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Not for profit website/blog on astronomy, space and my writing

Episode 105 – Return to Titan – Dragonfly

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NASA’s Cassini-Huygens lander arrived at Titan on 14th January 2005. The first instrument to make contact with the surface of Titan was a penetrometer made by Ralph Lorenz. Since then he has gone on to write many books and work on several other projects.

Dr Ralph Lorenz

In this episode, he speaks about some of those projects, especially Dragonfly, a return mission to land on Titan. This mission, for which he is the mission architect, is like no other. It is not really a lander or rover but a quadcopter that will sample different regions near the landing site during its 3.3-year lifetime. Ralph talks about what we can expect from Dragonfly which launches in 2027 and arrives at Titan in 1934.

The documentary Destination Titan we refer to in this discussion is available here is available on Youtube here.

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Episode 102 – Martian Geology with Prof Sanjeev Gupta

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In 1972, Harrison Schmitt became the first (and so far only), scientist to walk on the surface of the Moon. As a practising geologist, he brought a scientific perspective to understanding lunar geology. Since then many scientists have brought their scientific insights to understanding the surfaces of comets, asteroids, the planets in the solar system and their moons.

Professor Sanjeev Gupta

Professor Sanjeev Gupta is amongst the geologist helping to understand the martian surface today. Not from field trips to the martian surface but from data returned by martian landers, rovers and orbiters. In this interview recorded in July during COSPAR2022 in Athens, he describes his journey from revealing how the United Kingdom became an island to making sense of martian geology.

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Episode 55: 4 August 2012: Mars Curiosity Rover

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Since the mid 1970s six spacecraft (Viking 1 & 2, Sojourner, Opportunity, Spirit and Phoenix)  have successfully landed on the surface of Mars. In probably the most audacious, breathtaking and risky space missions, in less than two days, another  Mars Curiosity Rover will arrive on Mars. Using a technique never used before, NASA has described the Entry Decent Landing as the seven minutes of terror.

Launched in November 2011, the arrival of Mars Curiosity will for the first time make a high precision landing which is so crucial to its primary scientific goal of finding evidence of earlier Martian environment that may have been suitable for life.

Also known as the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) it will be supported by a pair of NASA satellites (Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) already in Martian orbit. Mars has never been under so much human scrutiny. In addition to the still functioning Opportunity, a rover on the surface of Mars (launched in 2004) and the two NASA satellites, there is also the European Space Agency’s Mars Express is also in Martian orbit.

Dr Anita Sengupta is a member of the Entry Decent Landing and Advanced Technologies group at Jet Propulsion Laboratory. In this interview recorded on August 2nd via telephone from her office in JPL she captures the sheer exhilaration of the dramatic entry decent and landing phase  and describes her role in the Mars Curiosity rover mission.

 

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