Mars Paper

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1 Mars: Mission Plans, Exploration and More Reiley Bradbury American Military University SPST203 Dr. Rebekah Purvis November 10, 2023

2 Another Earth? Where do we come from? What is life? Are we alone in the Universe? Without a doubt, these are the biggest questions surrounding astronomy, and there is one planet that has really caught the attention of scientists everywhere-Mars. John Noble Wilford once said this: “Mars tugs at the human imagination like no other planet. With a force mightier than gravity, it attracts the eye to the shimmering red presence in the clear night sky.” The Red Planet, Mars, has been a hot subject of space for decades. Aside from the moon, astronomers have been very hopeful that we can one day inhabit the Red Planet, and it is believed among many scientists that this other Earth-like world has already been inhabited in the distant past. So, what is so appealing about Mars? There are many reasons why scientists have zeroed in on it over the years. We will explore all these reasons, as well as the Mars rovers that have left their tracks in the Martian soil, how the moon will act as a steppingstone towards human exploration of Mars in the future, and how the International Space Station has also been beneficial for the exploration of Mars. Why Mars? What’s The Appeal? There are several reasons why Mars has been a focus of exploration. For one, it is the only other planet besides Earth that is in the habitability zone, which means it could serve as a destination for human survival in the distant future, should that become a reality. Another reason is that scientists believe it has hosted life before, due to evidence of terrestrial extremophilic microbes (a fancy term for bacteria), organic material and ancient water (Horneck, 2008). Touching on its similarities to Earth, the length of a day on Mars is extremely close to that of Earth. The length of a day on Earth is 24 hours and one Mars day, or sol, is approximately 24 hours and 37 minutes. Additionally, the axis tilt and rotation velocity are similar on both planets ,

3 they both experience four seasons and have a lot of the same geological structures, as well as similar revolutions around the sun. Earth orbits the sun at 30 km/s and Mars follows closely with an orbit of 24 km/s (Pezzella; Viviani, 2020). These are many of the reasons why Mars has caught the eyes of astronomers, but what are the motives for exploring it further? Well, the human desire for expanding habitability to other worlds is a driving force and Mars seems like a potentially perfect place to do that (Horneck, 2008). Establishing a human presence on this spacecraft graveyard will not only open the doors to even deeper space travel, but it will also improve the way crews are able to cope with being in isolation and confinement for long periods of time in the spacecraft and other extraterrestrial environments (Horneck, 2008). Additionally, it is possible that completing a crewed mission to Mars will be beneficial to scientists by teaching them more about how deep space affects human health, such as how to better protect against radiation, and how gravity affects the human body on a space mission. From a technological standpoint, once humans are established on the Red Planet, a need for more advanced technology and sensors will arise, namely bio diagnostics, medical treatments, environmental monitoring devices etc. Thus, helping improve deep space technology in the long run that is useful for future missions (Horneck, 2008). Keeping a cultural element in mind, Mars has the potential to peaceably bring space agencies in all countries together to achieve future space endeavors (Horneck, 2008). Aside from the USA, this would include Russia (ROSCOSMOS), China (CNSA), Japan (JAXA), Europe (ESA) and Canada (CSA). What’s more, since Mars is believed to have once had a similar climate to Earth, it could be a great environment for using modern engineering techniques (Horneck, 2008). Exploring Mars will give us great insight to help us learn more about our home planet in the long run (NASA, n.d.).

