7.3 Current Mars exploration missions and future plans

Mars exploration missions are pushing the boundaries of our understanding of the Red Planet. NASA's Perseverance rover and ESA's ExoMars program are at the forefront, searching for signs of ancient life and studying Mars' geology, atmosphere, and potential habitability.

These missions contribute to our knowledge of Mars' formation, evolution, and climate history. They analyze the planet's geology, atmosphere, and potential biosignatures, paving the way for future exploration and the possibility of human missions to Mars in the coming decades.

Current Mars Exploration Missions

Objectives of Mars exploration missions

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• NASA's Perseverance rover
  • Launched in July 2020 and successfully landed on Mars in February 2021
  • Seeks signs of ancient microbial life in the Jezero Crater, which once held a lake and river delta
  • Collects and caches rock and soil samples for potential return to Earth in future missions
  • Tests oxygen production from the Martian atmosphere using the MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment) instrument
  • Equipped with advanced instruments including high-resolution cameras, spectrometers, and a drill for sample collection
  • Carries the Ingenuity helicopter, the first aircraft to successfully fly on another planet (achieved in April 2021)
• ESA's ExoMars program
  • Joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Roscosmos (Russian space agency)
  • Consists of two parts: the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) and the Rosalind Franklin rover
    • TGO launched in 2016 and currently orbits Mars
      • Studies the Martian atmosphere, focusing on trace gases like methane that could indicate biological or geological activity
      • Provides communication relay for current and future surface missions (Perseverance, Rosalind Franklin)
    • Rosalind Franklin rover (launch planned for 2028 due to delays)
      • Will search for signs of past life and investigate the Martian environment, particularly the subsurface
      • Equipped with a drill capable of collecting samples up to 2 meters below the surface, where organic material may be better preserved

Contributions to Mars understanding

• Studying Mars' geology and mineralogy
  • Provides insights into the planet's formation and evolution, including its past climate and habitability
  • Helps identify past habitable environments like ancient lake beds or hydrothermal systems (Jezero Crater, Gale Crater)
  • Analyzes the composition and distribution of minerals to understand past water activity and environmental conditions
• Analyzing the Martian atmosphere
  • Contributes to understanding the planet's climate history and the factors that led to its current thin, cold, and dry state
  • Investigates the potential for past or present microbial life by studying atmospheric gases and their potential biological or geological origins
  • Monitors seasonal changes, dust storms, and atmospheric escape processes to better understand Mars' current climate and its evolution
• Searching for biosignatures
  • Missions equipped with instruments to detect organic compounds, chemical gradients, and other potential signs of past or present life
  • High-resolution imaging and spectroscopy enable the identification of promising sites for biosignature detection (sedimentary layers, mineral deposits)
  • Sampling and caching of materials from diverse environments allows for more detailed analysis on Earth, potentially providing conclusive evidence of past life on Mars

Future Mars Missions and Challenges

Future Mars missions and astrobiology

• Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission
  • Collaborative effort between NASA and ESA to retrieve samples collected by the Perseverance rover
  • Involves a series of missions to launch a sample retrieval lander, collect the cached samples, and launch them into Mars orbit
  • An Earth Return Orbiter will capture the samples and bring them back to Earth for extensive analysis in state-of-the-art laboratories
  • Potential to provide conclusive evidence of past life on Mars through detailed chemical, isotopic, and mineralogical analyses
  • Allows for the application of new technologies and analytical techniques as they develop, ensuring the most comprehensive study of the returned samples
• Human exploration of Mars
  • Long-term goal for space agencies like NASA, with plans for crewed missions in the 2030s or 2040s
  • Enables more extensive and diverse scientific investigations, including expanded sample collection and in-situ experiments
  • Allows for real-time decision-making, adaptability, and the ability to explore hard-to-reach areas that may be inaccessible to rovers
  • Facilitates the establishment of a permanent human presence on Mars, which could support long-term astrobiology research and the search for life
  • Provides opportunities for testing technologies and strategies for sustainable human presence on another planet, with implications for astrobiology and the potential for life beyond Earth

Challenges in Mars exploration

• Distance and communication delays
  • Mars is between 54.6 and 401 million km from Earth, depending on the planets' orbital positions
  • Communication signals take between 4 and 24 minutes to travel each way, making real-time control of missions impossible
  • Requires autonomous systems capable of making decisions and executing tasks without immediate human input
  • Necessitates robust communication networks and data compression techniques to ensure reliable data transmission
• Harsh Martian environment
  • Thin atmosphere (about 1% of Earth's atmospheric pressure) and cold temperatures (average -63℃)
  • High radiation levels due to the lack of a global magnetic field and a thin atmosphere, which provide little protection from cosmic and solar radiation
  • Frequent dust storms that can cover the entire planet, reducing solar power generation and obscuring visibility
  • Necessitates the development of durable, radiation-resistant materials and reliable life support systems for both robotic and human missions
• Launch windows and payload limitations
  • Earth and Mars alignments suitable for launches occur approximately every 26 months, limiting mission frequency
  • Payload mass and volume are constrained by current rocket capabilities, requiring missions to be as lightweight and compact as possible
  • Requires careful mission planning and optimization to ensure maximum scientific return within the available launch opportunities and payload capacities
• Strategies to overcome challenges
  • Developing advanced propulsion systems, such as nuclear thermal propulsion, to reduce travel time and increase payload capacity
  • Investing in in-situ resource utilization (ISRU) technologies to produce fuel, oxygen, and other resources from the Martian atmosphere and soil, reducing the need for supplies from Earth
  • Improving autonomous systems and artificial intelligence to enable missions to operate more independently and make decisions based on real-time data
  • Enhancing international collaboration to share expertise, resources, and costs associated with complex Mars exploration missions
  • Conducting extensive research and testing of life support systems, habitats, and other technologies needed for human missions to ensure the safety and success of future crewed exploration