Mars, the planet
QUESTION:
Is the ground surface on mars hot? cold?
ANSWER:
Temperatures on the martian surface depend on latitude, season, time of day and the properties of the surface(i.e. darker surfaces absorb more heat than brighter surfaces...etc.). The lowest temperatures on the planet occur at the south pole during the winter where they fall as low as 148 Kelvin (approximately - 193 degrees farenheit). The warmest temperatures on Mars are at southern midlatitudes in the summer when midday temperatures may reach as high as 295 Kelvin (approximately 71 degrees farenheit). So, I guess it's both hot and cold depending on when and where.
Thanks for the great question!
Laura Aben
Graduate Student
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe, Arizona
QUESTION:
If we created an atmosphere on Mars, would we put animals on the planet first to see if it would work? Allyson
ANSWER:
Hi Allyson, that is a good question and one that will not be answered for many many years. It would take up to about 10,000 years to create an atmosphere on Mars that people and animals could breath. No one really knows how long it will take to create a breathable atmosphere for humans and animals. There are only theories or intellectual guesses about this topic. At first astronauts would live in habitat modules and link them together to make a base. This is what we may see in the coming decades.
Dr. James W. Rice, Jr.
Mars Odyssey (THEMIS) Space Flight Facility
Arizona State University
QUESTION:
Is there fire on Mars? travis D.
ANSWER:
Travis, No there is no fire on Mars.
Dr. James W. Rice, Jr.
Mars Odyssey (THEMIS) Space Flight Facility
Arizona State University
QUESTION:
How big is Mars?
ANSWER:
It's about half the size of Earth. Earth has a diameter of 12,756 km, while Mars has a diameter of only 6,794 km. This means that Mars also has only about 1/3 the gravity of Earth!
Keith Watt
Assistant Director
ASU Mars Education Program
QUESTION:
Is there any snow on Mars? Travis
ANSWER:
Yes there is -- but it's not frozen water like we have on Earth, it's frozen carbon dioxide ("dry ice")! In fact, a significant percentage of the carbon dioxide in the Martian atmosphere freezes into dry ice and falls on the poles during the Martian winter for that hemisphere.
Keith Watt
Assistant Director
ASU Mars Education Program
QUESTION:
Can you breathe on Mars? Ryan
ANSWER:
Hi Ryan,
You cannot breathe the martian atmosphere. The atmosphere at the surface of Mars contains approximately 95 percent carbon dioxide, 2.7 percent nitrogen, 1.6 percent argon and only 0.13 percent oxygen. We would need more oxygen to be able to breathe on Mars.
Thanks for your question!
Laura Aben
Graduate Student
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe, Arizona
QUESTION:
How old is Mars
ANSWER:
About 4.6 billion years old, same as the rest of the solar system.
Mary Beth Murrill
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
Is there more gravity on Mars than on Earth? Keely
ANSWER:
Hi Keely,
The gravity of a planet depends on the mass of the planet. Since Mars has less mass than Earth, gravity on Mars is less than gravity on Earth. Thus, on Mars you would weigh less and be able to jump higher.
Laura Aben
Graduate Student
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe, Arizona
QUESTION:
Why is there metal on Mars? Johnathan
ANSWER:
All planets have metals because they were all formed from basically the same "stuff" -- the material left over from the formation of the Sun.
In fact, everything you see around you -- including your own body -- was formed from this "star stuff". Since there were metals in that early material, there are metals in all the planets. Most of the iron (a very common metal) on Mars we think has sunk into its core, but some of it remains on the surface. One of the missions of the THEMIS camera on board Odyssey is to figure out exactly what metals and other minerals are at or near the surface of the planet.
Keith Watt
Assistant Director
ASU Mars Education Program
QUESTION:
How can I get to Mars from Earth?
ANSWER:
Check the mars.jpl.nasa.gov website early next week for a detailed answer to this question! But basically, an opportunity exists every 26 months to get from Earth to Mars with our current launch vehicles. The Mars exploration program plans to send spacecraft there with each opportunity this decade.
