obiolog str y & f A O u o l t a r e n a r c u h o Buenestado, et al., Astrobiol Outreach 2015, 3:3 J Journal of Astrobiology & Outreach DOI: 10.4172/2332-2519.1000133 ISSN: 2332-2519 Research Article Open Access Planetary Exploration; Mars on the Scope Buenestado JF1, Zorzano MP2, Salinas AS3, Méndez CF3 and Martín-Torres J1,4* 1Division of Space Technology, Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering, Luleå Technical University, Kiruna, Sweden 2Centro de Astrobiología (INTA-CSIC), Torrejón de Ardoz, Madrid, Spain 3Escuela de Ingeniería Aeronáutica y del Espacio, Universidad Politécnica, Madrid, Spain 4Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias dela Tierra (CSIC-UGR), Granada, Spain *Corresponding author: Martín-Torres J, Division of Space Technology, Department of Computer Science, Electrical and Space Engineering, Luleå Technical University, Kiruna, Sweden, Tel: +46 (0)980 67545; E-mail: [email protected] Rec date: June 09, 2015; Acc date: July 02, 2015; Pub date: July 06, 2015 Copyright: © 2015 Buenestado JF, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Abstract This article summarizes a practical case of introduction to research and planetary exploration through the analysis of data from the Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS), one of the ten scientific instruments on board the Curiosity rover of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL), currently operating at the impact crater Gale, on Mars. It is the main aim of this work to show how the data that are publicly available at the Planetary Data System (PDS) can be used to introduce undergraduate students and the general public into the subject of surface exploration and the environment of Mars. In particular, the goal of this practice was to investigate and quantify the heat-flux between the rover spacecraft and the Martian surface, the role of the atmosphere in this interaction, and its dependence with seasons, as well as to estimate the thermal contamination of the Martian ground produced by the rover. The ground temperature sensor (GTS) of the REMS instrument has measured in-situ, for the first time ever, the diurnal and seasonal variation of the temperature of the surface on Mars along the rover traverse. This novel study shows that the rover radiative heat flux varies between 10 and 22 W/m2 during the Martian year, which is more than 10% of the solar daily averaged insolation at the top of the atmosphere. In addition, it is shown that the radiative heat flux from the rover to the ground varies with the atmospheric dust load, being the mean annual amplitude of the diurnal variation of the surface temperature of 76 K, as a result of solar heating during the day and infrared cooling during the night. As a remarkable and unexpected outcome, it has been established that the thermal contamination produced by the rover alone induces, on average, a systematic shift of 7.5 K, which is indeed about 10% of the one produced by solar heating. This result may have implications for the design and operation of future surface exploration probes such as Insight. Keywords: Martian; Planetary exploration; Astronomical It is close to the Earth, it is a rocky planet, and its surface environment, observations; Planetary missions; Crater Gale; Solar radiation; although harsh, is not as inhospitable as that of Venus, making it the Radiative most accessible planet in our system. The enrichment of our knowledge of Mars will lead to a better understanding of Mars itself, Introduction the historical evolution of our solar system, and the evolution and dynamics of the Earth as a part of it, as well as to the improvement of Exploration is the act of searching for the purpose of discovery of the technology available for the missions to come. information or resources. With the invention of rockets in the 20th century, humanity has continued its impulse to explore by moving Yet, the exploration of another planet requires the use of dedicated beyond Earth, having travelled to the Moon and sent robotic explorers spacecraft designed, launched and operated in the context of large to other planets such as Mars. As the American astrophysicist Neil de international collaborations, including space agencies, universities, Grasse said in his testimony to the U.S. Senate, “Exploration of the research centers and industrial partners. Parts of the legacy of these unknown might not strike everyone as a priority. Yet audacious missions are the scientific discoveries and novel technological visions have the power to alter mind-state, to change assumptions of applications that are developed to overcome new challenges. Currently what is possible. When a nation permits itself to dream big, those there are five orbiters observing Mars, namely, Mars Odyssey, Mars dreams pervade its citizens’ ambitions” (Past, Present, and