The Dust Storm Currently Raging On Mars Won’t Hamper NASA’s InSight Lander When It Touches Down This Fall
NASA has advised that the mammoth dust storm that has currently enveloped Mars won’t be hampering the InSight lander when it touches down on the Red Planet this fall. With the storm expected to abate by November when the lander reaches Mars, even if the storm were to continue or a new one kicked off, it shouldn’t pose too much of a threat to the spacecraft.
Richard Zurek, the chief scientist of the Mars Program Office at JPL, has pointed out that the atmosphere of Mars will probably still be cloaked in a dusty residue this fall, but this fact will not impede InSight’s landing, as Space report.
It may, however, affect the science instruments onboard as the haze could stop sunlight from hitting the lander, which is something the solar probe needs to function properly.
NASA has had plenty of experience in dealing with dust storms on Mars on previous missions, with one example being the Mariner 9 spacecraft that touched down on the planet in November 1971.
When this spacecraft landed on Mars, it was caught in a massive dust storm which had engulfed the planet for many weeks. In fact, this storm is reported to have been so intense that there was no part of the Martian surface that was left untouched by dust with the exception of the very tops of the Red Planet’s volcanoes. And when NASA’s Viking mission hit the Red Planet in 1976, a dust storm which was roughly the same size as the current one was also raging across Mars.
Massive Mars Dust Storm Won't Stop NASA's Next Lander https://t.co/ZAiLWS9mRy pic.twitter.com/vNF7GqiOHQ
— SPACE.com (@SPACEdotcom) July 12, 2018
If the current storm were to continue, however, NASA does have a plan for how to safely land the InSight probe. During dust storms like these, the upper atmosphere of Mars becomes extremely heated, while the lower atmosphere is considerably cooler as it is shaded.
At the onset of the InSight project, scientists used atmospheric models to learn about the different conditions on the planet that could potentially affect the spacecraft’s landing. To test things out before it lands, InSight will use a large parachute so that its descent will be slowed down considerably as it enters the atmosphere of Mars. Once the probe is closer to the ground, it will then deploy retro-rockets.
If the Martian atmosphere is still extremely dusty, the InSight parachute will need to be launched at a much lower altitude than it will if the skies of Mars are dust-free and clear.
The moment the parachute has been deployed, the probe will experience a tremendous jolt backward, something that Rob Grover of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory calls a “snatch force,” which has to do with atmospheric density. As Grove explained, “We can tune how we’re actually going to fly on landing day.”
Similar to other NASA sojourns to the Red Planet, the InSight spacecraft will be employing the use of radar during the landing process. Just 10 minutes before it finally hits the Martian atmosphere, scientists on Earth will be notified of its velocity and position.
Once it begins its descent it will be using the inertial measurement unit that was built into the spacecraft to help it figure out its position in relation to Mars, with radar letting the spacecraft know what altitude it is at so that it can make a safe landing. As Grover noted, “We can’t land successfully without the radar.”
If the dust storm has finally calmed down and all goes according to plan this November, once NASA’s InSight spacecraft has landed on Mars it can begin exploring the interior of the planet.
