Polar satellite, experimental heat shield for enabling humans' presence on Mars travel to space aboard Atlas V rocket. See details

United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, which had a polar satellite and a heat shield onboard, was launched early on Thursday from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Lompoc, California. The lift off was originally set to November 1, but a faulty battery on the rocket’s upper stage caused a delay. Engineers exchanged and retested the battery to reset the launch date. The successful launch of the experimental heat shield brings us closer to the possibility of humans landing on Mars.

Polar Satellite and Heat Shield: What are these?

The polar satellite launched earlier in the day aboard Atlas V rocket is called the Joint Polar Satellite System-2, or JPSS-2, which is designed to improve weather forecasting. Once it’s in orbit, the satellite will revolve around the planet from the North Pole to the South Pole, observing every spot on Earth at least twice a day, to give the weather information on phone.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) have been launching weather satellites since 1960. The JPSS-2 is the third of NOAA’s latest generation of polar-orbiting environmental satellites. It will join two other satellites, the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership and NOAA-20, that comprise the Joint Polar Satellite System.




The second hitchhiker on the Atlas V rocket launched on Thursday is NASA’s Low-Earth Orbit Flight Test of an Inflatable Decelerator technology demonstration, or LOFTID. It is an inflatable aeroshell or heat shield, which was designed to test whether scientists can land human crewed missions on Mars and larger robotic missions on Venus or Saturn’s moon Titan.

Since the atmosphere on Mars is just 1% the density of Earth’s atmosphere, sending robotic explorers or humans can be challenging with current heat shields. That’s why NASA decided to launch a large inflatable aeroshell like LOFTID, which could put on the brakes while traveling down through the Martian atmosphere. It also prevents some of the super-intense heating, which increases its chances of survival. According to experts, something like LOFTID could land between 20 to 40 metric tons (44,092 to 88,184 pounds) on Mars as compared to the current capacity of one metric ton.

FAQs:

1. Can humans ever live on Mars?
   Not as of now, as there’s almost no oxygen.
2. What year will humans go to Mars?
   NASA plans to send a human crew to Mars by 2037.