Questions tagged [mars]
Questions about the science or exploration of the planet Mars.
318
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How much can the Mars rover Curiosity do autonomously, after four years of operation?
I was under the impression (when asking this question) that over the past four years that experience by ground operators and programmers had lead to a configuration where the Mars rover Curiosity ...
2
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2answers
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How can the two MarCO cubesats remain reliably close to InSight during their six month trip to Mars?
According to the NASA JPL web page Mars Cube One (MarCO) Mission Overview and the YouTube video MarCO: First Interplanetary CubeSat Mission linked there, after the Centaur upper stage deploys InSight, ...
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How would it be possible to kick start Mars's magnetic field?
Jumping from this question about terraforming Mars, how would one mitigate the main obstacle, namely Mars's lack of a magnetic field? Are there any hypothetical processes that might restart Mars's ...
36
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2answers
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What would it feel like to be in a Martian dust storm?
In a recent question, 'Could an EVA Suit meant for Mars be used for EVA on another celestial, or vice-versa?', there was some discussion in the comments about the effects of a dust storm on Mars ...
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Would terraforming Mars be possible?
Mars is a planet commonly brought up when talking about terraforming. Even if we were to manage to get past all economic barriers, and somehow form a thick atmosphere, would the lack of a magnetic ...
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3answers
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How do you 'make oxygen' on Mars?
This morning's BBC News says that a 2020 rover mission to Mars will "make oxygen". There is a brief line indication that it will extract it from atmospheric CO₂, but no other details.
What process ...
35
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6answers
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Why should space probes have to orbit the Earth before being launched at other planets?
I'm curious to know why any satellites that need to be sent to other planets should be moving around the Earth rather than directly going towards their destination? Today, India launched one satellite ...
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What's the scientific evidence of water for return trip methalox on Mars?
EDIT: I am not asking if you think finding water is necessary for a return flight. I'm asking for the scientific evidence that there is mineable water on Mars that could be used for this purpose. ...
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Why does the Mars InSight Lander look wet like a cardboard box that came in contact with water? [closed]
NASA has just released a photo showing a part of the InSight Mars lander wet, like a cardboard box that came in contact with water (see the picture). What is that liquid?
The Instrument Deployment ...
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5answers
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Could a helicopter fly on Mars?
Helicopter drones are awesome fun here on earth, but What if... we took one to Mars? This sounds like a good question for Randall Munroe. But I read about a proposal to send a helicopter drone (MHS) ...
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Is Mars' gravity strong enough to hold a human-breathable atmosphere?
If we ever try to make Mars outdoors habitable, won't the air just keep flying off into the outer space because of low gravity?
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Why would InSight's arrival date at Mars be fixed, and independent of the launch date?
Despite the 34 day long launch window, the day that InSight will arrive has already been chosen. See mars.nasa.gov's insight mission timeline below, a site I found linked in this answer.
I'm not ...
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1answer
200 views
How will InSight's RISE antennas end up pointed in the right direction?
The rendering of InSight shows the RISE antennas, the two microwave horns pointed just above the horizontal over each of the solar array paddles.
If I understand correctly the experiment works when ...
30
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3answers
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What uses would the Aldrin-Cycler have?
An Aldrin-Cycler is a vessel on an orbit on which it passes both Earth and Mars every few years without expending much fuel.
At first glance this seems like a great thing for a permanent ...
35
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2answers
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Why can't we use the same radiation shielding in Mars that we used when going to the moon?
Note that this is somewhat related to this question but here I am specifically asking about the suitability of using existing shielding for Mars travel.
This is about this article and video titled "...
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What is the largest hurdle of the mission to Mars?
I was shocked when I recently found out just how long it takes to get to Mars. I've been conducting a very informal survey amongst peers of how just how long people think it takes us to travel to Mars....
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2answers
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Could you feel the wind on Mars?
The air pressure on Mars is about 1% that of Earth's at sea level. But wind speeds on Mars can be higher, up to maybe 60 mph sustained (actually I have come across several different figures, some ...
