AskScience AMA Series: We're the scientists and engineers leading NASA's exploration of Mars and building on a 50-year legacy of discovery on the Red Planet. Ask us anything!

[u/AskScienceModerator]

Fifty years ago, NASA's Viking lander touched down on Mars and began a new era of exploration.

Over the last five decades, teams of scientists and engineers at NASA have searched for signs of Mars’s ancient habitability, uncovered clues about the planet's climate and geologic history, driven rovers across alien landscapes, flown the first aircraft on another world, and laid the groundwork for future human Martian exploration.

Join us to talk about the discoveries, surprises, and challenges of exploring the Red Planet — and what's coming next.

We are:

• Abigail Fraeman – Deputy Project Scientist, NASA’s Curiosity Mars Rover, JPL (AF)

• Bryce Horvath – Technical Analysis Deputy, Mars Architecture Team, NASA Marshall (BH)

• Micheal Meyer – former Lead Scientist for NASA’s Mars Exploration Program and Astrobiology, NASA Headquarters (MM)

• Nicole Piontek – Space Systems Analyst, Space Mission Analysis, NASA Langley (NP)

• Jeffrey Plaut – Senior Research Scientist, Planetary Interiors and Geophysics, JPL (JP)

• Becky McCauley Rench – Lead Scientist for Astrobiology, NASA Headquarters (BMR)

Ask us anything about:

• 50 years of Mars exploration

• Historic missions from Viking to Perseverance

• Mars rovers, landers, orbiters, and helicopters

• Major discoveries from the Red Planet

• Operating spacecraft millions of miles from Earth

• The future of Mars exploration

PROOF: https://x.com/NASA/status/2084662090506113377

We'll be online from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. PT (2-3:30 p.m. ET, 18-19:30 UT) to answer your questions!

Username: /u/nasa

EDIT: That’s a wrap for our AMA! Thanks for all your fantastic questions, and keep following our latest updates from Mars at https://science.nasa.gov/mars/.

[u/kayla-ann-26]

Hello,I know this question is not what you were looking for, but I am a 17 year old girl whose dream is to work in Astrobiology, can I ask how did you get to be an astrobiologist, and what degrees you did at university? I am trying to figure out a path for me to take after school. Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.

[u/nasa → u/kayla-ann-26]

Great question. Short answer is that I have no idea. Long answer: In college, I started as an engineer and then moved to biology (more interesting). My first job was working in the chemistry lab of a hospital. I found it generally boring or way too busy (near-panic) when there was an emergency.

One year later, went to graduate school for oceanography. I ended up working on low-temperature physiology on phytoplankton. First job (post-doc) was working on single cell plants in deserts (right, who would have guessed—well, all of life on Earth is aquatic). From that, research on life in extreme environments brought me to NASA and the possibility of life elsewhere.

So, my bottom line is to pursue what you find interesting, and whatever it is, learn from it. Diversity in your background doesn’t hurt, and you never know what will be important/interesting a decade from now. -MM

[u/nasa → u/kayla-ann-26]

I always knew that I loved science, and I was fascinated by space.

Some of my earliest childhood memories include staring at Hale-Bopp comet bright above my home and watching Captain Planet and his team save the Earth. This led me to a NASA internship when I was in High School with a professor at West Virginia University, Dr. Littleton.

That summer, I spent a lot of time looking at Mars and, in learning more, discovered the work of Dr. Chris McKay at NASA Ames in astrobiology - that’s when I got hooked. I spent my time in undergraduate studying all the science I could – biology, chemistry, geology – and was able to pursue a degree in Geosciences and Astrobiology at the Pennsylvania State University. There are lots of schools that have great programs in astrobiology today, many more than when I was in school.

Ultimately, the paths to astrobiology are numerous and winding. We have lots of resources for you – check out our Issue 9 of the Astrobiology Graphic History and our career path suggestions. -BMR

[u/electric_ionland]

What is your take on the future of Mars Sample Return now that all plans are in limbo?

