Mars Express Readies for Science from Martian Orbit
European Space Agency — Millions of miles from Earth, the Mars Express craft is currently being prepared for a 34-minute burn of its engine to thrust it into orbit early on Christmas Day in Europe, minutes after its companion, the Beagle 2 lander, was expected to touch down on Mars’ surface.
“From this point, the tension really starts to grow,” flight director Michael McKay said in a statement. “We don’t have a lot more to do except watch and wait.”
Mission control in the west German city of Darmstadt sent commands to heat the orbiter’s fuel tanks before the engine is fired and also switched off its nonessential equipment.
A successful launch into orbit will pave the way for Mars Express to make contact with the lander, which is supposed to probe the planet’s rocks and soil for evidence of organic matter.
The Mars Express orbiter is meant to send back overhead pictures of the planet’s surface and scan for underground water with a powerful radar, as well as relaying information from the 67-kilogram (143-pound) Beagle 2, which it released toward Mars Friday.
Mars Express was some 200,000 kilometers (124,300 miles) from Mars mid-Wednesday and on course for the orbit maneuver, which was to be performed some 400 kilometers (250 miles) above the surface, mission control said.
Mars Express carries one of the most exciting packages of instruments in the history of Martian exploration.
Using the flood of data expected from the spacecraft, scientists will be able to unlock the composition of the surface and the present-day workings of the atmosphere.
They will be able to build a picture of how the planet has changed during the 4000 million years of its history. In so doing, they can answer one of the most perplexing astronomical questions of the age: was Mars once like the Earth?
Geological investigations with previous spacecraft have revealed ample evidence that water once flowed across the Martian surface but in exactly what form is hotly debated.
Some believe that flash flooding across a freezing Martian surface is all; others think that Mars was once warm enough to sustain rivers and lakes. Some believe that Mars once possessed an ocean.
The High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) is the best instrument yet sent to Mars to search for the geological features that betray the presence of water. It will also keep an electronic eye out for ancient shorelines.
OMEGA will precisely map the composition of the surface of Mars and MARSIS will make the first ever sub-surface investigation of Mars, using radar to penetrate down to three or four kilometres below the surface. It may even reveal underground lakes of ice or water.
Certainly, there is no water on the surface of Mars today. So, why and how did Mars change? Were those changes sudden or gradual? That is where the atmospheric instruments come in.
The atmosphere is the buffer between Mars and outer space and the interface through which most of Mars’s supposed water was probably lost.
The Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) will measure the global composition and movement of the atmosphere; SPICAM will look for traces of water and ozone in the atmosphere and ASPERA will study the way the atmosphere interacts with the wind of particles given off by the Sun.
Finally, one experiment provides data for free! By analysing the signals sent back from Mars for subtle, distorting effects, the Mars Radio Science Experiment (MaRS) will convey information about the interior of Mars and space weather. Together, all these instruments will reveal Mars and its behaviour as we have never seen before.
About Mars Express
Mars Express is Europe’s first spacecraft to the Red Planet. It carries seven instruments and a lander. The orbiter instruments are soon to remotely investigate the Martian atmosphere, surface and subsurface. Beagle 2, the lander, will perform on-the-spot measurements and also search for signs of past life.
Mars has always been a source of intrigue and fascination. It is currently the only planet in the Solar System on which there is a strong possibility of finding life – past, or perhaps present. It is a prime candidate for future manned exploration, and even colonisation.
Mars Express, together with its lander, is an important element of the international flotilla of spacecraft destined to explore Mars. The ESA project is also the start of an innovative way of developing building blocks for cheaper assembly of future European space missions.
The spacecraft has been built and launched in record time and at a much lower cost than previous, similar missions into outer space.
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