Mars Exploration Rovers

NASA Mars rover på den "Røde planet".

Mars Exploration Rovers var to NASA fartøjer til ubemandede rummissioner. Projektet omfattede to robotter der kørte rundt på planeten Mars:

Projektet begyndte i 2003 da man sendte de to marsrovere – Spirit og Opportunity – for at udforske overfladen og geologien på Mars. De vigtigste videnskabelige mål i programmet, var at lede efter og karakterisere et vidt udvalg af sten og jordprøver, som kan bevise eller afkræfte, om der er, eller har været vand på Mars.

Missionerne var del af NASA's Mars Exploration Program som inkluderer tidligere succesfulde landinger, de to Viking-sonder (Viking 1 og 2) i 1976, Mars Pathfinder i 1997, 2001 Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter og Phoenix der landede på Mars i 2008. Andre opsendelser i programmet er Curiosity (2011) og MAVEN (2013).

Projektet var ledet af Peter Theisinger fra NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory og Steven Squyres, professor i astronomi ved Cornell University.

Den 13. februar 2019 erklærede NASA missionen for afsluttet, da Opportunity ikke havde kommunikeret siden august 2018.[1]

Rumfartøjernes design

Delta II-raketten.

Mars Exploration Rover var designet for at blive sat på en Delta II-raket. Hvert fartøj består af komponenterne:

DelVægt
Mars-rover185 kg
Lander348 kg
Rygskjold og faldskærm209 kg
Varmeskjold78 kg
Cruise-modul193 kg
Brændstof50 kg
Total masse1063 kg
  • Diagram over MER (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

    Diagram over MER (NASA/JPL-Caltech)

  • Billede som viser Opportunity rover før missionen til Mars

    Billede som viser Opportunity rover før missionen til Mars

  • Diagram som viser fartøjernes isolering

    Diagram som viser fartøjernes isolering

Eksterne henvisninger

  1. ^ "NASA's Opportunity Rover Mission on Mars Comes to End". NASA. 13. februar 2019. Hentet 13. februar 2019.
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Shuttle.svg
A drawing of NASA's Space Shuttle Challenger. Image provided by Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California. See [1], specifically EG-0076-04.eps.
Opportunity Cruise Stage.jpg
In the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility, the Mars Exploration Rover-1 (MER-B) awaits further preflight processing atop a spin table. The rover is scheduled to launch aboard a Delta II rocket on June 25. NASA’s twin Mars Exploration Rovers are designed to study the history of water on Mars. These robotic geologists are equipped with a robotic arm, a drilling tool, three spectrometers, and four pairs of cameras that allow them to have a human-like, 3D view of the terrain. Each rover could travel as far as 100 meters in one day to act as Mars scientists' eyes and hands, exploring an environment where humans are not yet able to go. The launch of MER-2 (MER-A) is tentatively set for June 8.
Lancement Spirit fusee Delta IIs 10062003.jpg
Amid billows of smoke and steam, the Delta II rocket with its Mars Exploration Rover (MER-A) payload lifts off the pad on time at 1:58 p.m. EDT from Launch Complex 17-A, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. MER-A, known as Spirit, is the first of two rovers being launched to Mars. When the two rovers arrive at the red planet in 2004, they will bounce to airbag-cushioned landings at sites offering a balance of favorable conditions for safe landings and interesting science. The rovers see sharper images, can explore farther and examine rocks better than anything that has ever landed on Mars. The designated site for the MER-A mission is Gusev Crater, which appears to have been a crater lake. The second rover, MER-B, is scheduled to launch June 25.
Mars Viking 22e169.png

Original Caption Released with NASA Image:

Photo from Viking Lander 2 shows late-winter frost on the ground on Mars around the lander. The view is southeast over the top of Lander 2, and shows patches of frost around dark rocks. The surface is reddish-brown; the dark rocks vary in size from 10 centimeters (four inches) to 76 centimeters (30 inches) in diameter. This picture was obtained September 25, 1977. The frost deposits were detected for the first time 12 Martian days (sols) earlier in a black-and-white image. Color differences between the white frost and the reddish soil confirm that we are observing frost. The Lander Imaging Team is trying to determine if frost deposits routinely form due to cold night temperatures, then disappear during the warmer daytime. Preliminary analysis, however, indicates the frost was on the ground for some time and is disappearing over many days. That suggests to scientists that the frost is not frozen carbon dioxide (dry ice) but is more likely a carbon dioxide clathrate (six parts water to one part carbon dioxide). Detailed studies of the frost formation and disappearance, in conjunction with temperature measurements from the lander’s meteorology experiment, should be able to confirm or deny that hypothesis, scientists say.
Mars Rover Aeroshell.jpg
Mars Exploration Rover aeroshell diagram.
NASA Mars Rover.jpg
An artist's concept portrays a NASA Mars Exploration Rover on the surface of Mars. Rovers Opportunity and Spirit were launched a few weeks apart in 2003 and landed in January 2004 at two sites on Mars. Each rover was built with the mobility and toolkit to function as a robotic geologist.