Destination Mars
목적지 화성
1.0
- Destination Mars
- Mars is one of the Solar System's four rocky planets.
- The others are: Mercury, Venus and the Earth.
- Named after the Roman god of war, Mars is also called the "Red Planet".
- It is roughly half the size of the Earth.
- A brownish-red, or rust-colored, dust covers most of Mars' rocky surface.
- Mars was very different about four billion years ago.
- Then, it had flowing water, rivers, lakes and possibly a large ocean.
- The planet must have had thick clouds and an atmosphere with large volumes of carbon dioxide.
- Today, Mars is dry, dusty and very cold.
- Nearly all its atmosphere has gone.
- Space scientists now believe that the solar wind "stripped away" or eroded Mar’s atmosphere.
- This is a stream of charged particles that come from the Sun.
- The erosion of the planet’s atmosphere probably happened over a very long period.
- A magnetic field protects the Earth's atmosphere from the solar wind.
- Within 11 days, three powerful rockets left the Earth.
- The first lifted off from Japan.
- High above the Earth's atmosphere, it launched a space probe.
- The second blasted off from China.
- This rocket carried an orbiter, a lander and a rover.
- The third left the U.S. on July 30.
- It took a rover into space.
- This rover carries a miniature helicopter.
- Each of the space vehicles is now on their way to Mars.
- All are expected to arrive in about six or seven months.
- One Martian year is equal to 687 Earth days, or 1.88 Earth years.
- Mars rotates, or spins, at a similar speed to the Earth.
- One day, known as a sol on Mars, lasts for 24 hours and 39 minutes.
- Mars and the Earth orbit the Sun at different speeds.
- There are times when Mars is very far away and times when it is much nearer.
- The two planets align about once every 26 months.
- Mars space missions that set off at this time have a far shorter journey.
- This explains why the three rocket launches were timed within 11 days of each other.
- The Japan rocket launch space probe is called Al-Amal.
- This is Arabic for "Hope".
- The probe was made and is operated by scientists in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
- The country has launched satellites before, but this is its first space, or interplanetary, mission.
- The UAE paid the Japanese space agency for the rocket launch.
- When Hope reaches Mars, it will start to orbit, or circle, the planet.
- Its orbit will be elliptical.
- At its closest, Hope will be 20,000 kilometers from the Red Planet.
- At its outermost point, the probe will be twice as far from Mars.
- Hope will study Mars' day-to-night cycle.
- The probe will also record Mars' weather and atmosphere.
- It is expected to continue to collect this data for one Martian year.
- Rovers are remotely operated wheeled-vehicles that can travel over a planet’s or moon’s surface.
- In the past, China has landed two rovers on the Moon.
- Last year, it successfully landed on the far side of the Moon.
- China has never sent a space mission to Mars before.
- In the past, Russia, India, the U.S., and the ESA (European Space Agency) have all sent probes or orbiters to Mars.
- However, only America has successfully landed a rover on Mars and completed surface missions.
- China's Mars mission is called Tianwen-1.
- The name means "questions to heaven".
- When it arrives, the probe will begin to circle Mars.
- It will release a lander and a rover.
- The lander is like a small table or platform.
- The rover sits on top of it.
- Once the lander is on the surface, tracks extend down to the ground.
- These allow the rover to drive off the lander and onto the Martian surface.
- The rover's instruments will investigate and analyze the Martian soil.
- Other space scientists describe China’s first Mars mission as "ambitious".
- China plans to send another mission to Mars in 2030.
- This would bring Martian rock and soil samples back to the Earth.
- The Tianwen-1 mission has been planned as a "stepping stone" for China's 2030 objective.
- In the past, six landers or rovers have been sent to Mars.
- The first two were Russian.
- Both failed.
- The next four were all American.
- The third American rover was called Opportunity.
- It landed in 2004.
- Two years ago, an unusual dust storm appeared on Mars.
- It engulfed the whole planet.
- The storm “knocked out” Opportunity and all communications were lost.
- America’s Curiosity rover touched down on Mars eight years ago.
- A six-wheeled vehicle, it has been very successful.
- Curiosity is equipped with cameras, a microscope, and a laser-firing instrument.
- The rover has traveled over 20 kilometers.
- It continues to move about on the Martian landscape.
- The U.S.’s latest rover is called Perseverance.
- It is an updated version of Curiosity.
- Perseverance’s landing site looks like a dried-up river delta.
- The rover will drill deep beneath the surface to search for water and possible microbial life.
- Perseverance is carrying a small helicopter.
- Named Ingenuity, it is a test vehicle.
- The scientists working on the mission want to find out if it is possible to fly on Mars.
- The planet’s atmosphere is 99% less dense than the Earth’s.
- To take off, Ingenuity’s blades have to spin much faster than a helicopter on the Earth.
- If it does manage to rise above the ground, it will be the first-ever powered flight on another planet.