Summary

Mars is welcoming five new exploratory missions in February 2021, marking a significant milestone in Martian research and international space collaboration.

Abstract

In a historic convergence of space missions, Mars is set to receive five new explorers this month, capitalizing on the favorable launch window of July 2020. Among these is NASA's Perseverance rover, accompanied by the Ingenuity helicopter, designed to test powered flight in Mars' thin atmosphere. China's Tianwen-1 mission includes both an orbiter and a rover, while the United Arab Emirates' Hope orbiter is the nation's first interplanetary endeavor, focusing on studying Mars' climate and atmosphere. These missions aim to investigate the planet's potential for past and present life, its geology, and atmospheric dynamics, with the hope of advancing our understanding of Mars and its potential for future human exploration.

Opinions

The successful deployment of these missions amidst a global pandemic is seen as a remarkable achievement, showcasing the resilience and dedication of the international scientific community.
The missions, particularly the Hope orbiter and Perseverance rover, carry symbolic meanings: Hope represents a message of optimism to young Arabs, while Perseverance pays tribute to healthcare workers with a plate bearing the staff and serpent symbol.
The concentration of missions and their diverse objectives reflect a significant leap forward in Mars exploration, with the potential to redefine our knowledge of the red planet and inform future human missions.

Mars gains five new friends this month in a scientific moment to be remembered.

Southern Highlands of Mars, Source: NASA

Space is lonely, however, due to an opportune launching window in July of 2020, Mars will be receiving five new friends this month! (February 2021)

You may have already heard of NASA’s Perseverance rover, but did you know Perseverance has a stowaway on board?

Joining Perseverance on the surface will be a Chinese rover, Tianwen-1 Rover and deployed in orbit will be the Tianwen-1 Orbiter who will also be joined by the Hope Orbiter from the UAE.

So, who is Mars’s five new friends and why are they here?

Percy and Ingenuity

I’ve already written about Ingenuity, the Mars Helicopter, hitching a ride to Mars in the belly of Perseverance (Percy). It’s a short run tech test to see if we can fly in Mars’s atmosphere, to find out more about how it will fly and what tests it will be performing check out my article.

Percy on the other hand is a Mars Rover, much like Opportunity and Curiosity before it. The latter still functioning to this day.

Rovers are about the size of a small car and are packed to the gills with scientific measuring devices and the means to survive as long as they can.

Percy’s goals on Mars, other than the short stint supervising Ingenuity, are to search for evidence of historic life such as identifying past habitats, evidence of past microbial life. Collect and store rock and soil samples, and to identify and test how oxygen is produced on Mars (we already can detect that Oxygen makes up 0.17% of Mars’s atmosphere.)

To achieve these goals Percy is equipped with seven key scientific instruments and a nuclear power generator that has a 14-year life span!

Of note is that Percy is built larger and more durable than his predecessors, specifically sporting more durable wheels as Curiosities wheels sustained more than anticipated damage.

Percy and Ingenuity are expected to arrive February 18th 2021.

Tianwen-1 Orbiter and Rover

Already in Orbit around Mars, arriving first on February 10th is the Tianwen-1 Orbiter and Rover. The orbiter is set to spend it’s first few months sending visual data back to Earth to help further refine the landing spot for its counterpart Rover.

The pair will work in tandem to assess the feasibility of life on Mars, past, present, and future. The orbiter will work to map Mars’s geology as well as examining its atmosphere, measuring ionosphere and the electromagnetic and gravitational fields.

The rover will sample the soil and land in its landing zone, of note, is the Rovers Ground Penetrating Radar which will help paint a picture of what goes on up to 100 metres below the surface. Liquid water and possibly even microbial life may be beneath the surface,protected from Mars’s harsh environment.

We’ve already started to received data from the Tianwen-1 Orbiter. The Rover and its landing unit are set to land on a region of Mars known as Utopia Planitia at some point in May.

Hope Orbiter

Hope arrived in orbit on February 9th 2021 and is the UAE’s first trip to Mars, making them the second country after India to succeed at reaching the red planet on their first attempt.

Hope is the first real weather satellite for Mars. Its primary missions are to provide detailed analysis of Mars’s atmosphere covering seasonal changes and weather events such as the many dust storms Mars experiences. To achieve this the probe is outfitted with both a high-resolution camera and an infrared sensor allowing Mars’s weather to be studied in detail. To facilitate this the probe has chosen a 55-hour orbit which will give it ample time to collect lots of data on specific incidents, this in contrast to its fellow orbiters MAVEN and Trace Gas Orbiter, who have 4.5 hours and 2-hour orbits respectfully.

Hope also has a secondary objective. It is equipped with an Ultraviolet Spectrometer which will allow it to measure Mars’s atmosphere with specific goals of assessing why it is losing gasses, mainly hydrogen, into space. This should shed light on how Mars’s atmosphere deteriorated and even help our climate models here on earth.

A scientific accomplishment to be celebrated.

The July 2020 launch window to Mars is a window that occurs every twenty-six months and represents the shortest distance to travel between us and our red neighbour.

Given that we still are grappling with a global pandemic all teams who made this happen have truly delivered above and beyond for a scientific community that is always underfunded and works to some unavoidable deadlines.

Hope is named as such because “it sends a message of optimism to millions of young Arabs”, Percy carries with it a plate with the staff and serpent symbol as a way to show appreciation for the healthcare workers.

Never in the history of space studies have we been able to achieve this much scientific movement in such a short period, from March 2021 the study of Mars will be slingshot forward more than it has ever been.

A big thank you to all who made this happen.