3. Curiosity

4. Curiosity pictures
Rover view

5. Old Rover
View form older rover

8. Did you know they found water on Mars?

9. Obj. #1 Describe Mars
Mars is named for the Roman God of War because of its reddish color from rusting iron that makes up surface. Covered with rocks and sand.
It’s diameter is about ½ of Earth’s (3400m)
It’s Mass is about 1/10 of Earth’s

10. Orbit- 685 days
Rotation hours. Has tilted axis which gives it seasons
Atmosphere- 95% carbon dioxide. This atmosphere is too thin to protect planet.

11. Obj. 2 Describe the moons of Mars
Mars has two moons:
1.Phobos (fear)
2. Deimos (panic)
They were name after the two horses that pull the chariot of the god Mars in greek mythology.

12. Phobos

13. Deimos

14. Obj. 3 Describe the surface of Mars
The Vikings revealed that the surface of Mars is a cold, reddish, dusty and rocky desert. The red color is actually iron oxide minerals
Northern hemisphere: Younger has the volcanic plains
Southern hemisphere: Older heavily cratered highlands.

15. Surface features:
Olympus Mons: the largest volcanic mountain in the Solar System rising 24 km (78,000 ft.) above the surrounding plain. Its base is more than 500 km in diameter.
It is the size of the state Missouri
It rises 16 miles which is nearly three times Mt. Everest height!!

16. Olympus Mons is a shield volcano, the result of highly fluid lava flowing out of volcanic vents over a long period of time
It is a young volcano…which means it may be active
Located on the Tharsis Bulge

17. Olympus Mons

18. Tharsis: a huge bulge on the Martian surface that is about 4000 km across and 10 km high.

19. Tharsis Bulge

20. Valles Marineris: a system of canyons 4000 km long and from 2 to 7 km deep
This canyon system would cover the United States!
Was thought to be a canal at one time

21. Valles Marineris

22. Valles Marineris

24. Hellas Planitia: an impact crater in the southern hemisphere over 6 km deep and 2000 km in diameter

25. Hellas Planitia

26. Obj. 4 Describe the polar ice caps
Mars has ice caps on both its north and south poles. The ice caps are made of water ice and carbon dioxide ice (dry ice).
Two kinds of ice caps: 1. Seasonal ice caps - Grow during the winter season, and evaporate during the summer.

27. 2. The Residual caps remain during the entire year.

28. Mars Ice Caps

29. Missions to Mars
Viking missions- Put the first lander on the planet in 1976.
Pathfinder missions- Put the first lander on mars with a small rover in 1997
Spirit and Opportunity- Put two rovers on Mars in 2003 and These rovers were the first to truly rove the planet.
Curiosity- Landed in 2012, This rover is the size of a small car and is nuclear powered.

30. Viking Lander

32. Obj. 7 Describe the atmosphere of Mars
The atmosphere is 95% carbon dioxide,
3% nitrogen, and argon…and no oxygen
The atmosphere is extremely thin
A person standing on the surface of Mars would feel the same atmospheric pressure of someone 18 miles above the surface of Earth.

33. Message from Mars