Celestial Missions Mystery Cache

We begin our story with the Mars Pathfinder, later renamed the Carl Sagan Memorial Station. Pathfinder landed the first roving probe deployed on another planet. The robotic rover was named Sojourner. This mission was the most important for the United States since the Vikings landed on Mars in 1976. The Soviet Union had successfully sent rovers to the Moon as part of the Lunokhod program (we’ll get to that soon enough), but its attempts to send rovers to Mars failed. Although only intended to be used for about a month, the mission ended up lasting 3 months. Yay us!

Although the Galileo Probe never reached its surface (if there even is a surface), it did pass through 150 km of Jupiter’s atmosphere and collected data on the local weather for nearly 58 minutes. The probe was released from the main spacecraft 5 months prior to reaching the gas giant and entered its atmosphere with no braking beforehand, travelling at 47 km/s. It was by far the most difficult atmospheric entry ever attempted: the probe had to withstand 230 g and temperatures that reached 307°F. So, while the probe never reached a surface before losing contact with the orbiting spacecraft, I figured it warranted mentioning.

The first of the Soviet Luna program that I will discuss is Luna 9. It marked the first successful soft landing on another planetary body other than Earth as well as the first pictures from the surface of the Moon. The craft landed in the Oceanus Procellarum and transmitted 7 radio sessions and 3 series of TV pictures. The photos were not released at first, but Daily Express, a British tabloid managed to decode the signals and released the photos. That will teach people from holding on to valuable information!

Going back to Mars, the Viking 2 mission consisted of an orbiter and lander essentially identical to its predecessor. The lander operated for 1,281 Martian days and was turned off when its batteries failed. Interestingly enough the craft landed at Utopia Planitia. In the Star Trek universe, Utopia Planitia (both on the surface of Mars and in areosynchronous orbit above it) is the site of a major Federation shipyard. Prominent ships that were constructed there were USS Defiant (NX-74205), USS Voyager (NCC-74656), and USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D). We only have a few hundred years to wait for that.

Recent Moon activity has included the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS. This was a robotic spacecraft operated by NASA and its mission was to explore the presence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater, called Cabeus, near a lunar polar region. Crazy, you say? Well, they did find water, albeit a minute amount. But it is promising as scientists believe Cabeus was a relatively dry area. Go figure!

Staying on the Moon for now, let’s discuss Luna 7. This Soviet spacecraft did impact the Moon, but its intent was to land softly. Unfortunately, due to premature retrofire and cutoff of the retrorockets, the soft landing turned into a much more un-soft impact. I hate it when that happens.

While on the topic of the Moon, I would like to point out the Orion spacecraft. Although it has not yet landed on the Moon, and it looked likely that it never would, it is continuing to be designed by Lockheed Martin for NASA. Its development originally started as part of the Constellation program, which was recently cancelled, and to be launched by the Ares I launch vehicle, it is now planned to be launched atop the Space Launch System, an intended cheaper alternative to the Ares series. Its manned Moon landing is still a ways off, so keep your fingers crossed.

Let’s get away from the Moon now and head over to our neighbor, Venus. Venera 13, launched by the Soviet Union, made a soft landing on the surface of Venus and transmitted for 127 minutes, longer than any mission previous or since. The craft landed just east of Phoebe Regio, an area composed of bedrock outcrops surrounded by dark, fine-grained soil. Although it was only designed to survive for 32 minutes, the landing craft survived as long as it did in an environment with a temperature of 855°F and a pressure of 89 Earth atmospheres. Not much of an oasis…

Keeping with the Soviets, but going back to the Moon, the Lunokhod 1 was the first of two unmanned lunar rovers landed on the Moon by the Soviet Union. This was actually the first roving remote-controlled robot to land on another celestial body. The spacecraft soft-landed on the Moon in the Mare Imbrium, or Sea of Rains (I know I said there was water on the Moon, but I highly doubt it rains there).

Treking back over to Mars, the Mars 3 lander should be of some interest. It made the first soft landing on Mars, as well as sent back the first images from the surface. However, it only transmitted for 14.5 seconds. I think the Martians got to it, personally.

The ninth manned Apollo mission, and the fourth to land on the Moon, was Apollo 15. At the time, NASA called it the most successful manned flight ever achieved. Commander David Scott and Lunar Module Pilot James Irwin spent 3 days on the Moon and a total of 18.5 hours outside the spacecraft on lunar extra-vehicular activity. While on the surface, the astronauts cruised around on a rover to cover some more ground. During the mission, they also collected sample #15415, more commonly known as the “Genesis Rock,” a sample of lunar crust that dates from around the time the Moon was formed. Finally, Commander Scott ended the mission by setting up a memorial on the surface to the cosmonauts and astronauts who were known to have died up to that time. The plaque bore the names of those men and a “Fallen Astronaut” statuette. What a nice way to end a trip to the Moon.

A not-so-nice way to end a trip to the Moon is to be damaged upon landing, which is what happened to Luna 23. Luckily this was unmanned, so no one was hurt when it was damaged. The sample collecting apparatus could not operate and thus no samples were returned to Earth. However, the lander did continue transmission for 3 days after landing. The area where the spacecraft landed was called Mare Crisium (Sea of Crises) – kind of ironic I suppose.

Mars Exploration Rover – A, also known as “Spirit,” was one of two rovers of NASA’s ongoing Mars mission, landing three weeks before its twin. (Its name was chosen through a NASA-sponsored student essay competition.) In 2009, the rover became stuck in soft soil. NASA tried unsuccessfully to get the rover unstuck and it became a stationary science research station. However, the rover recently stopped transmitting and a NASA official had an interesting comment on the matter: “That Spirit has not called home suggests that something is more seriously wrong than just a power issue.” If you ask me, the Martians are at it again!

Well, I think I’ve bored you enough now. Oh, I nearly forgot about the cache! Phew; glad I remembered it. There is an unactivated coin for the FTF and a free 30-day GC.com Premium Membership for the first non-premium member FTF. Enjoy!