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Mars 2020 Missions

  • 09-06-2020 11:02am
    #1
    Registered Users Posts: 18,055 ✭✭✭✭


    Thought it would be interesting to put up some info on the upcoming launch window from Earth to Mars in July/Aug. There are currently 3 missions planned to launch towards the Red Planet in July and they are all quite different from each other.

    1. NASA Mars 2020. This consists of a rover "Perseverance" which is similar to the Curiosity rover currently on Mars as well as a technology demonstrator "Ingenuity" which is a helicopter and hopefully will be the first aircraft to fly on another solar system body beside Earth. The rover will land in an ancient flood plain on Mars.

    NASAs-Perseverance-Mars-rover-Phys.org_.jpg

    1280px-Anatomy_of_the_Mars_Helicopter.png

    Some interesting aspects of this rover that makes it different to the Curiosity rover is that it will cache the samples it collects into isolated tubes which can be retrieved in a future sample return mission. It is also carrying an experiment which will seek to chemically extract oxygen from the Martian atmosphere (95% carbon dioxide) - this is a significant in-situ experiment of a technology that will be crucial for future human exploration of Mars. Oxygen being key to human survival (obviously!) and also as an oxidizer for fuel.

    Launch window opens on 17th July and it will fly on an Atlas V from Cape Canaveral. It will reach Mars in Feb 2021.


    2. China Tianwen-1.
    This mission consists of an orbiter and a lander with a rover. This will be China's second effort to send a probe to Mars - the first one, which was piggybacking on a Russian probe, failed to leave Earth orbit in 2011.

    cina-spazio.jpg

    f5597412-a403-11ea-8ea0-d7434be00753_image_hires_020825.jpg?itok=fNat1l5H

    Due to launch at the end of July it will enter Mars orbit in Feb 2021 and the plan is for the lander/rover to descend to the surface in April 2021.


    3. UAE Mars Hope Mission. The third mission comes from the UAE and is an orbiter. It has a relatively simple set of instruments consisting of a high resolution camera and a UV/Infrared imager. Scheduled to launch 14th July on board a Japanese rocket from the Tangasheima launch centre in Japan.

    _112803369_uaemarsmission.png

    The European Space Agency had planned to send a rover to Mars this year as well but due to delays that has been put back to the 2022 launch window.


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Comments

  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,537 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    https://spaceflightnow.com/launch-schedule/

    July 14 H-2A • Emirates Mars Mission
    Launch time: 2051:27 GMT (4:51:27 p.m. EDT)
    Launch site: Tanegashima Space Center, Japan


    July 17 Atlas 5 • Mars 2020
    Launch window: 1300-1440 GMT (9:00-10:40 a.m. EDT)
    Launch site: SLC-41, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida


    July Long March 5 • Tianwen 1
    Launch time: TBD
    Launch site: Wenchang, China


  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 12,467 Mod ✭✭✭✭JupiterKid


    I wish all of these missions the very best of success! :)

    Didn’t even know that the UAE was planning a Mars mission. Obviously they have no shortage of money, and it seems to me like a prestige thing for them - would they even have their own in-house science team or has it all been outsourced?


  • Registered Users Posts: 18,055 ✭✭✭✭namloc1980


    JupiterKid wrote: »
    I wish all of these missions the very best of success! :)

    Didn’t even know that the UAE was planning a Mars mission. Obviously they have no shortage of money, and it seems to me like a prestige thing for them - would they even have their own in-house science team or has it all been outsourced?

    It was built locally at the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai, but would assume some international assistance also.


  • Registered Users Posts: 18,055 ✭✭✭✭namloc1980


    Interesting video of the deployment sequence of the Ingenuity helicopter.



  • Registered Users Posts: 18,055 ✭✭✭✭namloc1980


    The launch of the Perseverance rover has been deferred to the 30th July. The original launch date was the 17th July but it's been delayed due to some technical issues with the Atlas V rocket. It has lost 13 days of its launch window which is expected to close on the 15th August. If it doesn't launch during this window it'll have to be stored away until the next window opens in August 2022.

    https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/06/30/nasa-delays-mars-rover-launch-to-no-earlier-than-july-30/


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  • Registered Users Posts: 18,055 ✭✭✭✭namloc1980


    Quick update on these:

    UAE Hope mission launch deferred to the 20th at the earliest due to poor weather at the launch site in Japan.

