Chan H. Ahn

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Yummy....
Presented by Chan H. Ahn
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Basic Info About Mars

• Fourth Planet in the Solar System
• Known since historic times
• Named after Mars, the Greek God of War
• The month March is also related to Mars
• Known as the Fire Planet in China

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Martians ????
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In 1996, a team of NASA researchers stunned the
world when they announced that they had found
fossil evidence of life inside Mars meteorite ALH
84001, a chunk of rock that had been knocked off
Mars and had landed on Earth.
On 25 July, 1976, Viking Orbiter 1 photographed a
heavily cratered highlands to the south from low
lying, relatively crater-free, lowland plains.
Among the hills was one that, to the Viking
investigators scrutinizing the images for likely
landing sites, resembled a face.
Lowell, Percival 1855-1916. American
astronomer. He founded the Lowell Observatory in
Arizona (1894), where his studies of Mars led him
to believe that the linear markings on the
surface were "canals" and therefore that the
planet was inhabited by intelligent beings.
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Really?
Oxygen?
Sand Storms
Atmosphere is 95 CO2 and 0.15 O2
Canals?
Non-existent. Just rift valleys
Meteorites?
It is important to note while this evidence is
strong it by no means establishes the fact of
extraterrestrial life. There have also been
several contradictory studies published since
1996. Extraordinary claims require extraordinary
evidence.
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As far back as 1940, astronomers using telescopes
with spectrographic measuring equipment knew
oxygen and water vapor were extremely rare around
Mars. The exact composition of the atmosphere
only became known when interplanetary space
probes from Earth began to examine the planet at
close range. The early Mars probe spacecraft
found small traces of water vapor, but no
evidence of life or canals on the Martian
surface. However, the planet's south polar cap in
early Spring showed frost-covered crater rims
poking up through thick deposits of frozen carbon
dioxide.
Water? Yup!
Too little though
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Mars' Two Moons
Phobos orbit 9378 km from the center of
Marsdiameter 22.2 km (27 x 21.6 x 18.8) mass
1.08e16 kg
Deimos orbit 23,459 km from Mars diameter
12.6 km (15 x 12.2 x 11) mass 1.8e15 kg
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History of Mars Bars

• In 1920, after visiting a local drugstore with
  his son Forrest, Frank C. Mars thought a version
  of chocolate, malted milk would sell thousands.
  Eventually, Frank C. Mars of Minnesota created
  the Mars candy bar in 1923.

Americans Hate Mars??
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Offline References

• Beatty, J. K. and A. Chaikin, eds. The New Solar
  System. Massachusetts Sky Publishing, 3rd
  Edition, 1990.
• Carr M. H. The Surface of Mars. Yale University
  Press, New Haven, 1981.
• Kiefer, Walter S., Allan H. Treiman, and Stephen
  M. Clifford. The Red Planet A Survey of Mars -
  Slide Set. Lunar and Planetary Institute.
• Mutch T. A., Arvidson R. E., Head J. W. III,
  Jones K. L., and Saunders R. S. The Geology of
  Mars. Princeton University Press, Princeton,
  1976.
• Williams, Steven H. The Winds of Mars Aeolian
  Activity and Landforms - Slide Set. Lunar and
  Planetary Institute

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Online Resources

• http//astrobiology.arc.nasa.gov/news/expandnews.c
  fm?id1168
• http//dept.physics.upenn.edu/nineplanets/mars.htm
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• http//seds.lpl.arizona.edu/nineplanets/nineplanet
  s/mars.html
• http//www.mars.com/About_us/The_Mars_story.asp
• http//www.solarviews.com/eng/mars.htm