Surface of Mars Lab

Brooke Masterson

AST 115 H, Plavchan

3/22/2016

Introduction:

Mars.  A terrestrial planet that has fascinated humankind since its discovery.  There have been movies made about life forms on Mars.  Countries who can send spacecraft to Mars to document what is on its surface.  People are puzzled by its redness, its dust storms, its likeness of Earth.  Countries are fascinated with the idea of life forming there in the future. Needless to say, this lab was given to astronomy students in this class in the hopes that these students would learn more than just the funny stories, myths, and basic facts about this interesting planet in our solar system.  It challenges students to know which countries have sent which rovers/landers to its surface and why.  This lab challenges students to predict what is happening on Mars' surface, discover answers using credible sources, and have fun learning there are different ways to look at a planet (visible light, infrared light, ground-base images).  

Purpose of the Lab:

Learn more about the features on Mars' surface.  Learn how to utilize online resources and the differences between fact and fiction when it comes to this loved planet.  Learn how to write a professional lab report that could be replicated if another person wanted to complete this lab too.  

Results and Discussion:

Below in black are the pictures and questions asked in the lab, accompanied by my answers in blue and screenshots from my resources.  

   A)  Percival Lowell was a businessman and astronomer who died 100 years ago in 1916.  This is what Percival Lowell recorded that he saw on the surface of Mars when he looked through his telescope.  Compare Percival Lowell's drawings to one of the best images taken with the Hubble Space Telescope in 2003.

 

Percival Lowell thought he was seeing evidence of advanced intelligent people on Mars, as evidenced by vast canals spanning the planet. 

a.     Why would Percival think he saw canals?  Hint: think about our own civilization more than 100 years ago.  What were the dominant modes of transportation?

                                               i.     One hundred years ago, the main mode of transportation was horses and carriages.  Cars were present in America, but there were only around 8,000 of them (history class fun fact).  Percival probably thought he saw canals because from a far distance, the surface of mars looks like it is a lot of rivers and streams.  I looked up a picture of the Venetian canals, and I can imagine how Percival would mistake Mars’ surface for it. 

                                              Maybe Percival thought that they were canals because canals are not as structured (they can’t really be structured, it is water) as roads are.  But still, having a canal system as a mode of transportation still requires intelligent life forms to create. 

Sources for screenshots: earthobservatory.nasa.govhttps://www.google.com/search?tbs=simg%3Am00&tbnid=NJKuy0onwSAQXM%3A&docid=xwn4UuXiFpHNKM&tbm=isch

AND

disneycruiselineblog.comhttps://www.google.com/search?tbs=simg%3Am00&tbnid=PnbZQZUeDWx-RM%3A&docid=W_EUYlGwcHdvVM&tbm=isch

b.     What was Percival seeing instead?

                                               i.     Instead of canals, Percival was seeing dust storms.  Mars has a lot of dust storms, and that explains why Lowell’s drawings and the Hubble’s pictures look different every day. 

B)    Here are typical sets of images that can be obtained with Mars from telescopes on the ground (with digital camera and careful observing practices):

a.     What are the main features that you can identify from the images taken from surface of the Earth?  What might be they caused by or produced by?  Can you see anything that resembles craters, mountains, or seas?

                                               i.     The images of Mars taken from Earth are not very detailed.  However, it still looks like there is possibly ice at the bottom of Mars.  It doesn’t look like there are any mountains or valleys, in my opinion.  I could assume how one could predict there are seas on Mars based on the pictures, but I know that it isn’t good to base that idea on the colors in the false-color pictures. 

b.     How are these ground-based images similar to the Hubble Space Telescope image?  How are they different?  Why might our views of Mars be changing?  Are they more detailed or less detailed?

                                               i.     The ground-based images are less detailed than the Hubble Space Telescope images (not that you can tell with the pictures of the pictures I supplied here, but there is a huge difference).  They are different in other ways too.  It looks like there are different dust storms raging on Mars on the days the pictures were taken, or there are different compositions on Mars.  The pictures are similar because one can probably recognize all of the pictures are of Mars – due to the possible ice caps/high elevation points on Mars’ north and south poles. 

c.      Does Mars have a lot of visible craters like the moon at Mercury?  What does this mean?

                                               i.     Mars has less visible craters on it than the Moon.  Most of the craters on Mars are in its Southern Hemisphere.  My prediction as to why there are only craters in that area is either due to the dust storm not allowing people on Earth to know there are more craters on Mars OR because there is erosion or lava flows that have wiped Mars’ surface clean of craters.

d.     The “S”-shaped sequences of Mars-shaped images clearly show Mars appearing to change in size.  They were taken over several months.  What is going on?

