Аннотация: To Mars - for apples. ("Dare Mighty Things"). An essay.
To Mars - for apples. ("Dare Mighty Things"). An essay.
In July 2020, three missions to Mars were launched: Mars 2020 Rover Mission (USA), The Emirates Mars Mission of the United Arab Emirates Space Agency and Tianwen-1 of the China National Space Administration (CNSA). All three missions arrived to Mars in February 2021.
Mastering Mars is a practical task. It obeys a certain logic: Flyby - Orbiter - Landing - Rover - Sample return - Human mission - Permanent settlement - Colonization - Terraforming (the rehabilitation of the planet's extant climate, atmosphere and surface of the planet and the installation of a novel ecological system or systems).
Mars 2020 is one of the missions. It roughly corresponds to the stage "Rover".
The exploration of Mars has a long history.
There is a line of missions - there are the missions that took place in the past and there are the missions which are planned for the future.
A certain space equipment corresponds to each mission. For example, the central equipment of the Mars 2020 mission are the "Perseverance" rover and the "Ingenuity" space helicopter.
As a rule, each type of space device also occupies a certain place on the historical line. He has predecessors and followers.
The "Perseverance" rover has predecessors, and the following rover models will follow.
As for the "Ingenuity" space helicopter, it is, in a sense, a unique launching model that opens the line of corresponding devices.
The United States has created a control system for huge, large-scale space research.
For example, the Mars 2020 mission (the "Perseverance" rover, the "Ingenuity" space helicopter) is operated by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). JPL is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center. JPL is operated by the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
JPL is interested not only in Mars, but also in Jupiter. And also - in the topics of observation of the earth's surface and of the deep space. JPL is also responsible for managing the JPL Small-Body Database, and provides physical data and lists of publications for all known small Solar System bodies.
Michael M. Watkins is the present head of JPL.
An interview with him was published in the Los Angeles Business Journal: "GROUNDED IN SPACE". By Diane Haithman. May 3, 2019. (https://labusinessjournal.com/news/2019/may/03/grounded-space/).
What did we find interesting in this interview?
'Watkins calls JPL a hidden gem in space exploration, and is never happier than when ... has problems to chew on. 'We have a motto, 'Dare Mighty Things' - that's a Teddy Roosevelt quote,' the executive said. 'We want to solve hard problems, the hardest problems in space.'
At JPL, Watkins oversees 6,000 employees, comprised of 4,500 engineers and scientists, and 1,500 support personnel. His passion for applying engineering know-how to scientific problems allows him to bring practical-minded engineers and 'crazy college people' to the same table.
Watkins said JPL's research mission happily coexists with commercial efforts such as Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX). 'We need these companies. (...) ,' he said. 'We use SpaceX for some of our launches ... whatever industry can do, we want them to do it, transfer our knowledge to them, and we move onto the next thing.' (JPL's annual operating budget is nearly $ 3 billion).
Slowly, but surely the fantastic idea that apples will grow on Mars is becoming a reality.
(In preparing the essay, materials from Wikipedia were used).
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February 22, 2021 02:16
Translation from Russian into English: February 22, 2021 04:14.
Владимир Владимирович Залесский 'На Марс - за яблоками. ('Не бойся могучих вещей'). Очерк'.