OUTER space and the Bronze Age do not sit well in the same sentence – they may both have existed at the same time, but anyone based on Earth back then would not have known much, or anything, about what lies beyond.
Life on Mars: Spain's on a mission, and it takes Perseverance
28/02/2021
IT'S NEARLY 45 years since the first man-made artefact landed successfully on Mars – and actually worked – and now, they've done it again with the Perseverance.
Back in July 1976 when the Viking 1 touched down on on the red planet, scientists, technicians and a long list of support staff at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Texas had a hard time containing their euphoria, and the feeling was very similar at the same agency following its landing 10 days ago on the same soil.
“This is beyond science fiction,” says Dr Jordi Pla-García of Spain's National Research Council (CSIC).
Member of the Perseverance team and a specialist in planetary sciences at the National Astrobiology Centre (INTA-CSIC), Jordi's job in the run-up to February 18 was that of studying Mars' atmosphere in a bid to cut the movement risk at the moment the rover landed.
It was supposed to hit land in the Jezero Crater – formerly a lake, it is believed – just north of the Martian equator; it did so, hitting Mars' atmosphere at 19,000 kilometres per hour (about 12,000mph) with its heat-shield on to act as a brake.
Within about 1.6 kilometres of the surface (a mile), the descent module kicked in and the navigation system searched out a safe place to land; once identified, a 21-metre-diameter parachute opened to ensure the rover reached the ground in 'first gear' and the 'sky crane' brought it down with a soft patter.
NASA reveals landing on Mars is 'terrifying', with the seven minutes it takes feeling like hours, but as the agency's Planetary Science Division boss Lori Glaze told EarthSky: “We're going to be able to watch ourselves land for the first time on another planet.”
The Perseverance, nicknamed 'Percy', took live footage of its landing, although sending video data from Mars to Earth involves a time lag, meaning the filming was not available to be watched for several minutes.
It has happened before. Insight Mars landed there in 2018 and, before that, the Curiosity did so in 2012. But 'Percy' is the biggest and most sophisticated rover yet to have travelled to another planet, taking 203 Earth days to cross the 472 million kilometres (293 million miles) between us and it, and its mission will be to find out whether life on Mars has ever truly been a thing at some point in the past.
Percy's main aims
“I'd divide them into three,” Jordi Pla-García told Spanish reporters.
“We already know Mars has the perfect conditions for life to have emerged in the past, but that doesn't mean it actually did. So the first aim is to find out if it's ever been inhabited.
“The second is to take geological and atmospheric samples, which future missions will bring back to Earth.
“And the third consists of setting the bases for a manned mission to explore the red planet. Theory tells us there are things we could do there, but we need to prove it to ourselves first.”
Might we really find signs that there was once life on Mars?
Jordi says: “Everything seems to point to the idea that, once, conditions on Mars, Earth and Venus were very, very, very similar. And if life has emerged on Earth, we believe it could perfectly well have appeared on other planets.
“We don't know how it's possible that this life evolved differently, though, to reach its current state; but what we're doing now is working on the hypothesis that Mars was, indeed, inhabited once.
“Really, we aren't bothered whether the answer is yes or no; we just want to know either way.
“If we don't find any signs there was ever life on Mars, this will also be ground-breaking, fantastic and exciting news.”
Really? Why?
“Because it would give us loads of information about why the Earth has life on it and the red planet doesn't, and why the two planets have followed such a different evolutionary path. It wouldn't be a disappointment if we didn't find any signs of life.”
What's so different about 'Percy', compared with earlier rovers?
“The Perseverance, or 'Percy', weighs 1.05 tonnes; it's the heaviest that's ever gone down on another planet. Also, it's equipped with a drone, 25 cameras and, for the first time ever, microphones.
“It's a 'Smart' robot capable of flying unaided, and it was able to determine for itself where it could land safely.”
Landing is the most dangerous moment of the mission, isn't it...
Jordi told Spanish reporters that the touchdown is 'very complex' and made up of 'numerous different phases'.
“These phases are known as 'seven minutes of terror', during which they have to slow from 20,000 kilometres per hour to zero whilst coping with extreme heat, temperatures of up to 1,500ºC – the same temperature as that of the surface of the sun,” the scientist explained.
“The Perseverance is programmed with over half a million lines of code, is fitted with 72 pyrotechnic devices, and all elements have to work in perfect choreography, without any intervention from us humans – because, being so far away, we can't 'talk' to it in real time. In fact, we had to wait 11 minutes after the rover's touching the surface before we knew whether it was 'alive' or 'dead', because that's how long it takes for its signals to reach Earth.