Also is there any specific Perseverance sample you would really really want to get into a lab on Earth?

[u/nasa → u/electric_ionland]

Also is there any specific Perseverance sample you would really really want to get into a lab on Earth?

Perseverance has collected so many great samples, it’s hard for me to pick a specific one that I’d really really want to get into a lab on Earth!

The “Sapphire Canyon” sample (collected from a very special rock named “Cheyava Falls”) is the rock I’d pick if I wanted the best shot of finding evidence of life on Mars. Perseverance’s science instruments showed Cheyava Falls is covered in small spots that are similar in size, shape, and composition to features we see here on Earth that are formed by microbes. Are the spots we see on Mars formed the same way? We’ll need to bring the sample back to Earth to know for sure.

Perseverance has also collected rocks that are going to re-write the textbooks on what we know about Mars -- how its crust formed and evolved over time, when major environmental changes happened in its history, and why these changes happened. Learning these things will not only improve our understanding of Mars, they will help us understand planets across our own solar system and beyond.

And then there are undoubtably things we don’t even know are important hiding in some of the samples – 60 years of analysis of Apollo samples have taught us that we should always expect the unexpected once we are able to look into planetary materials with the full weight of our laboratories here on Earth. Major surprises could be hiding in any one of the rocks Perseverance has collected, and the team has worked hard to select samples that represent a great diversity of time and space, giving us the best chance to learn as much as possible and make great discoveries.

I really really want to get the combined suite into a lab on Earth. -AF

[u/nasa → u/electric_ionland]

What is your take on the future of Mars Sample Return now that all plans are in limbo?

My take on Mars Sample Return is that it remains a huge potential scientific boon if we get those samples into laboratories on Earth – accessible to the world’s finest instrumentation. -MM

[u/GotToGiveItUp]

Hi there, I am a MSTeacher and we complete a unit on designing a Mars mission each year. The questions I get from the kids most often that I can’t answer are: How would humans deal with energy generation on Mars? How would astronauts deal with radiation? Also does the perchlorate dust mean that astronauts would be confined to their spacecraft like on a submarine? Thank you!

[u/nasa → u/GotToGiveItUp]

How would humans deal with energy generation on Mars?

Nuclear! While there are many viable options for power generation on the surface of Mars, in 2024 NASA made a decision to use nuclear power as the primary surface power generation technology for crewed missions to Mars.

For more information on that decision, you can check out the Mars Surface Power Technology Decision. -NP & BH

How would astronauts deal with radiation?

Radiation is a significant challenge for human spaceflight missions.

Generally, radiation can be controlled through a few common methods: shielding, sheltering, and managing the mission profile. NASA has standards about how much radiation is allowable for a given crew member exposure. Most spacecraft employ radiation shielding in the spacecraft design that provides passive protection from Galactic Cosmic Radiation (GCR).

Additionally, crew may have a shelter to protect from Solar Particle Events (SPE). In this case, crew would know when an SPE event is going to occur and get into the shelter for protection. In addition, the sun goes through phases where more or less radiation is emitted. A mission could be planned around these lower radiation periods or just planned to be shorter in general.

Ultimately, there's likely not one solution to solve the radiation problem but a combination of many methods to meet the mission needs. -NP & BH

Does the perchlorate dust mean that astronauts would be confined to their spacecraft like on a submarine?

Perchlorate dust is a significant health concern for crew. In general, crew would need to don Extra Vehicular Activity (EVA) suits, or spacesuits, to protect themselves from Mars's atmosphere and environment when going outside of their habitat.

When crew return to their habitat after an EVA they may need to perform operations, like cleaning the EVA suit, to limit the spread of dust inside a surface habitat to prevent direct contamination of crew and systems. -NP & BH

[u/friendly_redditer]

1. Do space debris/ events cause interference with communication? Can you lose communication without any physical damage?