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4 Of course, there are some drawbacks and concerns to creating a human presence on Mars. This includes the threat of Martian bacteria and the risk of carrying them back to Earth, and conversely, the possibility of bringing Earthly microbes to Mars with the potential to harm the Red Planet. To avoid this and ensure the protection of Mars, missions would be closely monitored by the Committee on Space Research, or COSPAR. Additionally, for extra precaution, certain areas are labeled as “special regions” on Mars that have the potential to contain existing bacteria and other life forms (Horneck, 2008). However, before any of the above can take place, there will need to be several robotic missions to Mars before humans. But once we get there, only humans will be able to perform in-situ inspections, sample analyses, remote-controlled on- site activities and more (Horneck, 2008). Going back to the Martian and earthly microbes and the risks involved in accidentally transporting them back and forth-this is a big reason why robotic missions are crucial to precede-to carry out important exploration and research of possible Martian lifeforms. This is exactly what our beloved Mars rovers have been doing for the last couple decades. The Rovers In efforts to investigate the previously unexplored planet, NASA has sent five rovers to Mars, beginning with Sojourner, during the Mars Pathfinder Mission, launched in 1996. This lander/rover was succeeded by Spirit and her twin, Opportunity in 2003, followed by Curiosity in 2012 and Perseverance in 2021 (NASA, n.d.). Sojourner made history by being the first rover on another planet and spent 83 days on Mars exploring, taking pictures and collecting chemical and atmospheric measurements (NASA, n.d.).

5 The sisters, Spirit and Opportunity, were sent to Mars and commissioned to find evidence of water and study the history of the Mars climate. They were launched a month apart in 2003 and their main objectives were to collect samples of rock and soil that may have contained evidence of pre-existent water (NASA, n.d. 2023). They were each sent to areas on Mars, on opposite sides, that are suspected to have contained water. Spirit landed on Mars nestled in four giant airbags carried by a parachute. She bounced exactly 28 times before eventually rolling to a stop no further than 980 feet away from the initial point of impact. During Spirit’s mission, NASA collected loads of information, but ran into several obstacles with use of the rover for years, before deciding to end contact with her in 2011. Opportunity faced slightly more severe conditions during her mission and was presented with a challenge that left the solar panels, responsible for powering the rover, covered in dust during a dust storm. This prevented the rover from functioning at full capacity, but luckily wind blew the dust off the panels and the rover was back in business (NASA, n.d.). Opportunity’s mission was completed on February 13, 2019 (NASA, n.d.). Curiosity came in second to last and according to NASA, she is the about as tall as a basketball player and has a seven-foot arm useful for conducting studies, which makes her the largest and most capable rover ever built by NASA. Curiosity was launched on November 26, 2011, and landed on the Red Planet on August 5, 2012. Her main objectives were to explore and study the Gale Crater on Mars by collecting rock, soil and air samples with the help of cameras, spectrometers, radiation detectors, and environmental and atmospheric sensors (NASA, n.d.). The latest rover to leave her tracks in the Martin soil is Perseverance. NASA launched Perseverance on July 30, 2020, and since her arrival on Mars on February 18, 2021, she has been on the search for areas with the potential for past life, collecting core and rock samples, and

6 testing oxygen production in preparation for future crewed Mars missions (NASA, n.d.). Perseverance spent some time drilling at the Jezero Crater where she found sedimentary rock samples that could have been in a lake on Mars and may contain organic material. Of all the samples collected, 87% are rock core, 9% are regolith and 4% are atmospheric. This is 60.53% of total expected samples thus far (NASA, n.d.). Perseverance is a complex rover, equipped with all the instruments necessary for a successful mission. Her seven main features include the Mastcam-z, Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer (MEDA), Mars Oxygen ISRU Experiment (MOXIE), Planetary Instrument for X-ray Lithochemistry (PIXL), Radar Imager for Mars’ Subsurface Experiment (RIMFAX), Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman & Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC), and finally, SuperCam (NASA, n.d.). Astronomers and space enthusiasts everywhere have become emotionally attached to these rovers as if they were a family member or pet and sending them far beyond Earth to spend eternity on Mars has been bittersweet. However, the rovers have changed the course of Mars exploration forever, and the discoveries they have made over the decades are a crucial first step into deeper Mars investigation. Scientific Accuracy of The Martian The Martian , released in 2015, is a sci-fi film about survival on Mars. Matt Damon’s character, Mark Watney, is a botanist who gets stranded on Mars because of a dust storm, forcing the rest of the crew to abort. It is now up to Watney to survive on the Red Planet using his own skills and scientific, botanist knowledge, which include growing potatoes in his own waste. While it may have just been a riveting action movie to some, who were not paying much attention to the scientific aspects, it raised a few red flags among the experts.

