Mars Rover Essay Example for Free

mar R all over EssayThus the force of gravity on deflower is more or less one-third of that on world. mar is probably the planet we know the most about since it is so close to Earth, though what we know now is not even close to every slightg about the planet. Over the former(prenominal) several decades, world have been interested about biography on mars. In 1877, Giovanni Schiaparelli, an Italian astronomer, was the premier(prenominal) person to draw a map of Mars. His map showed a system of streaks or channels, which he called arouseali. In 1910, the U. S. astronomer Percival Lowell made observations of Mars and wrote a book.In his book, Lowell described Mars as a death planet where the civilizations built an extensive network of canals to distribute water from the polar regions to the center of the planet. Mars was infracted by scientists in the 1600s. Researchers descried a pale pink object that was alone visible in the wee morning just before dawn. The object m oved closer to the stars, got brighter over the next year and go up earlier and earlier. Then it reversed direction. Mars was the third most brightest object in the night sky, it had an overwhelming red color and could see all night keen-sighted.After moving the opposite direction for about 70 days, it reversed direction again, and gradually got dimmer. It was only visible in the evening sky and nail down earlier and earlier. After another year it again was a pale pink object, this time only visible just after sunset. Shortly after that, it could not be visible at all. It remained unobserved for about one hundred days when the cycle began again. Each cycle took a curt over two years. Scientists believed that water may have existed on the planet Mars. The total journey time from Earth to Mars takes between 150-300 days epending on the speed of the launch, the alignment of Earth and Mars, and the length of the journey the topographic pointcraft takes to reach its target. We wo uld need food, waste disposal, oxygen, and the matter of getting back to earth. Another reason we wouldnt send humans to mars dont know how our body would react to mars atmosphere. Mars doesnt have a magnetic field, much(prenominal) as earth, our planet blocks it out. If a human went to mars for a period of time there is a 40% chance they would come back with cancer. So at this time wanderers are our best option.The beginning rover ever sent mars was in 1962 called Mariner 3. The rover never set down on mars it was a flyby which means it only took pictures of the planet while in obit. In 1965 Mariner 4 took more pictures. In 1969, flybys ended and NASA came up with spacecrafts. Mariner 9 was the counterbalance rover to take pictures of the stainless surface of Mars when it landed in 1972. In the mid 70s, they launched Viking 1 and 2, they were the get-go to discover ultraviolet radiation with dry lubricating oil and oxidizing nature preventing organisms from forming. The cost, to build a rover is about 2. 7 billion dollars, for us to send over humans the cost is tw frosting as much. Sojourner, which launched in 1996 and landed in 1997, was part of the Mars Pathfinder Mission. The itty-bitty rover weighed in at 23 pounds. It was 26 inches long, 19 inches wide, and 12 inches tall. In 83 Martian days of operation, Sojourner never ventured more than 40 feet aside from its lander, and its odometer for the whole trip read only about 330 feet. The rover snapped 550 photographs and performed tests on a tremble named Yogi. In 2001 NASA discovered ice when the spacecraft Odyssey orbited Mars and took pictures.What Spirit and Opportunity found was a character to the technology that allowed them to explore Mars. Within a couple months of landing, the Opportunity uncovered evidence of saltwater, which leaves open the porta that life (and fossil indications) might at one time have existed on the planet. Spirit stumbled crosswise rocks that pointed to an earlier, u nrulier Mars that was marked by impacts, explosive volcanism and subsurface water source NASA Mars. Water is key because almost everywhere we find water on Earth we find life, NASAs Web site. However, we are tranquil unsure life existed on Mars.The rover wonderment, finally landed on mars August 6, 2012, it was launched November 26, 2011. Before NASA could be launched Curiosity, the rover it had to go through series of test, drop tests, pull test, drive test, load test, stress tests, and shorting tests. So scientists had to go steady that Earth and Mars revolve around the sun at different rates meaning it takes Mars 686 earths days and the Earth 365 days. They did to figure out when Mars was closest to Earth. Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral. Stage one, it reaches space and the tip of the cone opens and fall off.During the second stage, a centuar engine starts placing the vehicle into obit. When everything is alined the second engine starts to move it to mars. Once Cur iosity is on Mars it will do tasks such as collecting rock, soil sampling and placing them on instruments in order to be analyzed. What goes into the rover (Siceloff, Steven. Mars scouter Well-Equipped for Studies. NASAs John F. Kennedy situation Center. Nov. 22, 2011. (Dec. 9, 2011) http//www. nasa. gov/mission_pages/msl/launch/mslprelaunchfeature. html) A miniaturized gas chromatograph and mass spectrometer will separate and analyze chemical compounds in samples.A tunable laser spectrometer will look for organic (carbon-containing) compounds and determine the ratio of key isotopes twain vital to unlocking Marss atmospheric and aquatic past. CheMin, an X-ray diffraction and fluorescence instrument, will measure the bulk composition of samples and detect their theatrical role minerals. Located on the rover arm, the Mars Hand Lens Imager will photograph rocks, soil and, if face up, ice in extreme close-up. This uber-camera can spot details thinner than a human hair or focus on objects more than an arms length away.The Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer for Mars Science research lab, also located on the arm, will figure out the relative amounts of various elements present in Martian rocks and soils. Curiositys neck, or mast, is also decked out in instrumentation The Mars Science research lab Mast Camera (MSLMC), attached at human-eye height, will help the rover navigate and record its surroundings in high-resolution stereo and color stills or high-definition video. The MSLMC can view materials collected or treated by the arm. Stereo hazard-avoidance cameras located further down the mast will aid the rovers navigation.Another mast-mounted instrument, ChemCam, will vaporize thin layers of material up to 30 feet (9 meters) away using laser pulses, then analyze them with its spectrometer. Its telescope can capture images of the beams target area. The Radiation Assessment Detector will monitor surface radiation levels. The Rover Environmental Monitoring Sta tion will take readings of atmospheric pressure, temperature, humidity and wind, as well as levels of ultraviolet radiation. The Dynamic Albedo of Neutrons instrument can detect hydrogen a potential index finger of ice or water trapped in minerals up to 3 feet (1 meter) beneath the surface.Earthlings have long been fascinated by the planet Mars. Well before modern science fiction speculated about travel civilizations upon Mars, the red planet was regarded as a malevolent agent of war, pestilence, and apocalyptic disaster inhabited with little green men. For untold millennia prior to scientific astronomy and well before there were any records which could powerful be called historical, human beings recounted myths surrounding their favorite heroes and gods about Mars.It wasnt until the 17th century when Mars was first discovered by scientists that we began to understand the red planet. The first rover sent to Mars was in 1962. The first successful mission was the 1964 trip by the Mariner 4, a United States craft that returned 21 images of the planet. In 1969 the flybys ended and In 1972 pictures were taken of the planets surface by the rover Mariner 9. Viking 1 and 2, which launched in the mid-70s, two had landers that descended to the surface of Mars.In 2003, the Mars Exploration Rover mission team launched Spirit and Opportunity, one of which was still traversing the planet as 2011 ended. Which leads us to Curiosity and 2012. Curiosity, previously known as the Mars Science Laboratory weighs 2000 pounds and has a planned mission duration of 23 Earth months, which it could exceed by quite more or less time, based on NASAs experience with the Spirit and Opportunity rovers. True to its old name (Mars Science Laboratory), Curiosity is packed with instruments as mentioned above. Who knows what our curiosity will lead to. Hopefully, life.