Mars or Bust!

The rover Curiosity landed on Mars in 2012. Since then, the car-sized rover has exceeded scientists’ expectations. It has traveled almost 12 miles over the rocky planet. Along the way, it has taken almost 500,000 photos and studied more than 600 vertical feet of rock.

The rover has found evidence of past water, wind, and clay minerals in an area called Mount Sharp. Scientists think there might also have been a series of lakes there. 

Scientists on Earth control everything the rover does on Mars. The mission has faced some hurdles along the way. Sometimes it can be nerve-racking when the rover’s drivers can’t see where Curiosity is going. They solve this problem by inching the rover along very slowly and taking pictures.

“You’re truly doing exploration,” says Diana Trujillo. She is a mission leader for Curiosity at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

The rover Curiosity landed on Mars in 2012. It is the size of a car. Since landing, it has gone beyond expectations. The rover has traveled almost 12 miles over the rocky planet. Along the way, it has taken almost 500,000 photos. It has also studied more than 600 vertical feet of rock.

The rover has found evidence of past water, wind, and clay minerals. They were in an area called Mount Sharp. Scientists think there might also have been a series of lakes there.

Scientists on Earth control everything the rover does on Mars. The mission has faced some hurdles along the way. It can be nerve-racking. Sometimes, when the rover’s drivers can’t see where Curiosity is going. They solve this problem by inching the rover along very slowly. They also take pictures.

“You’re truly doing exploration,” says Diana Trujillo. She is a mission leader for Curiosity at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California.

Next month, a spacecraft called InSight will land on Mars. Ingrid Daubar will be helping to make sure this happens safely. The planetary scientist works at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She’s an expert on craters and the dust that covers Mars.

“[On Mars,] there are objects falling from space every day,” Daubar says. When large meteors hit a rocky planet, they can form craters on its surface. “Craters are cool because they are evidence of something new happening,” she says.

The InSight probe will listen for marsquakes (that’s an earthquake but on Mars) when meteor impacts form craters. A robotic arm will place a sensitive instrument called a seismometer on the ground. It measures invisible seismic waves, which happen after a quake.

InSight’s mission is to also learn more about the core of Mars. To do this, InSight will hammer a probe 16 feet into the ground and take measurements. Other missions have studied only the surface of Mars.

Next month, a spacecraft called InSight will land on Mars. Ingrid Daubar will be helping to make sure this happens safely. The planetary scientist works at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. She’s an expert on craters and the dust that covers Mars.

“[On Mars,] there are objects falling from space every day,” Daubar says. Large meteors hit the rocky planet. They can form craters on its surface. “Craters are cool because they are evidence of something new happening,” she says.

The InSight probe will listen for marsquakes. That’s an earthquake but on Mars. Marsquakes happen when meteors form craters. A robotic arm will place a sensitive instrument called a seismometer on the ground. It measures invisible seismic waves. These happen after a quake.

InSight’s mission will also learn more about the core of Mars. InSight will use a probe. It will hammer it 16 feet into the ground. Then it will take measurements. Other missions have studied only the surface of Mars.

Right now, rocket launches are costly and wasteful. It costs about $60 million to launch a rocket. And nearly all rockets can be used only once.

SpaceX is working to change this. The California-based company wants to make a rocket more like an airplane. This means you would be able to use it multiple times. That would save tens of millions of dollars each launch.

SpaceX is working on a reusable spacecraft called the Big Falcon Rocket, which would be powerful enough to reach Mars.

“In order to get to Mars and back, you need these rockets and spaceships to be reusable,” says Gwynne Shotwell, the president of SpaceX.

SpaceX hopes to test its reusable Big Falcon Rocket in 2019. It wants to send astronauts to Mars and back by the end of the 2030s. “Getting to Mars will definitely happen in our lifetime,” says Shotwell.

Right now, rocket launches are costly and wasteful. It costs about $60 million to launch a rocket. Nearly all rockets can be used only once.

SpaceX is working to change this. The California-based company wants to make a rocket more like an airplane. This means you could use it multiple times. That would save tens of millions of dollars each launch.

SpaceX is working on a reusable spacecraft. It’s called the Big Falcon Rocket. It would be powerful enough to reach Mars.

“In order to get to Mars and back, you need these rockets and spaceships to be reusable,” says Gwynne Shotwell. She is the president of SpaceX.

SpaceX hopes to test its reusable Big Falcon Rocket in 2019. It hopes to send astronauts to Mars and back within the next decade. “Getting to Mars will definitely happen in our lifetime,” says Shotwell.

So far, all Mars-bound rovers have explored the planet on the ground. But NASA’s Mars 2020 rover will come with a special helicopter too. Like a baby kangaroo in its mother’s pouch, the helicopter will sit in the belly of the Mars 2020 rover. Scientists will release it to fly over the rocky terrain.

Flying an aircraft on Mars is different than flying one on Earth. That’s because Earth’s atmosphere is 99 percent thicker. “So when our helicopter is on the Martian surface, it’s already at the Earth equivalent of 100,000 feet up,” said Mimi Aung, Mars Helicopter project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The most high-flying helicopters on Earth don’t go above 25,000 feet.

Scientists have been working on the rover and helicopter for years. The 4-pound helicopter uses solar power and will take pictures of the Martian surface. NASA expects to launch the spacecraft
in 2020.

The Mars 2020 rover will collect soil and rock samples. Then it will package them up in small containers. “We hope to bring the samples back to Earth on another mission,” says Diana Trujillo, who is also developing the Mars 2020 rover.

So far, all Mars-bound rovers have explored the planet on the ground. But NASA’s Mars 2020 rover will come with a special helicopter too. The helicopter will sit in the belly of the Mars 2020 rover. It’s like a baby kangaroo in its mother’s pouch. Scientists will release it to fly over the rocky planet.

Flying an aircraft on Mars is different than flying one on Earth. That’s because Earth’s atmosphere is 99 percent thicker. “So when our helicopter is on the Martian surface, it’s already at the Earth equivalent of 100,000 feet up,” said Mimi Aung. She is a Mars Helicopter project manager at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The most high-flying helicopters on Earth don’t go above 25,000 feet.

Scientists have been working on the rover and helicopter for years. The 4-pound helicopter uses solar power. It will take pictures of the Martian surface. NASA want to launch the spacecraft next summer.

The Mars 2020 rover will collect soil and rock samples. Then it will package them up in small containers. “We hope to bring the samples back to Earth on another mission,” says Diana Trujillo. She is developing the Mars 2020 rover.

Many scientists want the exploration of Mars to involve more than just machines. They want people on the Red Planet too! And NASA’s current class of astronauts might be the first humans to set foot on Mars.

Becoming an astronaut is no easy feat. About 18,300 people applied in 2016. Twelve were chosen. That’s an acceptance rate of less than 1 percent.

Jonny Kim is one of those 12 astronauts. He was born in California. His parents moved there from South Korea. Kim served as a Navy SEAL, studied math, and then became a medical doctor.

Kim is grateful for these opportunities, especially since he has loved science since high school. “All things that are worthwhile are very difficult to obtain,” he says.

Many scientists want the exploration of Mars to include people. And NASA’s current class of astronauts might be the first humans to set foot on Mars.

Becoming an astronaut is no easy feat. About 18,300 people applied in 2016. Twelve were chosen. That’s an acceptance rate of less than 1 percent.

Jonny Kim is one of those 12 astronauts. He was born in California. His parents moved there from South Korea. Kim served as a Navy SEAL and studied math. Then he became a medical doctor.

Kim is grateful for these opportunities. He has loved science since high school. “All things that are worthwhile are very difficult to obtain,” he says.