Mary Beth Murrill
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
Does Mars have streams of lava? Zack
ANSWER:
Hi Zack,
Mars does have many volcanoes, including the largest known volcano in the solar system named Olympus Mons. None of the martian volcanoes are currently active, so there is no active lava streams or oozing lava on the surface to date. But many of the calderas have flow fronts and lava channels indicating the flow of lava sometime in the past.
Thanks for the great question Zack!
Laura Aben
Graduate Student
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe, Arizona
QUESTION:
Is it hard to walk on Mars? How did Mars get his name?
ANSWER:
Well, Mars' gravity is somewhere between Earths' and the Moons', so I don't think that will be a problem in walking around the surface. However, Mars is a rocky place so getting around in some places may be a little tricky.
As far as where Mars got its name, it comes from a Greek word- Ares. This was the name for the Greek God of War, because its red color.
Trevor Graff
Mars Space Flight Facility
Arizona State University
Tempe, Arizona
QUESTION:
What do pictures of Mars tell us? Jonathan
ANSWER:
Hi Jonathan,
If you take pictures of Mars with a regular (visible) camera, you can decipher the geomorphology of the surface. In other words, you can see mountains, volcanoes, canyons, craters, sand dunes...etc.
If you take pictures of Mars with an infrared camera ( a camera that "sees" heat) you can know what type of rocks and minerals are on the surface. All of these images help us figure out the geologic history and current conditions of Mars.
Thanks for the great question Jonathan!
Laura Aben
Graduate Student
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe, Arizona
QUESTION:
Can people really live on Mars? Burganday
ANSWER:
Burganday,
People will need space suits to live on Mars but yes, we can live on Mars. We will need to bring food but may be able to get our water from ground ice and manufacture oxygen and fuel from ice as well. With the aid of greenhouses we may even be able to grow food as well.
Dr. James W. Rice, Jr.
Mars Odyssey (THEMIS) Space Flight Facility
Arizona State University
QUESTION:
Mr. Landstrom's Earth Space class at Boynton Beach HS, Boynton Beach, FL
Is Mars any other color than just red?
ANSWER:
Yes it is! In fact, when scientists first started observing Mars through telescopes, they noticed that it's color changed with the seasons. They thought that this meant there were plants on Mars that were changing color each season. When we finally sent spacecraft to Mars we realized that each season the direction of the winds on Mars change and so they blow the bright red dust off of areas that had been covered. This revealed darker bare rock areas that were underneath the dust.
Keith Watt
Assistant Director
ASU Mars Education Program
QUESTION:
What is the largest thing on Mars? chris B.
ANSWER:
There are a lot of large things on Mars, but here are two of them:
Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in the Solar System and Valles Marineris is the largest canyon in the Solar System. Olympus Mons is about 2 1/2 times as high as Mount Everest. If you were to put Valles Marineris on the surface of the Earth, it would extend from New York to Los Angeles! The entire Grand Canyon could fit inside one of it's side canyons!
Keith Watt
Assistant Director
ASU Mars Education Program
QUESTION:
How many Mars days make up an Earth year? Travis D.
ANSWER:
Mars takes 687 days to go around the Sun -- almost two Earth years!
Keith Watt
Assistant Director
ASU Mars Education Program
QUESTION:
How does mars go around the sun without going out of its orbit? Travis D.
ANSWER:
The gravity of the Sun pulls on Mars with exactly enough force to counteract Mars' tendency to go flying out of it's orbit. This condition is what's called a "stable orbit". If Mars were not in a stable orbit, it wouldn't be around for us to wonder about, so it's a good thing that it is!
Keith Watt
Assistant Director
ASU Mars Education Program
QUESTION:
Was mars in another location than it is now? Allyson
ANSWER:
We think Mars has pretty much always been int he orbit that it's in now. There are some new studies of other solar systems that seem to indicate some large gas giant planets may have moved after they were formed, but we don't see any evidence of that in our own Solar System at this point.
