McGown_2001abstr

 

 

MARS METEOR SURVEY.

 

R. D. McGown, B. E. Walden, T. L. Billings, C. L. York, A. G. Taylor, and R. D. Frederick

Mars Instrument and Science Team (MIST)

Oregon L5 Society, Inc., P.O. Box 86, Oregon City, OR 97045

email mist@oregonl5.org., (503) 873-6216

 

 

 

Mars orbiting spacecraft and ground operations, both manned and unmanned, are vulnerable to meteoroids. There is pure scientific interest in knowing the frequency, intensity, and radiants of martian meteor showers. Being in a different orbit than Earth and closer to the asteroid belt, Mars has unknown cycles and intensities of meteoroid hazards. Knowledge of these hazards can help us manage risk in future missions, particularly extended and crewed missions. We propose that instruments be included on one or more Mars landers to identify and characterize the meteoroid flux at Mars.

 

To be most effective, the detectors should be continuously active, day and night, for as long a period as possible. Detectors that rely on energy-intensive transmitters, such as lasers, radio bounce or radar [1], are therefore less desirable. A staring instrument is preferable to one which must rapidly slew to track a meteor (requiring extra mechanical parts and susceptible to failure), and should be able to detect multiple meteors simultaneously.

 

Some questions the Mars Meteor Survey might address include:

• When are martian meteor showers, how extensive are they, what is their density, and where do they come from?
• Which meteors come from the asteroid belt and which from comets?
• Can we predict meteor showers and storms on Mars?
• Will Mars surface operations be exposed to periodic “rains of rock”? (Fig. 1)
• What is the cumulative risk to surface and orbital operations at Mars due to meteoroids?
• How small can a meteoroid be and still reach the surface of Mars?
• Are meteorite falls on Mars different in characteristics or time frames from those on Earth?