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4answers
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How would swimming on Mars feel, given the lower gravity?
The hypothetical swimming pool is inside a habitat at atmospheric pressure, and on Mars at 0.38g of Earth. What are the major differences regarding water properties (viscosity, surface tension, ...
3
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1answer
713 views
Blimp on Earth, but a glider on Mars?
Could enough surface area be created with a blimp to shed speed using Mars' atmosphere to have a controlled soft landing to minimize the need for retrorockets? Runway would need to be in place. While ...
19
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1answer
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What problems led to the use of the Sky Crane system used by Curiosity?
We all know about the fancy 'sky crane' system used on NASA's Curiosity rover.
The rockets slow the descent to 1 ½ mph and power a sideways parry to avoid the faster falling chute. As Sky Crane ...
14
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2answers
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Curiosity is still dirty! How will the ExoMARS Rover keep its solar panels dust-free and collecting sufficient power?
update:
Current events makes this question even more poignant
sols 5183 to 5189, Aug. 23, 2018 - Aug. 29, 2018: Team Continues to Listen for Opportunity
Curiosity selfie has been released just a few ...
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2answers
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How could an induced magnetosphere be created at Mars for terraforming?
In the long run Mars needs a magnetic field to keep a thick atmosphere and for radiation shielding, if humanity were to terraform it. Starting a dynamo in Mars' core seems forever impossible, but a ...
5
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1answer
90 views
How was InSight's vertical seismometer (accelerometer) tested in Earth's stronger gravity?
The BBC article InSight Diary: The silence of space tells an interesting story and has an interesting audio recording of InSight's seismometer signals sped up to audio frequency, made while in ...
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4answers
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Solar panels on Mars?
I was wondering if a base on Mars could be powered by solar energy alone? Since Mars is further away from the Sun wouldn't that mean lower efficiency thus making solar not scalable? Let's assume a ...
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3answers
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Has the Curiosity rover ever communicated directly with Earth via its high-gain antenna? Signal strength & data rate?
In the question How does Curiosity know how to point and move it's high gain antenna in real time? I show an image of the hexagonal, articulated high gain antenna on the curiosity rover, as well as ...
14
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2answers
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Place a satellite at Sun-Mars L1 to shield Mars from Sun radiation
Instead of placing many magnetic satellites close to Mars to artificially generate a magnetic field to protect Martian colonists from harming radiation, we could place a magnetic satellite at ...
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3answers
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Curiosity: Why did they “reinvent the wheel” instead of using pressure tires?
Curiosity rover's wheels seem a bit tired and show signs of wear and tear, as reported for example in this Discovery News article from May 22, 2013. This damage only increased since then and wheels ...
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4answers
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Is wind-power a viable backup power source for Mars One?
A question related to What power source options provide reliable and sustainable power generation for a Martian Colony, particularly the answer that solar and nuclear based energy sources being the ...
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4answers
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Boiling ponds and pools on Mars?
In the related questions Can you take a bath on Mars? & How would swimming on Mars feel, given the lower gravity? we learn that bathing and swimming on Mars is much like it is on Earth. Some ...
19
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1answer
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Brushing clean a Mars lander's solar panels
A comment by SF. regarding the InSight Mars lander caught my attention:
I really, really wonder why they didn't just include a small compartment with a duster brush grippable by the robotic arm.
...
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2answers
911 views
What is the deepest position in space we can get a GPS signal?
Can we use GPS in orbit at the moon? What about on Mars?
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Is there any economical way to move the water from the Martian poles to the people?
update: Water at the poles has some more recent news:
Science: 03-August-2018 Radar evidence of subglacial liquid water on Mars
EarthSky.org: 28-Sept-2018 Pink lagoon provides clues to possible Mars ...
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Is the “Mars blue dune” actually blue? And what makes it so?
NASA recently released an image of a blue dune on Mars. The accompanying story seems to suggest to me that it is a false color image - some property of that part of the image is detected and rendered ...
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2answers
364 views
Could InSight lift off and move somewhere else?
