Hard Times for some Mars Spacecraft but the Brits will Arrive on Christmas

Nozomi spacecraft

It's been a tough last few weeks for Mars spacecraft. As if the Sun doesn't want the secrets of her planets known, solar flares have damaged two spacecraft either heading towards or in orbit around the red planet.

The earliest victim was the Japanese' Nozomi, and the clock is ticking for engineers to fix Nozomi so that it can go into orbit around Mars. The spacecraft was damaged by a solar flare in 2002 and has had onboard electrical problems since. If the engineers cannot fix Nozomi, they must turn the craft away from Mars so that it does not crash into the red planet and possibly contaminate it.

Nozomi, which means "hope" is Japan's first interplanetary probe. It was launched July 1998 and should have arrived at Mars the following autumn. But problems started soon after launch. A technical fault left Nozomi low on fuel and its flight path had to be radically altered to get it to Mars. Flight controllers used two gravity assist's from swinging by Earth to put Nozomi back on track, but then the solar flare hit, damaging navigation equipment.

Engineers now have only a week left to resolve Nozomi's problems before time runs out for the ill-fated voyage. If Nozomi cannot be repaired, it will make one close fly by of Mars and then become an artificial planet orbiting the Sun forever.

Scientists very much fear a malfunctioning spacecraft crashing into a planet and contaminating the environment. So strong were these concerns that Cospar, a Paris based Committee on Space Research set stringent guidelines for spacecraft going to other worlds, and especially for those with landers. All space faring nations have agreed to these guidelines. The goal is to not spread any Earth based bacteria to another world which might have it's own life forms.

The second victim of the Sun's wrath was NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. About a month ago, the Sun went through an intensely active period, spewing out some of the most powerful flares ever recorded. Radiation, and billions of tons of charged particles hurtled through space at high velocities and enough reached Mars to damage Odyssey, which has been orbiting the planet for two years. The same storm caused a blackout in Sweden, damaged two Japanese satellites and interfered with navigation and radio systems for aircraft and ships.

NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft

Fortunately only one instrument on Odyssey was damaged, the instrument was designed to assess the hazards humans might face if they were to visit Mars. Damaged October 28, Nasa is signaling Odyssey to try to coax the equipment back online. Even if the damage is permanent, the instrument has already provided a great deal of information about things such radiation levels future astronauts might encounter.

Odyssey will also provide the vital link to Earth for the British lander Beagle 2 when it reaches Mars on Christmas day. Odyssey will be relaying all signals from three of the spacecraft heading for Mars.

Nozomi will be the first to reach Mars though we don't know as yet if it will be able to establish a Martian orbit. Next to arrive will be the European Space Agency's Mars Express set to arrive on Christmas. The first of Nasa's two Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit, is set to land on the Martian surface on 4 January. Opportunity will arrive towards the end of January. Together, the spacecraft represent a true Martian Invasion!

European Space Agency's Mars Express

Constellations

The Solar System