“All this, to me, feels like science fiction. In reality, it goes way beyond science fiction.”
What could have gone wrong?
“There could have been exceptionally high winds at altitudes; the ship has to enter the atmosphere at exactly the right angle, and the heat-shield has to be able to cope with the extreme temperature. The radar could have failed at the moment of landing, or the cameras, or any single line of the code, or any pyrotechnic device...
“What's most scary is just how many brand-new features are incorporated into the rover: The way its parachutes open and how it chooses its safe landing spot, because it was doing all this on its own. I don't normally have any trouble sleeping, but before the landing I was waking up from terrible nightmares.”
Jordi's contribution to the mission
Dr Pla-García's rôle in the Perseverance landing is twofold: As a member of the Spanish Meteorological Station with 'Percy', as he was with Curiosity and Insight Mars, and the Council of Atmospheres, he is one of a group of 12 who have been analysing Mars' atmosphere daily to be able to advise landing engineers about possible dangers, and minimising risks. His research included examining and monitoring density, air-pockets, regional sand storms, and other potentially hazardous phenomena, so that all this could be programmed into the robot to enable it to touch down safely.
Jordi's 'weather forecast' for the rover's arrival was 'good'. He said the atmosphere 'fattens up and slims down' throughout a Martian year, according to whether its polar caps 'freeze or fuse', and that on the date 'Percy' was set to land, the atmosphere was 'thicker than normal'.
This helped the ship to brake before the rover reached the surface.
Additionally, at this time in a Martian year, sandstorms are less likely.
“A sandstorm can change the density of the atmosphere and create 'holes' or air-pockets and hinder landing,” he explains.
At the time the Perseverance was coming in to land, two other missions – from China and from the United Arab Emirates – had already been orbiting Mars for a week or so. With 'Percy', that's three; why the sudden traffic jam?
“It's because Mars is closer at the moment,” Jordi explains.
“Its orbit, and that of Earth, are different, but every 26 months, they are at their closest to each other. That's the time to launch, because the shorter distance cuts costs – independently of whether conditions on Mars are good or bad at the time.
“The European Space Agency [ESA] also wanted to send a mission, but they weren't ready in time.”
Even though we've already had the Curiosity and the Insight, for some reason the Perseverance is being described as an 'historic mission'. Why is that the case?
“Never before have three different countries been up there studying Mars at the same time – and that's incredible, a paradigm shift,” says Jordi.
“Space is becoming 'democratic'. I feel so lucky to be experiencing it all at this moment in history. I'd like to see more and more countries joining forces, uniting more, creating a kind of international space alliance...but humans will be humans, and there are some things that will never change.”
Talking of humans, when might we see one on Mars?
Jordi says he is 'not sceptical, just realistic', and that he considers NASA's proposed dates to be 'too optimistic'.
“They're talking about its being in the 2030s, but I think that's way too rushed,” Jordi admits.
“I'd be more inclined to think it'd be the 2040s. And in the grand scheme of things, in mankind as a species, another decade is literally nothing.
“But we'll be going up there sooner or later, whether we like it or not.
“That said, we're not going to be going up to live on Mars and set up colonies there in the short-term future; that won't happen for hundreds of years.
“I expect it might start to happen by the 23rd or 24th centuries – I don't doubt it, in fact – but it isn't going to happen in the 21st.”
Spain's contribution to Perseverance technology
As well as the Meteorological Station (Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyser, or MEDA), two other Spanish-made 'parts' have travelled to Mars inside 'Percy' – the high-range antenna for the 'smart' robot, and the calibration system for the Supercam camera.
“You can't imagine how many Spaniards have been working on this mission, directly and indirectly,” says Jordi.
“Not just in Spain, but Spaniards based in France, Canada, the USA, and other places. The Perseverance includes instruments that were either created in Spain or which had been developed abroad but with Spanish co-researchers on the team, or developed abroad and then calibrated in Spain.”
The MEDA is made up of a series of sensors fitted to various parts of the rover to measure atmospheric conditions in the Jezero Crater, and to examine Martian dust.
Designed by Jordi's Astrobiology Centre (CAB), by a team led by José Antonio Rodríguez Manfredi, the MEDA will measure wind speed and direction, ground and air temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, UV radiation, Infrared and visible solar radiation, and properties of 'floating' dust, as well as taking footage of the Martian sky and studying its clouds via its in-built camera.
