Major Project Final
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NATS1530A - The Science of Space Flight and Exploration F22
Proposing a Mission to Explore the Solar System
SECTION A: ACADEMIC HONESTY STATEMENT
By typing my name in the space provided, I am indicating that I fully understand all of
the requirements for this assignment, as described in the Major Project instructions. I am further
confirming that my assignment is in my own words, without any plagiarized text or quoting from
other sources. This also confirms that I have completed the "SPARK Academic Integrity -
Tutorial" and the "York University Academic Integrity Quiz," both of which are found on the
NATS1530A eClass site.
Signature: type your full name here
Note
: Your assignment will not be marked unless you have signed the academic honesty
statement above.
SECTION B: BACKGROUND ON OBJECT (600-650 words)
The destination of choice for this project is Mars. The Planet was chosen because of the
extensive research conducted on it about extraterrestrial life found on the Planet (5). The purpose of conducting this study was to determine whether there is a possibility of life on
mars, whether there was life on the Planet previously, and whether the Planet has what it takes to
support life forms presently. Mars is the closest Planet to earth and is the 4
th
Planet by distance. It
is 142m miles away from the sun (NASA, 2022). It is orbited by 2 Martian moons, which have
different diameter sizes measuring 13.8 miles and 7.8 miles respectively.
NATS1530A - The Science of Space Flight and Exploration F22
Proposing a Mission to Explore the Solar System
The diameter of mars is 4220 miles smaller than the earth, whose diameter is 7926 miles
(Mars.nasa.gov). When compared to earth, the weight of a person slightly decreases on mars. An
individual with a weight of 100 pounds on planet earth would have approximately a weight of 38
pounds on planet mars. On average, one year on mars is said to be twice longer a year on earth. A
single year on mars has 687 days, while the same year has 365 days. These are the number of
days it takes a planet to revolve around the sun once (Mars.nasa.gov).
When it comes to volume, experts say that Mars is smaller compared to earth by a 1/6
(sixth). In simple terms, this means that if earth was a big container, it would take around six of
Mars size containers to fill it up (Mars.nasa.gov). The temperature of Mars, as indicated in the
figure below, is -81
F (5).
Figure 2.1. Mars’ and Earth’s Temperatures as recorded by NASA (NASA, 2022)
The structure of Mars is that its internal core resembles that of the earth, but its
components are a mystery to unfold (Mars.nasa.gov). The mass of Mars is a tenth that of earth.
The gravity of mars is 62.5% less than that of earth. The atmosphere of mars is less dense than
that of the earth, but the Planet is colder than the earth and has a thinner ozone layer. The
atmospheric composition of air on mars is 96% carbon dioxide, 2% argon, 2% nitrogen, and 1%
NATS1530A - The Science of Space Flight and Exploration F22
Proposing a Mission to Explore the Solar System
other gasses. Oxygen composition is insignificant or negligible, but the survival of human beings
relies on gas (Mars.nasa.gov).
The speed with which mars revolves around the sun is 53.858 miles per hour which are
faster than that of the earth at 66.622 mph. The seasons for mars are similar to those of earth but
longer due to its long years. Some of its seasons are longer than others because of its elliptical
orbit. There are longer springs as well and summers in the northern hemisphere, while on the
other hand, there are longer autumns and winters in the southern. There have been numerous missions to mars. According to NASA, Mars Polar Lander
was launched to mars from earth on January 3
rd,
1999. Its purpose was to dig for water on the
south polar cap using a robotic arm. However, the spacecraft was lost on arrival. The first-ever
voyage to mars was carried out using mariners 3 and 4 on November 5
th
and 28
th,
1964. Mariner
3 launched on the 5
th,
though it did not reach mars due to system failure; hence mariner 4 was
launched on 28
th
successfully on an 8
th
- month journey to the Red Planet.
