Mars Polar Landing
A momentous occasion has been bestowed upon us. The Mars Polar Lander
will try
to reach its destination of Mars’ southern polar ice cap. The Lander
was
presumed to touch down on Friday December 3, 1999. It was launched from
Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station Space Launch Complex 17 on January 3,
1999 and
hopefully it has finally reached the surfaces of Mars. This mission
is worth
$327.6 million total for both orbiter and Lander (not including Deep
Space 2).
Those figures come from $193.1 million for spacecraft
development, $91.7 million
for launch, and $42.8 million for mission
operations. March 1, 2000 is the
anticipated end of the Primary Mission. This
truly a feat of humankind to
explore and decipher the landscape of the "red"
planet. "Why would we
consider tampering with the planet in the first place?"
a lot of people would
ask. Some of these reasons are pretty obvious. It all
started in the late
1870’s, when Giovanni Schiaparelli viewed what seemed
to be canals. These
canals started from each respectable pole and seemed as
if these canals
transported water to various areas of the planet. This
observation sparked more
exploration. Although, with the limited resources
back then, there was not much
they could do. Times have changed and with the
available technology, the feat is
possible. Exploration has expanded, and we
have learned various new things about
the planet. Many missions have went to
Mars and explored since the first
fascination with this planet and more is
still to learn. Hence the purpose of
the mission that is upon us. Another
reason for the exploration is that Mars is
the next most inhabitable planet,
next to the earth, in the Solar System. We
wonder if that in a couple of year
that we can live there. But all that is in
the far future. The Landscape of
Mars is rather treacherous, learned from
previous missions. The polar regions
of Mars are sometimes cold enough to freeze
carbon dioxide into "dry ice",
something that never happens naturally
on Earth. Scientists hope to learn
about Mars' climate by studying layers of
dust and possibly ice during the
90-day mission. Instruments will measure vapor
in the atmosphere, while a
claw on the spacecraft will collect samples to be
cooked and analyzed for
water. The 3 1/2-foot-tall, 2-foot-wide Lander was to
set down in a
never-explored region so close to the South Pole that the sun will
not dip
below the horizon during the mission. Though it will be late spring,
the
average temperature is expected to be minus-73 degrees Fahrenheit. The
probe is
landing in a region that was said to be inhibited full of water. The
water is
believed to have made the planets rocky landscape. The geology
ranges from deep
canyons, and even ancient shorelines. Tectonic plates play a
vital role in
pushing carbonates under the surface of the earth, contributing
to the active
volcanoes across the earth. There has been evidence on Mars
that there have been
abundant volcanic activity in the past. Without tectonic
plates, that has become
a mystery. Two theories have been expressed to
explain Mars’ geology. One is
that the planet was once warm and boasted
oceans, rivers and even a thicker
atmosphere. The other says that the planet
was always cold and was under a thick
sheet of ice. Regardless, which theory
is true, it proves how much we really do
not know about the "red" planet.
Unfortunately, the Polar Lander has not
reached its destination. The endless
days have elapsed and the mission team
fears that all hope is lost. They have
been trying desperately to communicate
with the Lander, but there is no
response. The first days, but they remained
optimistic. Now as the days go by
and the communications have failed. It seems
they have given up hope. If they
have given up hope, it will be for this
mission, not for the missions to
come.