                                               i.     The reason for Mars appearing to change in size is due to Mars going through retrograde motion.  Retrograde motion is the apparent motion of a plane in a direction opposite to that of other bodies within its system, as observed from a particular vantage point.  In certain points in Mars’ orbit around the sun, Mars is closer to Earth – that is why Mars seems to grow in size in the “S” shaped sequence.

C)   Here are two more images taken months apart with the Hubble Space Telescope:

a.     What are the main features that you can identify in these images?

                                               i.     The main features I can identify in these images are craters, clouds, lower elevation, more clouds, and a huge dust storm on the picture to the right.  I mention where I think they are above in the picture.  

b.     How are these two images similar and different?

                                               i.     The image on the right is more red than the image on the left, and less features of the surface of Mars can be seen.  The two pictures were taken in different months – June and September of 2001.  Both pictures are similar in the way that they were taken from the same distance away from the Hubble Space telescope. 

c.      What is going on here?

                                               i.     There is a huge dust storm happening in September 4^th of 2001 on Mars.  However, on June 26, it is a very clear day, so we can see more of Mars' surface.

D)   We first landed on mars in the 1970s with the Viking missions, and have sent rovers to Mars for the past 20 years since July 4^th, 1997, starting with the Mars Pathfinder mission.  We have also sent a series of orbiters, including the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft that operated until its batteries failed in 2006.  Currently there are a total of seven spacecraft either orbiting (MAVEN< Odyssey, Express, and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) or roving he surface of (Curiosity, Spirit, Opportunity) Mars today.  The last two pages of this lab contain a labeled map of Mars to use.  Google Mars shows a false-color relief (elevation) map of the surface of Mars, revealing many details about the planet. 

a.     What do the four highest features on Mars appear to be?  What could that mean?

                                               i.     The four highest features on Mars appear to me to be either really unorthodox craters or volcanoes that have melted due to coldness.  That means that maybe Mars was volcanically active in the past, but isn’t anymore (because I think NASA would have known about it by now). 

b.     In the elevation map of the planet, what is the most noticeable difference between the Northern and Southern hemispheres of Mars?  What might this mean?

                                               i.     The Northern hemisphere is less elevated than the Southern hemisphere.  As I mentioned previously, the Southern hemisphere is where all of the craters are.  Maybe the northern hemisphere is where the lava flowed to when Mars was volcanically active because I guess that, like rain, lava flows to lower elevated places and pools there.  Maybe that’s why the northern hemisphere doesn’t have any visible craters. 

c.      Which hemisphere appears to have most of the impact craters?

                                               i.     The Southern hemisphere appears to have most of the impact craters.

d.     What appears to be the largest impact crater on Mars? 

                                               i.     Galle Crater Dunes, which is located at 51.5 S, 31 E.  It is referred to as the "Happy Face" or "Smiley Face" crater

                                              ii.     http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/gallery/craters/PIA01676.html

                                           

            

e.     Find the landing sites for the US Viking I and II spacecraft, which touched down on July 20^th and September 3^rd of 1976 (40 years ago).  What type of terrain did they land in?  What do you think were the reasons for choosing these particular areas?  From the elevation map, were they high or low elevation regions on the surface?

       The Viking Lander I landed in a very low elevation region in the Northern hemisphere, but near the four highest points on Mars.  It was -6km in elevation.  The Viking Lander II landed in a very low elevation region in the Northern hemisphere.  It was -6km.  I think this particular landing spot was chosen for the United States so they could further explore a low region of elevation.  Both of them landed in 1975, and I predict that NASA wanted to send these landers to opposite sides of Mars because they wanted to gather as much diverse information about Mars as possible - hence sending the landers to opposite sides of Mars, essentially.  But they didn't really differ in the landing sites' type of elevation.  

First picture is Viking Lander I, second one is Viking Lander II.     

f.      Find the landing site of the US Mars Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity, and Curiosity spacecraft.  What type of terrain did they land in?  What could have been the reasons for choosing these areas?

Pathfinder - low elevation in the Northern hemisphere.  -6km.  Landed in 1996 - the year I was born!




Opportunity - landed in a little bit of a higher elevation than Pathfinder, 3 km and it was in the same area.  Landed in 2003, and it is sort of cratered, so that's probably why they were checking out that area. 



Spirit - landed in the same elevation as Opportunity, 3 km, but on the opposite side of the four highest points on Mars.  It landed in a bigger crater, so that's probably what they wanted to learn more about.  Landed in 2003.