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7 Boston University sat down with Paul Withers, an assistant professor of astronomy at Boston University College of Arts and Science, to get an expert opinion on the film (Rimer, 2015). Withers first gripe was regarding the severity of the dust storms seen in the film. He stated that since the surface pressure on Mars is roughly 1% of what it is on Earth, that dust storms of that caliber would not be possible. He then added that it would surely not be the safest environment in a dust storm, especially in such a thin atmosphere, but not so unsafe that it would become cause to abort a mission. When asked about the water theory, Withers believes that due to the consensus, there was indeed water on Mars at one point. He goes on to say, “The evidence for this comes from the chemistry of ancient rocks, which only makes sense if you accept that they were formed in a wet environment, and from the shapes of channels in the surface that look exactly like dry river channels here on Earth. If you left out a bucket of water on Mars today, it would immediately vaporize into the atmosphere and flash away.” A couple of the professor’s other criticisms include the inaccuracy of the terrain and the overwhelming portrayal of large buttes and sharp cliffs, where there should have been craters instead; as well as the lack of understanding of the term “sol”. He remarked that this term was not defined from the beginning, and that it would be confusing to viewers. Of course, the fact that Watney and his crew even made it to Mars was significant enough, and to this Withers explained that it would take a long time to find the funds to send humans to Mars, and the fact that it has been 40 years since we have been to the moon emphasizes the fact that at this time, the U.S. cannot send humans to space at all (Rimer, 2015). This would be true, that humans have in fact not been beyond low Earth orbit since 1972, during the Apollo 17 mission (Neufeld, 2023). Professor Withers had a few gripes about some details throughout the movie but was overall impressed with it and the positives far outweighed the negative.

8 Boston University also talked with CAS professor of earth and environment, Nathan Phillips, to get his expertise on the potato growing in the film. Phillips responded that so long as the plant material had access to light, water, nutrients (the human waste) and a reasonable temperature that a plant could grow (Rimer, 2015). John Logsdon, former director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University, and Scott Hubbard, aeronautics and astronautics professor at Stanford, both had overall similar feedback on the film’s accuracy. The only additional issues that Logsdon had were that Watney was walking in the film when he should have been hopping due to low gravity, and that if the film had accurately portrayed the later effects of the high radiation on Mars, then Damon’s character would have gotten very sick or had even eventually died of cancer (Grierson, 2015). The professors had all enjoyed the film, nonetheless. From The ISS To Mars The International Space Station serves as not only a perfect example of all the nations joining together to explore space, but also an example of construction and operation. This just means that since the ISS is a fair financial comparison it will make future Mars missions more affordable, as the budget is estimated to be tens of billions of Euros. (Horneck, n.d.) In addition to affecting the Mars missions financially, the experiments taking place on the ISS will serve as preparation as well. There are many hazardous conditions in space such as extreme temperatures, micrometeoroids, and glare from the sun that is entirely unfiltered (NASA, 2022). Because of this it is important to conduct research on materials, equipment and organisms to determine how they would hold up in these conditions and on deep space missions. This research is done in the MISSE Flight Facility, which is a platform on the ISS. Mark Shumbera of Aegis Aerospace, who owns and operates MISSE-FF, says experiements started on MISSE in 2018 and will continue

