What are the most ideal landing sites on Mars for the first human missions that can provide maximum survivability while also exhibiting the potential for finding life beyond Earth? This is what a recent study published in the Journal of Geophysical Research Planets hopes to address as a team of scientists investigated the best sites on Mars for helping future astronauts while achieving peak science. This study has the potential to help future Mars astronauts, mission planners, engineers, and the public better understand the steps that are being taken to prepare future human crews for the Red Planet while ensuring their survival and achieving scientific objectives.
For the study, the researchers used images from the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) to determine candidate landing sites for future human missions to the Red Planet. In the end, the researchers identified sites in the northern latitudes of Mars with near-surface water ice that future human missions could use for in situ resource utilization (ISRU), along with geological, astrobiological, and climate scientific studies.
"If we're going to send humans to Mars, you need H2O and not just for drinking, but for propellant and all manner of applications," said Dr. Erica Luzzi, who is a planetary geologist and postdoctoral researcher in the Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute and lead author of the study. "And finding it close to the surface is helpful because we can easily extract it and use it. This is called in situ resource utilization, and it's an important practice for any space exploration."
The reason why ISRU is so important for future human missions to Mars is due to the enormous travel time and distance from Earth, making resupply missions difficult and tedious. Therefore, having available resources on the Red Planet would increase the survivability of future humans on Mars while maximizing scientific objectives.
How will near-surface water ice help future human missions on Mars in the coming years and decades? Only time will tell, and this is why we science!
As always, keep doing science & keep looking up!
Sources: Journal of Geophysical Research Planets, EurekAlert!
Featured Image Credit: NASA
