Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Mars the Red PlanetKnown to Babylonians 3,600 years ago as “Star that Wandered”The Greeks referred to it as “Ares” the god of WarRomans called it Mars

Location

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Basic FactsDistance from Sun ≈1.52 times as far as EarthTime to Orbit the Sun ~ 26 Earth monthsAtmosphere ~ Mostly carbon dioxideMartian Day ~ 24.7 hoursTemperature on the planet’s surface hardly rises above freezing point

Earth and Mars ComparisonEarth Mars

Radius 6378 km 3397 kmDensity 5515 kg/m3 3933 kg/m3

Gravity 9.8 m/s2 3.72 m/s2

Year 365.25 days 686.98 daysEccentricity 0.017 0.094Day 24 hours 24 hr 39 minObliquity 23.45º 25.19º

Earth and Mars Comparison

Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Mars Surface FeaturesSurface 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

Valles Marineris

Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Mars AtmosphereUnbreathableThinDusty, makes the sky pinkish, lots of dust stormsSurface 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 MarsMars 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

Deimos Phobos

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Is there Water on Mars?Water is the key to life as we know itThe north and south poles of Mars are covered with thick ice or frostSome astronomers about 100 years ago thought there were canals on Mars dug by intelligent civilizationSpace probes to date have not found any traces of canals on Mars

Previous Mission to MarsViking 1 and 2 in 1976– First pictures of

Martian surface

Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Previous Mission to MarsPathfinder in 1997– Roving vehicle –

Sojourner to explore Martian surface

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Current MissionsMars Global Surveyor– Accomplishes all

the tasks of its mission

– And still going

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OdysseyDiscovered subsurface water ice near polesTrack changes of polar ice, clouds and dust stormsGenerated maps of radiation and minerals

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Mars RoversSpirit– Landed January 3,

2004Opportunity– Landed January 24,

2004

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Mars Reconnaissance OrbiterLaunch date 2005SHARAD– 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 OrbiterLaunch date 2005CTX– Contex Camera– Wide area views

HiRISE– High Resolution

Camera– In depth study of

areas where water once flowed

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Future Mission

Phoenix - 2008

K9 Rover Mars Science Laboratory - 2009

Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Mars Websiteshttp://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/classroomhttp://mars.jpl.nasa.govhttp://marsed.asu.eduhttp://msip.asu.eduhttp://marsbound.asu.edu