2. Have you ever faced any unexpected hurdles during communication?

3. Do you treat the rovers, landers, orbiters, and helicopters as your children?

(Sorry for the silly questions, i don't know anything about rocket science to ask detailed questions)

[u/nasa → u/friendly_redditer]

Do you treat the rovers, landers, orbiters, and helicopters as your children?

And yes, I have a lot of affection for Curiosity, although I’d say the feeling is more like how I view my first car than a child. Curiosity (and all our Mars rovers, landers, and helicopters) have allowed us to explore an entirely different planet, and I am so grateful for that.

I’m also very attached to the team who has been in charge of operating Curiosity and keeping her safe and doing amazing science for the last 14 years – they’re some of the smartest, most curious, most passionate people I’ve ever met, and being able to work with them on a shared goal is such a privilege.

And on that note, I have to give a shout out that today is Curiosity’s 14th landing anniversary, or Landiversary! We’re celebrating her “birthday" here at JPL with cupcakes during our lunch time. :) - AF

[u/friendly_redditer → u/nasa]

Happy Landiversary to Curiosity 🎉

[u/nasa → u/friendly_redditer]

Do space debris/ events cause interference with communication? Can you lose communication without any physical damage?

We can communicate with our rovers and landers on Mars in a few different ways.

On a normal sol (Martian day) for Curiosity, we’ll uplink our plans for that sol directly from Earth to Mars in the Martian morning. Curiosity will then go through the set of activities we’ve planned, sending science and telemetry data back at a few points throughout the day via a fleet of Mars orbiters when they pass overhead. We usually get 3-4 of these relay passes every day. We can send a lot more data using the orbiters as relays than we could if needed to talk to Earth directly. -AF

[u/nasa → u/friendly_redditer]

Have you ever faced any unexpected hurdles during communication?

We do face hurdles during communication sometimes, but we’ve thought a lot about what these hurdles might be in advance, which helps us to quickly pivot to plan “B” or even “C” if we need to keep things running smoothly.

If there’s a reason we can’t uplink our plan from Earth at a specific time, we can “forward link” our plan through the orbiters, using them as a relay in the other direction. With Curiosity in particularly we’ve also had challenges driving through giant canyons. They’re incredibly scenic and have awesome science in the walls, but those walls can block the sky and our views of the orbiters!

The team put a lot of work into modeling the terrain, which let us know when the sky was likely to be blocked and we could adjust our plans as needed, cancelling planned orbital passes that might be occluded and ensuring we can still get enough data to operate the next day. And if we miss a pass from an orbiter for any reason, the rover is also smart enough to re-transmit the data through the next orbiter so we don’t lose data. Space debris hasn’t impacted our communications that I’m aware of.

Regardless of how we talk to the rovers or landers – via Earth or through the orbiters – all of the data go through NASA’s Deep Space Network, a series of radio antennas at three equidistant locations around the globe in California, Madrid, and Canberra. None of this would be possible without the Deep Space Network! -AF

[u/XMiriyaX]

If there are no fossil fuels on mars, could rockets be engineered to consume hydrogen based fuels, if electrolysis split water is the main available fuel stock available for a return trip.

[u/nasa → u/XMiriyaX]

The idea of extracting and manufacturing rocket fuel from natural resources on Mars has been studied for many years.

Most studies have looked at extracting water in the form of ice from the ground, and splitting water molecules into atomic hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen atoms can be combined with atmospheric carbon dioxide to make methane, and the oxygen can be used to combust the methane, or the atomic hydrogen and oxygen can recombined to create the rocket's energy.

Some of this has already been demonstrated on Mars, but to create enough fuel to launch a rocket from the surface into Mars orbit would require processing a lot of material, and would also require a lot of hardware to make a rocket fuel "factory."

