Mars the Red planet

Part 5: Mars the Red planet

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Mars: The Red Planet (p. 651-653)(Prentice Hall 2006)

"Mars has evoked greater interest than any other planet. When one imagines intelligent life on other worlds, little green Martians may come to mind. Mars is easy to observe, which may explain why so many people are fascinated by it. The surface of all other planets within telescope range ae hidden by clouds- except for Mercury, whose nearness to the sun makes viewing it difficult."

Mars: the red planet (p 651-653)

"Mars is known as the Red Planet because it appears to be a reddish ball when viewed through a telescope. Mars also has some dark regions that change intensity during the Martian year. The most prominent telescopic features of Mars are its brilliant polar caps."

Mars: The Red Planet ( p. 651-653 ) cont.

"The Martian Atmosphere: The Martian atmosphere has only 1 percent the density of Earth's. It is made up primarily of carbon dioxide with tiny amounts of water vapor. Data from Mars probes confirm that the polar caps of Mars are made of water ice, covered by a thin layer of frozen carbon dioxide . As winter nears in either hemisphere, temperatures drop to _125 degrees C. and additional carbon dioxide is deposited."

Multiple Choice

True / False mar's polar ice caps are made mostly of water ice.

• True

• False

Mars: the red planet cont.

" Although the atmosphere of Mars is very thin, extensive dust storms occur and may cause the color changes observed from Earth. Hurricane-force winds up to 270 Km/h can persist for weeks. As shown in figure 9 (p652 Prentice Hall 2006), images from, Spirit reveal a Martian landscape remarkably similar to a rocky desert on Earth, with abundant sand dunes and impact craters partially filled with dust."

Mars the Red planet cont.

"Surface Features: Mariner 9, the first spacecraft to orbit another planet, reached Mars in 1971 amid a raging dust storm. When the dust cleared, images of Mars' northern hemisphere revealed numerous large volcanoes. The biggest, Olympus Mons, is the size of Ohio and is 23km high- over two and a half times higher than Mount Everest. This gigantic volcano and others resemble Hawaiian shield volcanoes on Earth."

Mars: The Red Planet cont.

" Most Martian surface features are old by Earth standards. The highly cratered southern hemisphere is probably 3.5billion to 4.5 billion years old. Even the relatively 'fresh' volcanic features of the northern hemisphere may be older than 1 billion years. Another surprising find made by Mariner 9 was the existence of several canyons that are much larger that Earth's Grand Canyon. The largest, Valles Marineris, is shown in figure 10 (p. 652 Prentis Hall 2006)."

Multiple Choice

True/ False There are active volcanoes on Mars.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

True/ False Mars often has dust storms.

• True

• False

Mars: The REd Planet cont.

"It is thought to have formed by slippage of material along huge faults in the crustal layer. In this respect, it would be comparable to the rift - valleys of Africa."

Multiple Choice

True/ False Mars has canyons that are much larger than Earth's Grand Canyon.

• True

• False

Mars the Red Planet cont.

"Water on Mars: Some areas of Mars exhibit drainage patterns similar to those created by streams on Earth. The rover Opportunity, for example, found evidence of evaporite minerals and geologic formations associated with liquid water, as shown in Figure 11 ( p. 653 Prentice Hall 2006) In addition, Viking images have revealed ancient islands in what is now a dry streambed. when these streamlike channels were first discovered, some observers speculated that a thick water-laden atmosphere capable of generating torrential downpours once existed on Mars. If so, what happened to this water? The present Martian atmosphere contains only trace of water."

Multiple Choice

True/ False There is possible evidence that liquid water once flowed on Mars

• True

• False

Mars: The REd Planet cont.

"Images from the Mars Global Surveyor indicate that groundwater has recently migrated to the surface. These springs-like seeps have created gullies where they emerge from valley and crater walls. Some of the scaping water may have initially frozen due to the average Martian temperatures that range between - 70 degrees Celsius and -100 degrees Celsius. Eventually, however, it seeped out as a slurry of sediment, ice and liquid that formed the gullies."

Mars: The Red Planet

"Many scientists do not accept the theory that Mars once had an active water cycle similar to Earth's. Rather they believe that most of the large stream-like valleys were created by the collapse of surface material caused by the slow melting of subsurface ice. Data from Opportunity, however , indicate that some areas were 'drenched' in water. It will take scientists many months, if not years, to analyze the data gathered by the latest Mars mission . Because water is an essential ingredient for life, scientists and nonscientists alike are enthusiastic about exploring this phenomenon. "

Multiple Choice

True/ False Liquid water currently flows on the Martian surface.

• True

• False