9 until the station is retired. The research platform is equipped with high-definition cameras, that take pictures of the items on the exposure decks during studies, and sensors to record the environmental conditions like UV exposure radiation and temperatures. EXPOSE-R-2 is another research platform on the ISS, owned by the European Space Agency. This facility tests bacteria and organisms with Mars-like conditions. It has been discovered the cyanobacteria can fix carbon and produce oxygen. Dried Chroococcidiopsis cells were also tested and exposed to ionizing radiation at this facility, that would be equivalent to a radiation on a Mars mission, and according to results, this bacterium can be transported and rehydrated. The same bacteria were then mixed with dust similar to Mars regolith and was also exposed to UV radiation equal to about four hours of exposure to Martian surface. Biology professor at the University or Rome Tor Vergata, Daniela Billi, stated, “The aim of this study was to verify whether this cyanobacterium could repair DNA damage accumulated during travel to Mars and exposure to unattenuated Mars conditions.” The results of this experiment also prove to be a potential organism used for resources in a human settlement. Bottom line is that these experiments are all crucial to ensuring that materials and organisms can hold up well in the harsh elements of deep space and eventually Mars. Lastly, astronauts have mainly been eating dehydrated, pre-package food, but now NASA is testing various ways to grow food from the ISS. Such knowledge can be useful for growing food on a Mars or moon mission (NASA, 2023). One facility on the ISS researching food growth is known simply as the Vegetable Production System, or Veggie. It is a low power chamber that holds up to six plants, and seeds are grown in little fabric “pillows” that researchers care for as they would tend a garden on Earth. Passive Orbital Nutrient Delivery System, or Veggie Ponds, is another plant research facility on the ISS. The only differences are they use holders instead of pillows and plants are fed with an automatic system. Plant research is

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10 very beneficial to Mars exploration as it prepares astronauts for the potential to grow their own food during a mission, which is a concept we have seen on the film The Martian . The launch and deployment of the ISS have given scientists the realization that exploration further into space is possible, so logically Mars and the moon would be good first steps (Horneck, n.d.). The Moon’s Role Like the ISS, the moon plays a key role in Mars exploration. NASA says that moon work is essential for Mars and was planning the launch of the Artemis 1 Mission to the moon on August 29, 2022 (Lea, 2022). Orion, with a crew containing the first woman and first person of color, will be sent farther than any human carrying spacecraft has ever travelled. This will be the first-time humans have been to the moon since Apollo in 1972. This mission will have a bigger goal in mind-to sustain human life on the moon and develop an infrastructure, which will eventually help humans go further into space in the future, and even to Mars. Jim Bridenstine said, “NASA sees the Artemis mission as a “proving ground” to prove that we are capable of human exploration of Mars.” The moon serves as a good steppingstone to Mars because of its shorter distance from Earth and could potentially be used a “pitstop”. Artemis 1 Mission will carry 10 CubeSats to space to help with sustainability, which are just satellites that can map the distribution of water on the moon. It has been discovered that lunar water can be converted into rocket fuel, which means spacecraft can make a “pitstop” to refuel on the lunar surface. Human habitats and life support systems would be tested on the moon as well, before going to Mars. Additionally, lunar infrastructure will assist with transportation to get large payloads from Earth to Mars. However, we will not be ready for Mars missions until the 2030-40s, according to NASA. Planning for The Future

11 The question now is, what are the plans to get humans to Mars? NASA has goals to send humans to the Red Planet for a 30-day mission (Howell, 2022). The agency also said that even though funding and technology will be a challenge, they are hopeful to send humans in the 2030- 40s and are expecting it to take 500 days roundtrip. They are also concerned with the gravity situation since astronauts will be spending quite a while in microgravity, so recovery will be long since Mars’ gravity is only about one-third of Earth’s. However, NASA thinks that crews living in a pressurized rover will help. The mission would also include a habitat-like spacecraft that uses hybrid rocket stage, powered by both chemical and electric propulsion, to house the crew. The idea is that four people would explore, with two on foot, similar to the Apollo program. Additionally, a prior robot mission would ensure that roughly 25 tons of supplies and hardware, including a pre-fueled ascent vehicle, are ready for the crew (Lea, 2022). To Conclude After decades of fascination and research, astronomers are hopeful to finally get boot tracks on the Red Planet, but when Mars and Earth are at their closest, they have one chance to launch before they must wait another two years, so it is imperative that they be completely prepared and ready for success (NASA, n.d.). We have thoroughly discussed not only the things that need to happen before a Mars mission, such as moon work and ISS experiments leading to helpful discoveries, but we now also have an idea of the reality of being on Mars thanks to the film The Martian , as well as what has already been discovered on the Red Planet with the help of our hard-working rovers. A mission to the Red Planet will surely be challenging, and it is going to take a lot of time, funds, resources and dedication, but we are getting closer to that goal every day. It might be quite a bit longer before humanity can step foot on the Red Planet, so for now, it will remain a spacecraft graveyard.