Atmospheric dust would have 'enormous repercussions' for astronauts' health once humans finally get to Mars, and the Perseverance will, additionally, examine visibility levels and storms, and contribute to operations planning.
“Universities, companies, and numerous other Spanish organisations have been involved,” Jordi reveals.
Overall, the MEDA will help with ongoing and highly-accurate 'weather forecasts' on Mars, so that future colonists will be able to prepare themselves properly.
It will join the CAB's other two meteorological systems already based on Mars – the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS), which went up on the Curiosity, and the Temperature and Wind for InSight (TWINS), which was carried on board the Insight.
One of the Spanish organisations Jordi mentions is the national branch of Airbus Defence and Space, which has developed the high-range antenna to allow the rover to communicate with Earth.
“It's one of two – the low-range antenna is the typical communication method, which sends a signal to the orbiters that then transmit it to Mars, and the high-range, manufactured in Spain, allows for direct communication,” Jordi says.
“It'll also be used to send instructions to the robot every morning.
“One of the main advantages of the high-range antenna is that we can move it about; the radiation beam can be pointed in a specific direction, so the rover itself doesn't have to change position to be able to 'speak to' Earth. It's a bit like turning your head to talk to someone rather than turning your whole body, and it helps save energy and simplify the process.”
The Supercam, comprising a camera, laser and spectrometer, will be examining the surface rocks and soil and searching for biomarkers which may be able to show whether there was once life on the planet. Its calibration allows it to identify the chemical and mineral makeup of objects no bigger than the tip of a pencil from a distance of over seven metres.
This calibration was developed by a team led by Dr Fernando Rull, researcher at Valladolid University, through the CAB and CSIC, and made up of scientists from the universities of the Basque Country, Málaga, and Madrid Complutense, along with researchers from Toulouse and Paris (France), Denmark and Canada.
Spain's National Aerospace Technical Institute (INTA) provided 'major technical support', explains Jordi, as did the Basque corporation AVS Elgoibar.
Related Topics
IT'S NEARLY 45 years since the first man-made artefact landed successfully on Mars – and actually worked – and now, they've done it again with the Perseverance.
Back in July 1976 when the Viking 1 touched down on on the red planet, scientists, technicians and a long list of support staff at Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Texas had a hard time containing their euphoria, and the feeling was very similar at the same agency following its landing 10 days ago on the same soil.
“This is beyond science fiction,” says Dr Jordi Pla-García of Spain's National Research Council (CSIC).
Member of the Perseverance team and a specialist in planetary sciences at the National Astrobiology Centre (INTA-CSIC), Jordi's job in the run-up to February 18 was that of studying Mars' atmosphere in a bid to cut the movement risk at the moment the rover landed.
It was supposed to hit land in the Jezero Crater – formerly a lake, it is believed – just north of the Martian equator; it did so, hitting Mars' atmosphere at 19,000 kilometres per hour (about 12,000mph) with its heat-shield on to act as a brake.
Within about 1.6 kilometres of the surface (a mile), the descent module kicked in and the navigation system searched out a safe place to land; once identified, a 21-metre-diameter parachute opened to ensure the rover reached the ground in 'first gear' and the 'sky crane' brought it down with a soft patter.
NASA reveals landing on Mars is 'terrifying', with the seven minutes it takes feeling like hours, but as the agency's Planetary Science Division boss Lori Glaze told EarthSky: “We're going to be able to watch ourselves land for the first time on another planet.”
The Perseverance, nicknamed 'Percy', took live footage of its landing, although sending video data from Mars to Earth involves a time lag, meaning the filming was not available to be watched for several minutes.
It has happened before. Insight Mars landed there in 2018 and, before that, the Curiosity did so in 2012. But 'Percy' is the biggest and most sophisticated rover yet to have travelled to another planet, taking 203 Earth days to cross the 472 million kilometres (293 million miles) between us and it, and its mission will be to find out whether life on Mars has ever truly been a thing at some point in the past.
Percy's main aims
“I'd divide them into three,” Jordi Pla-García told Spanish reporters.
“We already know Mars has the perfect conditions for life to have emerged in the past, but that doesn't mean it actually did. So the first aim is to find out if it's ever been inhabited.
“The second is to take geological and atmospheric samples, which future missions will bring back to Earth.
