Surface of Mars Lab

Abstract

This explorative lab on the surface of Mars, was one to apply knowledge from the main course of AST 115h and apply it to better understand and examine the surface of Mars.

Introduction

Mars, a neighboring planet to Earth has been a celestial being of much wonder throughout modern and ancient astronomy. Some would suggest that at a younger point in the development of the solar system that Mars shows some promising possibilities for potentially having water and life at some point of its development; others would say that it is, was, and will always be a barren planet of rock. This lab research was not done specifically with examining the possibility of life on Mars as the goal, but rather an overview of Mars's existence and a scientific understanding of it from Earth's perspective.

Results and Discussion

• A
• Why did Astronomer Percival Lowell think he saw canals on the surface of Mars?
• By the time of Percival Lowell's research in 1916 cars were already developed as a means for transportation, but were not adopted by the public as the standard. People at this time traveled more often down natural and artificial canals to reach checkpoints then travel by carriages to reach farther destinations. NASA definitively disapproved of Lowell's theory by the 1960s stating that Lowell's sightings of canals can be regarded as an optical illusion.
• B
• What are the Main features that features that you can identify from the images taken from the surface of the Earth? What might they be caused by or produced by? Can you see anything that resembles craters, mountains, or seas?
• Retrospectively, the photo of Mars taken from the land perspective of Earth displays what appears to be a large body of mare and crater ranges. However, from the perspective of eyes that may be ignorant to Mars's body, the discoloration of the planet as viewed from the Earth's surface could certainly confuse people into believing that they're seeing a large land mass and body of water.
• How are ground based images of Mars similar and different from space photos?
• Ground based photos of Mars and space photos share areas of difference in shading, but the severe discoloration of ground based photos due to Earth's atmosphere can make it extremely difficult to accurately interpret what is being viewed on Mars's surface.
• Does Mars have a lot of visible craters like the moon and Mercury?
• Mars noticeably does not have nearly as many visible craters as the moon or Mercury, suggesting that either the surface of Mars is very young or Mars once had a much stronger atmosphere.
• The "S"- shaped sequence of the Mars images clearly shows Mars changing in size. What is going on in the photo?
• The reason Mars appears to be getting closer and farther in the series of photos taken is Retrograde motion from the perspective of planet Earth.
• C
• What are the main features of that you can identify from these two pictures of Mars? how are the images similar and different? What is going on here?
• From the two provided pictures of Mars, one could say that he or she could see polar caps on the leftmost photo and a dusty atmosphere in the rightmost photo. I believe both of these photos are showing the two separate faces of Mars, but the leftmost photo was taken from a land perspective on Earth with color correction, while the rightmost photo was taken in space.
• D
• What do the four highest features on Mars appear to be and what could that mean?
• The four highest features on Mars appear to be somewhat mountainous structures, possibly suggesting that Mars was volcanically active at one point in its lifespan.
• In the Elevation map of the planet, What is the most noticeable difference between the Northern and Southern hemispheres of Mars? What might that mean?
• The biggest difference between the Northern and Southern hemispheres of Mars is elevation, this difference in elevation could potentially suggest that the lower elevation regions were at one point occupied by a body of liquid that may have corroded into the opposing landmass.
• Which hemisphere has the most impact craters? What appears to be the largest impact crater on Mars?
• The Southern hemisphere of Mars has the largest number of visible impact craters, and holds Polar Basin, which is its largest crater.
• What type of terrain did US spacecraft Viking I and II land in when on Mars? What were the reasons for choosing these areas? On the elevation map, were these high or low regions of Mars's surface?
• US spacecraft Viking I and II both landed in the Northern low elevation and flat terrain portions of Mars. This was likely done so the spacecraft would have the easiest time landing on the surface of Mars with the fewest amount of hiccups.
• What type of terrain did the US Pathfinder, Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity land on? what could have been the reason for choosing these areas?
• All of the US spacecraft mentioned above landed in the moderately craterous portions of land that separated the barren North and mountainous South of Mars. This was likely done to study what could have caused the corrosive looking separation of the two land masses and discover what sort of material was composed within the craters of that region.
• The Soviet Mars 3 spacecraft was the first soft landing at the Ptolemaeus Crater on Mars, why did it only transmit for 14.5 seconds?
• The Soviet Mars 3 spacecraft was believed to have fallen over after landing in the Ptolemaeus Crater on Mars, likely due to the unstable terrain of the region or even a dust storm.
• E
• Why were Terra Meridiani and Gusev Crater chosen as landing sites for Mars Exploration Rovers?
• Terra Meridiani and Gusev Crater were likely chosen as potential landing sites for rover exploration for their vast amount of small craters in the area being at the medium level of elevation that would have been impacted by the presence of a liquid body if one existed.
• What is going on at Niger Valles?
• Niger Valles appears to be some sort of canal-like ripple that extends from a high elevation to a lower one.
• F
•  If you were planning the next mission to Mars, what would its goals be?
• If I were to plan a mission to Mars it would be one to land humans Martian soil for extensive exploration.

Conclusion
Though Percival Lowell was certainly incorrect in his hypothesis of Martian canals being present in the sizes he suggested and believing that it was surely a sign of intelligent life, he may have simply been on to something when just generally regarding the existence of a body of water potentially having existed on Mars.

During the Lab at the Baker Observatory, using the StarChart app for Android, the constellations: Ursa Minor, Ursa Major, Sirius, Canis Major, and the Taurus were very easily visible from our Perspective. During this time, the moon was in the Waxing Gibbous phase at an approximate altitude and azimuth of 48 and 60 respectively. Looking up into the sky the moon could be blocked out by covering it with the tip of my finger, and took up approximately 4/5th an altitude and azimuth from that angle. The stars that were around the moon, from this perspective, were not visible at the due to the great deal of light pollution from the moon. From the Baker Observatory, the only planet that was visible at the time was Jupiter, which was at an altitude and azimuth of approximately 20 and 44 respectively. Even later in the lab, we attempted to view the Orion Nebula and saw a few "fuzzy" points of light that did not appear star-like, the Orion Nebula was at an altitude of 38 and an azimuth of -32. The stars of Orion's Nebula were not the only ones we attempted to view however, some of the brightest stars that were viewable at the time include: Rigel (altitude 28: azimuth -24), Capella (40:40), Canopus (6:-4), Sirius (32:26), and Aldebaran (36:-38). Polaris, at the time, could be found at an altitude of 48 and azimuth of about 36. Because azimuth measures a celestial quantity, the fact that Springfield, Missouri's planetary coordinates are similar to Polaris's celestial coordinates is nothing but a coincidence.