Title: Why explore Mars?
1Why explore Mars?
- To better understand planets in our Solar System
and thus how the Solar System formed - To better understand the likelihood of planets
around other stars - To establish in the future another home for
humans. - Our history tells us we are explorers!
- To answer the question
2Are we alone? In Search of Life
3Have we found life? Well, no, not yet
Cydonia Region Viking 1 1976
Global Surveyor April 2001
4Mariner 4 1965Mariner 6 7 1969Mariner 9
1971
5Mars Two Views
6Mars Vital Stats
7The two Martian moons resemble asteroids
- Mars has two small, football-shaped satellites
that move in orbits close to the surface of the
planet - They may be captured asteroids or may have formed
in orbit around Mars out of solar system debris
8Mars Up Close
9Clouds Above Mars Volcanos
10The Volcano Olympus Mons
11Viking 1976
12Viking 1 First Images
13Winter Frost _at_ Viking 2
14Pathfinder and Sojourner 1997
15Pathfinder 1997
16Mars Global Surveyor 1996 - 2006
17Mars Odyssey 2001
18Mars The Case for Water
19Gustev Crater from Mars Odyssey March 2003
20Spirit and Opportunity 2004
21All around Spirit
22Spirit Panorama in Gustev Crater
23Up Close from Spirit
24 on Mars
25Opportunity
26Mars here and there
27Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2005 -)
28A Martian Avalanche from MROFebruary 2008 North
Polar Area
29York U on Mars 2008 NASA Phoenix Mission
30Phoenix objectives/instruments
- Study the history of water by examining water ice
beneath the Martian surface (north polar region). - Determine if the arctic Martian soil could
support life. - Instruments MET, Robotic Arm, Surface
Stereoscopic Imager (SSI), Thermal and Evolved
Gas Analyzer (TEGA), Mars Descent Imager (MARDI)
Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity
Analyzer (MECA).
31Where is Phoenix?
32Going down
33On the surface at the North Pole
34At the North Pole
35Digging for ice on Mars
36Instruments on Phoenix
37Temperatures at the North Pole
38Snow on Mars using Lidar
39The Near Future
40The More Distant future
41Any Questions?