5 unique ways to land on Mars

The landing on Mars is similar to NASA's Viking 1 spacecraft 40 years ago (July 20, 1976), which is an extremely complicated task because Mars's atmosphere is quite thin.

The red planet is a far-off destination, so it is difficult to control all real-time activities from the control center on Earth. Therefore, the landing must take place automatically and requires a smart computer on board to control.

Spacecraft is getting worse over time. This forces engineers to find new ways to safely transport precious scientific machinery packages to the surface of Mars.

1. Umbrellas, jets and replacement bags

The first spacecraft went to the red planet named "Mars 2". However, it cannot land. Soviet scientists broadcast a continuous landing signal, but Mars 2 still has no response.

Next was the "Mars 3" spacecraft . It successfully landed on December 2, 1971 and sent a notification signal from the Martian surface. However, communication is terminated abruptly and permanently unable to reconnect. It is thought that the impacted landing has damaged internal machinery and equipment.

As planned, Mars 2 and Mars 3 have separated from their cosmic orbit from a distance of 46,000 km from Mars.

After entering the atmosphere of Mars, these two explorers launched an auxiliary parachute to slow down the falling speed. After that, they will add a main umbrella to further reduce the falling speed. At a height of 16-30m away from the surface of Mars, a jet device will be activated to further reduce the speed to the lowest level.

The spacecraft will automatically cut off even when their falling speed drops to only 23km / h. A replacement bag will be automatically swollen to absorb the shock from the impact.

2. Classic parachutes and rockets

Method of landing with super missiles.(Image source: NASA).

The Viking 1 spacecraft was NASA's first project to conquer the surface of Mars in 1971. More than six weeks after Viking 1 launch, NASA launched Viking 2 to gather more information about Mars. These spacecraft were very successful in transmitting a series of Earth data until Viking 1 was badly damaged and lost contact since November 1982.

When approaching the 6km distance from the Martian surface, the Viking spacecraft will turn on the parachute and throw away the spacecraft's shell to become lighter.

At a distance of 1.5 km, the spacecraft will dispose of the parachute and launch a rocket mounted on the body to reduce the speed of falling and align the ship's correct ground direction.

3. Parachutes, classic rockets and airbags

The method of using airbags for landing has been used by NASA many times during Mars missions. However, grounding in this way does not seem so gentle, NASA engineers often describe the airbag method as "terrifying 6 minutes landing".

After the spacecraft flew into the Martian atmosphere, though, it would be turned off at a height of 9.1 km with a fall speed of 1600km / h.

Next, the spacecraft will throw away the heat shield but still carry the outer shell. At a distance of 2.4 km, the computer system will calculate and activate the rocket. Next, the air bag will be inflated as a cushion for the spacecraft.

At a distance of 12m from the surface, the landing speed will be almost "0" . Spacecraft will roll a long distance on the surface of Mars.

4. Parachute and super missile crane

The method of using a drill has never been tested on Mars and is still being studied.

Because of the satisfaction of the ambition to land on Mars for a vehicle that studies terrain up to 1 ton in weight, NASA had to invent a completely new method. The company's engineers have launched a super missile strategy, also known as "7 minutes of terror".

Like the previous Mars probe, this strategy uses a parachute to slow down the falling speed. However, this step 1 has little effect because the spacecraft is too heavy.

Next, a rather complex super-missile system was separated from the spacecraft body and began to be activated. This system is still attached to the hull with very sturdy cables. The missile and cable system that flies back to the sky will reduce the spacecraft's falling speed abruptly and cause a huge shock.

The altitude of the spacecraft decreases. And when it comes to the necessary height, the computer will automatically cut the cable, separating the missiles and ships.

5. Drilling machine

This method has never been tested on Mars and is still being studied. This is a method for small-sized space devices. After separating from the mother ship, these devices will fall into the Martian atmosphere at a rate of 575-719km / h. The protective shell will be broken when landing and the drill head will under 1 meter deep in the Martian ground to reduce aftershocks.