Sunday, October 31, 2010

"Trapped Mars Rover Finds Evidence of Subsurface Water" Science Daily, October, 28, 2010.












In Mars, where the NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit became stuck, there is evidence of the existence of water, perhaps of snow melt, that has been trickling on a regular basis in the subsurface.

In 2004, the Rover Spirit had finished with its mission of examining Mars's surface and underground soil when the NASA decided to send it in a "bonus adventure", and during this mission, the rover got stuck in the subterranean dirt of Mars. With the failed attempts to get it out, the NASA gave up, but as the robot started researching about the soil, it found evidence of the presence of water. Perhaps the water had been in the form of snow or frost and the seepage could have happened during the planet's cyclical climate changes when it tilts farther from it axis. Insoluble materials, such as hematite, silica and gypsum, were found in the surface, while some soluble were found in deeper layers of the planet.

"The lack of exposures at the surface indicates the preferential dissolution of ferric sulfates must be a relatively recent and ongoing process since wind has been systematically stripping soil and altering landscapes in the region Spirit has been examining," said Ray Arvidson of Washington University in St. Louis, deputy principal investigator for the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

When in March 22, 2010, the rover stopped communicating to NASA and both its left wheels quit working, engineers expected for it to enter a "low-power, silent hibernation mode", and the NASA began using the Deep Space Network and the Mars Odyssey orbiter to monitor the rover's position and listen if it "reawakens". Before its power levels fell too low for it to keep functioning in February 2010, researchers found soil that could be analyzed if the rover gets back to work. Since Spirit has experienced the coldest temperatures it has ever before, it is very unlikely it will survive. But if it does, it will immediately get back to work, on the studies of Mars's core.

"With insufficient solar energy during the winter, Spirit goes into a deep-sleep hibernation mode where all rover systems are turned off, including the radio and survival heaters; all available solar array energy goes into charging the batteries and keeping the mission clock running," said John Callas, project manager for Spirit and Opportunity at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Apart from the rovers Spirit and Opportunity, there have been other NASA missions that have found evidence of water in Mars billions of years ago that could be able to carry life. Spirit is still on the search for more clues to find out about Mars's past and whether or not there was any sort of life.

I find this article very fascinating because it is about a topic I think is interesting and that really means something for humanity. It is a step for the advancement of technology that maybe in the future could develop enough to be able to transport humans to live in Mars. I think it is absolutely amazing how scientists have discovered so many things about Mars with the Spirit and Opportunity rovers, and how useful and valuable this information is. In order for technology and scientific research to advance, missions like this one are of huge importance. Maybe in a few years we will all be living in Mars!