ASU Research E-Magazine: Probing and Poking Mars

Scientists plan to prod and poke the surface of Mars to learn more about its temperature. Two high-tech instruments called microprobes will ride aboard the Mars Polar Lander. The spacecraft is due for a January 1999 launch.

Scientists will use two microprobes to measure the red planet’s thermal conductivity. They want to know exactly how fast heat travels in the materials of which Mars is made.

Marsha Presley is an expert on Martian thermal conductivity. An ASU geology department research associate, Presley is one of nine researchers on NASA’s Deep Space-2 Mars Microprobe science team.

Presley says that the project is designed to provide a glimpse at the subsurface of Mars. That glimpse may open a window into the planet’s history. By studying the history of Mars and its climate, scientists hope to gain better understanding of the more complex system here on Earth.

When the Mars Polar Lander arrives at Mars in late 1999, two basketball-sized aeroshells carrying the microprobes will deploy from the spacecraft. The aeroshells will crash into the South Polar Region of Mars at 400 miles per hour and shatter on impact. The microprobes will be driven into the planet’s surface.

The microprobes are less than 18 centimeters in length. After insertion, they will extend one component up to six feet beneath the planet’s surface. A second component, tethered to the first, will remain at the surface.

The microprobes are designed to operate for 50 hours in temperatures as low as -180 degrees Celsius (-292 Fahrenheit). The devices will search for evidence of subsurface water ice. They also will provide data that allows scientists to characterize both the thermal and physical properties of the dirt. Presley’s job is to translate that data into meaningful information. —Dennis Durband