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MARS

MARS. MARS BY THE NUMBERS. Discovery Date of Discovery: Unknown Discovered By: Known by the Ancients Namesake: Roman god of war Orbit Size Around Sun Metric: 227,943,824 km English: 141,637,725 miles Scientific Notation: 2.2794382 x 108 km Astronomical Units: 1.523662 A.U.

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MARS

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  1. MARS

  2. MARS BY THE NUMBERS Discovery Date of Discovery: Unknown Discovered By: Known by the Ancients Namesake: Roman god of war Orbit Size Around Sun Metric: 227,943,824 km English: 141,637,725 miles Scientific Notation: 2.2794382 x 108 km Astronomical Units: 1.523662 A.U. By Comparison: 1.524 x Earth Mean Orbit Velocity Metric: 86,677 km/h English: 53,858 mph Scientific Notation: 2.4077 x 104 m/s By Comparison: 0.808 x Earth Orbit Eccentricity 0.0933941 By Comparison: 5.589 x Earth Equatorial Inclination 25.2 Equatorial Radius Metric: 3,389.5 km English: 2,106.1 miles Scientific Notation: 3.3895 x 103 km By Comparison: 0.5320 x Earth Equatorial Circumference Metric: 21,296.9 km English: 13,233.3 miles Scientific Notation: 2.12969 x 104 km Volume Metric: 163,115,609,799 km3 English: 39,133,515,914 miles3 Scientific Notation: 1.63116 X 1011 km3 By Comparison: 0.151 x Earth Mass Metric: 641,693,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg Scientific Notation: 6.4169 x 1023 kg By Comparison: 0.107 x Earth Density Metric: 3.934 g/cm3 By Comparison: 0.714 x Earth Surface Area Metric: 144,371,391 km2 English: 55,742,106 square miles Scientific Notation: 1.4437 x 108 km2 By Comparison: 0.283 x Earth Surface Gravity Metric: 3.71 m/s2 English: 12.2 ft/s2 By Comparison: If you weigh 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh 38 pounds on Mars. Escape Velocity Metric: 18,108 km/h English: 11,252 mph Scientific Notation: 5.030 x 103 m/s By Comparison: Escape velocity of Earth is 25,030 mph. Sidereal Rotation Period 1.026 Earth Days 24.623 Hours By Comparison: Earth’s rotation period is 23.934 hours. Surface Temperature Metric: -153 to +20 °C English: -225 to +70 °F Scientific Notation: 120 to 293 K Atmospheric Constituents Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen, Argon Scientific Notation: CO2, N2, Ar By Comparison: CO2 is responsible for the Greenhouse Effect and is used for carbonation in beverages. N2 is 80% of Earth’s air and is a crucial element in DNA. Ar is used to make blue neon light bulbs.

  3. MARS: 10 Need-to-Know Things SMALL PLANET If the sun were as tall as a typical front door, Earth would be the size of a nickel, and Mars would be about as big as an aspirin tablet. FOURTH ROCK Mars orbits our sun, a star. Mars is the fourth planet from the sun at a distance of about 228 million km (142 million miles) or 1.52 AU. LONGER DAYS One day on Mars takes just a little over 24 hours (the time it takes for Mars to rotate or spin once). Mars makes a complete orbit around the sun (a year in Martian time) in 687 Earth days. RUGGED TERRAIN Mars is a rocky planet, also known as a terrestrial planet. Mars’ solid surface has been altered by volcanoes, impacts, crustal movement and atmospheric effects such as dust storms. BRING A SPACESUIT Mars has a thin atmosphere made up mostly of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen (N2) and argon (Ar). DOUBLE MOONS Mars has two moons named Phobos and Deimos. RINGLESS There are no rings around Mars. MANY MISSIONS Several missions have visited this planet, from flybys and orbiters to rovers on the surface of the Red Planet. The first true Mars mission success was Mariner 4 in 1965. TOUGH PLACE FOR LIFE At this time in the planet’s history, Mars’ surface cannot support life as we know it. Current missions exploring Mars on the surface and from orbit are determining Mars’ past and future potential for life. RUSTY PLANET Mars is known as the Red Planet because iron minerals in the Martian soil oxidize, or rust, causing the soil -- and the dusty atmosphere -- to look red. 1 3 5 2 4 6 7 8 9 10

