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ESA to Deploy Mars Express Radar

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the can't-get-enough-of-that-new-mars-topic-icon dept.

fenimor writes "Mars Express was launched on 2 June 2003 and reached the planet on 25 December 2003. After eight months of intensive computer simulations and technical investigations the European Space Agency has given the green light for the MARSIS radar on board Mars Express spacecraft to be deployed during the first week of May. Assuming that this operation is successful, the radar will finally start the search for subsurface water reservoirs and studies of the Martian ionosphere."

5 of 140 comments (clear)

  1. This is why we need a manned mission! by FortKnox · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Honestly, this is why we need a manned mission to Mars. All these countless robots and satellites wouldn't be necessary if we just sent several men with testing equipment to stay there for a few months. Imagine how much more can be accomplished! Combine all the cost of all the landers and satellites to Mars and compare it to a manned mission. I'm willing to bet the cost will be very similar and more can be done in a shorter amount of time.[tt]

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    Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
    1. Re:This is why we need a manned mission! by cnettel · · Score: 3, Insightful
      It may be true for rover activity, but I seriously doubt that orbital surveys, radar and photographic, would be done better by manned missions (in orbit?!). The communication and weather satellites around Earth are not manned and they do their job, giving significant information about our planet, which we wouldn't have by just staying on the surface and which would be quite dull to manage from orbit.

      Even with an ambitious manned mission, the coverage of the planet would be "spotty". Automated studies give us the broader view.

    2. Re:This is why we need a manned mission! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You have to be joking. Even on Earth, remote sensing usually precedes on-ground human exploration, because it allows people to focus on the most likely targets for what ever is of interest. At the very least, people get a map before they head out into the field, which is exactly what probes such as Mars Express are doing. You have to know where to go before embarking on an expensive trip. Half the value of having robots on the surface, such as the MER tag-team Spirit and Opportunity, is being able to put their local, very focussed observations into a broader, global context.

      It is also immensely cheaper and more efficient. Hell, the two MER robots have been on Mars for an entire year, and can keep going as long as they still receive solar energy at reasonable levels and nothing mechanical breaks. Humans are very high maintenance by comparison.

      Humans will get there eventually, but there is no point in going yet without good baseline information.

  2. Sub-surface radar? by Atlantis-Rising · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What's the effectiveness of sub-surface RADAR? I can't imagine you can get a good picture of something under a pile of rock from orbit.

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    "It is possible to commit no errors and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life." -Peak Performance
  3. One Step At A Time I Think by Galstaf · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It has proven difficult enough to keep people healthy and sane in Mir Space Station for any substantial period of time. Mir has proved that it is possible, but that's in a reletively large stationary object, not a spacecraft. The technology is certainly not with us for manned missions to Mars just yet and most of the lessons learned from Mir are with the Russians rather than NASA. I think NASA will need to do some long term studies of their own before committing anything other than chimps to the great beyond. Aside from the survival of the astronauts (whatever species they may be), I suspect we will have to get a great deal better at rocketry and robotics before manned missions are on the agenda.