Keith Watt
Assistant Director
ASU Mars Education Program
QUESTION:
Melissa Johnson wants to know
Are there the same layers on Mars as there are on Earth (meaning the core, the upper mantle, crust, et cetera)
Mr. Landstrom's Earth Science class
Boyton Beach HS, Boynton Beach, FL
ANSWER:
Yes, like most terrestrial planets, Mars has a very similar internal structure to Earth's. One thing that is different is that unlike Earth, Mars does not have much of a planetary magnetic field. We think this is probably because Mars has a solid iron core rather than a molten, liquid core.
Keith Watt
Assistant Director
ASU Mars Education Program
QUESTION:
Mr. Landstrom's Earth Space class at Boynton Beach HS, Boynton Beach, FL
Does Mars have the same weather characteristics as Earth? Hurricanes, tornadoes, et cetera?
ANSWER:
Mars has some of the same weather characteristics as Earth, but others that are drastically different. In 1998, the Hubble Space Telescope took a picture of Mars, and there was a cyclone shaped cloud near the north pole. The Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) instrument on the Mars Global Surveyor has taken pictures of tracks left behind by dust devils (mini-tornadoes) on Mars.
Perhaps the neatest weather on Mars, though is its seasonal dust storms. Mars is a very dusty place, and once every Mars year (every two earth years) we see a lot of the dust on the surface kicked up into the atmosphere. Some of these storms are large, while others are small. Just this summer, a very large dust storm started in the southern hemisphere of Mars, and quickly enveloped the whole planet! It is just now dying down. So, while some of the weather is similar to that on Earth, other things are WAY different.
Great question!
Tim Glotch
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe, Arizona
QUESTION:
How were planets formed? Josh?
ANSWER:
The planets were formed by a process called accretion. Right after the sun formed, there were no planets. There was only a big cloud of gas and dust around the sun. All of these little pieces of dust were zooming around the sun, and sometimes they'd crash into each other. When they crashed into each other, they'd stick together. This happened for a long time, and eventually, bigger and bigger pieces were sticking together, forming the planets.
Thanks for the great question!
Tim Glotch
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
QUESTION:
How long will it take for them to actually land on Mars?
Where does the name Mars come from?
Are there earthquakes on Mars?
Are there any life forms on Mars?
ANSWER:
There are no current plans to send humans to Mars, but most scientists and engineers with an interest in Mars think the first people to set foot on Mars are in elementary or junior high school right now.
Regarding quakes, we don't know, but with the active volcanism of Mars' past, quakes were certainly possible. Tectonic plates like those that constantly move around on Earth seem to be missing on Mars.
We don't know if there are any life forms on Mars, or whether there were any in the past. But the search goes on because Mars seems to have had abundant water, and where there is water, there may be life. Biologists in the past 20 years have found that microbial life has an amazing flexibility for surviving in extreme environments,m hot and cold, dry, under immense pressure. This has had its effect
ct on how scientists think about Mars and where life may have existed, or may exist today on the red planet.
Mary Beth Murrill
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
How did Mars get its moons? Jonathan
ANSWER:
Hi Jonathan,
Many people believe that the moons of Mars (Phobos and Deimos) are captured asteroids from the asteroid belt that orbits around the sun between Mars and Jupiter. Both Phobos and Deimos are irregularly shaped and look like asteroids(personally their shape reminds me of potatoes).
Somehow they got close enough to Mars to get caught in Mars' gravity. Thus, becoming the moons of Mars.
Thanks for your question Jonathan!
Laura Aben
Graduate Student
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
Why is mars red?
ANSWER:
Mars is red, by much the same manner that cars rust. The element iron (Fe) has a few states at which it can exist. One of these states that iron can take is known as oxidized (due to the interaction of oxygen). When this happens the iron appears red to us because of the different way it now absorbs light. This processes of oxidization has occurred on Mars turning it red and the same is true for car rust.
