MIT WASHINGTON SEMINAR SERIES

Planning for Mars Exploration: Science, Technology, and Policy?

The MIT Club of Washington is pleased to present its 39th annual Seminar Series on an important national topic related to science, technology, and public policy. Each year, the series offers engineers, scientists, industry leaders, policy makers and educators an opportunity to explore a specific topic in depth. Both those within and outside the Washington area MIT community gain the opportunity to develop a better understanding of recent developments and key issues.

Each session begins at 6:15 PM with a cash bar, followed by dinner at 7:00, and the presentation from approximately 8:00 to 9:30. Presentations by distinguished speakers are followed by ample time for questions and discussion. The social hour and dinner provide additional opportunities to meet the speakers, renew acquaintances, or join in stimulating discussions with other participants.

PROGRAM

In July 2020, the position of Earth and Mars created a window of opportunity to get to Mars in only 7 months, arriving February 2021.  The US, China and UAE took advantage of this opportunity to send spacecraft with both orbiters and landers/rovers, advancing the effort to send humans to Mars.  In this seminar series we will learn about the strategies and the motivation behind them to explore the surface of Mars, upcoming missions in the works, and how they are paving the way for human exploration

Tuesday November 9, 2021 (session is completed)
China’s Goals in the Race to Mars

Speaker:  Dean Cheng, Senior Research Fellow, Asian Studies Center, The Heritage Foundation

The People's Republic of China has expressed a longstanding interest in space, in support of building up its "comprehensive national power." While the military aspect, in particular, has received a significant amount of attention (especially in the wake of their 2007 anti-satellite test), China has also been pushing its cis-lunar and deep space efforts. This includes being only the second nation to successfully conduct missions on the Martian surface. Alongside their growing commercial space ventures, this reflects the broad development path that China's leaders have charted for the PRC race to the stars. Dean Cheng will discuss how space fits into Chinese concepts of "comprehensive national power", Chinese space development efforts, including economic (commercial space) and programs (lunar, cis-lunar, and Mars/deep space exploration, as well as human spaceflight) and prospects for the future.

Tuesday December 14, 2021 (Session is completed)
Mars Sample Return Mission

Speaker:  Dr. Robert D. Braun, Director for Planetary Science, Jet Propulsion Laboratory

With the safe landing of the Perseverance rover, the Mars Sample Return campaign has begun. The first roundtrip mission to Mars and first return of scientifically selected samples from another planet, Mars Sample Return represents a watershed moment for the global planetary science community and a technological feat built on decades of continuous investment. Over the next few years, guided by the careful analysis of hundreds of scientists across the globe, more than 30 different samples from a variety of geologic units and surface materials will be cored, sealed, and cached by Perseverance. Specific samples are being acquired to address fundamental questions of whether life ever existed on Mars and, in turn, better understand the origins of life on Earth. In this same timeframe, on Earth, a joint U.S. and European team is developing the landing systems, containment technology, robotic arms, Mars ascent system, rendezvous and orbital transfer systems, and a host of other systems required to safely bring these samples back to Earth. In this talk, Dr. Braun will provide a status of the Perseverance surface mission and a summary of the challenges and systems in development to complete this scientific quest.

Tuesday January 11, 2022 (session is completed)
The Science and Early Results from the Emirates Mars Mission

Speaker: Dr. Michael D. Smith, NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

The Emirates Mars Mission (EMM), or Hope Probe, arrived at Mars in February 2021 and is currently in orbit conducting science observations of Mars. The main science goals of EMM are to characterize the state of the Martian atmosphere from the surface to the exosphere, and to relate rates of thermal and photochemical atmospheric escape with conditions and processes in the lower, collisional atmosphere. Three science instruments onboard EMM map the planet globally at visible, thermal infrared, and ultraviolet wavelengths. The EMM spacecraft is in a high, elliptical orbit (20,000 x 45,000 km) that enables synoptic observations of Mars and the entire diurnal cycle of Mars to be sampled at all locations over short timescales. The mission aims to reveal important new information on the diurnal variations of atmospheric processes, and how the Martian lower atmosphere is linked to the upper atmosphere. This presentation will explore the science goals of EMM and will highlight key early results from the mission.

Tuesday February 8, 2022 (session postponed to May 10)

Tuesday March 8, 2022 (session is completed)
Artemis: NASA’s Human Return to the Moon on the Way to Mars

Speaker: Chel Stromgren, Campaign Assessment Lead, NASA’s Langley Research Center, SM ‘00

NASA is preparing for a 21st century return to the Moon with a combination of robotic and human capabilities to study Earth’s nearest neighbor and prepare for future human missions to Mars. The agency’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services initiative will use commercial landers to begin delivering payloads to the Moon in 2022, including technology demonstrations and science experiments. In parallel, throughout this decade, NASA and its international and commercial partners will assemble the Gateway, an orbiting outpost around the Moon, and develop the systems needed to build an Artemis Base Camp at the lunar South Pole. The speaker will explain how all of these efforts will establish the foundational capabilities needed for a regular cadence of human missions on and around the Moon. 

Tuesday April 12, 2022 (Session is completed)
How the Search for Life Has Driven Our Exploration of Mars

Speaker:  Dr. Lindsay Hays, Program Scientist, Astrobiology Program and Mars Sample Return, SB ’05, PhD ‘10

Humankind’s search for the answer to the question “Are We Alone?” has been one of the driving forces behind exploration, and our neighboring red planet has been the target of much fascination. From the martian canali, to the findings of the Viking lander’s labeled release experiments, to the meteorite ALH84001, and even more recent measurements of whiffs of methane on Mars, how we interpret the “evidence” for life on Mars has changed along with how we understand what features define life, what are the limits to life, and what signatures are detectable in what environments. NASA’s driving strategy for the exploration of Mars evolved from “Follow the Water” to “Explore Habitability” to “Seek Signs of Life”, and now as we prepare for human exploration, the bond between Mars and Astrobiology will continue to inspire and drive discovery.

Tuesday May 10, 2022 (session postponed from February 8)
Exploring Mars with Perseverance and Ingenuity: Why We Are There, What We Are Doing and How We Are Doing It?

Speaker:  Dr. Pamela Conrad, Earth and Planets Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Science

The Mars 2020 mission is the first of its kind: While Perseverance Rover might appear to be similar to its older sister, Curiosity, Perseverance is equipped very differently. It is a mission that not only seeks signs of life and habitable environments, but also characterizes the environment and studies the history recorded in the rocks at our Jezero Crater field site. But wait... there's more!  We are also acquiring pristine core samples of Mars and caching them in sealed containers for return to Earth in a subsequent mission. And it's not just about the intrinsic science; it’s the significance: the first step in returning from Mars to Earth-- a must in the path to human exploration. Join us for a look at Perseverance Rover and her companion, the Ingenuity helicopter, as we summarize the mission's first Earth year on Mars.

REGISTRATION AND COST INFORMATION

Registration is closed for the Series but there is an option to pay to attend each of the remaining sessions separately. To register for one of the remaining sessions please click the following link:

https://washingtondc.alumclub.mit.edu/seminarseries2022-onesession

All persons registering must complete a brief COVID-19 risk disclaimer mandated by the MIT Alumni Association for in-person events. In the case of a substitute attendee at a meeting, the substitute will be sent instructions for completing the disclaimer prior to attendance.