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Mars Scientists Win a New Orbiter, Scheduled for Launch in 2022
26 February 2015
A NASA JPL artist imagines a laser beam from the Mars Telecommunications Orbiter carrying science data from the Red Planet to Earth as an interplanetary extension of the Internet.EIRNS —NASA announced on Feb. 24th that it would develop a Mars Telecommunications Orbiter, to fly to the red planet in 2022. It will be a relay satellite, using advanced technology, and possibly lasers, to bring the data collected on Mars back to scientists on Earth. This mission was supposed to be launched in 2009, but was cancelled in 2005 due to budget cuts. It was supposed to be available for relaying data to Earth when the Curiosity rover began investigating Mars. The announcement was made by Jim Watzin, Mars exploration program director, at a meeting of the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group in California. When the Obama Administration proposed last year to reduce NASA’s planetary programs, and targeted future Mars missions for a 40% cut, the Mars science community mobilized its forces, wrote newspaper op-eds, circulated open letters, and put pressure on Congress, which added hundreds of millions of dollars to the planetary exploration budget. While the central mission of the MTO will not be science, it is a critical capability. None of the surface spacecraft on Mars—Opportunity, Curiosity, the Mars Science Lab lander—send their data back to Earth directly. To do that they would need an antenna and other equipment that would make the spacecraft too heavy to land. The orbiting Mars Odyssey spacecraft is currently relaying the science data from the surface back to us. It is now 13 years old. Watzin explained that using new, shorter wavelength technologies, such as lasers, the transmission speed and capacity over today’s radio frequency systems would be greatly improved. Marsha Freeman |
