Starry Monday at Otterbein

1. Welcome to Starry Monday at Otterbein Astronomy Lecture Series -every first Monday of the month- March 7, 2005 Dr. Uwe Trittmann

2. Today’s Topics • Mission to Mars • The Night Sky in March

3. Feedback! • Please write down suggestions/your interests on the note pads provided • If you would like to hear from us, please leave your email / address • To learn more about astronomy and physics at Otterbein, please visit • http://www.otterbein.edu/dept/PHYS/weitkamp.asp (Obs.) • http://www.otterbein.edu/dept/PHYS/ (Physics Dept.)

4. Mission to Mars • A first look at Mars • Early Mars missions • Last years missions: Spirit, Opportunity & Mars Express • Future Mars missions

5. Mars - A Terrestrial Planet (i.e. small, dense and rocky) Mercury Mars Venus Earth

6. Mars • Half the diameter of Earth • Density similar to that of the moon • Surface temperature –180 F to -10 F • Day ~ 24.6 hours • Year ~ 2 Earth years • Seasons like on Earth • Thin atmosphere, mostly carbon dioxide • 1/150 the pressure of Earth’s atmosphere

7. Mars’ Surface Features • Tharsis region rises 10 km above Martian surface • Contains huge volcanoes • Valles Marineris – Martian “Grand Canyon” • 4000 km long, up to 120 km across and 7 km deep • So large that it can be seen from Earth

8. Martian Volcanoes • Olympus Mons • Largest known volcano in the solar system • 450 mi across at base • Peak ~16 mi high (almost 3 times as tall as Mt. Everest!)

9. Dust Storms

10. Mars – The next Earth? • Mars looks a lot like Earth • The big questions: • Is there (or was there) water? • Is there (or was there) life? • Can we as humans get there? • Can we as humans survive there in the long term?

11. Martian Surface Iron gives the characteristic Mars color: rusty red! View of Viking 1 1 m rock Sojourner

12. Martian Panorama Note: the sky is not black as on the moon, but pale pink of the dust in the atmosphere! “Twin Peaks” – about 1 mile away

13. Viking Lander Experiments (1976) • Search for bacteria-like forms of life • Assumed such life would be similar to Earth bacteria • Results inconclusive at best • Did not test for extinct life forms

14. Today’s Mars Panorama: Opportunity, Spirit & Mars Express

15. Mars Rovers Homepage • http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/home/ • Has great images, slide shows of week to week progress and discoveries and more

16. Size of the Rovers

17. Landing Sites A couple of 1000 miles apart!

18. Rover life is tough! • Both rovers have outlived their life expectancy threefold …and counting • They are remote-controlled, though they have some amount of built-in strategies • However: one mistake – and it might be all over! • Time delay from control center to rover: • Distance: 60 – 370 million kilometers • or: 3 – 20 light minutes

22. Important Mission: Find water! • Why is water so important? • Without water • No chance for life on Mars • No chance for humans surviving on Mars • Isn’t there a lot of ice at the poles? • Yes, but it’s mostly dry ice (CO2) • The search for water is very subtle, like a detective you look for “hints” and “traces”

23. Outflow Channels Runoff channels Water on Mars? - Hints Mars Louisiana

29. European Space Agency (ESA) • http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/Mars_Express/index.html • Another great resource for Mars information • Mars Express is spectacularly successful, although in public opinion this is overshadowed by the Beagle 2 failure (the lander was lost during landing)

30. Mars Express • Launched June 2, 2003 • Arrived at Mars December 2003 • Lander: Beagle 2 (lost) • Mass: 1200 kg (equivalent to a large car)

31. Mars Express Orbiter Mission • image the entire surface at high resolution (10 meters/pixel) and selected areas at super resolution (2 meters/pixel) • produce a map of the mineral composition of the surface at 100 meter resolution • map the composition of the atmosphere and determine its global circulation • determine the structure of the sub-surface to a depth of a few kilometers • determine the effect of the atmosphere on the surface • determine the interaction of the atmosphere with the solar wind.

32. Mars Express Pictures • Glacial, volcanic and fluvial activity on Mars

34. Estimates of abundance of Water … have changed dramatically over the decades

35. Where is the Water? • The water could have been lost to space, trapped underground, or both. • Mars Express will observe the atmosphere and reveal processes by which water vapor and other atmospheric gases could have escaped into space. • Also examines the surface and will actually look for underground water and ice.

36. A Trip to Mars? • Wernher von Braun (1952): first realistic proposal for a Mars mission • 1969: Space Task Group called for a manned mission to Mars by 1981 • Space program lost momentum in early 1970s • Ride report (1989) urged manned mission to Mars • Report of the Advisory Committee on the Future of the Space Program (1990) acknowledged that • “…the long term magnet for the manned space program is the planet Mars – the human exploration of Mars… Such an undertaking probably must be justified largely on the basis of intangibles”

37. The Moon-Mars Initiative • NASA website: “The Vision announced by President George W. Bush on Jan. 14, 2004, offers a "building block" strategy of human and robotic missions, beginning with returning the Space Shuttle to flight and completing the International Space Station. It calls for humans to return to the moon by 2020 and eventually explore Mars and beyond.” • http://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/explore_main.html

38. Moon-Mars is highly controversial • Report from the American Physical Society Panel on Public Affairs: “The cost of overcoming technological challenges could far exceed budgetary projections. Many approved science programs could be jeopardized” (http://www.aura-astronomy.org/nv/APS_Report.pdf)

39. Going to Mars: Is it realistic? • Judge for yourself! • Keep in mind: • To the moon it takes a week round trip • To Mars it takes a year round trip • Space Hazards • Radiation • Micrometeorites • High g forces during liftoff • Low gravity • Psychological effects • Requirements • Air • Food • Water • Temperature • Personal hygiene

40. On the way to Mars: Moon Station

41. On Mars

42. Current Mars Plan • Mars Surveyor 2003 (Discovery of water!) • Twin rovers (Spirit & Opportunity) arrived January ‘04 • Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (2005) • 2007: “Scout missions” • 2009: Italian communications satellite to provide data transfer capability; smart lander; long range rover • 2014–2016: return of Martian soil and rock samples to Earth ($1-2 billion) • A human on Mars by 2020 @ $500 billion (?)

43. The Night Sky in March • The sun is getting higher -> shorter nights! • Spring constellations (Cancer,Leo,Coma,Virgo,…) contain few bright stars but many galaxies • Jupiter is in opposition this month (i.e. at its brightest)

44. Moon Phases • Today (Waning crescent, 10%) • 2 / 10 (New Moon) • 2 / 17 (First Quarter Moon) • 2 / 25 (Full Moon) • 4 / 1 (Last Quarter Moon)

45. Today at Noon • Sun at meridian, i.e. exactly south

46. 10 PM Typical observing hour, early March • no Moon • Jupiter • Saturn at meridian

47. Zenith High in the sky: Perseus and Auriga with Plejades and the Double Cluster

48. North-East • Big Dipper points to the north pole

49. South-West • The Winter Constellations • Orion • Taurus • Canis Major • Gemini • Canis Minor

50. South Spring Constellations - Cancer - Leo - Hydra Deep Sky Objects: - Beehive Cluster (M44)