1. Telescopes to Pathfinder
Past Mars Exploration
Telescopes to Pathfinder

2. The Beginnings
Tycho Brahe studies Mars’ motion to support Copernican view of the Solar Sytem
Kepler used this to lay the foundations for his three laws of motion
Galileo first to observe Mars with a telescope in 1609

3. Canals on Mars? Schiaparelli observes Mars in 1877 and sees “canali”
This inspires many, including Percival Lowell to observe Mars.

5. A Reality Check
Mariner 4 did the first fly by in 1965 and sent back pictures and data, including the following:

10. Then On to Viking
Two orbiters and landers arrive in Martian Orbit in 1976

17. Mars Global Surveyor
Arrives in orbit in 1996 and aerobrakes into a circular orbit over a period of two years

22. Pathfinder 1997

26. Spirit and Opportunity

27. Mars Statistics Mass (kg) 6.421e+23 Mass (Earth = 1) 1.0745e-01
Equatorial radius (km) 3,397.2 Equatorial radius (Earth = 1) e-01
Mean density (gm/cm^3) 3.94
Mean distance from the Sun (km) 227,940,000
Mean distance from the Sun (Earth = 1)1.5237
Rotational period (hours)
Rotational period (days)
Orbital period (days)
Mean orbital velocity (km/sec) 24.13
Orbital eccentricity0.0934
Tilt of axis (degrees) Orbital inclination (degrees) 1.850
Equatorial surface gravity (m/sec^2) 3.72
Equatorial escape velocity (km/sec) 5.02
Visual geometric albedo0.15
Magnitude (Vo)-2.01

28. Minimum surface temperature-140°C
Mean surface temperature-63°C
Maximum surface temperature 20°C
Atmospheric pressure (bars) 0.007
Atmospheric composition
Carbon Dioxide (C02) %
Nitrogen (N2)
2.7000%
Argon (Ar)
1.6000%
Oxygen (O2)
0.1300%
Carbon Monoxide (CO)
0.0700%
Water (H2O)
0.0300%
Neon (Ne)
0.0003%
Krypton (Kr)
0.0000%