  4. HISTORY OF MARS EXPLORATION The 1960’s Flybys The 1970’s Orbiters First Landing The 1980’s Silent Decade The 1990’s Surveying 21st Century Exploration and Return

  5. 60's FLYBYS • FACTS ABOUT MARS - NASA Missions • Flyby - water vapor on Mars in 1964. • Mariner 4 - heavily cratered, moonlike surface 1965 • Mariner 4 - atmosphere is thin, less than 1 percent the pressure and is composed largely of carbon dioxide. • Mariner 4 - found no canals - revealed a topography much more like the Earth's moon than Earth.

  6. Mariner 6 and 7 - Discoveries 1969 • Nitrogen is virtually absent, solid carbon dioxide ("dry ice") occurs in the clouds and near the polar caps • Found dust particles in the atmosphere consist of silicate materials • NOTE - The first soft landing on Mars was executed by the USSR Mars 3 spacecraft in 1971; the spacecraft ceased operating 20 seconds after the landing.

  7. 70's ORBITERS • Mariner 9 - 1971 • First orbiting spacecraft • Obtained over 7300 photographs. • A two-part world, with an ancient cratered surface in the Southern Hemisphere • A geologically younger surface, with volcanoes, canyons, & dry river channels, in Northern Hemisphere. • Volcanoes - 25 kilometers (16 miles), with fresh looking lava flows. • A huge valley (VallisMarineris), about 5000 kilometers (over 3000 miles) long. • Sinuous channels, braided & streamlined formations, maybe former river beds.

  8. 70’s continued • Glacial periods in polar regions • Solar ultraviolet light is not absorbed by the atmosphere - reaches the surface • Periodic global dust storms • Landforms resembling lava flows occur in flat regions. • The two small moons of Mars - Phobos and Deimos, were photographed and • found to be very dark and to have irregular shapes and cratered surface.

  9. The Viking 1 and 2 landers and orbiters reached • Mars in 1976. Among their many findings were: • The reddish color of the soil is due to oxidized iron. • The soil is fine-grained and cohesive, like firm sand or soil on Earth. • The surface rocks resemble basalt lava, and the soil chemistry is like that of • weathered, altered basalt. • There are water and sulfur compounds in the soil. • The sky is not blue but pink, its color caused by fine suspended particles of red dust. • The polar caps are largely made of water & ice. • The winds at the surface of Mars are light, about 24 kilometers per hour (15mph). • The surface temperature ranges from about -84° C (-120° F) at night • to -29° C (-20° F) in the afternoon.

  10. 90's SURVEYING • MARS OBSERVER - 1992 - ended in failure • due to communication problems. • MARS GLOBAL SURVEYOR- 1996 - Mapped the surface for • 2 years. Still being used. Pictures have shown features that may • be currents from liquid water. • MARS PATHFINDER - 1996 - Included a rover, 923 LBS. • Entered the atmosphere by a parachute surrounded by airbags, • which deflated on landing. Obtained vast amount of data and • outlived its primary life. • MARS CLIMATE ORBITER - 1998 - was lost • on arrival. Possibly burned up in the • atmosphere. • MARS POLAR LANDER - 1999 – Included • Deep Space Probes, but were lost on arrival.