In 1969, Mariners 6 and 7 were launched simultaneously successfully, and Mariners 8
and 9 were the final twin missions to mars launched in 1971. Mariner 8 failed during the launch,
but 9 was successful. Others include mars pathfinder in 1996, mars exploration rovers in 2003,
Viking in 1975, mars climate orbiter in 1996, and mars observer in 1992. The exploration rovers
are sophisticated and are used for exploration purposes to help find liquid water previously
available on the Planet. Two rovers are used to explore different parts of mars (Spirit and
Opportunity).
SECTION C: SUMMARY OF RESEARCH (300-350 words)
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NATS1530A - The Science of Space Flight and Exploration F22
Proposing a Mission to Explore the Solar System
Andrew Good and Karen Fox published this article through the science website of NASA
on 7
th
October 2022. The research was on the impact created by a meteoroid on Mars as observed
by NASA's Insight Lander spacecraft. According to this research and the high-resolution
Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE camera) used aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance
Orbiter, a boulder-size block of ice was observed around the rim of an impact crater on mars. The
development of the crater occurred on December 24
th,
2021, by a meteoroid strike in the
Amazonis Planitia region.
The agency's lander knew of the crater from feeling the ground shake during the impact
while cameras on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spotted the formed new crater from space. A
marsquake of magnitude 4 was recorded by the NASA Insight Lander in December. However,
scientists learned about the cause of the quake to be a meteoroid, estimated as the largest ever
seen on Mars since NASA began exploring the cosmos. The results of the marsquake strike were
that the meteoroid unearthed huge sizes of ice located nearer the Martian equator than ever
before discovered. The impact of this discovery is that NASA plans to send more astronauts to
Mars in the future.
Scientists concluded that the meteoroid was the cause of the quake by observing before
and after pictures collected by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and seeing the
crater left.
The size of the meteoroid was estimated at 16-39 feet in diameter. It would burn up in
earth's atmosphere, but because the atmosphere on mars is thinner, about 1% as dense as earth's,
the meteoroid penetrated it as easily to hit mars' surface in the Amazonis Planitia, blasting a
crater estimated at 492 feet wide and 70 feet deep. Some of the debris thrown flew as far as 23
miles away.
NATS1530A - The Science of Space Flight and Exploration F22
Proposing a Mission to Explore the Solar System
As listed in the text above, the findings of this research were used by NASA to inspire
more researchers to join in the Mars project of determining the Planet's viability to support life.
SECTION D
: MISSION PROPOSAL (500-550 words)
This mission to mass will be known as Terraform Mars 1. The name was coined by a team of
individuals who came up with an idea for this mission. The mission will be; going to mars to
fulfill the following objectives.
i.
To find out about previous life forms thought to have existed on the Planet when
environmental conditions on mars' cosmos were believed to be similar to those on earth.
Water was abundant, and the atmosphere was thick enough to filter out the dangerous
radiation and to keep the surface as warm as it is on earth to support lifeforms ii.
To study mars' structure (land, atmosphere, water) and history and understand why, if
there ever was life on the Planet, it disappeared and whether there is any life form still
existent on the Red Planet and how it survives
iii.
To determine whether the prevailing conditions on the Planet can be overturned to make
mars life-supporting like it initially was.
Previously, as established in sections B and C, Mars may have supported extraterrestrial
life forms until it could no longer do that. Some theories exist to explain why it no longer does
that. This study will clarify some of the confusion about life's existence or possible future life on
Mars. According to the research article by NASA, the meteoroid hitting Mars allowed further
studies on extraterrestrial life forms on the Planet since the occurrence exposed a possibility of
previous life on the Planet. Also, the large ice exposed showed signs of the presence of liquid
water at some point in time on mars.
NATS1530A - The Science of Space Flight and Exploration F22
Proposing a Mission to Explore the Solar System
Therefore, conducting a mission on mars is of great importance to the entire nation and us
since it will help us come up with conclusive answers that will stop many people from guessing
about them. Until now, NASA has been developing and improving its spacecraft. If one was to
go to mars right now, one would have a wide range of options to select a spacecraft from. The
most recommended, though, would be the Mars exploration rovers developed and launched in
2003. One can choose between the spirit rover and the Opportunity Rover. They are the best
options in the market right now.
