Download History of Mars Exploration and Observation

History of Mars
Exploration and
Observation
Brendan O'Leary
Nishelle Auberger
What is Mars Made up of?
CRUST:
• Basalt and
Iron
• Created by
ancient
volcanic
activity
•50 – 125 km
thick
CORE:
• Iron and
MANTLE:
• Silicates
• No Movement
•“Mushy Paste”
Sulfur
• No movement
• 2,960 km in
diameter
How Do We Know About Mars?
• Telescopes in the
1960’s give us first
complete picture
• Mariner 4 (first flyby
probe of mars)
stayed on Mars for
three years
• This is how we
found its lunar
surface.
Visual Wonders
• Olympus Mons:
Tallest mountain in the
solar system. (27 km tall)
• Valles Marineris:
The deepest canyon, of the many, on the
planet. (4,000 km long and
7km deep)
• Face of Mars:
A large rock 2 miles form
end to end.
First Successful U.S. Craft to
Land on Alien Planet
Viking 1 and Viking 2
• July 20, 1976 Viking 1 landed on Mars and
returned clearer images than previously
obtained.
• Viking 2 follows shortly after, and the two perform
studies on the Martian soil.
(dryness, oxidization,
ultraviolet radiation)
•Vikings last four years on Mars.
Why is There No Life on Mars
Currently?
o Discovered by Vikings 1 and 2
o Mars has no magnetic field, allowing
ultraviolet radiation
o Radiation destroys all possibilities of
life.
Rover
Sojourner
• Landed in 1996 for the “Path Finder Mission”
to discover more about the planet.
• Significance: -Technological demonstration
-Research on the Martian
winds
-Chemical analysis of rocks on
the surface.
Martian Winds
• High winds on the planet that carry
away the brighter reflective
surface soil.
• Causing the planet to heat
• 1 – 2 degrees over all in the past
two decades.
Rovers: Spirit and Opportunity
“The Search for Life”
• Landed in January 2004
• 100,000 images
collected between
the two rovers.
• Chemical and Mineral
information
• Spirit stayed on Mars
gathered from soil.
for six years;
(proof of liquid
Opportunity is still
water found)
roaming.
Habitable Conditions?
• Traces of liquid water found by Spirit and
Opportunity spark our curiosity.
• No magnetic field now, but
billions of years ago there
must have been.
• Beneath the surface (now
dormant) must have been
a very active, harboring
moving tectonic plates.
The Crater
• A huge impact crater was discovered on the
surface of mars about the size of Pluto
(10,600 km by 8,500 km)
• Four billion years ago, during the Late
Bombardment
period of the Solar
System.
• Impact of crater is
possible reason for
the cease in
movement of Mars
mantle and core.
What We Have Next
• We have already sent out a larger and
heavier rover, Curiosity, planning to land
in 105 days.
• Mission Purpose: To collect and scour rocks
for organic compounds
(amino acids)
• Is planned to stay on Mars
for a Martian year.
Bibliography
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