It’s only been 1 year on Mars

Back in 2020 three missions launched from Earth to reach or land on Mars. They have now been there for just over a Martian year. Let’s take a look at what they’ve done so far. But first, do you actually know what a Martian year is?

1 Martian year

On Earth, there are 365.25 days in a year. That’s the time it takes the Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun. Because Mars is farther away from the Sun, it takes 687 days to complete one orbit. Therefore, a Martian year has 687 days. With more days in a year, the seasons on Mars are also longer than on Earth. But there are other differences as well. Mars’ orbit around the Sun has a higher eccentricity than Earth’s orbit. That makes the seasons varying in length – from 142 days up to 194 days. In the northern hemisphere, spring (194 days) and summer (178 days) are longer than fall (142 days) and winter (154 days).

This may be one reason why spacecraft landing on Mars prefer the northern hemisphere. With longer springs and summers, they have more days with more sunlight and warmer temperatures. While sunlight is important for solar-powered spacecraft, temperature is important for all spacecraft on Mars. And with a surface temperature between -120° Celsius and 30° Celsius, Mars can get icy. An average atmospheric temperature of -63° Celsius doesn’t help either.

All right, back to the orbit of Mars. Every 26 months, Earth and Mars get closer to each other. That’s a great time to send a spacecraft to Mars because it’s easier and faster to get there. One such opportunity was in the summer of 2022.

Mars mission launched in 2020

So in July 2020, three missions from three different countries launched to Mars. The first mission to launch was the Emirate Mars Mission (EMM) on July 20, carrying the Hope orbiter to Mars. Next, on July 23, was China’s Tianwen-1, which combines an orbiter, a lander, and a rover. Finally, on July 30, NASA’s Mars 2020 mission launched with the Perseverance rover and the Ingenuity helicopter.

All three successfully reached Mars between February 9 and February 18. And although NASA’s Mars 2020 was the last mission to launch, it was the first mission to land on Mars. Mostly because it was supposed to land directly on Mars and not go into orbit around it. The Tianwen-1 lander waited until May 14, 2021, to successfully land on Mars. If you would like to know more about the missions, look at my previous posts about orbiting and surface spacecraft.

As you may have noticed, the next few days will mark the second anniversary of their arrival on Mars. They have also just completed their first Martian year. So, let’s take a look at what they’ve done in a year at or on Mars.

Perseverance Rover

Let’s start with the Perseverance rover, which is the main part of NASA’s Mars 2020 mission. It was designed for a primary Mars mission of one Mars year. It successfully completed that mission on January 6, 2023, and is now on an extended mission. So, what did it do during its first Mars year?

Within hours of landing in Jezero Crater, it began recording the sounds of Mars. It was the first time this was done on Mars. You can listen to the sounds of Jezero Crater as well as the sounds of driving around on Mars. And driving is, what Perseverance did a lot. So far, it has driven 14.27 km on the surface of Mars. It also set a record for the longest rover drive in a Martian day at almost 320 m. Want to see, where the rover is now? Or the path it has taken? Use the map below.

Creating oxygen on Mars

But the rover didn’t just drive around Mars and record sounds. It also produced oxygen for the first time ever on another planet. This was done by the MOXIE experiment, which uses a high-temperature, electrochemical process called solid oxide electrolysis to strip oxygen ions from the carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere. While the first test produced only 5 grams of oxygen, MOXIE has since increased its output. Its current record is nearly 10.56 grams per hour at peak and a sustained production of 9.79 grams per hour for nearly 40 minutes. The technology can be used in the future to produce oxygen not only for breathing but also as an oxidizer for rockets launching from Mars.

Collecting rock samples for later use

Another big part of Perseverance’s mission is to collect and store samples of Mars’ atmosphere, rocks, and sand. It collected its first sample on September 1, 2021. It has now filled 18 of 38 sample tubes. Ten of these were dropped in a reserve stockpile on the surface. This was done preparing for the rover not being able to deliver its samples to the return vehicle. And by the way, the return vehicle is part of another mission that is still in development.

So, what’s up next for Perseverance? It will head to the top of Jezero’s ancient river delta and spent the next eight months exploring the region. All the while doing, what it did in its first year on Mars. But wait, didn’t Perseverance also take a helicopter to Mars? Yes, it did! Let’s take a look at what it did in its first year on Mars.

Ingenuity helicopter

On March 30, 2021, Perseverance dropped the Ingenuity helicopter to the surface. From there on, Ingenuity had to survive the cold Martian nights on its own. And this it did. Still on the spot where it was dropped, Ingenuity prepared for its first flight. Not just its first flight, but the first ever powered, controlled flight on another planet. It took a while to get there, however, because Ingenuity encountered a software problem. The problem had to be fixed by uploading a new software to the little helicopter. This took a few days because the new file had to be sent from Earth to Perseverance and then to Ingenuity. Since Ingenuity can’t communicate with Earth on its own, all communication must be routed through Perseverance.

On April 19, 2021, Ingenuity took flight. It lifted off, hovered at a height of 3 meters above the ground, and landed safely back where it started. Subsequent flights gradually extended Ingenuity’s range. On the second flight, it climbed to 5 meters above the ground and flew 2 meters sideways and back. The third flight greatly increased that range, as Ingenuity flew 50 meters north and returned to the ground where it lifted off. The flight also set a new speed record of 2 m/s.

From technology demonstration to operational demonstration

With the third successful flight, Ingenuity’s technology demonstration mission was complete. But Ingenuity didn’t stop there. It prepared for a fourth and fifth flight. The fourth flight, however, was delayed by a software glitch. When the flight finally took place, it set records for speed (3.5 m/s) and distance, flying 133 meters to the south and back again. The fifth flight saw the first one-way flight (129 meters) to a new landing side, as well as a new altitude record of 10 meters before landing.

The sixth flight was the first flight in the new operational demonstration phase. The new mission includes aerial reconnaissance and testing how a flying helicopter can support future missions. And Ingenuity has been flying a lot. As of the end of January 2023, Ingenuity has completed 41 flights. It flew a distance of 8,191 meters at a maximum speed of 5.5 m/s. The highest altitude reached so far was 14 meters above the surface. All this while surviving a Martian winter for which it wasn’t designed and which brought its own challenges, including less sunlight and an even thinner atmosphere. And it continues to fly on Mars. If you would like to know more, take a look at the team’s blog.

Tianwen-1

Tianwen-1 is China’s first mission to Mars. And it is a great success. All three components of the mission – the orbiter, the lander, and the rover – completed their primary mission. And they continued to work even longer. Only the fate of the Zhurong rover is currently unknown. It entered a planned hibernation in May 2022 to survive the Martian winter. It was supposed to wake up in December 2022. But so far, it doesn’t seem to have done so. Still, the mission is a great success for China, as it has returned a lot of engineering and scientific data as well as some stunning images.

Hope Probe

After arriving at Mars, the Hope spacecraft performed another burn of its engines on March 29, 2021. The goal of this burn was to move it from the capture orbit to the final science orbit. The burn was successful. Now, after nearly a Martian year. The mission is nearing the end of its primary mission. It has sent back a lot of data about the atmosphere of Mars. This data has been released in 5 datasets so far. All of which are publicly available. After the end of the primary science mission, Hope will enter into an extended mission on Mars for another Martian year.

Do you want to know more about missions to Mars?

Credit for image at the top: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS