“Follow the Water” - Splashdown NASA Mars Spacecraft

Image NASA Mars Rover Completing Marathon in 11 years 2 months

NASA conducted key testing for coming Mars Missions 2020 and 2035. The NASA Spacecraft LDSD, designed to enter the atmosphere and navigate Mars atmosphere to deploy massive payloads in the planet's surface broke International press during the recent Splashdown tests in the Pacific Ocean. With spaceborne and rover technology NASA has been present in Mars for more than a decade. Rovers under the main command “follow the water”, “search for life” in 2015 presented groundbreaking findings. 

“NASA’s Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator LDSD project completed its second flight test when the saucer-shaped craft splashed down safely Monday in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of the Hawaiian island of Kauai,” on June 9th NASA communicated:. 

International press dramatically reported on the news assuring the splashdown was a “failure” due to technical flaws in proper parachute deployment but NASA continues testing technology for its program running green across the board. 

“The supersonic parachute did not deploy according to plan. It took about 200 seconds for the LDSD to splash down in the Pacific Ocean west,” press zoomed into the flaws missing out on the bigger picture.  

...It is said that “success is but perseverance of failure over failure”.  

With the discovery of water in outer space celestial bodies within our solar system and beyond NASA has set missions with a “follow the water” focus. The Mission to the Moon of Jupiter, Europa is one of these water missions. Mars 2020 and Mars 2035 add to the list. 

Also set for 2020 the exploration of the Moon of Jupiter, Europa Mission is in a crucial stage development. Top level authorities debate on whether to add new technology to a scheduled mission. The new technology would enable hard or soft landing and up close exploration of Europa Moon rather than just orbit flyby explorations. New Scientist reported on June 3rd that NASA hopes to answer the question on whether there is life in the ice water areas of Europe in 2020. 

While NASA tested the LDSD those studying the addition of landers for the Europa Mission sure must have had their eye set on the LDSD splashdown in the Pacific Ocean .

Although it is argued that the best chance for finding new life forms are in the Moon Europa, and while the parallel importance of Europa´s exploration can not be argued NASA does look closer to home in search of new life form answers. The NASA Mission, Mars 2020 will present the Red Planet to a new “Future Rover” designed to investigate “key questions”. Mission Mars 2035 goes even further with plans to land humans on the once believed to among the driest planet. 

Just like scientific drones and ROVs scanning the surface and depths of the Oceans here on our planet, NASA Rovers and other instrumentation have become our eyes and ears in the distant outer space environment exploration. 

NASA has been present in Mars for long years now. NASA's Rovers Spirit and Opportunity both landed in Mars in 2004. Rover Spirit discontinued communications in 2010 and Opportunity has just concluded an inspiring 11 year marathon. 

Late March 2015 NASA communicated that Opportunity had clocked over 29.2 thousand miles or 42.19 thousand kilometers in 11 years and two months. The Rover faced extreme terrain to relay Martian “water” revelations back to Earth. 

“There was no tape draped across a finish line, but NASA is celebrating a win. The agency’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity completed its first Red Planet marathon,” the Agency proudly communicated then.  

"This mission isn't about setting distance records, of course; it's about making scientific discoveries on Mars and inspiring future explorers to achieve even more," said Steve Squyres, Opportunity principal investigator at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. "Still, running a marathon on Mars feels pretty cool."

In its 11 year -29.2 thousand mile marathon the sympathetic Opportunity revealed serious groundbreaking evidence of environments with liquid water “soaking the ground and flowing on the surface of Mars”. A finding for the pages of the books of history. 

At landing Opportunity identified signs of acidic water in the planet's ancient past, visual data revealed strong evidence of hydric erosion and near the end of the Marathon as it reached the Endeavour Crater Opportunity communicated evidence described by NASA as “first signs of past water good for life”. Opportunity also  “stumbled upon” clay soil -evidence of “rich environments”.  

NASA has also through other technology estimated the water volumes of Mars -known to the date to be located in the North and South poles. The water of the ice-caps is believed to be the largest known water reservoir of the planet and archive of Mars evolution dating as far back as 3.7 billion years ago. Hydric experts do not discard presence of water in other areas of the planet even non-polar areas, most likely sub-stratus water reservoirs or “rock-trapped-water-reservoirs”. 

The splashdown of NASA's Low-Density Supersonic Decelerator LDSD on June 9th on the Pacific Ocean here on Earth is but a continuation of the road, another step of the ladder in the Mars exploration. NASA's Mars Exploration Program explains that the Mars programs follow and operate under the exploration strategy known as  "Follow the Water-Seek Signs of Life".

“Among our discoveries about Mars, one stands out above all others: the possible presence of liquid water on Mars, either in its ancient past or preserved in the subsurface today,” NASA ends it. 

Extraterrestrial Liquid Water is listed as present within our Solar System in Mars, Europa, Enceladus, Ganymede and other celestial bodies as well as Extrasolar candidate zones. Witnessing the images of the LDSD splashdown on the Pacific Ocean on June 9th was like taking a glimpse into the future spacecrafts which will land new technology in Mars to continue to scan for water and life evidence as well as expand exploration horizons. Today the LDSD splashed down in the Pacific Ocean in just a few years it could set destination and land in the far out distant surface of Mars.

NASA working in collaboration with the International Space Agencies missions continues to work relentless in the set missions of exploration. Most missions have one thing in common...their focus is set on the command “Follow the Water”.