Mars —The Red Planet

Description:

Mars is aptly referred to as the red planet as its surface is red due to a high concentration of iron oxides in the soil. Often the center of science fiction stories, Mars once was believed to support intelligent creatures. Missions to Mars in 1965 and again in 1976 proved that there were no living organisms on Mars. However, this small rocky planet, the fourth from the sun, does have polar ice caps that change in size with the seasons. It is believed that 3.5 billion years ago the most significant floods in the solar system took place on Mars. The Mars Odyssey found large amounts of ice about 1 meter below the surface of Mars in 2002. This ice, thought to be from the floods, would fill Lake Michigan over two times. This is still not enough water to explain the erosion visible on Mars.

Mars touts not only the highest point in the solar system, but also a canyon over 4 miles (6.5 km) deep. The highest point, the mountain Olympus Mons is 88,500 feet (almost 17 miles) above the surrounding area and has an astounding diameter of over 300 miles. The base of the mountain is surrounded by a cliff that drops 20,000 feet (almost 4 miles). Compared to Mount Everest, the tallest point on Earth at 29,035 feet, Olympus Mons is over three times taller. Another spectacle on Earth is the Grand Canyon which is 277 miles long and 6000 feet deep at its deepest point. On Mars, Valles Marineris is almost 2500 miles long, approximately the width of the United States, and nearly 4 miles (6.5 km) deep. In addition to the surface of Mars dataset, there is a dataset that includes images of the rovers that landed on Mars and the pictures that they took. Also in the Mars collection of datasets is an illuminated Mars, with day and night sides shown on the sphere. ( description of Illuminated Mars) Another dataset for Mars shows the crustal magnetic fields of Mars as measured by the Mars Global Surveyor. This is an important map because it proves that one point Mars had plate tectonics. Red is used for positive magnetic fields and blue is negative fields.

Notable Features:Mars

• Olympus Mons: highest point in the solar system at 88,500ft
• Valles Marineris: Canyon 2500 miles long and 4 miles deep
• Hellas Planitia: an impact crater in the Southern Hemisphere 4.3 miles deep and 1400 miles in diameter
• Presence of ice caps

Notable Features:Magnetic Map

• Magnetic fields provide proof of plate tectonics on Mars
• Red: Positive magnetic fields, blue: negative magnetic fields

Data Category

Major: Astronomy
Minor: Mars

Keywords:

Solar System, planet, red, magnetic map

Data Set Name	Red Mars ( 25 degree tilt)
Data Set Directory Name	mars/original
Data Set Source	NASA explorations mission
Data Set Developer	NASA
Visualization Developer	David Himes, NOAA/GSD
Audio	No
Download	FTP
Google Earth	KML file

Data Set Name	Mars Landing Sites with Pictures
Data Set Directory Name	mars/landings
Data Set Source	Mars explorations missions
Data Set Developer	NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Visualization Developer	NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Audio	No
Contact	NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Download	FTP

Data Set Name	Mars Magnetic Map 8/2005
Data Set Directory Name	mars/magnetic
Data Set Source	Mars Global Surveyor
Data Set Developer	Dr. Jack Connerney, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Visualization Developer	NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Audio	No
Contact	NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Download	FTP