Future of Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Atmosphere and Volatile NASA, U.S. Senate Testimony, Neil de Grasse Tyson, March 7, 2012). Evolution (MAVEN), and Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) (listed by date of arrival), as well as two robotic rovers: Opportunity, which has Planetary exploration is a relatively new field of research included been working for more than a decade now, and Curiosity, operating in space sciences which is becoming more and more active and wider within the crater Gale, near the Martian equator, since august 2012. All at an accelerated pace. The almost daily discovery of new planets in far these probes are equipped with very efficient instruments and have star systems by means of remote sensing instruments opens new paths been, in some cases, far more successful than expected. This fact has for future exploration that will start to be traversed through the permitted the collection of a huge amount of high quality raw data that exploration of our system. The exploration of Mars, in particular, will have to be converted into useful information through a thoughtful be in many senses the first step in facing this challenge since, indeed, analytic work, exceeding the capability of the research teams involved we live in what can be said to be the Golden Age of Mars exploration. in some cases. On the other hand, although the accuracy reached by Astrobiol Outreach Volume 3 • Issue 3 • 1000133 ISSN:2332-2519 JAO, an open access journal Citation: Buenestado JF, Zorzano MP, Salinas AS, Méndez CF, Martín-Torres J (2015) Planetary Exploration; Mars on the Scope. Astrobiol Outreach 3: 133. doi:10.4172/2332-2519.1000133 Page 2 of 8 these instruments is a clear advantage, it also poses the problem of deck and house the Ultraviolet Sensor (UVS), the Pressure Sensor (PS) making the extraction of reliable information more and more and the ICU (Instrument Control Unit), (Figure 1). complex. For all the aforementioned, it is convenient to implement strategies to extend the analytical work beyond the research teams involved, looking for support wherever it can be given. This is one of the aims that inspired the creation of the Planetary Data System (PDS), an archive in which data from all the planetary missions, astronomical observations, and laboratory measurements performed by NASA up to date are stored for public access. As the agency states, it is designed, among other things, “to enable future scientists who are unfamiliar with the original experiments to analyze the data”. The PDS archives and distributes scientific data from NASA planetary missions with the purpose of ensuring the long-term usability of NASA data and to stimulate advanced research, making possible for scientific teams all over the world to make contributions to the research in planetary exploration, and favoring this way the continuous revision of the data The basic goal of this article is to introduce the reader to the use of Mars exploration data that are publicly available at the PDS, and to provide a practical case which can be used both for outreach purposes and more advanced planetary exploration research. In this sense, this article expects to serve as a user’s guide for those scientists involved in education who, somehow, could find interesting to reproduce a similar practice. On a second stage, the practice can be adapted easily to lower educational levels, serving this way to spread this particular area of science among a broader public, from the conviction that outreach is an unique tool to make society understand the importance of developing this field within the next years, as well as a way to share part of the products that this large technical, scientific and economical international effort entails. Curiosity and the REMS environmental station On August the 5th, 2012, the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, Figure 1: Situation of REMS’s sensors on Curiosity. The picture as well known as Curiosity, landed at 6° S, 137.4° E, in the NW part of shows, from top to bottom, boom 2 (with WS, ATS, and HS) and, the crater Gale, a 154 km wide impact crater allocated near the foot of upon the rover deck, UVS and PS. The shadow of the mast, which a steep section of the dichotomy boundary, whose floor is at 4.5 km can be seen close to UVS, cover this latter in some moments of the below datum. After more than 1,000 Earth days (one and a half day disrupting its measurements, a circumstance that must be taken Martian years) of surface exploration at the floor of the crater, the into account when processing the data it provides. Boom 1 (WS, Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) on board the ATS and GTS) is hidden behind the rover mast, pointing to the side Curiosity rover [1,2] has acquired an unprecedented record of of the rover.