Is there water on Mars and was there once life there? Two missions, a European and an American one, will soon set out to find the answer. Humanity is returning to space, and in a big way
In the coming weeks, humanity will return to looking at the sky: space exploration, which suffered a severe blow with the crash of the space shuttle Columbia, is slowly returning to its course. Two soon-to-be-launched space missions point to the next target set by the space agencies of the European Union, Russia and the United States - the planet Mars.
The first mission belongs to the European Space Agency, which, with the help of the Russian Space Agency, will launch on June 2 "Mars Express", a research spacecraft whose purpose is to try and answer the question that scientists have been asking for many years: Is there possible life on the Red Planet?
After the "Mars Express" launch, it will take about six months until the spacecraft reaches the vicinity of Mars and begins work. The mission includes two main phases: the first is a mapping and review mission that will be carried out by the spacecraft that will attack Mars approximately every six hours. The scientists hope that the special equipment in the spacecraft, and especially the sophisticated radar "Mercis", will help find evidence for the existence of underground water reservoirs on the planet. The "Marsis" antenna will launch strong radio waves in front of the star that can penetrate its rocky mantle and search for water at a depth of up to 5 km below the surface. Water is one of the basic conditions for the existence of organic life and evidence of the presence of water on Mars will indicate the possibility of the existence of life in the present or in the past.
The second part of the mission is to launch a lander towards the surface of the planet, with the aim of examining the composition of the soil and rocks. The landing compartment is called "Beagle 2", after the explorer Thomas Darwin's ship, in which he went on research trips around the globe in 1830. "Beagle 2" will penetrate the star's atmosphere, slow its speed using a parachute and then inflate balloons with gas that will soften the landing. After it lands, five solar panels will be opened that will provide it with electrical energy that will allow it to start drilling and collecting in the field.
"Beagle 2" is also equipped with sensitive sensors that will be able to locate any possible sign of life on the planet's surface. "The sensors we installed are able to detect gases emitted by any micro-organism", explained the project manager, Professor Colin Flinger to the BBC network. "Even if these microorganisms are far from us, we can detect any gas emitted by them into the atmosphere," he explains.
The British Minister of Science, Lord Sainsbury, was present at the beginning of the week at a special ceremony for the countdown to the launch of the "Mars Express". The launch will be made possible thanks to a Soyuz-type launch rocket and a Fregat-type launch vehicle of the Russian Space Agency, and it will be carried out from the Baikanor space base in Kazakhstan.
The second mission: the Americans are coming
And in the meantime, NASA is also preparing for the launch of two reconnaissance vehicles towards the Red Planet - one on May 30 and the other on June 25. The purpose of the patrol vehicles is similar to the purpose of the European mission - to locate those elusive waters that will prove that we may not be alone in the universe.
Their landing sites were carefully selected after extensive research by the Ames Institute in California, which examined the nature of the Martian surface based on images received from a photography satellite orbiting it since 1997, providing sharp images to researchers on Earth.
The research revealed geological evidence that rivers and streams once flowed on the surface of Mars, and there were lakes and seas on its surface. The researchers processed images of cliffs and gullies on the surface of the planet and demonstrated how these geological formations were formed as a result of strong water flow in the past. However, the researchers did not find clear answers to the strange fact that all rivers begin and end abruptly, without splitting into narrower channels. The explanation is that unlike on Earth, where the source of water is in showers, the water on the surface of Mars mostly originates from underground water reservoirs. The research has recently received reinforcements with the discovery of underground ice deposits on Mars, a fact that suggests that the water may have flowed and frozen, as a result of drastic changes in the planet's climate.
NASA's reconnaissance vehicles will, therefore, be launched to sites where strong evidence has been found of water flow in the past and the existence of ice deposits in the present and will study the rocks and their mineral composition, in order to confirm the hypotheses. They will transfer the images and information they find to a satellite orbiting the star, which will launch them back to Earth.
More than just curiosity
"Finding water on Mars will be a very significant discovery in the study of life", is convinced by the Director of the Israeli Space Agency, Avi Har-Evan. According to him, scientists have believed for many years that there used to be life on Mars and that they became extinct for some reason. Proof of this was given in discoveries about microorganisms found inside a meteor that landed on Earth several years ago. Har-Evan also says that the age of Mars is similar to the age of the Earth and the discovery of evidence of life on its surface can provide a tip for research on the origin of life on Earth.
But academic curiosity is not the only purpose of launching missions to Mars, and they have more useful goals. Har Evan explains: "Water consists of hydrogen and oxygen, which are also the materials from which rocket fuel can be produced. If water is found on the surface of Mars, it will be possible to produce rocket fuel there in the future." Har Evan further explains that it will be possible to establish permanent space stations on Mars that will serve as "springboards" for deeper exploration of space.
Launching spacecraft from Earth requires powerful rockets that can overcome Earth's gravity and on other planets, such as the Moon and Mars, can be launched more easily. "This way it will be possible to establish 'jump stations' in space, to which they will fly and from there it will be possible to continue to more distant destinations," says Har-Evan. "To that end, we need to continue research and check whether it is possible to move people there and sustain them in terms of air to breathe, water and food, and other aspects - psychological - related to a long stay in closed places. NASA already does such experiments here and closes groups of people in similar conditions for long periods."
"There is no substitute for manned missions"
Har-Evan points out that the road to sending people to Mars is long, and that many unmanned research missions will be required before the human foot will set foot on the Red Planet, but NASA aims to complete the mission in approximately 15 years. "The robots that are being sent now are the first steps. They examine the issue of water, which is also important for the existence of human life. Later, materials will be mined there and brought to Israel, to be tested. It is possible, by the way, that there are expensive materials such as gold and platinum. If they manage to get materials from there, the next step is to send a person. This is a difficult task, and it depends on the proximity between the stars that occurs every few years. When they are close, the journey to the star takes six months and therefore a round trip takes about a year. The maximum proximity is not fixed, so the possibility that the person will have to stay there for several years must be evaluated. In any case, they will send a person there. Even after the Columbia disaster there is no substitute for manned missions. Robots and computers can be more accurate, stronger and more durable, but a human eye and brain are irreplaceable."
The "Mars Express" mission has been postponed several times due to technical problems and on May 28 there will be a final meeting of the team, which includes the Italian Space Agency, the European Space Agency and other representatives from Europe and the USA, for a final update. If no special problems arise, the spacecraft will be placed on the launch pad the next day, on May 29, in preparation for the launch, two days later.
