Pegasus Research Consortium

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=88c_1411398901

Nasa's Maven spacecraft has successfully entered the orbit around Mars on Sunday evening.

It has been a 700 million kilometre journey that began nearly a year ago.

For NASA staff at Cape Canaveral in the US it was a nail-biting moment, with three previous missions having failed.

Scientists hope Maven will find clues to the planet's early history, including the possibility of it having harboured life. You can watch more about its mission here.  (  Article contains a video  )

Well it will be interesting to see what information they will glean during this mission.  Maybe they find that base we put up years ago.

An animated simulation of the Maven from NASA at the link:
http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/22sep_maven/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FaxelNSnls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3FaxelNSnls

From Nasa:

https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/22sep_maven/ (https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/22sep_maven/)

QuoteSept. 22, 2014:  NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft successfully entered Mars' orbit at 10:24 p.m. EDT Sunday, Sept. 21, where it now will prepare to study the Red Planet's upper atmosphere as never done before. MAVEN is the first spacecraft dedicated to exploring the tenuous upper atmosphere of Mars.

"As the first orbiter dedicated to studying Mars' upper atmosphere, MAVEN will greatly improve our understanding of the history of the Martian atmosphere, how the climate has changed over time, and how that has influenced the evolution of the surface and the potential habitability of the planet," said NASA Administrator Charles Bolden. "It also will better inform a future mission to send humans to the Red Planet in the 2030s."
(https://smd-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/science-pink/s3fs-public/mnt/medialibrary/2014/09/22/splash.gif)

This animation depicts MAVEN orbiting Mars. Image credit: NASA

After a 10-month journey, confirmation of successful orbit insertion was received from MAVEN data observed at the Lockheed Martin operations center in Littleton, Colorado, as well as from tracking data monitored at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) navigation facility in Pasadena, California. The telemetry and tracking data were received by NASA's Deep Space Network antenna station in Canberra, Australia.

"NASA has a long history of scientific discovery at Mars and the safe arrival of MAVEN opens another chapter," said John Grunsfeld, astronaut and associate administrator of the NASA Science Mission Directorate at the agency's Headquarters in Washington. "Maven will complement NASA's other Martian robotic explorers—and those of our partners around the globe—to answer some fundamental questions about Mars and life beyond Earth."

More at the link, and yes it is from 5 years ago...

Wondering what they actually found?

8)

Seeker

NASA says it is using the atmosphere to reduce its orbit to act as a  relay for a 2020 rover.  They also said terraforming would not work with today's technology.

http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-s-maven-spacecraft-shrinking-its-mars-orbit-to-prepare-for-mars-2020-rover (http://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2019/nasa-s-maven-spacecraft-shrinking-its-mars-orbit-to-prepare-for-mars-2020-rover)

Or are we already there?  I don't think so.

Mav, the link you provided does partially answer my question as to what Maven has discovered:

QuoteNASA has learned that solar wind and radiation had stripped Mars of most of its atmosphere, changing the planet's early climate from warm and wet to the dry environment we see today. MAVEN also discovered two new types of auroras on Mars and the presence of charged metal atoms in its upper atmosphere that tell us that a lot of debris is hitting Mars that may affect its climate.

QuoteFor more information on the MAVEN mission, visit: https://www.nasa.gov/maven or http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/maven/

However, I didn't see any mention as to why terra-forming wouldn't be possible...

Seeker

Time for me to dig a little deeper.

I found this (https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/goddard/2018/mars-terraforming).

Quote from: ArMaP on July 12, 2019, 09:47:31 PM
I found this (https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/goddard/2018/mars-terraforming).

That's the one!

  It seems, basically they are saying that Mars wont hold any atmosphere, as well as c02.

