MARS ROVERS

From telescopic observations of the Red Planet in the 19th century, which indicated that life may exist beyond Earth, Mars has captured the imagination of the public. Funded by collective governments, a programme of exploration began in the latter part of the 20th century, in which probes were designed to fly close to Mars and send photographic images back to Earth. Decades later, vehicles were designed to land on the planet’s surface and were tasked with an extraordinary number of missions to provide insight into the geology, geography and atmosphere of Mars. Using revolutionary technology and advanced operating techniques, NASA developed a series of Mars rovers capable of autonomous operation and high reliability.

Over several decades, they went from deploying a roving vehicle the size of a microwave oven to vehicles the size and weight of a small SUV. In roaming across the surface of the Red Planet taking samples, these roving vehicles gather information that may lead to answers to some of the most vexed questions about the Red Planet: was there ever life on Mars? Is there life now and can we find evidence for that? Perseverance, the latest rover, is currently collecting samples that another spacecraft will return to Earth in the 2030s. Once analysed, those samples may help answer essential questions and potentially clear the way for humans to journey to the Red Planet.

With a background in the aviation and space industry, working with companies and government organisations in the UK and the USA, David Baker has made a lifelong study of aeronautical and aerospace projects to inform his research into the men and the machines of flight and flying. He has written more than 100 books and since the 1990s has served as editor for Horizon, the house magazine for Smiths Industries, for Janes Information Group on two yearbooks, on Aviation News and on SpaceFlight, the monthly magazine of the British Interplanetary Society. David had experience working with NASA and managing his aerospace consulting company from offices in London and in Trenton, New Jersey, visiting many countries around the world to advise governments and organisations on aeronautical and aerospace programmes.

In the 1980s, David was made a voting member of the International Academy of Astronautics and received the 1998 Rolls-Royce Award for the ‘Best Propulsion Submission’, a category within the RAeS Aerospace Journalist of the Year awards. He is also the recipient of the Arthur C Clarke Award and of the American Astronautical Society’s Frederick I Ordway III award for ‘sustained excellence in space coverage, through books and articles, as well as engagement in the early US space program’, presented at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center. David lives with his wife Ann in East Sussex.