Trevor Graff
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
Is Mars really a planet
ANSWER:
The word planet is used to discribe objects in our solar system that orbit around the Sun and are very large. Mars is the 7th largest object in our solar system, so it is considered a planet.
Larry Bryant
Test and Training Engineer
QUESTION:
Mr. Landstrom's Earth Space class at Boynton Beach HS, Boynton Beach, FL
Is there different seasons on Mars, like Earth?
ANSWER:
Yes Mars is tilted on an axis just like Earth, thus sometimes the northern hemisphere is tilted in the direction of the Sun and sometimes the southern hemisphere is tilted toward the sun. This gives Mars its seasons.
But since Mars is further away from the sun than Earth the seasons on Mars are nearly twice as long.
Laura Aben
Graduate Student
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
Why do MARS have volcanos
ANSWER:
Mars has volcanoes because rock under the ground gets hot enough to push itself out onto the surface.
Larry Bryant
Test and Training Engineer
QUESTION:
Mr. Landstrom's Earth Space class at Boynton Beach HS, Boynton Beach, FL
Kara White wants to know:
Is there air on Mars? If yes, why are there no plants?
ANSWER:
Hi Kara,
Yes there is air on Mars. The martian atmosphere consists of approximately 95 percent carbon dioxide, 3 percent nitrogen, 1.5 percent argon and 0.13 percent oxygen.
We don't see plants on Mars for several reasons. Mars has temperature extremes from as low as 148 Kelvin to as high as 295 Kelvin. Also, plants need water and we have not detected any liquid water on Mars to date.
Laura Aben
Graduate Student
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
Will Mars ever "wear away"? Chris B.
ANSWER:
Some parts of Mars will wear away, but the whole planet never will. There is a process on Mars and Earth called erosion, which is basically the wearing away of rocks. Erosion is causing the rocks on Mars to break up into much smaller pieces the size of sand grains and even smaller.
So, while the rocks on Mars are eroding, they're just turning into smaller pieces. They're not going away.
Thanks for the great question!
Tim Glotch
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
QUESTION:
Are people on Mars?
ANSWER:
No, there aren't any people on Mars. There may be evidence of a lower life form on Mars such as bacteria. In fact, a meteorite beleived to have originated on Mars was found on Earth and scientists theorized that it might contain fossils of ancient bacteria. This finding re-opened the issue of life on Mars and the Odyssey spacecraft will be looking for water which is essential to life. If water is found on Mars this would be an excellent site for future exploration.
Erik Pounders
Odyssey Academic Part Time Geology Student
Arizona State University
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
How did the volcanoes get there? Johnathan
ANSWER:
Like Hawaii on the Earth we belive there are "hot spots" below the crust of the planet, areas where the underlying rock is hot enough and has enough pressure to break through a thin spot in the crust. When that rock reaches the surface it builds up around the exit hole, forming a volcanoe.
Larry Bryant
Test and Training Engineer
QUESTION:
How many moons does mars have? Jordan
ANSWER:
Hi Jordan,
Mars has two moons. They are named Phobos and Deimos. They are much smaller than the Earth's moon, Phobos has a average diameter of 21 km and Deimos has a average diameter of 13 km. Both moons are irregularly shaped (personally, I think they look like giant potatoes).
Many people believe that they were asteroids that were captured into Mars orbit from the nearby asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.
Phobos is 9,378 km from the center of Mars and orbits every 7 hours and 39 minutes. Deimos is 23,459 km from the center of Mars and orbits every 30 hours and 18 minutes.
Thanks Jordan!
Laura Aben
Graduate Student
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
Is there any way we can "repair" the Mars atmosphere so it's suitable for humans?
ANSWER:
It's theoretically possible to change the atmosphere of Mars, but those ideas remain in the realm of theory for now. Earth's atmosphere of nitrogen and oxygen, the ozone layer that protects us from radiation, the cycling of carbon dioxide into oxygen by plant life -- those are some of the main things missing from Mars' atmosphere. Human explorers would need to be equipped with life support systems to stay alive in the Mars environment.
