Mars Mission

WHY MARS?

There are several strategic, practical and scientific reasons for humans to explore Mars. Among them we know that Mars is the most accessible place in the solar system. Additionally, exploring Mars provides the opportunity to possibly answer origin and evolution of life questions, and could someday be a destination for survival of humankind.

In the strategic sense, exploring Mars demonstrates our political and economic leadership as a nation, improves the quality of life on Earth, helps us learn about our home planet, and expands US leadership in the peaceful, international exploration of space.

From a practical perspective we know that Mars is unique across the entire solar system in that it is a terrestrial planet with an atmosphere and climate, its geology is known to be very diverse and complex (like Earth), and it appears that the climate of Mars has changed over its history (like Earth).

Overall, many of the key questions in solar system science can be addressed effectively by exploring Mars. This endeavor also serves to inspire the next generation of explorers and dramatically expand human knowledge.

The goal of the Mars Exploration Program is to explore Mars and to provide a continuous flow of scientific information and discovery through a carefully selected series of robotic orbiters, landers and mobile laboratories interconnected by a high-bandwidth Mars/Earth communications network.

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

NASA’s Mars Exploration Program is a science-driven, technology-enabled study of Mars as a planetary system in order to understand:

  • the formation and early evolution of Mars as a planet
  • the history of geological and climate processes that have shaped Mars through time
  • the potential for Mars to have hosted life (its “biological potential”)
  • the future exploration of Mars by humans, and
  • how Mars compares to and contrasts with Earth.

MEP’s programmatic goals are directly responsive to the Agency’s 2014 Strategic Plan. They include:

  • maintaining a continuous scientific presence at Mars
  • providing continuing improvements in technical capabilities of robotic Mars missions
  • capitalizing on measurement opportunities that contribute to the advancement of knowledge required for future human exploration of Mars, in collaboration with the Human Exploration and Operation Mission Directorate (HEOMD) and the Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD)
  • ensuring that scientific measurements that can enable human exploration of Mars are considered for flight, and that opportunities to fly instruments-of-opportunity and technology demonstrations from HEOMD and STMD are exercised on a mutually agreed upon basis
  • supporting communications activities required for the successful conduct of MEP’s core science mission and NASA’s goals for helping to develop scientific literacy in the nation
  • MEP efforts also respond directly to NASA’s 2014 Science Plan. MEP derives its science goals from interactions with the planetary and Mars science community (e.g., through the Mars Exploration Program Analysis Group, or MEPAG). MEP has an evolving science strategy, with related MEP Science Goals that are consistent with the priorities in the 2011 Solar System Decadal Survey Vision and Voyages for Planetary Science in the Decade 2013-2022, conducted by the National Academy of Science’s National Research Council (NRC). These goals are formed into specific requirements and, as appropriate, applied to the individual missions in Program-level project requirements.

To support an integrated program structure, MEP carries out a number of activities that provide crosscutting functions and long-term investments for the future.

The Mars Data and Analysis Program (MDAP) is a scientific research and analysis effort that sponsors detailed studies of data returned from Mars missions in order to shape the next steps of the Program’s future-mission studies. Research conducted through MDAP is intended to improve upon open science questions at Mars relevant to current hypotheses. Brief synopses of research funded through MDAP can be found on the NSPIRES website and typing in MDAP as the keyword.

The Program Formulation Office conducts advanced studies of future missions. MEP sets priorities for these studies through informal (e.g., MEPAG) and formal channels (e.g., the National Academies’ Solar System Decadal Surveys). Studies and planning for these missions, as well as identification of technology needs and investments to meet them, are the focus of long-range program planning and targeted technology investments. Advanced studies also address possible needs to replenish Mars telecommunication capabilities and other programmatic support (e.g., landing site certification) that may be needed to support future missions. Orbiters with these required capabilities and/or other priorities such as sample return flight elements may also provide opportunities to address science objectives. Missions that address other Agency objectives (e.g., preparations for the future human exploration of the martian system) are considered jointly with key stakeholders from other parts of the Agency. An additional responsibility for the Program Formulation Office is definition of interfaces between ongoing missions or missions in development, and future missions that have not yet begun development. This activity is especially important where Program objectives require coordination across multiple projects (e.g., the case of multiple missions cooperating on the return of samples from the surface of Mars).

The MEP supports the implementation of large and small directed missions as well as those that are competitively selected and led by a PI. These missions have included the Phoenix mission, which landed in the northern polar region of Mars to study ice, and the MAVEN mission, which is quantifying the rate of escape of atmospheric gases from the planet and implications for the ancient martian climate.
Other crosscutting activities include overall science strategy optimization, Program risk management, Program risk communication, telecommunication strategy, advanced capability development (technology and program infrastructure), interfaces with future missions, planetary protection, and communications with target NASA audiences identified in the 2013 NASA Communications Framework.