NASA’s long-term vision for human exploration. Inner City Student Mars Mural On Elementary School Wall Students with Art Projects Student Concepts of Mars Colony Mars Gravity Science through Dance

31. Why is NASA interested in having students participate in their missions? (Poll question)

32. Mars Websites • http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov • http:marsed.asu.edu • http://msip.asu.edu • htttp://marsbound.asu.edu