Mary Beth Murrill
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
Why doesn't a terrestrial planet like Mars have a ring system?
Scott Preston, 8th grade, Charleston Middle School, Charleston, IL
ANSWER:
Maybe it did. Right now, it has just two little moons, Phobos and Diemos, which may be captured asteroids. Not a lot is known about how ring systems form around planets, but they may consist of crunched-up moons that were torn apart in a gravity tug-of-war between a planet and a larger moon. Or they may be made up of errant comets that were captured and ripped apart by a planet's gravity. Earth may well have had a ring or rings in its past. The Cassini mission to Saturn will shed a lot of light on how ring systems form and are maintained when that spacecraft reaches the ringed giant in 2004.
Mary Beth Murrill
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
Could a planet like Mars retain (hold, keep) an atmosphere of that kind?
ANSWER:
There's something missing from your question, but we can say that Mars does have and retains an atmosphere, though it's quite thin. It's possible it could have had a thicker atmosphere in the past, especially when its volcanoes were active.
Mary Beth Murrill
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
Could Mars have plate tectonics under the crust, like the Earth?
Doug
Cranbrook Middle School
Bloomfield Hills, MI
ANSWER:
It could, but tectonics haven't been detected at Mars. It's definitely a quieter planet than Earth.
Mary Beth Murrill
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
What was the most successful thing you found on Mars?
Amanda
Hazlet Middle School
Hazlet, NJ
ANSWER:
Within the past couple of years a mineral called hematite was found on the surface of Mars. Hematite is important because usually it forms in the presence of water. Thus, where we now see hematite there probably was water.
Many people believe that if there is life on Mars, it would be found near water. So, a good place to search for life would be where there is hematite.
Laura Aben
Graduate Student
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
When I was doing research on Mars I discovered that different resources did not have the same range of temperatures for Mars. What is the temperature range and is it the same all over the planet?
Kerri Ann
Hazlet Middle School
Hazlet, NJ
ANSWER:
The temperature range is large, and it's not the same over the whole planet. Surface temperatures average -53 C (-64 F, and the temperature vaires from -128 C (-199F) during polar nights to 27 C (80 F) at the equator during midday at the closest point in Mars' orbit about the Sun. One concern for rovers and landers is keeping them warm at night so their electronics will still be working when the Sun comes up in the morning
Christine Johnson
Mars Outreach Coordinator
QUESTION:
How accurate was the recent film - Mission to Mars, as compared to a real planned human Mars mission?
Coartney Campbell, 8th grade, Charleston Middle School, Charleston
ANSWER:
Since there's no real planned mission to Mars right now, it's difficult to say exactly, but the creators of productions about future space exploration have a tough job in combining real science and engineering with the creative license needed to tell a story in a dramatic way. One thing in that movie that was really perceived as accurate by a lot of scientists and engineers was the scene with the robotic rover, which was equipped with the same cleats on its wheels as the Mars Pathfinder Sojourner rover used. The geological setting portrayed was also considered very accurate, with features that might be expected in an environment where water once existed. Also, the landing craft portrayed were based on real designs from NASA's Johnson Space Center.
Christine Johnson
Mars Outreach Coordinator
QUESTION:
I've been reading that it was either water or liquid CO2 that formed many of the the major geologic features of Mars. Which one seems more logical and accurate to you? Could CO2 in liquid form produce the same apparent features that we attribute to water here on earth?
ANSWER:
Most scientists believe that it was water that formed many of the features you are referring to, mainly because you need a very specific set of atmospheric temperature and pressure conditions to form liquid CO2. Most of the time CO2 will sublimate--go directly from solid to gas. Some scientists think that liquid CO2 might be a good choice, though, because currently, most of Mars' atmosphere is made of CO2.