  11. Sojourner robot at Mars rock Yogi. IMP Team, JPL, NASA

  12. 21st Century • MARS ODYSSEY - 2001 - An orbiting spacecraft. Will collect • images of minerals in soils and geological processes. • MARS EXPRESS - 2003 - NASA has teamed with the European • Space Agency to explore the atmosphere and surface of Mars from • polar orbit. Will deliver a lander, Beagle 2, • to surface. At this present time, the lander • has not communicated with Earth. • MARS EXPLORATION ROVER Mission - 2003 - 2 rovers, • Spirit and Opportunity were the size of a golf cart. Used the Pathfinder system • - a parachute and air bags - to land the rovers. The rovers took pictures & tested • rock samples, to analyze their composition & their texture at microscopic scales.

  13. MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER - 2005 - took pictures of the geological processes and looked for water. Will also set up the first link in a communication to Earth to be used by numerous international spacecraft. Also will set up an optical Navigation system to guide incoming spacecraft when they come to Mars. MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY - 2009 Mobile Science Laboratory on Mars. It will be used to reach difficult-to-reach scientific Sites. This will pave the way for sample return missions. MARS EXPLORATION PROGRAM - 2007 Airborne missions to scout Mars for water with a robotic arm. The first mission will be called Phoenix.

  14. Mars Sample Return 2013 (?)

  15. Mars Sample Return 2013 (?)

  16. Mars Surface Science Objectives • To explore Mars and learn how Mars is similar to, and how it is different from, our home planet • whether life evolved on Mars and, if so, whether and how such life may have become extinct • whether Mars is still a geologically live planet • how the early history of Mars and the history of volatiles on Mars may illuminate the history of Earth • Strategy Components • Fossil-Life Search • Atmospheric Evolution and Climate History • Geosciences and Geologic History

  17. Mars Mission Vehicles Mars Transit Vehicle • Supports mission crew of six for up to 200-day transits to and from Mars • Return propulsion stage integrated with transit system • Provides return-to Earth abort capability for up to 30 hours post-TMI • Total Vehicle Mass in High-Earth Orbit = 188 mt Mars Surface Habitat • Vehicle supports mission crew of six for up to 18 months on the surface of Mars • Provides robust exploration and science capabilities • Descent vehicle capable of landing 36,000 kg • Total Vehicle Mass in High-Earth Orbit = 99 mt Descent/Ascent Vehicle • Transports six crew from Mars orbit to the surface and back to orbit • Provides contingency abort-to-orbit capability • Supports six crew for 30-days • Vehicle capable of utilizing locally produced propellants • Total Vehicle Mass in High-Earth Orbit = 103 mt

  18. HIGHLIGHTS OF MARS

  19. The “face” of Mars: Comparison of Viking’s face-like image (left), with MGS Orbiter’s high-resolution photos (center, right). MSSS, JPL, NASA

  20. Olympus Mons on Mars: The Largest Volcano in the Solar System. Mariner 9, JPL, NASA

  21. Nanedi Vallis: MOC image of a Martian canyon probably created by sustained water flow. NASA/JPL/MSSS

  22. Martian South Polar Cap: MGS image reveals complex layers of CO2 ice, H2O ice, rock and dust. MSSS, JPL, NASA Martian South Polar Cap: MGS image reveals complex layers of CO2 ice, H2O ice, rock and dust. MSSS, JPL, NASA

  23. Gusev Landing Site Map2004

  24. Meridiani Planum 2004

  25. No birds No plants No animals No bugs

  26. Why not ??????

  27. Solar radiation Really dry Really cold Nasty soil chemistry

  28. We’ve come along way….. But the future awaits us….. on Mars! Future Students?

  29. MARS

  30. Mars 1.88 yrs. Moon 29.4 days 78 million km 384,000 km 228 million km Earth 365 days 150,000,000 km

  31. Mars 1.88 yrs. Moon 29.4 days 228 million km 384,000 km Sun Solar system 250 million yrs. Earth 365 days 28,000 Light Years International Space Station 2 days 150,000,000 km Closest Star - Alpha Centauri 4.31 light years Universe Milky Way Galaxy Infinity 100,000 Light years

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