Here at DNews we’re obsessed with Mars, and we kind of think you are too, we kind
of think everyone is.
Ever since the Romans named the planet after their God of War, it’s been used in fantastical
tales in literature, radio, TV, and film.
Gulliver traveled there, men are supposedly from there and the term martian is inspired
by the planet’s name.
So why are we so obsessed?
Well, maybe Neil deGrasse Tyson said it best, “So much of what drives cosmic exploration
involves the quest to learn whether or not we're alone in the Universe.”
And though there have been some significant advances in the race to Mars, as of today
we really only have some pictures of the planet and a limited amount of data from rock samples.
So, some could say we really haven’t gotten that far, but I’m already getting ahead
of myself.
Let’s rewind back.
In the 60s there was a good handful of attempts to see Mars.
Now I say attempts because they pretty much all failed until Mariner 4 in 1965.
The spacecraft spent just 25 minutes flying by Mars but in that time it took 21 pictures.
Like this one.
For the next 20 years there were more missions to Mars and thousands of more pictures, but
also a significant number of failures.
Expensive failures.
And after losing communication with the Mars Observer in 1993, a spacecraft costing an
estimated 813 million dollars, NASA decided enough was enough.
In NASA’s own words, “...we have tried to do too much, too fast.
We have lost sight of how difficult Space Exploration is…we have had too many Mission
Failures which must be fixed.”
And that ‘fix’ turned out to be something called FBC, which really doesn’t need any
complex scientific explanation.
It’s simply: Faster, Better, Cheaper.
And with that kind of mentality NASA developed a method called aerobraking, or using the
friction of another planet’s atmosphere to control a spacecraft’s orbit, which has
save---l---d lots of money in fuel.
Aerobraking is used with the more recent Mars Odyssey and Reconnaissance (rəˈkänəsəns)
Orbiter which has played a big part in learning about the existence of water on Mars.
Since then, the rover Curiosity has been our primary source for collecting data on the
mysterious red planet.
Curiosity is using some pretty cool tools to test rock samples -- which, actually tells
us quite a lot.
For example, the Curiosity can cook Martian rock up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.
Depending on what temperature the sample breaks down, we can determine what compounds exist
in Mars’ surface.
While Curiosity is still chugging along Mars surface, here on Earth, NASA is planning a
new mission called InSight, a lander designed to study the interior structure of Mars.
Of course it really wouldn’t be a race without competitors.
Big players like China, are hoping to send a rover to Mars and Russia, are looking to
send trained monkeys there.
But there are also smaller organizations in the running.
Like non-profit Inspiration Mars, who are working to send a middle-aged couple to flyby
Mars.
Or Elon Musk’s organization Space-X, who hope to pioneer round trips to Mars via reusable
spacecrafts.
And the highly controversial Mars One, which has big plans to establish a permanent human
settlement.
But this race is a costly one.
Not just in terms of the billions of dollars that these projects need to get off the ground,
but also the time and manpower that is required.
So let’s not forget FBC.
Maybe us racers can work Faster, Better and Cheaper through collaboration.
So, maybe the key to finally finding Martians, we have to do a better job working together
as Earthlings.
So, we get to talk about stories of space exploration because of our sponsor, Toyota.
They want to get the word out about their new Toyota Rav4 Hybrid.
The all new Toyota Rav4 Hybrid let’s your sense of wonder lead the way and drives your
passions further.The Toyota Rav4 Hybrid, how far will you take it?
NASA's Reconnaissance Orbiter recently found strong evidence that suggests liquid water
flows on Mars!!
Want to know more check out this video!
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