Curiosity - landed in the same elevation as Opportunity and Spirit, around 3km, and it was to the left of Spirit's landing site.  It landed in 2012, and the US probably wanted to spread out its exploration of Mars more to the West - that's the pattern that the US landed these spacecrafts over the years.  (My prediction)

g.     The Soviet Mars 3 spacecraft was the first soft landing on December 2^nd, 1971 at the Ptolemaeus Crater on mars.  Find it on your maps.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mars_3  After 14.5 seconds, trasmission from the surface stopped.  It may have fallen over, or there was a dust storm raging on Mars at the time that could have fried the electronics.  Give a reasonable explanation for why it may have fallen over.

                                               i.     I think that is fell over due to a dust storm or a strong wind blowing it over.  It says on Google maps that the transmission sent signal back to Earth/satellite for twenty seconds after landing.  That leads me to believe that the Mars 3 Lander did land successfully.  I think that the Lander had to have been upright in order to send out a transmission.  Therefore, I think the only logical reason is a dust storm blowing over the already stable Lander.    

E)   With the Google Mars map views (elevation, visible, infared):

a.     Search for the landing sites of the Mars Exploration Rovers (Spirit and Opportunity).  They landed at Gusev Crater and Meridiani Terra. 

Here are screenshots of Spirit and Opportunity in the elevation setting, then the infrared.

b.     Zoom in on each landing site and describe each site as to the features present and their elevations.  Suggest reasons why these particular places might have been chosen. 

                                               i.     The Spirit Rover landed in an elevation around -3km, but it was near a part of Mars around 2km of elevation.  I think this rover was sent to roam the more elevated parts of Mars in Mars’ Southeastern regions.  Just like the Opportunity, it was sent to an area with brown infrared light – again, not sure if that is a glitch in Google but that is an interesting point of similarity. 

                                              ii.     The Opportunity Rover landed in -3km elevation in the Northern Hemisphere.  I predict that this Rover was sent to this region of Mars to discover some lower elevation terrain and the nearby craters.  I don’t know if the coloring on the Google maps is a glitch or not, but the fact that this region of Mars emits a brown infrared light might have been a reason for them to explore that region, too.   

c.      Look at each landing site in the visible and infrared and determine whether you can see things in one wavelength of light that you cannot see in the other.  Describe your findings.

                                               i.     Yes.  With both the Spirit and the Opportunity’s landing sites, I can see more details of the landing site and the craters around it in the infrared light rather than the visible light.  That lets astronomers know that human eyes/visible light doesn't always tell us the whole story when it comes to seeing something.

d.     Search Niger Valles using the Google Mars search tool.  Increase the magnification and follow Niger Valles by eye from its high elevation beginning to its low elevation end.  What seems to have been going on here? Describe your findings. 

                                               i.     Here are some screenshots of the Niger Valles, thanks to Google Maps (a link provided earlier in the lab)

                                              ii.     In my opinion, the Niger Valles looks like a river that starts in a high elevation (-3km) and  lowers in elevation from its beginning to its ends at -6km elevation.  I think that this Niger Valles, which is named after a river in Africa, is like a river would be like on Mars – it was a lava river.  It carried lava from the higher elevation to the lower elevation.  That is my prediction, at least, because it is shaped like a river would be shaped on Earth.  However, there is no evidence of a volcano at the highest point in elevation of the Niger Valles, so that theory is pure speculation and not based on any fact.  Or, instead of the river idea, that drop in elevation for the Niger Valles could be proof of tectonic plates on Mars shifting to create a valley of that huge size.  I like the river of lava idea way better though.  

F)    NASA spacecraft continue to explore MARS today.  See http://science.nasa.gov/missions/.  If you were planning the next mission to Mars, what would its goals be?

a.     I would examine the four highest peaks on Mars!  I want to know how they formed, if there are others possibly forming on Mars, everything.  I also want to know why the northern most high point is in brown infrared light while the others are only in black and white!  I’m very curious about those formations.   (I took some screenshots of the area)

Below is a picture of a map of Mars given in the lab.  

Conclusion

I learned that Mars is more complex than other planets I've studied so far.  It has a relatively uncluttered Northern hemisphere while the Southern hemisphere does have craters.  Also, Mars has four high points that I can't explain, as an amateur astronomer, if I can even be called that.  Sometimes, I discovered that infrared light is better to use because that light picks up more details of the surface of Mars than visible light or the elevation feature on Google maps shows.  That was a really fun fact for me to learn and use throughout the lab.  Another thing I learned is that landers/rovers on Mars spread out as far as they possibly could, but most of them stayed in the lower elevation areas.  Maybe the countries who made the rovers are like me, and are curious as to why there is a lack of craters in the northern hemisphere.  Those are some of the things, besides where the biggest crater was, about the surface of Mars.  I hope that more money will be put to finding answers to all of humankind's questions about Mars because it is still a mysterious planet.