“And the third consists of setting the bases for a manned mission to explore the red planet. Theory tells us there are things we could do there, but we need to prove it to ourselves first.”
Might we really find signs that there was once life on Mars?
Jordi says: “Everything seems to point to the idea that, once, conditions on Mars, Earth and Venus were very, very, very similar. And if life has emerged on Earth, we believe it could perfectly well have appeared on other planets.
“We don't know how it's possible that this life evolved differently, though, to reach its current state; but what we're doing now is working on the hypothesis that Mars was, indeed, inhabited once.
“Really, we aren't bothered whether the answer is yes or no; we just want to know either way.
“If we don't find any signs there was ever life on Mars, this will also be ground-breaking, fantastic and exciting news.”
Really? Why?
“Because it would give us loads of information about why the Earth has life on it and the red planet doesn't, and why the two planets have followed such a different evolutionary path. It wouldn't be a disappointment if we didn't find any signs of life.”
What's so different about 'Percy', compared with earlier rovers?
“The Perseverance, or 'Percy', weighs 1.05 tonnes; it's the heaviest that's ever gone down on another planet. Also, it's equipped with a drone, 25 cameras and, for the first time ever, microphones.
“It's a 'Smart' robot capable of flying unaided, and it was able to determine for itself where it could land safely.”
Landing is the most dangerous moment of the mission, isn't it...
Jordi told Spanish reporters that the touchdown is 'very complex' and made up of 'numerous different phases'.
“These phases are known as 'seven minutes of terror', during which they have to slow from 20,000 kilometres per hour to zero whilst coping with extreme heat, temperatures of up to 1,500ºC – the same temperature as that of the surface of the sun,” the scientist explained.
“The Perseverance is programmed with over half a million lines of code, is fitted with 72 pyrotechnic devices, and all elements have to work in perfect choreography, without any intervention from us humans – because, being so far away, we can't 'talk' to it in real time. In fact, we had to wait 11 minutes after the rover's touching the surface before we knew whether it was 'alive' or 'dead', because that's how long it takes for its signals to reach Earth.
“All this, to me, feels like science fiction. In reality, it goes way beyond science fiction.”
What could have gone wrong?
“There could have been exceptionally high winds at altitudes; the ship has to enter the atmosphere at exactly the right angle, and the heat-shield has to be able to cope with the extreme temperature. The radar could have failed at the moment of landing, or the cameras, or any single line of the code, or any pyrotechnic device...
“What's most scary is just how many brand-new features are incorporated into the rover: The way its parachutes open and how it chooses its safe landing spot, because it was doing all this on its own. I don't normally have any trouble sleeping, but before the landing I was waking up from terrible nightmares.”
Jordi's contribution to the mission
Dr Pla-García's rôle in the Perseverance landing is twofold: As a member of the Spanish Meteorological Station with 'Percy', as he was with Curiosity and Insight Mars, and the Council of Atmospheres, he is one of a group of 12 who have been analysing Mars' atmosphere daily to be able to advise landing engineers about possible dangers, and minimising risks. His research included examining and monitoring density, air-pockets, regional sand storms, and other potentially hazardous phenomena, so that all this could be programmed into the robot to enable it to touch down safely.
Jordi's 'weather forecast' for the rover's arrival was 'good'. He said the atmosphere 'fattens up and slims down' throughout a Martian year, according to whether its polar caps 'freeze or fuse', and that on the date 'Percy' was set to land, the atmosphere was 'thicker than normal'.
This helped the ship to brake before the rover reached the surface.
Additionally, at this time in a Martian year, sandstorms are less likely.
“A sandstorm can change the density of the atmosphere and create 'holes' or air-pockets and hinder landing,” he explains.
At the time the Perseverance was coming in to land, two other missions – from China and from the United Arab Emirates – had already been orbiting Mars for a week or so. With 'Percy', that's three; why the sudden traffic jam?
“It's because Mars is closer at the moment,” Jordi explains.
“Its orbit, and that of Earth, are different, but every 26 months, they are at their closest to each other. That's the time to launch, because the shorter distance cuts costs – independently of whether conditions on Mars are good or bad at the time.
“The European Space Agency [ESA] also wanted to send a mission, but they weren't ready in time.”
Even though we've already had the Curiosity and the Insight, for some reason the Perseverance is being described as an 'historic mission'. Why is that the case?
“Never before have three different countries been up there studying Mars at the same time – and that's incredible, a paradigm shift,” says Jordi.