Both Mars Rovers are very powerful. They all have greater mobility when compared to
previous developments like the 1997 Mars Pathfinder rover. Both the Spirit and Opportunity
Rovers come with a complete set of instructions for exploration purposes, meeting the criteria of
spacecraft needed for this mission to explore the mars cosmos deeply and come up with answers
that previous researchers have not been able to establish so far about mars and its cosmos.
Mars is the destination of interest for this mission because it is the only Planet other than
earth where extraterrestrial life forms can be found because initial scientific discoveries point
towards that direction. Also, the Planet is very similar to earth in structure and composition.
Also, previous studies indicate that there is a possibility mars may have been like earth in the
past. Therefore going to mars on this mission is a one-in-a-million chance to prove whether what
is being said about the Planet is true or not.
SECTION E
: ORBITAL PARAMETERS AND FLIGHT CALCULATIONS
Starting point
: Low Earth Orbit (2000 km)
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NATS1530A - The Science of Space Flight and Exploration F22
Proposing a Mission to Explore the Solar System
Destination
: Mars
E1: Launch Date (Month Day, Year)
: 12-07, 2022
Figure 5.1. Proof of launch date for our spacecraft to Mars at opposition (The Sky Live,
2022)
E2: Flight Time
: _
259 days
_____________________________
NATS1530A - The Science of Space Flight and Exploration F22
Proposing a Mission to Explore the Solar System
Assumptions
The orbits of Earth and Mars are circular and centered on the sun. (Earth's orbit is more
circular than Mars' orbit, but they are both slightly elliptical.)
NATS1530A - The Science of Space Flight and Exploration F22
Proposing a Mission to Explore the Solar System
Earth and Mars travel at constant speeds. (They do not. See Kepler's Second Law).
The orbits of Earth and Mars are in the same plane. (They are close but slightly out of
plane with one another).
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NATS1530A - The Science of Space Flight and Exploration F22
Proposing a Mission to Explore the Solar System
E3. Required ∆V: __8209.78 mph___________________________
NATS1530A - The Science of Space Flight and Exploration F22
Proposing a Mission to Explore the Solar System
SECTION F: WORKS CITED
1.
Bertelsen, P., Goetz, W., Madsen, M. B., Kinch, K. M., Hviid, S. F., Knudsen, J. M., ... &
Gellert, R. (2004). Magnetic properties experiments on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit
at Gusev crater.
science
,
305
(5685), 827-829.
2.
Farley, K. A., Williford, K. H., Stack, K. M., Bhartia, R., Chen, A., de la Torre, M., ... &
Wiens, R. C. (2020). Mars 2020 mission overview.
Space Science Reviews
,
216
(8), 1-41.
3.
Johnson, A. E., Aaron, S. B., Ansari, H., Bergh, C., Bourdu, H., Butler, J., ... & Zheng, J.
(2022). Mars 2020 Lander Vision System Flight Performance. In
AIAA SciTech 2022
Forum
(p. 1214).
4.
Lorenz, R. D. (2022). Planetary Exploration with Ingenuity and Dragonfly: Rotary-Wing
Flight on Mars and Titan.
5.
NASA Science. (2022). Mars Facts | All About Mars – NASA Mars Exploration
6.
Shirley, D., & McCleese, D. (1996). Mars exploration program strategy-1995-2020.
In
34th Aerospace Sciences Meeting and Exhibit
(p. 333).
7.
Sasaki, T., Otsu, K., Thakker, R., Haesaert, S., & Agha-mohammadi, A. A. (2020). Where
to map? Iterative rover-copter path planning for mars exploration.
IEEE Robotics and
Automation Letters
,
5
(2), 2123-2130.
8.
The Sky Live. (2022). The Launch Date for When a Spacecraft Leave Earth for Mars.
https://theskylive.com/3dsolarsystem?objs=ztf|c2022e3|5d|c2017k2|
c2018v1&date=2022-11-30&h=23&m=20&