Monday 6 August 2012

Membangun Peradaban di Planet Mars

Hari ini sebuah wahana bernama Curiosity berhasil mendarat di Planet Mars

Setelah terbang selama 8,5 bulan, setelah menghabiskan dana hampir Rp. 22.000.000.000.000., setelah melewati teror kegagalan pendaratan selama tujuh menit, akhirnya.

Curiosity Lands on Mars

 

 

 

Operator NASA
Major contractors
Mission type Rover
Launch date November 26, 2011 (2011-11-26) 15:02:00.211 UTC (10:02 EST)
Launch vehicle Atlas V 541 (AV-028)
Launch site Cape Canaveral LC-41
Mission duration 668 Martian sols (686 Earth days)
COSPAR ID 2011-070A
Homepage Mars Science Laboratory
Mass 900 kg (2,000 lb)
Power Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator (RTG)
Mars landing
Date August 6, 2012, 05:14:39 UTC
MSD 49269 15:00:01 LMST (Mars time)
MSD 49269 05:50:16 AMT
Coordinates Aeolis Palus in Gale Crater, 4°35′31″S 137°26′25″E

 


NASA's Curiosity rover has landed on Mars! Its descent-stage retrorockets fired, guiding it to the surface. Nylon cords lowered the rover to the ground in the "sky crane" maneuver. When the spacecraft sensed touchdown, the connecting cords were severed, and the descent stage flew out of the way. The time of day at the landing site is mid-afternoon -- about 3 p.m. local Mars time at Gale Crater. The time at JPL's mission control is about 10:31 p.m. Aug. 5 PDT (early morning EDT).


> Full Mission Section

> Fact Sheet (PDF)

> Landing Press Kit (PDF)

> All Mars Missions

Mengirimkan Manusia dan Membangun Peradaban di Planet Mars


Allhamdulilah Penulis dan Peneliti muda dapat menyaksikan sejarah dalam dunia ke-Antariksaan yaitu pendaratan Wahana Antariksa Curiosity di Planet Mars.

Mungkinkah manusia bisa mengunjungi Planet Mars dan membangun peradaban di sana?

Untuk mewujudkan itu semua umat manusia harus bersatu dan bekerjasama mengembangkan ilmu pengetahuan dan teknologi yang memungkinkan akan pendaratan tersebut.

Dalam rentang waktu hingga tahun 2020-2025 manusia harus dapat membangun wahana transit di daerah sekitar Bulan dan antara Planet Bumi - Planet Mars untuk mempersiapkan pendaratan Manusia ke Planet Merah.

Kemungkinan manusia mampu mendarat di Planet Mars adalah dalam rentang waktu tahun 2030-2040

Kandidat negara yang akan melakukan pendaratan tersebut adalah:
1. USA
2. China
3. Russia
4. India

Lalu di mana posisi Indonesia?

Indonesia bisa menjadi negara penyedia SDM dan IPTEK pendukung Misi besar ini.

Para ilmuwan di Indonesia membangun  Masyarakat Mars Indonesia yang bertujuan untuk meneliti dan mengembangkan IPTEK eksplorasi Planet Mars.


Pembangunan Peradaban di Kawasan Planet Mars diprediksi akan dimulai pada tahun 2080 dengan diawali membangun laboratorium pengembangan uji kehidupan di sana.

Planet Mars kemungkinan bisa dihuni oleh umat manusia pada rentang waktu 2121; beberapa puluh ilmuwan tinggal di Planet Mars dan memulai persiapan perencanaan pembangunan kota di sana.

Gambar pertama yang dikirimkan dari wahana Curiosity di Planet Mars

Muncullah foto hitam putih ini. Sangat bermakna, sebab bintik-bintik hitam dan putih ini bercerita, robot penjelajah Mars terbaru bertajuk Mars Science Laboratory alias Curiosity telah hidup dan siap bekerja di Mars ! 


With its rover named Curiosity, Mars Science Laboratory mission is part of NASA's Mars Exploration Program, a long-term effort of robotic exploration of the red planet. Curiosity was designed to assess whether Mars ever had an environment able to support small life forms called microbes. In other words, its mission is to determine the planet's "habitability."

Mars Science Laboratory will study Mars' habitability

To find out, the rover will carry the biggest, most advanced suite of instruments for scientific studies ever sent to the martian surface. The rover will analyze samples scooped from the soil and drilled from rocks. The record of the planet's climate and geology is essentially "written in the rocks and soil" -- in their formation, structure, and chemical composition. The rover's onboard laboratory will study rocks, soils, and the local geologic setting in order to detect chemical building blocks of life (e.g., forms of carbon) on Mars and will assess what the martian environment was like in the past.

Mars Science Laboratory relies on innovative technologies

Mars Science Laboratory will rely on new technological innovations, especially for landing. The spacecraft will descend on a parachute and then, during the final seconds prior to landing, lower the upright rover on a tether to the surface, much like a sky crane. Once on the surface, the rover will be able to roll over obstacles up to 75 centimeters (29 inches) high and travel up to 90 meters (295 feet) per hour. On average, the rover is expected to travel about 30 meters (98 feet) per hour, based on power levels, slippage, steepness of the terrain, visibility, and other variables.

The rover will carry a radioisotope power system that generates electricity from the heat of plutonium's radioactive decay. This power source gives the mission an operating lifespan on Mars' surface of a full martian year (687 Earth days) or more, while also providing significantly greater mobility and operational flexibility, enhanced science payload capability, and exploration of a much larger range of latitudes and altitudes than was possible on previous missions to Mars.

