Destination Mars
목적지 화성
1.0
- Destination Mars
- Like Mercury, Venus and the Earth, Mars is one of the Solar System’s four rocky planets.
- It is named after a Roman god.
- Mars is also called the Red Planet.
- The planet is about half the size of the Earth.
- Its rocky surface is covered with brownish-red or rust-colored dust.
- Four billion years ago, Mars was different.
- It had flowing water, rivers, lakes and a large ocean.
- The planet must have had thick clouds and atmosphere with large amounts of carbon dioxide.
- Today, Mars is dry, dusty and very cold.
- Its atmosphere has almost all gone.
- Space scientists believe that the solar wind carried it away.
- This happened over a long period.
- The Earth’s magnetic field protects its atmosphere from the solar wind.
- Within 11 days, three powerful rockets left the Earth.
- The first lifted off from Japan.
- It launched a space probe high above the Earth.
- The second blasted off from China.
- This rocket carried an orbiter, a lander and rover.
- The third left the U.S. on July 30.
- It took a rover, which carries a small helicopter, into space.
- Each space vehicle is now traveling to Mars.
- They are expected to arrive in six or seven months.
- One Martian year is equal to 687 Earth days or 1.88 Earth years.
- Mars rotates at a similar speed to Earth.
- One day on Mars is called a sol.
- It lasts for 24 hours and 39 minutes.
- Mars and the Earth orbit the Sun at different speeds.
- They align once every 26 months.
- This is when Mars and the Earth are closest together.
- This is why the three rockets were launched within 11 days of each other.
- The space probe launched from Japan is called Al-Amal.
- This is the Arabic word for ‘hope’.
- The United Arab Emirates (UAE) designed and operates this probe.
- This the country’s first space mission.
- The UAE paid the Japanese space agency for the rocket launch.
- When Hope reaches Mars, it will orbit or circle the planet.
- The space probe will study the planet’s day-to-night cycle.
- It will also record Mars’ weather and atmosphere.
- Hope will collect this data for one Martian year.
- Rovers are remotely controlled vehicles that travel over a planet’s or moon’s surface.
- In the past, China has landed two rovers on the Moon.
- The latest is on the far side of the Moon.
- China has never sent a mission to Mars before.
- Russia, India, the U.S., and the ESA (European Space Agency) have sent probes to Mars.
- Yet, only the U.S. has successfully landed and operated rovers on the planet.
- China’s Mars mission is called Tianwen-1.
- When it arrives, the spacecraft will circle Mars.
- It will release a lander and a rover.
- The lander is like a small table.
- The rover is on top of it.
- On Mars’ surface, tracks on the lander will allow the rover to go drive down to the surface.
- Its instruments will study the Martian soil.
- In the past, six landers or rovers have been sent to Mars before.
- The first two were Russian.
- Both failed.
- The next four were all American.
- Opportunity was America’s third Mars rover.
- It landed in 2004.
- Two years ago, there was an unusual dust storm on Mars.
- It shut down Opportunity and communications were lost.
- Eight years ago, the Curiosity rover landed on Mars.
- It is a six-wheeled vehicle.
- Curiosity has cameras, a microscope and a laser-firing instrument.
- So far, it has traveled over 20 kilometers.
- Curiosity continues to work on Mars.
- The U.S.’s new rover is called Perseverance.
- This rover is more advanced than Curiosity.
- It will drill into the surface to search for water and microbial life.
- The rover’s small helicopter is called Ingenuity.
- It is a test vehicle.
- American scientists want to find out if it can fly on Mars.
- To take off, its blades need to spin much faster than a helicopter on the Earth.
- This is because Mars’ atmosphere is far less dense than the Earth’s.
- If the helicopter is successful, it will be the first flight on another planet.