Translated material
Mars is in the lens
In July 2020, three interplanetary apparatus launched from the Earth to Mars: on July 19, from the Japanese cosmodrome of Tanegasim on the H-IIA carrier, the Automatic Interplanetary station Al-Amal (the United Arab Emirates), July 23 with the Wenzhen-5 cosmodrome-AMS Tianveen-1 AMS-1 (Chinese People’s Republic), on July 30, from the SLC-41 launch site, Cape Kanveral on the Atlas V-541 pH, AMS Mars-2020 with the Persevserans Rover (United States of America) [ 1 ].
The devices took a little more than six months to reach Mars.
The first, February 9, the Arab station al-Amal entered the high orbit near Mars, which means “Nadezhda” in translation [ 2 ]. Inhibition operations were performed in automatic mode with a signal delay of about 11 minutes. This is the peculiarity of all distant space flights, when the specialists of the management centers need to wait for information about the events that have already occurred or, on the contrary, send commands, knowing that they will be executed later (the time period changes depending on the mutual position of the planets).
After entering the intermediate orbit, the device began checking the on -board systems and a gradual transition to a working orbit of 20 thousand by 43 thousand km, convenient to observe the full daily cycle of the Red Planet. All preparatory operations should end by May 2021.
With the help of three scientific devices created in conjunction with scientific organizations of the United States - the EMIRS infrared spectrometer, the multi -band EXI camera with a resolution of up to 8 km and the ultraviolet spectrometer EMUS - Arab specialists will collect data on the dynamics of different layers of the Martian atmosphere and its interaction with the solar wind. On February 14, 2021, the probe sent his first picture of Mars from a height of 25 thousand km above the surface of the planet.
It is interesting that the deputy head of the First Arab Martian Mission and at the same time the scientific director of the Al-Amal program is Sarah al-Amiri, Minister for the Development of High Technologies of the UAE. The main scientific team includes 11 employees of the OAE space agency: eight women and three men.
The next day, February 10, the Chinese AMS “Tianveen-1” (“Questions to Heaven”) arrived at Mars [ 3 ]. This is the first Martian mission of China (Inho-1 died in 2011 with Fobos-Grung). It is much more ambitious than Arabic.
Seven scientific tools are installed on the Tianveen-1 orbital apparatus [ 4 ]: the MRC multi-instrumental camera, which will allow you to very high quality to shoot the surface of Mars; MIRC moderate resolution color chamber for sightseeing; A radar for sounding subsurrent layers of soil and the search for ice Moser; MMS mineralogical spectrometer for studying the resources of Mars; three -component MM magnetometer; Two more devices are designed to study the atmosphere and the space environment: the Ion analyzer and the MinPA neutral plasma, as well as the Mepa energetic particle analyzer for registration in the upper layers of the atmosphere of the electron, protons, alpha particles and heavy ions to the iron inclusive.
In addition, a rover should be landed on the surface of the red planet. Now the Chinese State Space Administration (CNSA) is holding a national competition to choose a name for this apparatus.
The nameless 240-kilogram rover with overall 2 × 1.65 × 0.8 m has a navigation stereo and six devices. This is a TC topographic camera to build three -dimensional surface models; MSC multi -instrumental camera for studying morphology and distributing various materials; Supporting Mrser radar with maximum working depth of 100 m for ice and 10 m for soil; laser spectrometer for the remote determination of the elemental composition and the identification of surface rocks MSCD; three -component MMFD magnetometer; Meteus complex MMM for measuring temperature, pressure, speed and direction of wind and recording sounds.
Solar panels will be used as an energy source for the Mars. Work on the surface of the Red Planet is planned for 30 days (with possible extension).
Until May 2021, “Tianveen-1” will be in the orbit of expectations for shooting and sensing the planet in detail to study the plain of the utopia, where the descent module with a rover will land, as well as clarify the parameters of the atmosphere for planting. If everything goes according to plan, closer to the beginning of the earth's summer, a landing complex weighing 1745 kg will be separated from the orbital apparatus for descent to the surface of the red planet. After that, the orbital apparatus will switch to a working orbit with an inclination of 86.9 ° and a height of 265 × 11 943 km for long -term study of Mars.
The last, February 18, the American AMS “Mars-2020” arrived at Mars with the Persevens Rover (Persevrance, Persistence ”) [ 5 ]. The flight scheme did not provide for access to orbit. The interplanetary station landed immediately from the flower trajectory. The first blow to himself was the heat -shielding corps, reducing the speed of the station in the atmosphere; The parachute was revealed, and the last “heavenly crane” entered into business - a device that hangs in the air on the jet engines and lowers the rover to the surface on nylon cables. The navigation system of the “Heavenly Crance” independently analyzed the surface before landing and lowered the “Persevens” to the fairly even site of the Ezero crater [6]. Immediately after that, two black and white photographs from navigation chambers were transferred to the ground, which after 11-15 minutes saw earthlings, following the landing of “perseverance” live.