While most scientists believe that water formed many of Mars' geologic features (channels, gullies, etc.), they are still divided on the exact mechanism. Were these features formed by flow of water on the surface, or a process called "sapping"--where underground water essentially erodes the material above it--making what appears to be a stream bed? Additionally, could frozen water, in the form of mobile glaciers have produced any of these features?
These are all questions that scientists are still trying to figure out.
Thanks for the great question!
Tim Glotch
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
QUESTION:
We know there are many volcanoes on Mars... can Odyssey detect any signs of seismic activity???'
Matt and Steve
Loyola High School - Montreal
ARC [Astronomy and Rocketry Club]
ANSWER:
Hi Matt and Steve,
Good question, detection of seismic activity on Mars would begin to answer many questions about the planet. For example, we only know about the structure of the deep Earth (its core and mantle and such) by seismic studies and it would be great to have this for Mars.
In order to get this information however you have to be on the surface, so Odyssey will not be able to detect seismic activity. We did try to get seismic data from the Viking landers (a small instrument located on the leg of the spacecraft), but only detected large wind gusts that shook the spacecraft. There are other missions in the works that specifically are going to study seismic activity…so stay tuned.
Trevor Graff
Mars Space Flight Facility
Arizona State University
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
What are weather patterns on Mars, similar on Earth, and what is temp on Mars day and night?
Sam
Cranbrook Middle School
Bloomfield Hills, MI
ANSWER:
In many respects the martian weather patterns are similar to those on Earth. Mars has seasons, clouds and winds. The temperatures on Mars vary depending on latitude, season, time of day and the properites of the surface (i.e. a darker surface will absorb more heat from the sun than a lighter surface... etc.). The lowest temperatures that occur on the planet are at the south pole in the winter, where they fall as low as 148 degrees Kelvin (this is the temperature that carbon dioxide freezes). The highest temperatures are at the southern midlatitudes in summer, when midday temperatures may reach as high as 295 degrees Kelvin.
Laura Aben
Graduate Student
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
Was Mars once like Earth?
Dirk Bennett, 8th grade, Charleston Middle School, Charleston, IL
ANSWER:
That's actually a very complicated question. Does just having water make it like Earth? Does having plate tectonics make it like Earth? Does having life make it like Earth?
Well, we're pretty sure that Mars once had, and maybe still has water. However Mars has never had plate tectonics. On Earth, plate tectonics is what causes earthquakes. Is something like this important in a comparison between the two planets? I'll leave that for you to decide.
The big question, though, is whether Mars ever had life. A main focus of the Mars Odyssey spacecraft is to search for areas on Mars that once had lots of water. Finding these places increases our chances of finding life. It will most likely be scientists of your generation who come up with a definitive answer! But until then, we're working hard on the problem so that we can answer for ourselves is Mars ever was like earth!
Thanks for that great question.
Tim Glotch
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
QUESTION:
Is there any dirt or other material on Earth that is the same as Mars and if so, why would it be the same???
Roland
Cranbrook Middle School
Bloomfield Hills, MI
ANSWER:
Hi Roland,
A good question, well there is nothing on earth that is exactly like what is on Mars. But we can study similar regions on earth that we think are like Mars (lava flows, sand dunes, flood deposits, impact crater ejecta). This is called analog field work. I do lots of geologic fieldwork in areas on earth that are most like Mars (Antarctica, Arctic, and Iceland). By studying material from earth lava flows and volcanoes for example we can learn to know what to look for when we get Martian volcanic materials back on earth. The closest earth dirt to what we may find on Mars would be volcanic rocks and soil made of broken down called basalt, like what we have in Iceland or Hawaii. But the Martian material would be much older. Earth materials have also been eroded and shaped by running water over long periods of time. As for Mars we don't know yet. There are places on Mars where water did flow and flood the landscape. The Martian dirt is a reddish brown color as you probably know and this is from iron in the material rusting. Martian rocks have more iron and sulfur than earth rocks.
Dr. James W. Rice, Jr.
Mars Odyssey (THEMIS) Space Flight Facility
Arizona State University
QUESTION:
Are there any landforms, minerals, rocks, on Mars that doesn't exist on Earth?