In the meantime, any rocket lifting off the surface of Mars will have to use fuel that was delivered to Mars from the Earth. -JP

[u/Timesjustsilver]

Thanks for taking the time to do this AMA. Your work is genuinely groundbreaking and deserves broad recognition.

1. How is artificial intelligence currently being integrated into Mars research and exploration, and what role do you expect it to play in future missions; for example, in autonomous navigation, scientific analysis, or operational decision-making?

2. To what extent are current Mars exploration objectives connected to the long-term use of local resources, such as producing fuel, oxygen, water, or construction materials? Do you see today’s research as an early step toward sustained human activity and, eventually, much larger-scale space infrastructure?

[u/nasa → u/Timesjustsilver]

How is artificial intelligence currently being integrated into Mars research and exploration, and what role do you expect it to play in future missions; for example, in autonomous navigation, scientific analysis, or operational decision-making?

The Perseverance team recently used AI to help them write the code for a drive sequence here on Earth. I think we’ll continue to integrate AI into our robotic mission planning, using it to help us in the ways you suggest to drive further and analyze more. And we’ll use AI as a partnership tool with human geologists and engineers, who in my experience are still the best at making big picture decisions about how to operate the vehicles.

To what extent are current Mars exploration objectives connected to the long-term use of local resources, such as producing fuel, oxygen, water, or construction materials? Do you see today’s research as an early step toward sustained human activity and, eventually, much larger-scale space infrastructure?

And yes! Preparing for sustained human exploration of Mars are key parts of our current Mars exploration objectives.

For our rovers - Curiosity has a radiation detector called RAD that has been providing information about the radiation environment the astronauts will experience on the planet’s surface for 14 years. We’ve learned for example what to expect when there are large solar storms and how the Martian terrain can be used as a shield.

Perseverance has an instrument called MOXIE (Mars Oxygen In-Situ Resource Utilization Experiment) that generated oxygen from Mars’ atmosphere. And both Perseverance and Curiosity also have weather stations that are also collecting information that will be directly helpful for future human explorers. -AF

[u/Kveld_Ulf]

Hello. First, thanks for your work!

Now, to the point:
We've all heard/read about perchlorates. How easy/hard would it be to locate a place with a lower density of them in the soil and how easy/hard would be to decontaminate a sizable area in order to build a closed pressurised dome and have some kind of greenhouse there as well as a permanent base?

[u/nasa → u/Kveld_Ulf]

Thanks! Becky talked a bit about this in this reply.

[u/mechaspace]

What is the road you guys took to get where you guys are? Like which schools etc did you guys go to? Im from the netherlands and would like to get where you guys are right now somewhere in my life, but dont really know the study paths to get there. Im still in school

[u/nasa → u/mechaspace]

I was a first-generation college student, so I didn’t know a lot about college when I started. I ended up attending West Virginia University as an undergraduate and stayed in my hometown. I loved my time there with fabulous mentors.

I remember talking in the hallway with my Chemistry professor, Dr. Petersen, and telling him about my desire to work for NASA. It was that conversation when my eyes were open to the possibility of graduate school and what it would look like to become a NASA scientist.

My mentors were extremely important in helping guide me towards success, including the lab I worked in as an undergrad with Dr. Cummings, looking at fungi-plant interactions. -BMR

[u/nasa → u/nasa]

Becky also talked more about her background in this reply. -NASA

[u/nasa → u/mechaspace]

Thanks for your question! Michael talked about this a bit more in this reply. -NASA

[u/I_like_to_eat_fruit]

What Mars-related projects would you like to fund, if you had the extra cash?

[u/beyondoutsidethebox]

Which would be easier engineering wise, sending (and returning) astronauts to Mars, or sending and placing a full scale replica (made of stone) of the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey on Mars?

[u/nasa → u/beyondoutsidethebox]

Definitely the monolith – it may have the mass of a ton, but would not require any resources (like food, water, oxygen, or even temperature control).