Scientists have found that the crater of Ezero in ancient times was filled with water. It got its name in 2007 in honor of the small village of Ezero in Bosnia and Herzegovina. “The International Astronomical Union prefers to call small craters of scientific importance in honor of small cities and villages of the world,” explained Ken Farley, a researcher at the Mars 2020 project from the California Technological Institute in Pasadena, California [ 7 ]. The word jezero in many Slavic languages means "lake." The village of Ezero is located near Lake Great Plivsko.
The western part of the Martian Plain of Isis is composed of ancient and various geological rocks: the surface of Mars in this region was formed 3.6 billion years ago. According to scientists, the Delta of the ancient Martian River was located in the crater of Ezero and there should be river deposits brought by the water stream, where they hope to find traces of its former life on Mars.
The mass of "Persevens" - 1025 kg. Its dimensions are 3 × 2.7 × 2.2 m-but this is if you do not take into account a rather long manipulator hand. To move along Mars, the rover is equipped with six half -meter diameter wheels of aluminum alloy with titanium knitting needles - somewhat more durable than similar knitting needles on the previous Kuriosity. The composition of the payload of the rover includes seven scientific tools: MastCam-Z camera for panoramic and stereoscopic surface images; Supercam spectrometer is a tool for analyzing the chemical and mineralogical composition of Martian rocks; X -ray fluorescent PIXL spectrometer with a thermal imager, which will make the most detailed analysis of the elemental composition of the soil on Mars in the entire history of the planet’s research; Ultraviolet Ramanovsky spectrometer Sherloc with a high resolution camera; MEDA weather station for measuring air temperature, atmospheric pressure, speed and direction of wind, relative humidity and size and shape of dust particles in the air; The radar of the ultra -large range of Rimfax is a georadar designed to detect the nearest under -surface layers of rocks, which can “look” to a depth of 10 m; The manipulator is in addition to spectrometers, it has a small mechanism that can drill small holes up to six centimeters.
The rover has good multimedia capabilities: it has as many as 23 cameras for navigation and technical operations, and there are two microphones to record Martian sounds. The first special external microphone recorded sounds during planting: the operation of pyrotechnic products, the engines of the “heavenly crane”, the wind in the atmosphere of Mars and a soft blow to the surface. The second microphone is installed on the Supercam camera designed to analyze the chemical and mineralogical composition of Martian rocks. The microphone will capture the sounds of a laser that turns the soil and stones into plasma; This will give additional information about their properties, including hardness. Interestingly, there is also a microphone on the Chinese porcore, but the NASA Rover, most likely, will transmit sound recording on Mars earlier.
For the first time, the sound on the surface of another planet was recorded by the Soviet automatic stations Venus-13 and Venus-14 in 1982. And in 2004, the Guygens European probe, separating from the American interplanetary station Kassini and landing on the satellite of Saturn Titan, recorded the sound of wind during the descent in the atmosphere with the help of an external microphone [ 8 ].
In addition, an unusual experimental installation of MOXIE is installed on the Markout, which will receive oxygen from carbon dioxide contained in the Martian atmosphere. This technology can be useful to future crews of manned expeditions to Mars.
As the main source of energy for the Perseverans Rover, a radioisotope thermoelectric generator (RITEG) on Plutonium-238 with a capacity of 110 watts is used. In addition, the rover is also equipped with two lithium batteries loaded from the sun: they will help when performing scientific operations, when the consumption of energy can increase to 900 kW × h.
Also, on board the rover, for the first time is the real Martian drone “Ingenuity” (Ingenuity, “ingenuity”). Two blades with a diameter of 120 cm, 2 kg of mass, a complex output system from under under the belly of the pitch to the surface-the drone should become the first helicopter on another planet and the first atmospheric aircraft on Mars [ 9 ]. The first helicopter flight should take place two to three months after planting. Ingenuiti has no scientific devices and is not part of the Persevens scientific mission. The goal of the drone is a purely engineering: to demonstrate the flight of a rotor room in an extremely subtle atmosphere of Mars, the density of which is only about 1% of the density of our earthly atmosphere. After disconnecting from the Marshound, the helicopter will operate on the commands from the ground transferred through the Mars Helicopter Base Station at the Mark Protection. Power supply will be carried out using its own panels of solar panels. The developers consider cold nights on Mars the most dangerous factor for a helicopter.
The main goal of the Persevens mission on Mars is astrobiological studies, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. Also, the Mark Road will study the geology of the planet and its climate in the past.
NASA Persevens and Chinese “Tianveen-1” have similar ambitious continuations. The American rover will collect samples interesting for scientists in titanium test tubes, so that during the next mission (in collaboration with the European Space Agency), pick them up and deliver them to Earth in 2031. And China plans to deliver Martian soil to Earth by the fall of 2030 to overtake the United States and Europe for several months.
Alexander Khokhlov, Cosmonautics Popularizer,
Member of the North-West Organization of the Cosmonautics Federation of the Russian Federation