University welcomes NASA Mars Exploration Program research tour
The University of Melbourne welcomed the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s Mars Exploration Program team on their visit to Australia to learn about local research that might support future Mars missions and scientific research.
On 29 June, NASA Mars Exploration Program Deputy Director Tiffany Morgan met with University of Melbourne researchers and toured the Melbourne Space Lab, a centre of research excellence for nanosatellite research and development.
Ms Morgan heard presentations and discussed research on topics including how space radiation affects instruments, how artificial intelligence might help scientists understand Mars rocks and geology, how to grow plants in space, how human lungs react to space conditions, and how Australia might become a world storehouse and research centre for samples brought back from Mars and other parts of space.
University of Melbourne Pro Vice-Chancellor (Graduate and International Research) Professor Justin Zobel said the University was delighted at the opportunity to exchange knowledge and discuss current and potential collaborations that will benefit humanity through the deeper understanding of space, including supporting more research on and about Mars.
L-R: Andrew Woods, Simon Barraclough, Director of the Australian Space Agency, Tiffany Morgan (NASA), Robert Mearns,Dr Miguel Ortiz de Castillo, Associate Professor Airlie Chapman, Dr Rowena Christiansen, Professor Michelle Watt, and James Moody, in the Melbourne Space Laboratory.
“Every time humanity sends instruments into space – whether it is Earth orbit, the moon, Mars and its moons, or the deep reaches of our solar system and beyond – we learn more about our universe and ourselves,” Professor Zobel said.
“That is why the University is committed to our space research programs across fields including mathematics, physics, engineering, medicine, biology, geology, ethics, and law.”
The visit was facilitated by the Australian Space Agency, formed by the Federal Government to support the growth of Australia’s space industry and its international collaboration with other nations and international space agencies.
NASA Mars Exploration Program Deputy Director Tiffany Morgan said over the past 20 years the program had increased humanity’s knowledge of the Red Planet.
“Now, we are looking to the next 20 years, to the next generation of research, discovery, and exploration. The next phase of discovery is bringing Martian samples back to Earth. It is as fundamental and profound as what humanity has so far uncovered, and we will do it through international collaboration,” Ms Morgan said.
NASA has so far sent nine orbiters, landers, and rovers to Mars, including Mars Pathfinder and the Curiosity Rover. The missions have so far revealed that Mars has water ice at the poles and once had a warmer watery past with organic materials and the chemistry able to sustain life as we know it.
They have also shown key geological features such as gullies, craters and ancient deltas and helped researchers understand Mars’ evolution as a planet, as well its current and past atmosphere and how the planet lost its water. The Perseverance Rover, which arrived on Mars in 2021, is currently collecting rock and soil samples for possible return to Earth as part of the Mars Sample Return project.