The Italian space agency, the Canadian space agency, the Japanese aviation agency and NASA have announced plans to develop a plan for a robotic Mars ice-skating mission. Together, the agencies will create a team that will work on the mission concept.
This is known as the Mars Ice Mapper mission and can include four orbits. If the mission concept gets the green light from the agencies, it could start by 2026.
Together, these orbits could find ice deposits below the surface of Mars, taking into account their depth, location, distribution and abundance. One orbit equipped with radar can also gather information on how accessible these ice deposits can be, and can essentially detect whether the surface dust and rocky layers can therefore form a difficult barrier.
The first human missions to Mars are likely to consist of 30 days of surface exploration. Not only can the orbits help determine landing sites for these missions, but their data can also be used to define the scientific objectives for the missions.
Astronauts on Mars can take core of these ice deposits, which may indicate whether life ever existed on Mars.
Later missions with longer expeditions to the Martian surface can use this map of ice deposits to study the climate and geology of Mars, avoid dangerous sites, and use them as resources.
Ice can be used to divert hydrogen and oxygen to fuel, as well as to exploit; agricultural; Manufacture; the maintenance of any habitat used by the astronauts; and of course as a good backup for any life support systems.
Transporting water to Mars would be heavy and expensive, and using local ice on the red planet could alleviate some of the challenges of transporting this resource.
The concept may also include other agencies and commercial partnerships.
“This innovative partnership model for Mars Ice Mapper combines our global experience and enables cost-sharing across the board to make this mission achievable for all stakeholders,” said Jim Watzin, NASA’s senior advisor on agency architecture and mission alignment. a statement said. .
“Human and robot research go hand in hand, with the latter helping to pave the way for smarter, safer human missions further into the solar system. Together, we can help prepare humanity for our next giant leap – the first human mission. and Mars. “
Any scientific data collected by the orbits will be shared with the world, both for research benefits and for general exploration of Mars.
Before any human mission to Mars, NASA sends astronauts back to the moon under the Artemis program, which aims to land the first woman and the next man at the unexplored lunar South Pole by 2024.
Prior to the mission, NASA plans to send VIPER, or the Volatiles Investigating Polar Exploration Rover, to take a closer look at the ice trapped in permanently shaded parts of this polar region. This ice can also be used to help the Artemis astronauts in various ways – and to help NASA use the resources provided by the moon and Mars.
The moon is good evidence for future missions to Mars, and the VIPER mission is expected to land on the moon by the end of 2023.
“In addition to supporting plans for future human missions to Mars, more information about surface ice will provide important opportunities for scientific discovery,” said Eric Ianson, deputy director of the NASA Planetary Science Division and director of the Mars Exploration Program. statement said.
‘The mapping of ice on the surface of the water would reveal a still hidden part of the Mars hydrosphere and the layering above, which could help uncover the history of environmental change on Mars and to our ability to answer fundamental questions to answer whether Mars was ever the home of microbial life or can still be today. ‘