    Chinese Tianwen-1 has rolled out to the launch pad for an expected launch on the 23rd.

    .

    NASA 2020 rover launch set for the 30th which is about 2 weeks later than planned initially due to some technical issues with the Atlas V rocket.


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 9,700 ✭✭✭tricky D




  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,537 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight




  • Registered Users Posts: 18,055 ✭✭✭✭namloc1980


    China successfully launched its Tianwen-1 mission overnight



  • Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 1,706 Mod ✭✭✭✭star gazer


    Mars 2020 Perseverance is still on for tomorrow at 07.50 am EDT (12:50 pm here). nasa
    The launch period is approximately three weeks, from July 30 to August 15. The duration of the daily launch window varies from day to day. The launch windows will last approximately two hours, with a unique launch opportunity every five minutes.
    The Atlas V rocket has rolled out to it's launch pad at the Kennedy Space centre, Florida.

    https://twitter.com/NASAPersevere/status/1288203197698449411


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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,651 ✭✭✭US2


    Less than half hour till lift off for perseverance.

    https://youtu.be/JIB3JbIIbPU


  • Registered Users Posts: 18,055 ✭✭✭✭namloc1980


    Excellent launch! Exciting times. Fast forward now to landing next February!


  • Posts: 0 [Deleted User]


    RTE news now showing it, watching it with the kids. Amazing stuff from the on board cameras.


  • Registered Users Posts: 15,416 ✭✭✭✭AMKC
    Ms


    Wow oh. Just watched it te NASA Perserverance mission take of on on Sky News. Hope it is a success. It will be around December when it gets there. Am I right?

    Live long and Prosper

    Peace and long life.



  • Registered Users Posts: 18,055 ✭✭✭✭namloc1980


    AMKC wrote: »
    Wow oh. Just watched it te NASA Perserverance mission take of on on Sky News. Hope it is a success. It will be around December when it gets there. Am I right?

    Middle of February 2021


  • Registered Users Posts: 8,810 ✭✭✭Hector Savage


    Lucky perserverance!!!

    Get's off this crazy rock !

    Nice launch, loved the jettison shots on the edge of space


  • Registered Users Posts: 9,354 ✭✭✭irishgeo


    It's got the ability to record the landing phase but won't send the video back till later.

    The test of drone/helicopter technology could be interesting.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,968 ✭✭✭jkforde


    Really looking forward to watching the landing, hopefully will be able to convey the awesomeness on this to my two young lads.. have ye checked out the billion pixel panoramic vistas from Curiosity? can't wait what this yoke is going to send back (hopefully those cores of course!)

    🌦️ 6.7kwp, 45°, SSW, mid-Galway 🌦️ | Smart Day/Night



  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,537 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    chinasspacep.jpg

    China's Tianwen-1 probe has sent back its first image of Mars,
    The robotic craft ignited one of its engines to "make an orbital correction" Friday and was expected to slow down before being "captured by Martian gravity" around February 10, the agency said.

    The five-tonne Tianwen-1 includes a Mars orbiter, a lander and a rover that will study the planet's soil.


  • Registered Users Posts: 1,968 ✭✭✭jkforde



    never ceases to amaze me, let's not ever take this for granted, a pure tonic to the perennial madness down here

    on that note, APOD new tab extension (by Trav) on chrome is another great way to stay inspired!

    🌦️ 6.7kwp, 45°, SSW, mid-Galway 🌦️ | Smart Day/Night



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  • Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,537 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    No Mars probe in ages and then a whole bunch of them show up. :)

    https://phys.org/news/2021-02-uae-probe-trio-mars-missions.html
    The first Arab space mission, the UAE's "Hope" probe, is expected to reach Mars' orbit on Tuesday, making it the first of three spacecraft to arrive at the Red Planet this month.
    ...

    The spacecraft must slow significantly to be captured by Martian gravity, rotating and firing all six of its Delta-V thrusters for 27 minutes to reduce its cruising speed of 121,000 kilometres (about 75,000 miles) per hour to about 18,000 kph.