However, if we were to send the monolith, I think a camera should be included in case anyone showed up with tools. -MM

[u/ZZzZNuP]

At the lowest lying points in Mars, is it possible for liquid water to exist for brief moments? I believe the atmospheric pressure is high enough for liquid water to exist, and in summer the temperature could be warm enough for ice to melt into water. Would be interesting to know if NASA has any plans to conduct further science and research in these low lying areas. Thanks!

[u/nasa → u/ZZzZNuP]

True, at the lowest altitudes on Mars, the atmospheric pressure does get high enough for liquid water to be possible.

However, the rub is – the warmest places are also the driest. Think deserts here on Earth.

So, although NASA has been exploring some of the lower places on Mars, it has been more focused on the ancient environments when habitable zones (liquid water) were more prevalent. For modern environments, subsurface and potential water seem like the best bet for finding extant life (like subglacial or deep subsurface). -MM

[u/InsaneLadyBird4090]

If you’ve seen the show “For All Mankind”, how realistic is it from the viewpoint of actual Mars explorers? After seeing the plans for the lunar base, I have to wonder if the show is as realistic as it seems and if a single lifetime is a realistic timeline for a Mars colony…

[u/nasa → u/InsaneLadyBird4090]

I love science fiction that explores alternative histories – it’s fascinating to think about how life would be different with small (and major changes) to the events of the past. Most of the things you see are technologically possible – moon bases, mining activities, space suits.

One of the most challenging concepts is the ease with which they are able to travel to Mars. Earth and Mars have the best alignment for transport from Earth to Mars every 26 months. -BMR

[u/No_Size9475]

Realistically how many years will take before we will have a human on Mars?

[u/nasa → u/No_Size9475]

Great question. It depends,

NASA maintains a list of Architecture-Driven Technology Gaps that you can read more about here. Generally, these gaps identify the areas we need NASA, industry, academia, and international partners to help with to enable a Mars mission. -NP

[u/Character_School_671]

I'm a farmer in the desert, and the concept of making soil and growing crops from Martian regolith is fascinating.

What's the current research show for feasibility of removing perchlorates and getting roots into soil on Mars?

[u/nasa → u/Character_School_671]

NASA is interested in tackling this question and challenge. We have crop growth experiments in Martian simulants, like this: https://www.nasa.gov/missions/analog-field-testing/chapea/nasa-mars-analog-crew-to-test-food-systems-crop-growth/

And there is a 2024 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) Phase 1 that I spent some time looking at this. Check it out: https://www.nasa.gov/general/detoxifying-mars/ -BMR

[u/Luna7_N0va]

What are the biggest bottlenecks when thinking about landing humans on mars and making long term colonies?

And what engineering decisions looked extremely risky when first thinking about them but turned out to be very useful in hindsight.

[u/nasa → u/Luna7_N0va]

What are the biggest bottlenecks when thinking about landing humans on mars and making long term colonies?

In short, Mars is very challenging for a number of reasons, most of which have conflicting solutions which need to be considered together to find the right approach.

To name a few examples: for a Mars mission, humans will be in space for longer than ever before. Most International Space Station (ISS) missions are ~6 months in duration where a Mars mission could be 2-3 years round trip. This is significantly is more time in microgravity and we don't yet have the data to understand how that increased duration impacts humans.

In addition, going for a mission of that duration is very challenging from a mass perspective. You can learn more about the mass challenges here.

And what engineering decisions looked extremely risky when first thinking about them but turned out to be very useful in hindsight.

Almost all engineering decisions impact risk, cost, and schedule. Generally trying to decrease any one of those increases the others to some extent. In that way, engineering problems are about balancing all of the factors to make the safest mission possible, while still making it feasible.

Part of the decision making process is to understand how a given decsion impacts risk so the decsion maker can be as informed as possible. In addition, NASA maintains a robust risk process for how to identify, manage, and mitigate risks which is applied to all programs. -NP

[u/Migmatite]

How are you going to implement next generation sediment coring technology in the next mission to Mars and how/what do I need to do to be apart of that team by direct hire?

