The planet Mars has been explored remotely by spacecraft. Probes sent from Earth, beginning in the late 20th century, have yielded a large increase in knowledge about the Martian system, focused primarily on understanding its geology and habitability potential. Engineering interplanetary journeys is complicated and the exploration of Mars has experienced a high failure rate, especially the early attempts. Roughly sixty percent of all spacecraft destined for Mars failed before completing their missions and some failed before their observations could begin. Some missions have met with unexpected success, such as the twin Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity which operated for years beyond their specification.

Current status

As of May 2021, there are three operational rovers on the surface of Mars, the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers, both operated by the United States of America space agency NASA, as well as the Zhurong rover, part of the Tianwen-1 mission by the China National Space Administration (CNSA). There are eight orbiters surveying the planet: Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan), MAVEN, the Trace Gas Orbiter, the Hope Mars Mission, and the Tianwen-1 orbiter, which have contributed massive amounts of information about Mars. The stationary lander InSight is investigating the deep interior of Mars. Various sample return missions are being planned to pick up the samples obtained by the Perseverance rover. An attempted return mission for Mars’ moon Phobos (Fobos-Grunt) failed at launch in 2011. In all, there are 13 probes currently surveying Mars including the Ingenuity helicopter, which is scouting sites for Perseverance to study.

# The surface of Mars

# Exploration of Mars

# modern photographic

The next missions expected to arrive at Mars are:

• The joint ExoMars program of Roscosmos and ESA has delayed the launch of the Kazachok landing platform, which will carry the Rosalind Franklin rover, until 2022.
• Mars Orbiter Mission 2 by India, planned launch in 2024.
  

  What are the goals of the Perseverance rover on Mars?

  The rover will address two important things: search of signs of microbial life and can humans be sent to Mars. The Mars soil samples that the rover will bring back will be studied in most equipped labs around the world to find a definitive answer about existence of life on mars in the past. Perseverance will collect soil and rock samples in cigar-shaped tubes, seal the canisters and leave it there. Next the European Space Agency’s Mars Fetch Rover will collect the samples from different locations and return to the lander. The canisters will be transferred to the Ascent Vehicle, that will meet an orbiter and the Orbiter will finally carry the samples back to the Earth. This entire process is called Mars Sample Return (MSR) However, if one of the components of the MSR project fails, the entire process falls. The hidden risk for the three-tier, high-cost involved process is strategic and NASA had to foreclose many other space missions to carry on with MSR.

  What is required for carrying a manned mission to Mars?

  Oxygen is very important for a manned mission as it provides for breathing of the astronauts and fuel for the trip back to Earth. To carry a cost-effective human mission to Mars there should be a technology in place where oxygen can be produced on Mars using its atmosphere or raw material present there. Else a manned mission can be too expensive or unrealistic. Also, Elon Musk’s plan to provide commercial transportation to the planet can fail. Perseverance’s Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilisation Experiment (MOXIE) instrument will try to produce 10 grams of oxygen by using 300 watts of power. If the experiment is successful, production of oxygen can be scaled by 100 times to support a manned mission to Mars. The rover will also carry Mars’ Subsurface Experiment by mapping its subsurface structure to find water on Mars. If found it will be instrumental for a human mission or human settlement.

  #mars exploration                          #ISBC