This is a short list of some of the things to be considered when planning a mission to Mars simulation. A good starting place could be from the NASA handout, Destination Mars (see Resources). The coming several months of the school year could open a “learning window” for students to investigate the exploration of Mars and could provide an opportunity for students to work in teams mimicking the Science and Engineering teams working together on a Mars mission. By the start of the 2020–2021 school year we should know the status of each of the three missions to Mars, especially which ones are successfully on their way to Mars. NASA, and two other space organizations, United Arab Emirates Mars Mission (EMM) and the China National Space Administration (CNSA), are set to take advantage of the Earth–Mars orbit positions. There are three planned missions to Mars this summer starting in July when the launch window opens. The other three successful missions are from the European Space Agency and India’s ISRO.Ĭurrently there are eight active Mars missions: two surface missions, NASA’s Insight Lander and the still operating Opportunity Rover, and six Mars orbiter-based missions operated by NASA, ESA, and ISRO, India’s space program. NASA leads other nations’ space organizations with the number of Mars missions and can claim 23 of the 26 successful missions to Mars. On paper this all sounds rather straight forward however, out the 56 missions to Mars, only 26 of those were successful in reaching Mars and conducting their respective missions. Next, depending on the mission, the spacecraft either enters orbit or lands on the surface to begin a lander-based mission, or to deploy a rover. Getting to the “Red Planet” is a difficult challenge to achieve, but that is just the beginning, if the launch and the subsequent month’s long cruise phase was successful. Conversely the launch and trajectory back to Earth would essentially be a mirror of the one to Mars. The launch and trajectory to Mars are calculated such that when the spacecraft reaches its furthest distance (apoapsis) from the Sun along its elliptically shaped orbit, Mars will be there. The Hohmann Transfer (see Resources) is an elliptically shaped orbital path where at launch the Sun is the focus of the ellipse and the Earth and the spacecraft are at the periapsis (closest to the Sun) of the ellipse. For the same Earth–Mars positioning requirements, any Earth-bound spacecraft from Mars would have to wait 26 months before returning to Earth and would also follow a Hohmann Transfer Orbit (see Figure 1). This orbit allows for missions to Mars that could be a flyby mission, an orbiter, or a landing on the surface for a surface mission. The type of trajectory the spacecraft would follow to Mars is known as the Hohmann Transfer. Spacecraft taking advantage of this current launch window could arrive at Mars orbit during January and February of 2021. So, taking advantage of that plus the spacecraft’s own acceleration and precise mathematical calculations, a Mars-bound spacecraft will arrive at a position along Mars’ orbit at approximately the same time Mars will arrive there. Because Earth is orbiting faster than Mars, spacecraft launched to Mars already have the Earth’s velocity built in. This is the span of time approximately every 26 months when the Earth and Mars are in orbital positions around the Sun that allow for a trip to Mars to last around 7 to 9 months. This month the “launch window” opens for a mission to Mars.
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