Arriving at Mars at 10:31 p.m. PDT on Aug. 5, 2012 (1:31 a.m. EDT on Aug. 6, 2012), Mars Science Laboratory will serve as an entrée to the next decade of Mars exploration. It represents a huge step in Mars surface science and exploration capability because it will:
  • demonstrate the ability to land a very large, heavy rover to the surface of Mars (which could be used for a future Mars Sample Return mission that would collect rocks and soils and send them back to Earth for laboratory analysis)
  • demonstrate the ability to land more precisely in a 20-kilometer (12.4-mile) landing circle
  • demonstrate long-range mobility on the surface of the red planet (5-20 kilometers or about 3 to 12 miles) for the collection of more diverse samples and studies.


Technology development makes missions possible. Each Mars mission is part of a continuing chain of innovation. Each relies on past missions for proven technologies and contributes its own innovations to future missions. This chain allows NASA to push the boundaries of what is currently possible, while still relying on proven technologies.

Below are examples of the way in which the Mars Science Laboratory mission relies on past technologies and contributes new ones.
Technologies of Broad Benefit
launch vehicle Propulsion: for providing the energy to get to Mars and conduct long-term studies
Mars Exploration Rover Power: for providing more efficient and increased electricity to the spacecraft and its subsystems
DSN Telecommunications: for sending commands and receiving data faster and in greater amounts
Mission control Software Engineering: for providing the computing and commands necessary to operate the spacecraft and its subsystems
In-situ Exploration and Sample Return
Entry, Descent, and Landing Entry, Descent, and Landing: for ensuring precise and safe landings
Mars Science Laboratory Rover Autonomous Planetary Mobility: for enabling the rovers to make decisions and avoid hazards on their own
Severe Environment Technologies for Severe Environments: for making systems robust enough to handle extreme conditions in space and on Mars
Sample Return Technologies Sample Return Technologies: for collecting and returning rock, soil, and atmospheric samples back to Earth for further laboratory analysis
The spacecraft in the cleanroom Planetary Protection Technologies: for cleaning and sterilizing spacecraft and handling soil, rock, and atmospheric samples
Science Instruments
Artists concept Odyssey in orbit around Mars Remote Science Instrumentation: for collecting Mars data from orbit
In-situ Instrumentation In-situ Instrumentation: for collecting Mars data from the surface


Mars for Educators

Mars Classroom Resources
Mars Activity Book
Earth/Mars Comparison Poster Front
Earth/Mars Comparison Poster Back (contains classroom activities)


   You can participate in four major programs:


Imagine 
Mars: K-4, 5-8; Mars Student Imaging Project: 5-8, 9-12; Mars Robotics 
Education: 5-8, 9-12; Mars Educator Workshops: K-4, 5-8, 9-12

Curriculum Supplements
Robotics activities are available. Download the activity summaries (PDF, 1.33 MB) or the full activity set (PDF, 1.08 MB).
The Mars Curriculum Modules are designed to help bring the topic of Mars into your 4th through 12th grade classrooms.
Students learn how sediment, landforms and drainage patterns provide clues about a planet's geologic history.
Students investigate the formation of Mars' 3000-mile-long valley.
Can water exist on Mars Today?
NASA Resources and Educational Programs
  • Robotics Alliance Project - Robots are a great way to inspire students to learn about math, science, and technology. Enjoy robots in the classroom or find out how students can participate in robotics competitions and other events.
Learn to study Mars like a scientist.
This Directory is a convenient way to find NASA space science products for use in classrooms, science museums, planetariums and other settings.
  • NASA SpaceLink Mars Educational Materials
This is the Mars section of NASA's primary site for educators and their students. Bookmark http://www.nasa.gov/audience/foreducators/index.html as your source of NASA educational materials.
  • NASA CORE (Central Operation of Resources for Educators)
This site offers Mars-related audio-visual materials. See http://education.nasa.gov/edprograms/core/home/index.html for other resources.
Educational Sites Created by Mars Missions and Instruments
Cornell University is responsible for the Athena scientific instrument package on the twin rovers being launched in 2003. Their site offers educational and fun ways to explore Mars.
What is Mars' weather today?
The Mars Global Surveyor is currently orbiting Mars. The Global Surveyor Radio Science Team Education Outreach Program at Stanford University gives a daily Martian Weather Report and has a selection of lessons and activities for grades K-12.

What's happening on the surface?
The Mars Orbiter Camera on Mars Global Surveyor is looking at craters, flood channels, clouds and dust devils. Malin Space Science Systems has assembled some interesting educational materials.

How deep are Mars' valleys and how high are its mountains?
The Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on Mars Global Surveyor from NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center is mapping the ups and downs of Mars' surface.

What can we learn from Mars' magnetic field?
The Magnetometer/Electron Reflectometer team on Mars Global Surveyor at NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center can tell you.

What's Mars made of?
The Thermal Emission Spectrometer Thermal Emission Spectrometer on Mars Global Surveyor is finding out! Visit their educational website at Arizona State University.

Phoenix Mars Lander
The Phoenix Classroom offers activities and materials to facilitate student understanding of fundamental concepts related to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
More Resources
Reaching for the Red Planet is a multi-purpose curriculum focusing on planning a Mars colony. The project includes lessons about the Earth's environment, choosing a purpose for a Mars colony and designing that colony. The students will use drawings, creative writing, research skills, team work, math and the scientific method to design an artificial environment for Mars. Several assignments, a teacher's tour guide to the planets, a guide to the question of life on Mars and a guide to current and planned Mars missions are included.
Sumber:
1. NASA
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploration_of_Mars
3. http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/
4. http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/
5. http://indonesiagotomars.blogspot.com/