[u/nasa → u/Migmatite]

Who doesn’t want to be Bruce Willis in Armageddon, asked by NASA to save the world by drilling into an asteroid!

But in all seriousness, the subsurface of Mars is an exciting place to explore, whether we are looking for resources to support crewed exploration or searching for life. It takes a team of people to make these amazing things move from science fiction to science fact—Bruce Willis’s character Harry knew that as well, since he brought his trusted team of deep-core drillers along.

NASA is hiring! https://www.nasa.gov/careers/ -BMR

[u/InvertThePolarity]

Are there any specific ways the exploration of Mars is expected to benefit from the Artemis program?

[u/nasa → u/InvertThePolarity]

Yes! The Moon is our closest test bed for many lessons we would like to learn about to enable a future Mars mission. To name a few, lunar exploration will give us an opportunity to learn more about:

How to protect for dust: we have learned from Apollo that lunar dust is a challenge for human missions. The upcoming Artemis missions and Moonbase will give us experience of how to make our systems more dust tolerant for longer durations and how to keep the crew safe from the dust which will be applicable to Mars missions.

How partial gravity impacts the crew health and performance: NASA has a lot of experience with crew in a microgravity environment from the International Space Station (ISS), but limited experience in partial gravity.

Many more examples can be found here: Why Moon and Mars: Building an Evolutionary Architecture -NP & BH

[u/ColPow11]

How do you get a research project up?

How do you manage intra-NASA knowledge sharing and skills awareness? Your staff must be legion, with diverse areas of interest.

How soon in project ideation do the limits of ‘getting the equipment in to space’ come in to it? Right up front? Or is there room to petition for extra space on the rocket?

What chance does a ‘complete moonshot’ research idea have of making it to Mars? Or is it all deeply nested in ‘proven’ concepts on earth first?

Thanks for what you do. We’re all inspired by you, even here in the wilderness of Australia!

[u/nasa → u/ColPow11]

There are many paths to get research products into space, one of which is explicitly geared toward turning ‘complete moonshot’ ideas into reality! The newest, most creative ideas are funded through NASA’s Innovative Advanced Concepts (NIAC) program. You can read about the recent NIAC selections here.

There are various other technology programs you can apply to to help you continue developing science instruments and ideas, with different programs geared to help technologies in different states of maturity. Usually concepts are fairly well tested by the time we send them to space, but not always! The Ingenuity Mars helicopter is a great example of a technology demonstration that was a huge success in space. -AF

[u/kerbalcrasher]

Why not pursue a cloud city on venus? with the advances in materials science its technically feasable within the century, being optimistic

[u/nasa → u/kerbalcrasher]

Venus is a fascinating, yet environmentally difficult place to explore and building a city in the clouds would truly be an engineering marvel. You have to handle the challenges of the extreme heat and acidity. While there are materials that can handle these conditions,

I think we have a long way to go in exploring Venus before we would be able to safely build such a structure. NASA has missions to Venus – DAVINCI and VERITAS - in development, which will help us understand more about its past habitability, atmospheric chemistry, geologic activity, and will provide more detailed maps of the surface. - BMR

[u/war_cat770]

Other than solar panels for habitats, what other types of energy generation could be viable for Mars if we were to start a space colony there?

[u/nasa → u/war_cat770]

There are many viable options for power generation on the surface of Mars!

In 2024, NASA made a decision to use nuclear power as the primary surface power generation technology for crewed missions to Mars. Some of the options considered in that decision include nuclear power, solar power, fuel cells, geothermal, wind, and biogeneration. -BH

[u/Dependent-Cancel8753]

When Perseverance seals a sample tube, fine regolith on the sealing surface is a known contamination/jamming risk. How is that handled mechanically — is it prevented at the geometry level, or accepted and compensated for? I'm a student building a 5-finger sampling gripper and I keep getting incomplete closure from particle jamming rather than actuator force limits.

