The biggest current event in planetary science Last year was certainly the daily reports from the Mars Pathfinder and its Sojourner probe, which set up house on the Martian surface last summer. Only planned to last a week, the probes vastly exceeded expectations in terms of results: data was returned for over three months, and both the rover and the Pathfinder base functioned successfully before (apparently) shutting down due to the onset of Martian winter this October.
Since Pathfinder, the Mars Global Surveyor has arrived at Mars, and is in the process of getting to work, but unlike Pathfinder, it's had a few problems.
Our next class will be a participatory event in which we go through the recent motivations for Mars exploration, and what the Mars Pathfinder/Sojourner have found (and what Global Surveyor is supposed to find), largely working from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory websites devoted to the program.
Sites to start with:
http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/snc/index.html (Mars Meteorite Home Page)
http://mpfwww.jpl.nasa.gov/default.html (Mars Pathfinder Archival Pages)
http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mgs/ (Mars Global Surveyor Home Page)
Additional Web-Based information for you to peruse:
Shergottite EET79001 Image Gallery
Bring your notes (and Web addresses) with you to our next class session, in a format that you can hand into me at the end.
1) Tell me about the meteorite ALH84001: where was it found, what is it made of, and what is in it (or might be in it) that gets scientists all hot and bothered about life on Mars. If there was life on Mars, based on the meteorite, WHEN did it exist?
2)Tell me about the makeup of the Mars Pathfinder/Sojourner probe and rover - size, weight, etc. - and about when it was launched, and when it arrived on the Martian surface. What sorts of measurement devices were sent up with the Mars Pathfinder/Sojourner? What do these devices do, in fact?
3)Tell us about the Are Vallis landing site: where is it (geographically, geologically, and with respect to past Mars landings) and why was it chosen? What sorts of rocks and soil did they discover at Are Vallis? And what was the weather like?.
4) What other sorts of data (visual, radar, altimetry, etc.) were collected by the Pathfinder and Sojourner? What knowledge did scientists hope to gain from these different kinds of data?
5) Give me the vital statistics on Mars Global Surveyor: when was it launched, how big is it, what sorts of scientific instrumentation is it carrying, and what do we intend to do with it once it gets to Mars?
6) Is Global Surveyor running on schedule, or did they have to reschedule mission events? If they did reschedule, why did they have to do it, and when will it begin its primary mission? And, while we wait for the start of its primary mission, what are we having the Global Surveyor do?
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