Transcript Mars - The Red Planet - Challenger Learning Center

Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mars the Red Planet
Known to Babylonians 3,600 years
ago as “Star that Wandered”
The Greeks referred to it as “Ares”
the god of War
Romans called it Mars
Location
Image Courtesy of NASA
Basic Facts
Distance from Sun ≈1.52 times as
far as Earth
Time to Orbit the Sun ~ 26 Earth
months
Atmosphere ~ Mostly carbon dioxide
Martian Day ~ 24.7 hours
Temperature on the planet’s surface
hardly rises above freezing point
Earth and Mars Comparison
Earth
Mars
Radius
6378 km
3397 km
Density
5515 kg/m3
3933 kg/m3
Gravity
9.8 m/s2
3.72 m/s2
Year
365.25 days
686.98 days
Eccentricity
0.017
0.094
Day
24 hours
24 hr 39 min
Obliquity
23.45º
25.19º
Earth and Mars Comparison
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mars Surface Features
Surface Color: “Red”
Features
– Impact Craters
– Largest volcano in the
solar system
(Olympus Mons)
– Largest Canyon in the
Solar System
(Valles Marineris)
– Ancient river channels
– Lava Rocks
– Dust: Reddish from
volcanic rock
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
Valles Marineris
Mars Atmosphere
Unbreathable
Thin
Dusty, makes the sky pinkish, lots of
dust storms
Surface Pressure: 1/150th of Earth’s
(only 5.6 millibars)
Composition: 95% CO2, 3% N, 1.5%
Ar, 0.1% O2, 0.03% H2O
Moons of Mars
Mars has two tiny
moons named
“Deimos” (Panic) &
“Phobos” (Fear)
The moons are
irregular and very
small in size
– Phobos 27x22x18 km
– Deimos 15x12x10 km
The moons are
probably asteroids
captured by Mars
Image Courtesy of NASA
Deimos
Phobos
Is there Water on Mars?
Water is the key to life as we know it
The north and south poles of Mars
are covered with thick ice or frost
Some astronomers about 100 years
ago thought there were canals on
Mars dug by intelligent civilization
Space probes to date have not found
any traces of canals on Mars
Previous Mission to Mars
Viking 1 and 2 in
1976
– First pictures of
Martian surface
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
Previous Mission to Mars
Pathfinder in 1997
– Roving vehicle –
Sojourner to
explore Martian
surface
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
Current Missions
Mars Global
Surveyor
– Accomplishes all
the tasks of its
mission
– And still going
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
Odyssey
Discovered
subsurface water
ice near poles
Track changes of
polar ice, clouds
and dust storms
Generated maps of
radiation and
minerals
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mars Rovers
Spirit
– Landed January 3,
2004
Opportunity
– Landed January 24,
2004
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Launch date 2005
SHARAD
– Shallow Radar
Instrument
– Penetrate ground and
search for water at
depths greater than 3
feet.
CRISM
– Spectrometer
– Find recent traces of
water
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Launch date 2005
CTX
– Contex Camera
– Wide area views
HiRISE
– High Resolution
Camera
– In depth study of
areas where water
once flowed
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
Future Mission
Phoenix - 2008
K9 Rover
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mars Science Laboratory - 2009
Mars Websites
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/classroom
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov
http://marsed.asu.edu
http://msip.asu.edu
http://marsbound.asu.edu