12 Sources Exposed! International Space Station Tests Organisms, Materials in Space - NASA . (2022, August 4). https://www.nasa.gov/missions/station/exposed-international-space-station- tests-organisms-materials-in-space/ Space experts challenge accuracy of The Martian . (2015, September 20). The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2015/sep/20/space-experts-the-martian-matt-damon The Martian Movie Scientific Accuracy | The Brink . (n.d.). Boston University. https://www.bu.edu/articles/2015/the-martian-movie-mars/ Artemis I - NASA . (n.d.). Retrieved November 5, 2023, from https://www.nasa.gov/mission/artemis-i/#:~:text=Artemis%20I%20was%20the%20first %20integrated%20flight%20test%20of%20NASA%27s Giuseppe Pezzella, A. V. (2020). Mars Exploration: a Step Forward . IntechOpen. Horneck, G. (2008). Astrobiological aspects of Mars and human presence: pros and cons. Hippokratia , 12 Suppl 1 (Suppl 1), 49–52. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2577400/ Howell, E. (2022, May 24). NASA shows off early plans to send astronauts to Mars for 30 days . Space.com. https://www.space.com/nasa-plans-astronauts-mars-mission-30-days https://jpl.nasa.gov. (n.d.). Mars Pathfinder - Mars Missions - NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory . NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/mars- pathfinder-sojourner-rover mars.nasa.gov. (n.d.). For InSight, Dust Cleanings Will Yield New Science . NASA Mars Exploration. Retrieved November 6, 2023, from https://mars.nasa.gov/news/8433/for- insight-dust-cleanings-will-yield-new-science/ mars.nasa.gov. (n.d.). Mars Close Approach | Mars in our Night Sky . NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. https://mars.nasa.gov/all-about-mars/night-sky/close-approach/#:~:text=Mars %20Close%20Approach%20happens%20about

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13 mars.nasa.gov. (n.d.). NASA’s Mars Exploration Program . NASA’s Mars Exploration Program. https://mars.nasa.gov/#mars_exploration_program/3 NASAfacts . (n.d.). https://www.nasa.gov/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/veggie_fact_sheet_508.pdf Opportunity - NASA Science . (n.d.). Science.nasa.gov. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mer- opportunity/ published, R. L. (2022, August 24). The Artemis plan: Why NASA sees the moon as a stepping stone to Mars . Space.com. https://www.space.com/artemis-1-moon-stepping-stone- mars#:~:text=Water%20found%20across%20the%20lunar Spirit - NASA Science . (n.d.). Science.nasa.gov. https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mer-spirit/ Syvertson, M., Mccauley, Barba, Carnalla-Martinez, C., Davis, R., Edwards, C., Hulme, S., Lavery, D., Matthies, Mischna, M., Price, H., & Viotti, M. (n.d.). MEP Planning Team . https://mars.nasa.gov/files/mep/Mars_Exploration_Program_Future_Plan.pdf Ways the International Space Station Helps Us Study Plant Growth in Space - NASA . (n.d.). https://www.nasa.gov/missions/station/ways-the-international-space-station-helps-us- study-plant-growth-in-space/ Why Has It Been 50 Years Since Humans Went to the Moon? (n.d.). Airandspace.si.edu. https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/why-50-years-since-humans-went-moon Witze, A. (2022). NASA'S MARS ROVER MAKES 'FANTASTIC' FIND IN SEARCH FOR PAST LIFE. Nature, 609 (7929), 885-886. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02968-2

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