“Space is becoming 'democratic'. I feel so lucky to be experiencing it all at this moment in history. I'd like to see more and more countries joining forces, uniting more, creating a kind of international space alliance...but humans will be humans, and there are some things that will never change.”
Talking of humans, when might we see one on Mars?
Jordi says he is 'not sceptical, just realistic', and that he considers NASA's proposed dates to be 'too optimistic'.
“They're talking about its being in the 2030s, but I think that's way too rushed,” Jordi admits.
“I'd be more inclined to think it'd be the 2040s. And in the grand scheme of things, in mankind as a species, another decade is literally nothing.
“But we'll be going up there sooner or later, whether we like it or not.
“That said, we're not going to be going up to live on Mars and set up colonies there in the short-term future; that won't happen for hundreds of years.
“I expect it might start to happen by the 23rd or 24th centuries – I don't doubt it, in fact – but it isn't going to happen in the 21st.”
Spain's contribution to Perseverance technology
As well as the Meteorological Station (Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyser, or MEDA), two other Spanish-made 'parts' have travelled to Mars inside 'Percy' – the high-range antenna for the 'smart' robot, and the calibration system for the Supercam camera.
“You can't imagine how many Spaniards have been working on this mission, directly and indirectly,” says Jordi.
“Not just in Spain, but Spaniards based in France, Canada, the USA, and other places. The Perseverance includes instruments that were either created in Spain or which had been developed abroad but with Spanish co-researchers on the team, or developed abroad and then calibrated in Spain.”
The MEDA is made up of a series of sensors fitted to various parts of the rover to measure atmospheric conditions in the Jezero Crater, and to examine Martian dust.
Designed by Jordi's Astrobiology Centre (CAB), by a team led by José Antonio Rodríguez Manfredi, the MEDA will measure wind speed and direction, ground and air temperature, relative humidity, atmospheric pressure, UV radiation, Infrared and visible solar radiation, and properties of 'floating' dust, as well as taking footage of the Martian sky and studying its clouds via its in-built camera.
Atmospheric dust would have 'enormous repercussions' for astronauts' health once humans finally get to Mars, and the Perseverance will, additionally, examine visibility levels and storms, and contribute to operations planning.
“Universities, companies, and numerous other Spanish organisations have been involved,” Jordi reveals.
Overall, the MEDA will help with ongoing and highly-accurate 'weather forecasts' on Mars, so that future colonists will be able to prepare themselves properly.
It will join the CAB's other two meteorological systems already based on Mars – the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS), which went up on the Curiosity, and the Temperature and Wind for InSight (TWINS), which was carried on board the Insight.
One of the Spanish organisations Jordi mentions is the national branch of Airbus Defence and Space, which has developed the high-range antenna to allow the rover to communicate with Earth.
“It's one of two – the low-range antenna is the typical communication method, which sends a signal to the orbiters that then transmit it to Mars, and the high-range, manufactured in Spain, allows for direct communication,” Jordi says.
“It'll also be used to send instructions to the robot every morning.
“One of the main advantages of the high-range antenna is that we can move it about; the radiation beam can be pointed in a specific direction, so the rover itself doesn't have to change position to be able to 'speak to' Earth. It's a bit like turning your head to talk to someone rather than turning your whole body, and it helps save energy and simplify the process.”
The Supercam, comprising a camera, laser and spectrometer, will be examining the surface rocks and soil and searching for biomarkers which may be able to show whether there was once life on the planet. Its calibration allows it to identify the chemical and mineral makeup of objects no bigger than the tip of a pencil from a distance of over seven metres.
This calibration was developed by a team led by Dr Fernando Rull, researcher at Valladolid University, through the CAB and CSIC, and made up of scientists from the universities of the Basque Country, Málaga, and Madrid Complutense, along with researchers from Toulouse and Paris (France), Denmark and Canada.
Spain's National Aerospace Technical Institute (INTA) provided 'major technical support', explains Jordi, as did the Basque corporation AVS Elgoibar.
Related Topics
More News & Information
A FIRM annual fixture for fans of the latest technology, the Barcelona-based Mobile World Congress (MWC) never fails to blow visitors' minds with creations they didn't know they needed. And these cutting-edge...
A HOLLYWOOD legend joining folk-dancers from Asturias and showing off her fancy footwork in the street is not a scene your average Oviedo resident witnesses during his or her weekly shop. Even though their northern...
Debate over banning short-distance flights takes off, but the cons outweigh the pros