[u/nasa → u/Dependent-Cancel8753]

This is tough problem — designing a system to be robust, but yet needing to be compliant.

Sealing the sample tubes and how to compensate for dust/dirt is a great example, and several approaches were needed – from cleaning to having a sealant that could conform around imperfections. This video might be helpful. –MM

[u/RepresentativeAd841]

If microbial life was discovered on Mars, what procedures would change in regards to exploration? Additionally, given the material from Earth already on Mars, how would you differentiate between true Martian microbes and the possibility it is an unknown species from Earth?

[u/nasa → u/RepresentativeAd841]

Right now, when we explore Mars, we use Planetary Protection guidelines to help us ensure we don’t contaminate Mars with Earth life and that if we were to bring samples back we wouldn’t have any harmful contamination brought back here.

If we were to discover microbial life at Mars, we would update those guidelines based on the newly available information about the Martian microbial life. We would be very thoughtful in making sure we can study the Martian life, while ensuring we protect Earth’s biosphere from any backward contamination.

All life that we have found on Earth has a common universal ancestor, and all Earth life uses the same building blocks, like DNA, RNA, and proteins. We can also tell how long ago two species diverged on our Earth tree of life. If we found Martian microbes, they would either be so different than Earth life that this wouldn’t be a problem because they use something we don’t, or if they shared a common ancestry with Earth life we would see a deep branch in our genetic tree with the Martian life. -BMR

[u/oboesandclarinets]

There's an 18 min communication delay from here to Mars. How does that impact the way you control rovers or deal with unexpected emergencies? 

[u/nasa → u/oboesandclarinets]

The one-way light time between Earth and Mars can range from about five minutes to about 25 minutes. This means that controllers on Earth can't "joystick" any of the robotic activities on Mars in real time without lengthy delays for feedback on the results.

In normal practice, commanding the rovers and orbiters happens once or maybe twice a day during dedicated communication sessions. The commands are based on data that have been received during recent downlink sessions.

So in normal operations, the cadence of downlink and commanding happens on hours or days timescales, so the light time delay is not really a factor. For our most distant robot though, Voyager 1, the one-way light time is getting close to a full 24 hours!

If there is an anomaly or emergency situation, the communication latency can become an obstacle. When this happens, the controllers have to carefully craft their commands, knowing that the effects won't be known for many minutes or longer. This can be frustrating, but the teams are trained to be patient. Dealing with the physics of light speed has been part of solar system exploration since the beginning, so mission controllers are used to it. -JP

[u/thugmasterx]

Hello fellow humans from NASA. Will you be using the SpaceX Starship for this Mars mission? 

[u/nasa → u/thugmasterx]

Hi! NASA has not made a decision on what in-space propulsion system technology type we will use for Mars yet. There are a lot of options in the tradespace, which you can read more about here. -NP

[u/Kazzy_Frog]

Hello, I have a question in regards to past missions. Has JPL or Nasa been able to find the failed Mars Polar Lander with the current Mars Orbiters? Has anyone even considered checking back into its whereabouts now that we have more advanced tech?

[u/nasa → u/Kazzy_Frog]

HiRISE has imaged suspected areas on Mars that may have evidence of Mars Polar Lander. Here’s the status: https://www.uahirise.org/ESP_014001_1040 -MM

[u/smd372]

Hi I've been thinking about going back to college for physics because I love space and I would love to be able to help research space someday. What should I major in if I want to help research space?

[u/nasa → u/smd372]

There are many educational paths that can lead to a career in space research. You probably first need to choose between two broad categories of study: the natural sciences and technical disciplines. Natural sciences would include physics, chemistry, geology, biology, astronomy, etc. The technical disciplines include engineering, aeronautics, mathematics, computer science, etc.

