Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Phobos, the larger of Mars’ two moons as seen by the High-Resolution Imaging Sciences Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.

Planting a telescope on Phobos – one of the two moons circling Mars – is seen as providing significant support for eventual human exploration of the Red Planet.

A powerful space telescope situated on Phobos offer unique advantages for observing Mars and other solar system objects.

Such a spot-landed facility – roughly a 10-meter-class telescope — along with an attendant rover, would support human exploration of Mars by facilitating high-capacity optical communication links, offering a backup for data transmission during raging martian dust storms, and churn out high-resolution surface imaging in support of humans living, working, and exploring the surface of that distant world.

Rolling out the idea

In an upcoming American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics’s ASCEND meeting the idea is being introduced, explains Jim Green, a NASA science leader for over 40 years before retiring from the agency in late 2022.

Image credit: Boeing/Benjamin Donahue, et al.

The Phobos telescope concept stems from work exploring the capability of the NASA Space Launch System (SLS) to deliver a lander with a space telescope to the north pole of Phobos.

Along with Green, Boeing’s Benjamin Donahue, principal investigator of SLS internal research and development, and other advocates, will roll out the idea.

Family of launch vehicles

Underscored in the paper is that the SLS is a “family of launch vehicles that evolve in capability.” The Block 1 SLS configuration that was launched in November of 2022 used the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage (ICPS) as its upper stage.

“The SLS will evolve to a higher performing configuration in 2026 with the new Exploration Upper Stage (EUS),” the paper explains.

Image credit: Boeing

The Phobos lander and its telescope payload would together mass more than 20 metric tons, making a heavy lift SLS “the preferred candidate for launch.” A feasible time period for this mission is 2030-2035, the study participants are suggesting.

High-rez imaging

While high-resolution imagery from super-powerful camera gear onboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been a key capability, due to the exhaustion of that spacecraft’s fuel supply it is near the end of its life.

Furthermore, Mars is such a large planet that even after 18 years of operations by MRO’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, long-hand for HiRISE, less than 6 percent of the Red Planet’s surface has been given the once-over at the highest resolution.

Image credit: Boeing/Benjamin Donahue, et al.

Enter the Phobos-mounted camera.

Action agenda

A Phobos telescope, which sits on the north pole of the Mars moon, must be able to replace HiRISE and perform the following functions, according to the study paper:

— Detailed Surface Reconnaissance: Allow for the continued study of the planet’s geology and the identification of landforms that are indicative of past and present geological processes. In addition, the Phobos telescope can monitor those eye-catching, still perplexing recurring slope lineae (RSLs) that suggest the presence of liquid water on Mars during the summer seasons.

Artist’s concept depicts astronauts and human habitats on Mars. NASA’s Mars Perseverance robot carries an oxygen-generating unit, viewed as a precursor for technologies that could make Mars safer and easier to explore for humans.
Image credit: NASA

— Identification of Landing Sites: High-resolution images can be obtained for the selection of landing sites for future Mars missions, including robotic and human landers. The camera can reveal potential hazards, such as boulders, steep slopes, and deep dust deposits, which could jeopardize a safe landing.

— Monitoring of Martian Weather: The Phobos telescope monitors seasonal changes and weather phenomena such as dust storms, avalanches, and the sublimation of carbon dioxide from the polar ice caps. This helps scientists understand the Martian climate and how it changes over time.

— Other Mission Support Work: The Phobos telescope provides contextual information for findings from other instruments orbiting, as well as data to support missions on the ground, such as the various Mars rovers, by monitoring their landing, progress, and context within the larger landscape.

— Geological Record of Mars: The Phobos telescope helps build a detailed geophysical record of Mars by revealing surface features such as layering in ice deposits and ancient river channels. These observations can reveal the history of water on Mars, which is essential for understanding its past habitability and for finding important current on-the-spot resources for supporting a human presence.

— Monitoring Mars Space Weather: The Martian aurora is a global indicator of solar wind conditions around Mars, auroral events that likely occur nightly and last for hours under certain solar wind conditions.

Mars beckons. Human explorers can maximize the science output for unraveling the complex nature of the Red Planet.
Image credit: NASA/Pat Rawlings

Phobos: a staging node

As explained in the study paper — “Deep Space Telescope: An SLS Launched Space Telescope
Landed on The North Pole of Phobos” –the Mars-circling installation would be one busy beast. It would also routinely observe, within the framework of long-term monitoring, solar system objects such as volcanically active bodies, the giant planets, and their satellites.

“Moreover, the emplacement and operation of this asset will begin the process of establishing Phobos as a staging node, and logistic base for, other future Mars missions,” the paper concludes.