    The process, which will consume half of its fuel, will begin on Tuesday at 1530 GMT and it will take 11 minutes for a signal on its progress to reach ground control.


  • Registered Users Posts: 15,416 ✭✭✭✭AMKC
    Ms


    No Mars probe in ages and then a whole bunch of them show up. :)

    https://phys.org/news/2021-02-uae-probe-trio-mars-missions.html

    A bit like waiting for a bus. None shows up then 3 come along at one time. Typical.

    Live long and Prosper

    Peace and long life.



  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 12,467 Mod ✭✭✭✭JupiterKid


    Success for the UAE Hope Mars Orbiter mission - Mars Orbit Insertion was successful. :)

    Link:
    https://www.space.com/uae-hope-mars-mission-orbit-insertion-success


    Next up - Tianwen Chinese Mars Orbiter and Lander....


  • Moderators, Social & Fun Moderators Posts: 12,467 Mod ✭✭✭✭JupiterKid


    And China’s ambitious Tianwen 1 Mars orbiter and lander mission successfully achieved Mars orbit yesterday! :)

    Now we await the arrival of NASA’s Perseverence mission.


  • Registered Users Posts: 13,573 ✭✭✭✭josip


    I'd be more relaxed if they were using exactly the as what had worked in the past.
    Perseverance is deploying a new technology called Range Trigger that decides the precise moment to deploy, based on the craft's position relative to the landing site.
    The mission will also see another technology deployed for the first time: the "Terrain Relative Navigation" (TRN) system that uses a special camera to identify surface features and compare them to an onboard map where engineers pre-programmed the safest landing sites.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,254 ✭✭✭Shlippery


    Looking forward to this tonight! I imagine we don't see footage for a while right? I can't remember how the live events worked in the past.

    I guess we get radio comms after those 7 minutes confirming touchdown or not?


  • Registered Users Posts: 999 ✭✭✭thomil


    Shlippery wrote: »
    Looking forward to this tonight! I imagine we don't see footage for a while right? I can't remember how the live events worked in the past.

    I guess we get radio comms after those 7 minutes confirming touchdown or not?

    The way I understood yesterday‘s NASA live stream on the upcoming landing, but I doubt we‘ll se anything but basic telemetry until well after the landing. While its initial approach, probably until parachute deployment, will happen in direct contact with Earth, and as such we should at least be receiving some basic data, the final stage of the landing will happen without direct line of sight to Earth.
    Therefore, Perseverance will utilise the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and the MAVEN probe, both in orbit around Mars, as relay stations. MRO is in pretty much constant communication with Earth, but has a pretty low bandwidth for Perseverance to utilise, so anything beyond basic telemetry is out of the question. MAVEN can offer a lot more bandwidth, but it is not in constant contact with NASA‘s Deep Space Network, and it will be several hours until it sends its data back.

    Good luck trying to figure me out. I haven't managed that myself yet!



  • Registered Users Posts: 9,354 ✭✭✭irishgeo


    thomil wrote: »
    The way I understood yesterday‘s NASA live stream on the upcoming landing, but I doubt we‘ll se anything but basic telemetry until well after the landing. While its initial approach, probably until parachute deployment, will happen in direct contact with Earth, and as such we should at least be receiving some basic data, the final stage of the landing will happen without direct line of sight to Earth.
    Therefore, Perseverance will utilise the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and the MAVEN probe, both in orbit around Mars, as relay stations. MRO is in pretty much constant communication with Earth, but has a pretty low bandwidth for Perseverance to utilise, so anything beyond basic telemetry is out of the question. MAVEN can offer a lot more bandwidth, but it is not in constant contact with NASA‘s Deep Space Network, and it will be several hours until it sends its data back.

    animation and live feed of mission control. Not much they can do now landing code will have been uploaded. they will get notifications of events happening. It's a 20min dealy so it have already gone through the landing before even a squak is heard.


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,254 ✭✭✭Shlippery


    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqqaW8DCc-I Fresh video on Perseverance from an Irish lad with a great channel!


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  • Registered Users Posts: 721 ✭✭✭tigerboon


    https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/timeline/landing/

    Viewing information etc. Send your name to Mars on the next mission and other fun stuff


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