Veronica, Gates Intermediate School, Scituate, MA
ANSWER:
Hi Veronica,
That's a great question and one that we ask ourselves a lot. We know that Mars has landforms like Earth's, but just on a much larger scale. For example a giant volcano on Mars, called Olympus Mons, is 24 kilometers (15 miles) high, 550 kilometers (340 miles) in diameter and is rimmed by a 6 kilometers (4 miles) high scarp. It is one of the largest volcanoes in the Solar System. By comparison the largest volcano on Earth is Mauna Loa, Hawaii that is 9 kilometers (6 miles) high and 120 kilometers (75 miles) across. Other examples include, Valles Marineris (a huge canyon) and large impacts.
Other then that, the truth is we really don't know if Mars has any un-Earth like things. When it comes to the rocks and minerals all we have to compare them to are the things we know that occur here on Earth.
Trevor Graff
Mars Space Flight Facility
Arizona State University
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
My question is, how are Mars’ numerous localized magnetic fields created?
Justin
Cranbrook Middle School
Bloomfield Hills, MI
ANSWER:
Hi Justin, how are you today?
Your question is a very good one and we are not exactly sure what the answer is. But the unknown is what makes science, especially planetary science, so very, very interesting and fun to do. We have some ideas:
Mars lacks a global magnetic field at present but must have had one in the distant past.
The numerous strongly localized magnetized crustal regions appears near and southward of the transition from the relatively low northern plains to the higher southern cratered regions on Mars.
The magnetic regions have been attributed to parallel bands of intensely magnetized crustal rock like those associated with sea floor spreading on Earth. They formed in a very early period of Mars' history when the crust was first forming in the presence of a reversing magnetic field. Or when big volcanic intrusions occurred under the surface, a technical term for this is dike intrusion. Perhaps you will become a Mars scientist and help us all figure this mystery out!
Cheers,
Dr. James W. Rice, Jr.
Mars Odyssey (THEMIS) Space Flight Facility
Arizona State University
QUESTION:
Is there any possibility that the substance found on the ice caps on Mars could be anything other than water? What other compounds could it be?
Matt
Loyola High School - Montreal
ARC [Astronomy and Rocketry Club]
ANSWER:
As a matter of fact, yes! Mars is cold enough to freeze carbon dioxide gas, and the Thermal Emission Spectrometer on Mars Global Surveyor has shown that the south pole of Mars has significant quatities of carbon dioxide ice (dry ice).
Good question!
Tim Glotch
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
QUESTION:
Is there any dirt or other material on Earth that is the same as Mars and if so, why would it be the same???
Roland
Cranbrook Middle School
Bloomfield Hills, MI
ANSWER:
So far, we have not discovered anything really different (mineral and rock wise) from the kinds of rocks and minerals we have here on Earth. Our laboratory here at Arizona State University, the Mars Space Flight Facility, is the lab that is mapping the rocks and minerals of Mars. We think that the two planets are very similar. NASA has developed a Mars soil simulant that is used by the scientists and engineers to test their experiments and spacecraft here on Earth. This soil simulant is from Hawaii and a kind of soil called palagonite (water-rotted lava). It is the same kind of red color (iron-rusted) that Mars appears to be. We have mapped a lot of iron-rich lava-type minerals during our mapping with our Thermal Emission Spectrometer instrument on board the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft during the last few years.
Sheri Klug
Mars K-12 Outreach Program Coordinator
Arizona State University
QUESTION:
"What is your favorite science fiction movie and book about Mars and why"?
Lindsey
Lewis and Clark Middle School
Meridian School District, Meridian, Idaho.
ANSWER:
I asked our head Mars scientist, Dr. Phil Christensen, what were his choices for favorite Mars movie and Mars book. His answer was "Mars Attacks!" (the new version) which he laughed and said he was not ashamed to admit that he liked it and "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury.
