3000 mi x 300 mi x 4 mi 5-10 x longer, deeper, wider than Grand Canyon as long as U.S. is wide crack in Tharsis uplift (1/4 all) - not erosion cratered S. Hem Victoria crater zoom view of rover at crater edge view from rover lava-filled basins shallow - water erosion RUNNING WATER . . . . . . NOW! . . . NOW! . . . more NOW . . . more images . . . water droplets on Phoenix lander? . . . & in PAST sinuous channels chaotic collapse - melt, flood erosion chemistry - Mars Rover gallery -- landing map WHERE IS MOST WATER NOW ? permafrost frozen seas? glaciers? polar caps seasonal - summer N gone carbon dioxide ice on top water ice below 1-1.5 miles thick enough water to cover surface 60 foot deep wind features sand dunes - (frosty dunes) terracing in polar caps streaks dust devils - phoenix lander view INTERIOR less dense -- not differentiated much smaller core ATMOSPHERE thin & freezing Composition: CO2 carbon dioxide Surface temperature -200 --> +80 F Structure: clouds of water, CO2 ice Weather local & global wind storms (70 mi/hr at surface) S Hem summer hottest Mars closer to Sun extra convection blowing dust varies look LIFE ON MARS ? warmer in past water ran, rain fell (?) atmosphere leaked away --- gravity too weak? - no magnetic shielding? (small size -> cooled core) => solar wind eroded it away? methane recently detected! not stable in Martian atm (destroyed by UV) -- must be replenished active volcanos? LIFE ?!? no life found yet ON Mars, but . . . Martians MAY have been found on Earth !! MAGNETOSPHERE weak: 0.002 x Earth's => no molten core? ⇒ lack of geothermal activity MOONS Phobos (fear) 30 km Deimos (panic) 15 km both irregularly shaped: - neither crushed O by grav captured asteroids ? Mars exploration Mars Pathfinder Mars Global Surveyor Mars Surveyor 2001 Two Rovers land in 2004 Mars Express - gallery Curiosity Rover - 2012 the color of Mars - Don Davis images & movie from amateur Howard Anderson
INTERIOR
the color of Mars - Don Davis
images & movie from amateur Howard Anderson