Science9514 – Mission to Mars.

Timeline by: Keith Hopkinson

Grade 9

Science

1500s

In 1576 a Danish astronomer named Tycho Brahe made accurate calculations of Mars’ position 200 years before the telescope. He set up an observatory and studied stars using keen eyesight and large instruments for 20 years. He calculated Mars’ position within four minutes of arc.

1600s

In 1609, Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe’s student publishes “New Astronomy”. This consisted of Kepler’s two laws. The most important one being that Mars has an elliptical orbit.

Also in 1609, Galileo Galilei sees mars with a primitive telescope.

1600s cont’d

In 1659, Christiaan Huygens, a Dutch astronomer draws Mars using his own advanced telescope. He recorded a black spot on the planet. He recorded the same thing the next day concluding that Mars has a 24 hour clock.

In 1666, Giovanni Cassini determans Mars rotational period to be 24h and 40min.

1600s cont’d

In 1672, Huygens notices the southern polar cap at the south pole.

In 1698, Huygens publishes “Cosmotheros”, which discusses what is needed to live on a planet.

1700s

In 1704, Giancomo Miraldi observes that the “white spots” at the poles and discovers that the southern cap is not centered.

In 1719, Miraldi wonders if the “white spots” are ice caps.

1700s cont’d

In 1727, Jonathan Swift’s “Gulliver’s Travels” described the Martians moons. Maybe just a coincidence, but he discovered two lesser stars that revolve around Mars.

From 1777 – 1783, Sir William Herschel studied Mars through telescopes he built. He believed that all planets are inhabited including the sun.

1700s cont’d

In 1784, Sir William Herschel published a paper called “On the remarkable appearances at the polar regions on the planet Mars, the inclination of its axis, the position of its poles, and its spheroidal figure, with a few hints relating to its real diameter and atmosphere”. He also mistakenly thought that the dark areas on Mars were oceans and the light spots were land.

1800s

In 1809 a French armature astronomer, Honore Flaugergues notices yellow clouds on Mars surface. They turned out to be dust clouds.

In 1813, Flaugergues notes that the ice cap melts in the “Martian” summer. This concludes that Mars is hotter then Earth.

1800s cont’d

In 1840, Wilhelm Beer and Johann von Maedler watch Mars over time periods of 759, 1604 and 2234 days. They determined that the rotational period of Mars is 24 hours, 37 minutes and 22.6 seconds. The current accepted value is about .1 seconds longer.

1800s cont’d

In 1854, William Whewell concludes that Mars has green seas and red land and wonders if there is extraterrestrial life on the planet.

In 1858, a Jesuit monk named Angelo Secci draws Mars and names the Syrtis Major the “Atlantic Canal”.

1800s cont’d

In 1862, Frederik Kaiser calculates the rotational period to be 24h, 37m, 22.62s.

In 1867, Richard Anthony Proctor publishes a map of Mars with oceans and continents. His zero meridian is still used.

In 1867, Pierre Jules Janssen, Sir William Huggins make the first attempt to detect water vapor and oxygen. This attempt failed.

1800s cont’d

In 1877, Giovanni Schiaparelli develops a nomenclature for mapping the different feature of Mars.

Also in 1877, Schuaparelli used the term “canali” to describe streaks on the surface of Mars. This was thought to mean “canals” and it implied that intelligent life on Mars built canals.

1800s cont’d

In 1877, Asaph Hall discovers the moons of Mars. He names them “Phobos” and “Demios” after the Greek war god's horses.

In 1894, Percival Lowell starts watching Mars in his observatory in Flagstaff, Az.

In 1894, Edward Emerson Barnard reports that he has found no canals on Mars.

In 1895, Percival Lowell publishes “Mars”.

1900s

During this time period, Satellites were invented and launched to orbit the world. Space shuttles were made. Man landed on the moon. All planets have been orbited by satellites. This makes it easier to watch a planet and how it moves, its temperatures and geography.

Today

Today Mars has two rovers on it searching for liquid and other geographical things to see if anything lived on the planet. The rovers names are Spirit and Opportunity. These two rovers move 100m a martian day and retrieve data to tell of that areas history.

Future missions to Mars

NASA is working on launching a mobile lab that will help with collecting data. They want to launch as soon as 2007.

They are also working on scouting missions two send airplanes or balloons to pick up different pressures and information from the atmosphere.

The Future cont’d

NASA will be launching additional support to the two rovers right now to help gather data. The two rovers are what the missions will be based around because they are effective.

In 2014 and 2016, NASA plans to send missions to retrieve samples form Mars and bring it back to earth for testing.

Bibliography

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mep/history/index.html

http://spacelink.nasa.gov/NASA.Projects/Space.Science/Solar.System/Mars.Exploration.Rover.Mission/

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/future/mars2005andbeyond.html