Spacecraft That Landed on Mars

Spacecraft are vehicles designed for travel in outer space. Their systems and instruments vary depending on their mission, from piloted to unpiloted designs.

To land on Mars, a lander must separate from its orbiter and descend slowly through its atmosphere, protected from its harsh environment by an aeroshell and heat shield.

Phoenix

Phoenix was named for a mythological bird because its resilient spirit made its landing possible through thrusters instead of air bags – making its journey through Mars’ atmosphere less dangerous and slower than using airbags alone. Once on Mars’ surface, Phoenix used robotic arms with 2.35-metre arms to probe climate and geology with its 2.35-metre arm; returning soil samples back for analysis at its self-contained lab. A suite of Canadian components from MDA in Brampton such as lidar sensors and mast-mounted thermometers helped the spacecraft track daily weather changes on Mars’ surface.

Before the mission took off, flight engineers used THEMIS to select an ideal landing site: one with few rocks higher than half a meter. From Earth, THEMIS followed an 11 month Hohmann minimum-energy trajectory to Mars with up to six trajectory correction maneuvers along its journey. Once at Mars, its 2-meter mast allowed stereo cameras with two “eyes” per camera to survey its landing area for scientists’ use while multispectral capability allowed identification of local minerals.

Spirit

Spirit was one of two rovers launched by NASA as part of their second wave of Mars exploration. Launched on June 10, 2003 and arriving at Gusev Crater on January 4, 2004, Spirit used an aeroshell deceleration method before its parachute deployed and careened back down towards Gusev Crater where it eventually stopped exactly where NASA intended.

The Mars Exploration Rover quickly discovered signs of violent past on Mars, including impact marks and indications of subsurface water. Furthermore, it successfully scaled Husband Hill – marking a first for any planet other than Earth – where its view revealed stunning topography as well as rock layers with apparent water-rich sediment deposits.

At the end of its mission, Spirit ran into trouble. One of its wheels got stuck in sand and prevented it from charging; engineers attempted to free it but were ultimately unsuccessful; by March 2010, communication between Earth and Spirit had stopped altogether and NASA concluded that Spirit likely wouldn’t survive through Martian winter.

Opportunity

NASA’s Opportunity rover explored Mars for 15 years until finally running out of power and shutting off. Here, planetary scientist Steve Squyres shares his impressions from this incredible journey.

The golf-cart-sized rover launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on July 7, 2013 and arrived on Mars just over six months later. Specifically, Meridiani Planum’s Eagle Crater served as its landing site, similar to an impact crater; after bouncing 26 times it eventually settled in a gully filled with hematite-rich rocks.

The rover was equipped with various instruments that enabled it to investigate rocks and soil, including spectrometers for studying chemicals and minerals as well as rock abration tools equipped with brushes to sweep away dust off surfaces.

Curiosity

Curiosity, designed to explore past environments for life on Mars, has been driving across Gale Crater and Mount Sharp since September 2014 in an effort to determine whether Mars ever supported habitability. Like Spirit and Opportunity before it, Curiosity hopes to uncover evidence for habitable conditions on this distant world.

Curiosity stands out as a truly mobile science laboratory. Equipped with navigation cameras to guide its drive, and equipped with 17 cameras and tools to investigate rocks while searching for signs of life – including drills and scoopers that collect powdered rock samples – its 7-foot arm allows scientists to place these tools close to rocks they wish to study while its instruments search for water molecules as well as organic compounds – the chemical building blocks essential to life on our planet.

The Radiation Assessment Detector monitors radiation hazards on Mars while the Rover Environmental Monitoring System measures atmospheric pressure, air and ground temperatures, humidity, ultraviolet light intensity and wind speed and direction. The Rover uses an expected nuclear power source of at least 50 years for power supply.

When landing a spacecraft on Mars, water resources must be nearby in order for its inhabitants and robot arms to function optimally. Furthermore, ample sunlight must be available to power any habitats, rovers, or robot arms required for its successful functioning.

Mariner 9 launched into orbit around Mars for the first time in 1971 and captured 7,329 images of its surface, such as craters, mountains and polar deposits. Additionally, this spacecraft conducted gravity and topographic studies.

Mariner 9

Mariner 9 was the inaugural orbital spacecraft to reach Mars, carrying two cameras which could take color and black-and-white pictures of its surface. Additionally, Mariner 9 featured radiometer, infrared spectrometer, magnetometer sensors designed to collect information about composition and temperatures on Mars as well as examine its atmosphere while tracking Phobos and Deimos moon orbits.

Mariner 9 returned images showing an image of Mars that was obscured by a massive dust storm, prompting mission controllers to change its programming in order to wait until surface imaging could resume once the dust had dissipated. By October 27, 1972 when Mariner 9 ran out of attitude control gas it had photographed 85% of Martian surface area as well as both moons.

Mariner 9 provided close-up images that completely transformed our understanding of Mars from a cold, crater-covered planet into one with geological activity and water running over its surface, possibly at one time. Furthermore, Mariner 9 took photographs that depicted close up images of Martian polar caps and Valles Marineris canyon, as well as two moons that proved active volcanic fields on their own.

Viking 1

The Viking project’s objective was to launch two spacecraft equipped with landers and orbiters containing instrumentation to Mars. The lander would capture high-resolution pictures of its surface while orbiters studied atmospheric entry and lander science.

Landers and orbiters provided humans with their best view yet of Mars. Lander images showed volcanoes, lava plains, giant canyons and giant volcanoes which all point to its turbulent history. Orbiters provided scientists with better views of Valles Marineris Rift near the Equator as well as many cratered regions on Mars.

Both landers and orbiters provided valuable insights into what life may be like on Mars for humans, including dust storms, radiation exposure, rivers, lakes and seas that once covered its surface. Viking 1 survived for 2,307 days from landing to final transmission date on Nov 13, 1982 – an incredible achievement in space exploration!

Viking 2

Science Center visitors will see an early two-part mission from NASA to Mars called Viking 1 Lander that was part of their early two-part mission launched in September 1976 and featuring high-resolution photos taken by both landers. Both sets were launched together into orbit to study its surface and atmosphere in detail for 35 years; data analyzed from both sets has shown, for instance, that impact craters on Mars produce more complex ejecta patterns than those found on Mercury or Moon and have revealed that its residual north polar ice cap contains water ice rather than carbon dioxide as was once believed by scientist.

Viking landers conducted extensive searches of their landing sites but found no indications of life; however, researchers have since raised doubts as to their sensitivity in detecting such organisms. Their mission concluded in 1977 when fuel ran out but their data continued to return home over decades – marking it as the first time scientists landed spacecraft on another planet.

Mars Exploration Rovers

NASA’s twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity followed Pathfinder and Viking’s example by using a similar entry, descent, and landing system. An aeroshell lowered its lander on a tether; rockets fired to slow its descent; airbags inflate to cushion it; then when Spirit or Opportunity touched down its tetrahedral-shaped lander opened like petals to release each rover rover.

Each rover is equipped with tools designed to search for signs of life on Mars. A 7-foot arm can collect samples and cook them in the lab so scientists can analyze for gases released, while Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer and Sample Analysis at Mars Instrument Suite instruments will look for organic material within samples collected by arm.

The Mars rovers have traveled many miles on Mars, providing scientists with data that’s helping them gain an understanding of its formation and whether it ever supported life. Their evidence of water once flowing on its surface suggests it once flowed there as well. Furthermore, scientists are currently studying rocks where evidence of moisture could indicate microorganisms might live and how likely that is.