1. Mars - The Red Planet
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

2. 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

3. Location
Mars
Image Courtesy of NASA

4. 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

5. Earth and Mars Comparison
Radius
6378 km
3397 km
Density
5515 kg/m3
3933 kg/m3
Gravity
9.8 m/s2
3.72 m/s2
Year
days
days
Eccentricity
0.017
0.094
Day
24 hours
24 hr 39 min
Obliquity
23.45º
25.19º

6. Earth and Mars Comparison
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

7. 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
Valles Marineris
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

8. 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

9. 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
Deimos
Phobos
Image Courtesy of NASA

10. 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

11. Previous Mission to Mars
Viking 1 and 2 in 1976
First pictures of Martian surface
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

12. Previous Mission to Mars
Pathfinder in 1997
Roving vehicle – Sojourner to explore Martian surface
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

13. Current Missions Mars Global Surveyor
Accomplishes all the tasks of its mission
And still going
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

14. 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

15. Mars Rovers Spirit Opportunity Landed January 3, 2004
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

16. 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

17. 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

18. Future Mission Phoenix - 2008 Mars Science Laboratory - 2009 K9 Rover
Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

19. Mars Websites http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/classroom