  The earth looses c02 slowly, it can take hundreds of years to be eliminated from the atmosphere.  And earths oceans devour most of the c02 from our air (atmosphere).
It is a bit of a puzzle as to why we could not terraform mars.  An atmosphere may not stay around as long as on earth, but with no oceans c02 levels may last longer then they think.  Even a much thinner set of layers could last if it was replaced as it is here on earth.  We are constantly replenishing our c02 levels and if we didn't c02 levels would drop here also.
   It's not clear why they are saying an atmosphere can't be made on Mars.  A guess would be that it may have to do with gravity and the levels needed to hold and concentrate gasses into functioning layers.  I hope some how we find a way to terraform Mars.  We need a new place to try again.  Maybe we'll get it right then! lol

WTH, one of the stated reasons that Mars is losing (and has lost) most of it's atmosphere is due to the red planet's lack of a magnetic field, which allows the solar wind and cosmic radiation to strip it away.

Also, research shows that there is insufficient co2 on Mars to create a decent heat trap, since studies show there is only enough present, if totalily metabolized, to raise the atmospheric pressure from it's current level of 0.6% earth pressure to roughly 1.2%, not enough to prevent water from instantly boiling away...

Now, if i was possible to locate and move several large asteroids or comets composed of co2,nitrogen, and water ice to the martian surface, on the magnitude of several billion trillion tons, then rapidly melt them, it might be possible to gradually increase the pressure, but without some means of generating a strong magnetic field to shield it, it would necessitate constantly replenishing it...

The best options for a Mars colony would be underground or possibly in domed habitats; but we humans also require shielding from the solar wind and cosmic radiation...

Seeker

Quote from: ArMaP on July 12, 2019, 09:47:31 PM
I found this (https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/goddard/2018/mars-terraforming).

Thank you, ArMaP, interesting and informative article

8)

Quote from: The Seeker on July 13, 2019, 03:06:13 AM
WTH, one of the stated reasons that Mars is losing (and has lost) most of it's atmosphere is due to the red planet's lack of a magnetic field, which allows the solar wind and cosmic radiation to strip it away.

Don't forget lower gravity, that also influences how dense an atmosphere can be.

Quote from: The Seeker on July 13, 2019, 03:06:13 AM
WTH, one of the stated reasons that Mars is losing (and has lost) most of it's atmosphere is due to the red planet's lack of a magnetic field, which allows the solar wind and cosmic radiation to strip it away.

   Yep, that's what I was thinking when I said "A guess would be that it may have to do with gravity and the levels needed to hold and concentrate gasses into functioning layers."

Quote from: The Seeker on July 13, 2019, 03:06:13 AM
Now, if i was possible to locate and move several large asteroids or comets composed of co2,nitrogen, and water ice to the martian surface, on the magnitude of several billion trillion tons, then rapidly melt them, it might be possible to gradually increase the pressure, but without some means of generating a strong magnetic field to shield it, it would necessitate constantly replenishing it...

   Maybe some day sooner then we think, we will be able to harvest asteroids for planetary use.  I also mentioned " Even a much thinner set of layers could last if it was replaced as it is here on earth.  We are constantly replenishing our c02 levels and if we didn't c02 levels would drop here also."   These are indeed obstacles we face going to Mars if we intend to stay for any lengthy time.  We are advancing at a rapid rate so maybe some day!.

Quote from: The Seeker on July 13, 2019, 03:06:13 AM
The best options for a Mars colony would be underground or possibly in domed habitats; but we humans also require shielding from the solar wind and cosmic radiation...

Yes!  Definitely seems to be the way to go, if we can find materials with the right properties on Mars for constructing habitats underground that are fully suitable for living.  Blocking all the nasties from cooking us alive.  Of course establishing any type of colony on Mars will be a monumental undertaking, be it underground or whatever.

Quote from: ArMaP on July 13, 2019, 11:20:54 AM
Don't forget lower gravity, that also influences how dense an atmosphere can be.

  Yep! we're on it ArMap. That's what I said like this: "A guess would be that it may have to do with gravity and the levels needed to hold and concentrate gasses into functioning layers."

    Thanks  :)