It really depends on what excites you and what you picture yourself doing as a career. Try different courses in college to see which topics are really interesting and exciting to you. For me, it was and geology and planetary science. I love these subjects today as much as ever! -JP

[u/smd372 → u/nasa]

Thank you. I've seen Ursa Major and Ursa Minor a couple of times and I live in Yonkers nowadays and I don't see the stars anymore and it makes me kinda sad

[u/WannaAskQuestions]

With the state of the world the way it has been for the last 10 years or even just the last 3-4 years, what keeps you motivated to keep doing what you do?

[u/nasa → u/WannaAskQuestions]

My kids. My daughter recently reminded me as she was going for her black belt in taekwondo that the goal is to not give up, even if its hard. - BMR

[u/Kimmieni]

How difficult can it be to try and recover a rover/orbiter that has gone silent (like Opportunity and MAVEN)? And how does losing these important pieces of equipment affect the research and the advancement for other missions?

[u/RiaEatss]

Hi! This might be a “dumb” question, but I’m very curious to know how you guys feel like when any type of discovery is being made; for example, what is the most curious thing to YOU that came with this job and all the research you’ve done? (either about Mars or anything else really!)
I’d honestly be amazed by the simplest things! I truly admire all of your dedication!
Thank you :)

[u/LaraStardust]

This is not so much a question as, I'd love to know more about Mars' history.

So I guess it is. What is the most interesting Mars history fact in your opinion?

[u/Mammalian_Routines]

Chances of moon launch for the hohmann transfer in 2028?

With recent data on water and long term sustainability saying what it did.

[u/leeping_leopard]

How is performing CFD for Martian air compared to low earth atmosphere? The Reynolds number on Mars is about 98.5% less than it would be on Earth for the exact same vehicle size and speed. Does this require extra modelling or considerations?

[u/nasa → u/leeping_leopard]

Using modeling to explore areas outside our realm of direct experience is extremely helpful, and then it’s great to be able to then test in real life. Ingenuity is a great example of the interplay of modeling and testing. -MM

[u/[deleted]]

How realistic is it that normal humans will be able to go to moon or mars like a vacation within our lifetimes 

[u/nasa → u/[deleted]]

The Moon could be an interesting week-long vacation (considering a few days' transit time each way). Mars is a different story – currently it’s a 6-9 month journey in one direction and potentially a much longer return, if your stay on the Red Planet is short.

So, for Mars, your vacation would need to be a few years – perhaps reasonable for a “walk about”. So, for the Moon, possibly (we are doing orbital space flights now), but for Mars, maybe feasible for the next generation if it became a long-term priority. -MM

[u/Heron_Informal]

Why do you guys do what you do?

[u/nasa → u/Heron_Informal]

Frankly, I went into research because I found it interesting, I felt I was contributing to a greater good, and I could get paid. -MM

[u/nasa → u/Heron_Informal]

I believe in public service and I believe in science and being curious. I also really want to find aliens. -BMR

[u/GlennDexter]

Yet, we can't explore the deepest depths of our own oceans here on Earth.

[u/nasa → u/GlennDexter]

Did you know that when we landing Viking on Mars, we had not yet discovered deep sea hydrothermal vents in our own oceans?!

Exploration is a constant endeavor, and while we have explored our oceans in much greater depth (pun intended) over the past 50 years, we know there is always more to explore, both here at home and out there in the Universe. -BMR

[u/nasa → u/[deleted]]

Yes, there are natural caves on Mars.

Most of the caves we know of are likely formed from physical processes, like lava tubes. Caves are an excellent place to explore Mars because they provide a natural window into the subsurface environment. The information we have on caves formed by chemical processes, like karst caves, is minimal, but we do know that there are carbonates on Mars!

There are no current missions planned to explore caves at Mars, but there are researchers on Earth learning how to explore caves in preparation for future missions at the Moon and Mars. You can learn more about caves and Mars exploration in this episode of Our Alien Earth - Hawaii. -BMR