1. Wednesday October 10, 2012 (Mars; Video Segment – Journey to the Edge of the Universe)

2. The Launch Pad Wednesday, 10/10/12 What, most likely, created the asteroid belt? The asteroid belt was most likely created because chunks of debris from the formation of the Solar System could not come together to make a planet. This would have been caused by the strong gravitational influence of nearby Jupiter.

3. Identify this object. The Launch Pad Wednesday, 10/10/12 Mercury

4. Identify this object. The Launch Pad Wednesday, 10/10/12 Landscape on Venus

5. Identify this object. The Launch Pad Wednesday, 10/10/12 Radar image of surface of Venus

6. Identify this object. The Launch Pad Wednesday, 10/10/12 Mercury

7. Identify this object. The Launch Pad Wednesday, 10/10/12 Visible light photo of clouds surrounding Venus

8. Announcements Happy Autumn

9. Assignment Currently Open Summative or Formative? Date IssuedDate Due Date Into GradeSpeed Final Day Quiz 6S110/5 10/19

10. Recent Events in Science How Pulsars Slow Down With Age http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/10/ 121008091556.htm Read All About It! Researchers at the University of Southampton have developed a model which explains how the spin of a pulsar slows down as the star gets older. A pulsar is a highly magnetized rotating neutron star which was formed from the remains of a supernova -- an explosion which happens after a massive star runs out of nuclear fuel. A pulsar emits a rotating beam of electromagnetic radiation, rather like that of a lighthouse. This beam can be detected by powerful telescopes when it points towards and sweeps past Earth. Pulsars rotate at very stable speeds, but slow down as they emit radiation and lose their energy. Professor Nils Andersson and Dr Wynn Ho, from the University of Southampton, have now found a way to predict how this 'slowing' process will develop in individual pulsars.

11. Mars Facts about the “Red Planet”  Mars’ atmosphere is only 1% as dense as Earth’s, and is composed primarily of carbon dioxide.  It’s very cold at the poles – about –193ºF  The polar caps are composed of water ice, covered by a thin layer of frozen carbon dioxide.  Mars has extensive dust storms, with winds up to 170 miles per hour.

12. Mars Mars’ surface contains numerous large volcanoes. The largest is Olympus Mons, with a height of nearly 14 miles. This makes it the tallest mountain on any planet in the Solar System. It stands almost three times as tall as Mount Everest's height above sea level.

13. Mars The surface of Mars in cut by several large canyons. Some of these are larger than Earth’s Grand Canyon. The largest is Valles Marineris, which would nearly cross the entire United States.

14. Mars Mars’ surface shows “stream drainage” patterns found in some valleys. However, no bodies of liquid surface water are found on the planet. Possible origins of the dry riverbeds are runoff from past rainfall, or surface material collapse as the subsurface ice melted.

15. Exploring Mars’ Surface Figure 22.14

16. Spirit Mars Exploration Rover Spirit Mars Exploration Rover is a robotic rover on Mars, active from 2004 to 2010. It was one of two rovers of NASA's ongoing Mars Exploration Rover Mission. It landed successfully on Mars at 04:35 Ground UTC on January 4, 2004, three weeks before its twin, Opportunity (MER-B), landed on the other side of the planet. Its name was chosen through a NASA-sponsored student essay competition. The rover became stuck in late 2009, and its last communication with Earth was sent on March 22, 2010.

17. Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity Mars Exploration Rover is a robotic rover on the planet Mars, active since 2004. Launched from Earth on July 7, 2003, it landed on Meridiani Planum on January 25, 2004. This was three weeks after its twin Spirit touched down on the other side of the planet. Its twin became immobile in 2009 and in 2010 ceased communications, but MER-B is still active as of 2012, having already exceeded its planned 90 day duration of activity by 8 years, 166 days.

18. Curiosity Mars Exploration Rover The Curiosity rover is a car-sized robotic rover exploring Gale Crater on Mars as part of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission (MSL). Curiosity was launched from Cape Canaveral on November 26, 2011 and successfully landed on Aeolis Palus in Gale Crater on Mars on August 6, 2012. The Bradbury Landing site was less than 2.4 km (1.5 mi) from the center of the rover's touchdown target after a 350,000,000 mile journey.

19. Curiosity Mars Exploration Rover Curiosity's goals include: investigation of the Martian climate and geology; assessment of whether the selected field site inside Gale Crater ever has offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life, including investigation of the role of water; and planetary habitability studies in preparation for future human exploration.

20. Mars Mars’ Moons Mars has two moons  Phobos  Deimos They are probably captured asteroids

21. Video Segment