1. Mysteries of Earth and Mars Mars Facts and Exploration

2. Quick Facts MarsEarth Average Distance from Sun142 million miles93 million miles Average Speed in Orbiting Sun14.5 miles/ second18.5 miles/second Diameter4,220 miles7,926 miles Tilt of Axis25 degrees23.5 degrees Length of Year687 Earth Days365.25 Days Length of Day24 hours 37 minutes23 hours 56 min Gravity.375 that of Earth 2.66 x that of Mars Temperature (average) -81 degrees F 57 degrees F # of Moons21

3. Weather on Mars Dust storms are the main weather feature. Top Picture: Dust storm on Mars Bottom Picture: Dust storm on Earth in Africa near equator

4. Mars Moons- Phobos and Deimos

5. Mars Topography Happy Face Crater

6. Olympus Mons Solar system’s largest volcano 27 km high (17 miles) 6 km cliffs at the base (3.7 mile high)

7. Valles Marinaris Huge Canyon Length of the United States 6-7 times deeper than the Grand Canyon

8. Mars Exploration Goals Four Science Goals for Mars Exploration Goal 1: Determine if Life ever arose on Mars. Goal 2: Characterize the Climate of Mars. Goal 3: Characterize the Geology of Mars. Goal 4: Prepare for Human Exploration of Mars.

9. Mars Failures Mars Observer 1992 Mars Climate Orbiter 1999 Mars Polar Lander (Pictured) /Deep Space 2 1999 14 USSR/Russian missions

10. Mars Exploration Mariner flybys and orbiters 1960’s Four successful Two failures

11. Viking Viking 1 and 2 Orbiters and Landers Landed in 1976 and functioned into the 1980’s Over 50,000 pictures Mission: search for life on Mars

12. Mars Global Surveyer Achieved Mars Orbit 1996 Still functioning Mapping the planet from orbit

13. Mars Pathfinder Landed successfully July 4, 1997 First successful Mars Rover Transmitted for 14 months

14. Lunar Rover/Mars Pathfinder

15. Mars View from Pathfinder-Sojourner

16. Mars Odyssey Launched 2001 Orbiter Currently mapping Mars from orbit

17. Mars Explorer Rover Mission 2 Rovers: Spirit and Opportunity Launched Summer 2003 Landed 2004 Still operating landing movie

18. What’s Next?

19. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Launch scheduled for August 10, 2005 Close up geology pictures Looking for ancient seas and hot springs Looking for future landing sites

20. Mars Phoenix Launch August 2007 Landing on Mars North pole area Lander will dig 0.5 meter trenches and analyze subsurface materials

21. Mars Science Laboratory 2009 launch Rover with lots of instruments Larger than Spirit and Opportunity Possible radioisotope power source

22. Mars Telecommunications Orbiter Launch 2009 Designed to transmit signals from other probes back to earth Will orbit much higher Will test laser communication tools

23. Future Missions in Development Sample Return Missions Deep Drilling Landers

24. Human Exploration In Your Lifetime!

25. PowerPoint by Tom Fitzpatrick Data and images from NASA/JPL