1 / 22

Mars: What ARE You in for?

Explore the geography of Mars, from its imagined landscapes to its extreme features like Olympus Mons and Valles Marineris. Discover the history of Mars exploration and the impact of Mars on human imagination.

kvanwinkle
Download Presentation

Mars: What ARE You in for?

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Geography 441/541, S/19 Geography of Mars Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue (Images mostly from NASA) Mars: What ARE You in for? C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  2. Mars? • How have you imagined Mars? C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  3. Mars? • How has science imagined Mars? • Schiaparelli’s canali (1877-1886) C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  4. Mars? • How has science imagined Mars? • Lowell’s canals C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  5. Mars? • How has science imagined Mars? • Mariner 4 flyby: dead, cratered, lunar Mars (1965): Memnonia Fossæ C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  6. Mars? • How has science imagined Mars? • Viking’s dead, dry Mars (1976-1982): Viking 1, Chryse Planitia C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  7. Mars? • How has science imagined Mars? • 1990s/2000s: could Mars once have been warm and soggy? C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  8. Mars: Planet of Extremes • The tallest volcano in the solar system • Olympus Mons: >21 km tall, 600 km wide, an 8 km + cliff at its base C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  9. Mars: Planet of Extremes • The tallest volcano in the solar system • Olympus Mons: >21 km tall, 600 km wide, an 8 km + cliff at its base • Image: Resident Mario (2014), Wikipedia C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  10. Mars: Planet of Extremes • The longest and deepest canyon in the solar system • Valles Marineris: 4,000 km long, 2-7 km deep C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  11. Mars: Planet of Extremes • The mother of all impact craters • Hellas Planitia: 7 km deep, 2,300 km in diameter C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  12. Mars: Planet of Extremes • Some spectacularly old impact-battered surfaces • Some of these may be older than 3.5 billion years old • Mariner 6 1969 (Sinus Sabaeus & Deucalionis Regio) C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  13. Mars: Planet of Extremes • Unpleasant atmosphere • Density varies a little over one half of one percent of Earth’s C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  14. Mars: Planet of Extremes • Unpleasant atmosphere • Windy, dusty place C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  15. Mars: Planet of Extremes • Unpleasant atmosphere • Really COLD place: “hot” spot is -85°F; coldest is -193°F C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  16. Mars: Planet of Extremes • All this in a planet so much smaller than Earth • ~15% Earth’s volume!; ~ 11% Earth's mass; ~ 38% Earth's gravity C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

  17. C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB Mars: Tentative Course Outline • In this class, we’ll go over: • What does GEOgraphy have to do with Mars? • The history of Mars exploration • The basics of remote sensing • Spacecraft and their sensors • Mars as a planet in the solar system • The landscapes of Mars • The climates and weather of Mars • Mars as it affects human imagination

  18. C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB Mars: Tentative Course Outline • What DOES GEOgraphy have to do with Mars?: • What IS geography anyway? Geographers actually go through episodic dramas and fights about that: • Human-environment tradition • Regional geography tradition • Spatial analysis tradition • Integrated Earth science tradition • The latter three clearly fit, while the human-environment tradition awaits sustained human presence and impacts on Mars

  19. C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB Mars: Tentative Course Outline • What DOES GEOgraphy have to do with Mars?: • I found >100 geographers who do work on Mars while I was reading up on Mars. • Their work is dominated by geomorphology • Aeolian • Glacial • Fluvial • GIScience, remote sensing, and statistics • I even found a couple of human geographers • Historical geography of Mars research • Colonial and imperial narratives of space “conquest”

  20. C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB Mars: Grading “Opportunities” • I grade on a modified curve, based on: • The usual suspects: • Midterm = 25 points • Final = 25 points • Writing projects: • Review = 25 points • Extra credit novel report = 5 extra points • Analytical work: • Labs = 25 points • Graduate students: • Research project = 25 points more

  21. C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB Mars: Course Resources • Course homepage: • http://www.csulb.edu/~rodrigue/mars/ • Syllabus • Guidelines for assignments • My contact and office hour information • BeachBoard: • Mostly points to web page • Easy e-mail communication • Make sure MyCSULB knows your main e-mail! • Textbook: • Forget, Costard, Lognonné, Planet Mars • Optional extra credit novel set on Mars from list

  22. So, on to Mars! C.M. Rodrigue, 2019 Geography, CSULB

More Related