Sheri Klug
Mars K-12 Outreach Program Coordinator
Arizona State University
QUESTION:
How do scientists think the "Face on Mars" was created?
Jordan Hawker, 8th grade, Charleston Middle School, Charleston, IL
ANSWER:
The "Face" is a small mountain standing in a relatively flat region. If you look at the images surrounding the face, you can see many similar features that don't look like they were constructed. Probably, the face is a natural feature, and it was just the shadows that make it look like something recognizable.
Scott Nowicki
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
Why isn't the amount of water and carbon dioxide the same for the Northern and Southern Polar Caps?
Note: This question is being submitted for Paul in Australia
ANSWER:
Good question. The polar caps actually grow and shrink as a function of the seasons on Mars. Both caps consist of a water ice core with a carbon dioxide cover that varies in extent. The water ice cores are different sizes mainly due to the elevations. The north pole is at about 2 kilometers BELOW the mean, while the south pole is 4 kilometers above the mean planetary elevation. There is a very dynamic atmosphere and CO2 cycle operating. In a simplified model, you can think of it as CO2 melting at the southern cap in the southern summer, going into vapor and being frozen at the north pole where it is coldest. The process is reversed when it is summer in the north.
Scott Nowicki
ASU Mars Space Flight Facility
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
When a volcano erupts on Mars... are the eruptions different because of the chem. makeup of the atmosphere and the gravity difference?
Ryan
Cranbrook Middle School
Bloomfield Hills, MI
ANSWER:
The weaker gravity and lower atmospheric pressure on Mars enable magmatic processes to occur at greater depth, surface flows to spread over larger areas, and gases when ejected to rise faster and higher than on the Earth.
Link:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov
Erik Pounders
Odyssey Academic Part Time Geology Student
Arizona State University
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
What is the most interesting thing about Mars?
Mr. Landstrom's Earth Space class at Boynton Beach HS
Boynton Beach, FL
ANSWER:
There are many interesting things about Mars. What I find interesting are the similarities it has with the Earth, and the potential that creates for human exploration. The martian day is only 40 minutes longer than Earth's, the tilt of its axis with respect to the plane of the solar system is less than 1 degree greater than ours, Mars has a surface we can walk on, it might have accessible water, and, relatively speaking, is very near to us. However, you might think the butterscotch color of the sky, ferocious dust storms, huge volcanoes (Mt. Olympus is the largest in the solar system), giant canyons (Mariner Valley is larger than the Grand Canyon and could stretch from New York to Los Angeles), weak gravity (about one third of Earth's), or a number of other features are the most interesting things...I guess that is just a matter of opinion.
Links:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov
http://www.windows.ucar.edu/tour/link=/our_solar_system/planets_table.html
Erik Pounders
Odyssey Academic Part Time Geology Student
Arizona State University
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
How do you determine that the clouds on mars are made from frozen water?
Nekeisha
Fourth grade, Towns Elementary
Atlanta Public Schools
ANSWER:
That is a very good question, and also very difficult to answer! Mars Pathfinder using a stereo camera called IMP that looked up at the sky and observed the distance to clouds passing overhead. By modeling the ways in which water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2) act on Earth in response to changes of temperature and pressure we can determine at what altitude water would be expected to form clouds on Mars. Another method is to observe the way light is scattered by particles in the atmosphere (clouds), because that is a diagnostic property of the chemicals present in the different clouds.
Links:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/MPF/mpf/sci_desc.html#IMP
http://www.raytheon.com/es/esproducts/sestes/sestes.htm
Erik Pounders
Odyssey Academic Part Time Geology Student
Arizona State University
Tempe Arizona
QUESTION:
How long does it take to get to mars from earth?
ANSWER:
That depends on the distance between the Earth and Mars, which is constantly changing. It took a little over 6 months (200 days) for the Mars Odyssey spacecraft to reach Mars from Earth.
Link:
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey/mission/cruise.html
Erik Pounders
Odyssey Academic Part Time Geology Student
Arizona State University
Tempe Arizona