Next Stop: Mars!
Walter S. Kiefer
Lunar and Planetary Institute
Earth and Mars
Basic Facts about Mars
Diameter:
Mars Day:
Mars Year:
Mass:
Gravity:
Atmosphere:
Atmospheric
Pressure:
Surface
Temperature:
6,794 km (53% of Earth)
24 hours 37 minutes
687 Earth days
11% of Earth
38% of Earth
95% Carbon Dioxide
< 1% of Earth at sea
level
-125 to +20 Celsius
(-193 to 68 °F)
Giant Volcanos
Valles Marineris
An Impact
Scarred Surface
Ancient Floods
50 km
Streamlined
Features
Valley Networks
25 km
5 km
Phobos and
Deimos
A Desert World
A Geologic Time Machine
A Dusty Place
• Mars Spirit Rover at Gusev Crater
• Mini-tornados - 20 to 60 mph wind
• 30 to 300 feet wide, up to 6 miles high
Life on Mars?
• Look for evidence of
respiration, response to
nutrients.
– Results probably indicate
unusual soil chemistry.
• No evidence for organic
molecules at the parts per
billion level.
• Claimed evidence for life
in martian meteorite is not
generally accepted.
• On-going release of
methane into atmosphere?
Mars Global Topography
Olympus
Mons
Valles Marineris
Argyre
Hellas