Information of Mars

1
Information of Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is
commonly referred to as the Red Planet. The rocks
and soil have a red or pink hue due to the iron
oxiode (rust) they contain.
2
Hubble Telescope Picture of Mars
This NASA Hubble Space Telescope view provides
the most detailed complete global coverage of the
red planet Mars ever seen from Earth. This
picture was taken on February 25, 1995, when Mars
was at a distance of 65 million miles.
3
Atmosphere on Mars
Mars has a rocky, dry terrain with huge volcanoes
and deep valleys. The atmosphere is much thinner
than Earths and is comprised primarily of carbon
dioxide and nitrogen. Its gravity is about
one-third of our own.
4
Largest Volcano on Mars
The largest volcano in the solar system is
Olympus Mons. It is 624 km (374 miles) in
diameter about the same size as Arizona. The
altitude of Olympus Mons is three times the
altitude of the largest peak on Earth, Mt.
Everest.
5
Gigantic Canyon
Valles Marineris, or Mariner Valley, is a vast
canyon system that runs along the Martian
equator. Valles Marineris is 2500 miles long and
reaches depths of up to 4 miles.
6
Gigantic Canyon
For comparison, the Grand Canyon in Arizona is
about 500 miles long and 1 mile deep. In fact,
the extent of Valles Marineris is as long as the
United States and it spans about 20 percent (1/5)
of the entire distance around Mars.
7
Seasons on Mars
Like Earth, Mars has seasonal changes but the
seasons last much longer. In Winter, Mars polar
ice cap can reach down to 45 degrees latitude and
then rapidly shrink during Spring. Dust storms
are seasonal, also, as witnessed in this Hubble
image.
8
Earth/Mars Comparison
Mars
Earth
9
Mars, the god of War
The planet was named after Mars, the Roman God of
War, who was one of the most worshipped and
revered gods in ancient Rome. The god Mars held a
special place in the Roman Pantheon not only for
his patronly influence, but because of the
importance of military achievement in the
republic and the Roman Empire.
10
Early concepts
Before space exploration, Mars was considered the
best candidate for harboring extraterrestrial
life. Italian astronomer, Giovanni Schiaparelli
thought he saw straight lines crisscrossing its
surface. This led to the popular belief that
irrigation canals on the planet had been
constructed by intelligent beings.
11
Mariner missions
In July of 1965, Mariner 4, transmitted 22
close-up pictures of Mars. All that was revealed
was a surface containing many craters and
naturally occurring channels but no evidence of
artificial canals or flowing water.
12
Viking Landers
Finally, in July and September 1976, Viking
Landers 1 and 2 touched down on the surface of
Mars. The three biology experiments aboard the
landers discovered unexpected and enigmatic
chemical activity in the Martian soil, but
provided no clear evidence for the presence of
living microorganisms in the soil near the
landing sites.
13
Viking Landers
According to scientists, Mars is
self-sterilizing. They believe the combination of
solar ultraviolet radiation that saturates the
surface, the extreme dryness of the soil and the
oxidizing nature of the soil chemistry prevent
the formation of living organisms in the Martian
soil. The question of life on Mars at some time
in the distant past remains open.
14
The First Rover
Mars Pathfinder was the first instrumented lander
and robotic rover to study the surface of Mars.
Findings from the investigations carried out by
scientific instruments on both the lander and
the rover suggest that Mars was at one time in
its past warm and wet, with water existing in its
liquid state and a thicker atmosphere.
15
Mars Exploration Rovers
Artists Concept Image NASA
The Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and
Opportunity, are currently studying how past
water activity on Mars has influenced the red
planet's environment over time.
16
Spirit
In March 2005, Spirit studied rocks in the Paso
Robles area that have a high sulfur content.
Much of the high sulfur is contained in a
hydrated iron-sulfate mineral that can only have
formed in the presence of liquid water.
17
Opportunity
Opportunitys spectrometer and microscopic imager
found that rocks near the lower slopes of
Endurance Crater were affected by water both
before and after the crater formed.
18
Future Exploration of Mars
Though no concrete plans are underway for a
manned Mars visit early in the next century,
several studies have been launched to investigate
possibilities for such visits following possible
unmanned missions.