Budgetary Plans to include Mars Observatory Satellite Mission

At the start of the year, the US administration under President Donald Trump produced a new budget that contained financial projections for a planned mission called the Mars Ice mapper mission. However, the document did not disclose extensive information regarding the mission and its details. Likewise, the space agency has also kept quiet following the budgetary inclusion. Officers formulating the budget did not reveal any information towards the project and its implementation despite clear demarcation. In turn, this result caused the space industry to be in the dark concerning the project and its whereabouts. Sources also confirmed that getting information about the Mars Ice Mapper mission was a difficult task.

Recent developments in the mission reveal that NASA officials released important information about the proposed monitoring and increased flights to the red planet stating that the task will provide extensive opportunities for NASA to implement its goals on Mars. According to Lori Glaze’s briefing is the director of NASA’s planetary science division, the mission is to solve agency core requirements. She reiterated by stating that the task was crucial in preparation for scientific research on the red planet providing information that’s factors that help human exploration when the missions to Mars will start.

Following nurses, footsteps are Canadian Space Agency that could provide a synthetic aperture radar instrument usable with a Mars orbiter. Details on the synthetic aperture radar system consisting of a mobile scanning antenna coupled with complicated algorithms and geometry to create a comprehensive, detailed map that outlines the geological activity on the photos of Mars, providing information on environmental shift together with other characteristics. 

History shows that the instrument is not the first radar capturing device. Records show that existing satellites in space contain data capturing technology. For example, the European Mars Express spacecraft, together with NASA’s Mars reconnaissance orbiter, both have simple another capturing technology. However, this is the first time aesthetic aperture radar instruments become part of a mission to monitor the red planet’s changes.

Experts used previous documentations of the synthetic aperture radar technology on Venus based missions because the planet has a thick blanket of atmospheric gases that hinder other conventional systems from reading the information on the planet’s surface. Information about the mission is available from glazer’s deputy directors statement Eric Lamson who reported that the task will include our collaboration with the Japan Aerospace exploration agency together with the Italian Space Agency and has scheduled launch in 2026