Mars
Overview
Dr. Walter Kiefer
Explained to Liftoff 2000 participants that at present, Mars has a cold, tenuous
atmosphere, but the atmosphere must have been warmer and much denser earlier
in its hisory. What caused this change? Mars is also orbited by two small moons,
possibly captured asteroids. The
surface of Mars is also cut by numerous faults, including a canyon system
that would extend across the continental U.S. In his talk, he showed how NASA
scientists used imagery to decipher the geologic history of these regions
of Mars. He discussed the relationship betweem these surface features and
processes in the interior of Mars.
Activity:
Mars GeologyI: The "Dao" of Mars:
Geology and History of the Dao Vallis Area
Dr. Allan Trieman
Dr. Trieman helped to explain how scientists and engineers plan furure missions
to Mars. He showed how steps must be taken tomake sure the mission is a success.
He is searching for the answers to questions like . . . What do we know about
this planet where rivers flowed, volcanos erupted, and lakes and seas may once
have harbored life? What happened to make Mars the cold, dry desert world of
today? What can this tell us about the future of our planet? We investigate
the mysteries of the Red Planet with
the scientists and engineers at the forefront of Mars are facing in their research
exploration.
Mars
Pathfinder Mission and Science Results
M.P. Golombek
Of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Caltech, Pasadena, CA described the Pathfinder
mission to Mars. The
mission operated on Mars for 3 months and returned 2.3 Gbits of New data,
including over 16,500 lander and 550 rover images,
16 chemical analyses of rocks and soil, and 8.5 million individual temperature,
pressure and wind measurements. This mission captured the imagination of the
public, garnered front page headlines during the first week, and became the
largest
internet event in history at the time.
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Life
on Mars: What and Where?
Dr. Frances Westall
Dr. Westall discussed the possibility of extraterrestrial
bacteria in the form of fossils. The problem with minerally replaced bacteria
with non biological structures having
bacterial morphology was addressed. She explained the characteristics
of the fossil as namely, size,
shape, cell wall texture, association, and colony formation, as an overview.
Examples were shown of fossilized bacteria from Early Archaean through to
the Recent which were used to illustrate the various modes of preservation
and the morphology of fossil
bacteria.
Planetary
EVA Suit Development 
Dr. Dean Eppler
Dr. Eppler's task is to develop an EVA Suit for Mars Astronauts.
The suit would have to be used for
setting up a base to good old-fashioned field geology. In order to fulfill
these activities, EVA suits
for Mars exploration will need to support a 500 day Mars stay, be easy to
maintain, fit a variety of crew members, and have sufficient mobility to easily
tackle a variety of mission
tasks. Although development has not yet started on an advanced planetary
EVA system, Dr. Eppler is using a variety of experimental suits to bound the
requirements "space" for any new
planetary surface suits.
Mars Mission
Planning
Dr. Robert Herrick LPI
workshop participants received some background material on advantages
and disadvantages
of human exploration.
An overview of possible future exploration approaches for Mars will be presented.
Participants then divided into teams and designed a broad exploration program
for the planet Mars. The exercise gave teachers a feeling of how exploration
programs are designed to satisfy scientific goals and budgetary constraints.
The workshop is outstanding! Sign
up for next year and find out!
Links for students and teachers
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