InSight used its built-in thrusters for the final stretch of the Entry, Descent and Landing, and the thrusters seem to still be attached. Would it have been at all possible for InSight to lift off ...
8
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3answers
363 views
Sources for make-up breathable oxygen on Mars; of H20, CO2 and ClO4-, which is likely to be used first?
While oxygen recovery and reuse is well developed, the ISS does receive regular shipments of make-up oxygen. See for example this and this and this answer.
For an early, manned presence on Mars, a ...
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1answer
264 views
Any scholarly or serious work in Sports Science for the low surface gravity of Mars or the Moon?
One of my favorite answers in SXSE is this one which addresses subtler effects of low gravity on sports that one might not anticipate. There are other answers there, and other questions and answers ...
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How could InSight's seismometers be intentionally and meaningfully “pinged”?
I had a friend whose summer job, a long long time ago, was to travel around an unsuspecting rural area, lay a heavy steel plate on the ground, and whack the plate with a sledge hammer. Apparently he ...
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1answer
451 views
What factors would make station-keeping of an Areostationary Mars satellite necessary?
This answer introduced me to the word Areostationary Orbit - (hint, comes from Ares), an orbit that would remain stationary above a point on the equator of Mars.
The article mentions that ...
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1answer
394 views
Who discovered “Egg Rock”? The Curiosity rover or people?
"Egg Rock" is a smooth, shiny nickel-iron meteorite found sitting on the surface of Mars on Curiosity's Sol 1505, or 30-Oct-2016. It is described the next day in Arizona State University's Red Planet ...
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2answers
224 views
Maximum height for a Mars Balloon?
The altitude record for an unmanned balloon is 53.0 kilometers.
wikipedia
If we use this Earth based record for an estimate of the maximum possible height of a balloon started from Mars surface, ...
2
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1answer
122 views
Will the Mars 2020 rover's sensitivity to methane be better than Curiosity's?
The New York Times article NASA Rover on Mars Detects Puff of Gas That Hints at Possibility of Life describes the newest detection of a "whiff" of methane on Mars.
The article states that the level ...
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2answers
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How would travel to Mars without artificial gravity affect a crew's initial experience in Mars gravity?
This answer and the linked YouTube video discuss some difficulties with the experience of artificial "gravity" generated by small rotating craft (like one that could be launched to Mars in the near ...
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What were the most inaccurate or accurate things in “The Martian”?
I am curious what the most accurate, versus most inaccurate things that were depicted in the space movie, "The Martian"?
I thought the part where he punctures his suit and jets over to the rescue ...
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4answers
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Why not travel to Mars in 2 months?
Just to clarify... I've made some research and generally know what the case is, didn't mean to make the question sound stupid... :)
I know there is a thing called Hohmann transfer orbit, named after ...
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8answers
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How could one navigate on Mars?
There are two primary systems of navigation on Earth today, using maps/compass, and using GPS satellites. It seems unlikely there will be a full constellation of GPS satellites prior to the first ...
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How can Mars have dust storms with such a thin atmosphere?
Mars, as I understand, has a very thin atmosphere. However, it still has weather like this:
What causes the thin atmosphere to move fast enough to cause such a monster wave of dust?
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Is there an independent cost estimate of the Mars One proposal?
Has anyone outside of the Mars One foundation done an independent evaluation that concept in terms of the following heads?
Initial Cost
Ongoing Cost
Technical feasibility?
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What's the coin on the Curiosity rover?
The image above was taken from the Curiosity rover (I hope). There appears to be a coin in the image.
Is that really a coin or some kind of button? Is it really present on the rover?
If it is ...
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8answers
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Would a settlement on Mars need to import Nitrogen?
The air on Earth is about 20% oxygen and about 78% nitrogen. Best case, there seems to be sufficient oxygen (in water) to support colonization in the polar ice caps. What about the other 4/5 of the ...
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How big would a manned ascent stage for Mars need to be?
For a manned mission to Mars that isn't a one-way trip, we'll need an ascent stage that can reach orbit from Mars' surface. How big would this need to be to transport e.g. 3 astronauts to orbit?
We've ...
