Mars Sources of Data from the Robotic Missions

Mars: Sources of Data from the Robotic Missions Geography 441/541 F/19 Dr. Christine M. Rodrigue

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions Mariner 4: 1964 flyby mission, flyby on 14 July 1965 So much for a nice, Earthlike planet Magnetometer showed no magnetic field (team thought instrument buggy) Occultation of spacecraft by Mars showed a really thin atmosphere First image showed a cloud, thought impossible (maybe a lens crack)

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions Mariner 4: 1965 flyby So much for a nice, Earthlike planet Craters up the wazoo: Mars looked like the Moon First topographic maps One dead, bleak, battered planet

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions Mariner 6 and 7: 1969 flyby mission and first successful dual mission Again, Mars is pretty disappointing Both S/C flew over heavily cratered terrain over equator and South Polar area They both missed the big volcanoes and Valles Marineris! Dark areas were no canals Dead, dry Mars

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions USSR Mars 3 orbiter/lander/rover First successful orbiter/lander combination Orbiter achieved unintended very elliptical orbit but survived Active 8 months (12/71 – 8/72): 60 images, many discoveries Lander worked for 15”: sent 1 image Rover died with lander Again, Mars is pretty disappointing Dead, dry Mars

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions USSR Mars 3 orbiter/lander/rover First-ever image from the surface of Mars

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions USSR Mars 4 S/C fails orbit insertion and becomes unintended flyby It does return some pictures Dead, dry Mars

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions NASA Mariner 9 First successful NASA orbiter (11/71 – 10/72) Active for ~1 year Arrived during huge global dust storm Saw Olympus Mons emerge from the dust Photomapped 100% of Mars Still basis of Mars maps (MDIM)

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions NASA Mariner 9 First successful NASA orbiter • First glimpse of possible river valleys

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions NASA Mariner 9 First successful NASA orbiter • First image of Valles Marineris

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions NASA Mariner 9 First successful NASA orbiter Imaged Phobos and Deimos

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions USSR Mars 5 orbiter Failure in orbit insertion It did send back several images

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions USSR Mars 5 orbiter Failure in orbit insertion It did send back several images

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions NASA Viking 1976 -1982 Two orbiter/lander combinations: Viking 1 and 2 Orbiter

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions NASA Viking 1976 -1982 Two orbiter/lander combinations: Viking 1 and 2 Color image of Olympus Mons

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions NASA Viking 1976 -1982 Two orbiter/lander combinations: Viking 1 and 2 Water flow from Maja Valles into Chryse flows around Dromore Crater (19. 9° x 49. 6°), breaking into the crater and through it

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions NASA Viking 1976 -1982 Two orbiter/lander combinations: Viking 1 and 2 Fractured terrain in northern plains, similar to terrestrial polygon processes only much larger These are about 5 -10 km apart

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions NASA Viking 1976 -1982 Two orbiter/lander combinations: Viking 1 and 2 Pedestal craters

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions NASA Viking 1976 -1982 Two orbiter/lander combinations: Viking 1 and 2 Lava flow from Arsia Mons 1500 km away floods older cratered landscape Pickering Crater (-33. 9° x 134. 4°) in Dædalia Planum Illustrates “crater-rating” method of relative chronology

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions NASA Viking 1976 -1982 Two orbiter/lander combinations: Viking 1 and 2 • Cirrus clouds, bigger’n beans!

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions NASA Viking 1976 -1982 Two orbiter/lander combinations: Viking 1 and 2 Cyclone in northern plains

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions NASA Viking 1976 -1982 Two orbiter/lander combinations: Viking 1 and 2 Stereo pairs as one way to estimate elevation

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions NASA Viking 1976 -1982 Two orbiter/lander combinations: Viking 1 and 2 Paraná Valles in Margaritifer Sinus (-22. 9° x 10. 2°) Check out the dendritic drainage!

Mars: Data from Robotic Missions NASA Viking 1976 -1982 Two orbiter/lander combinations: Viking 1 and 2 Dust trapped in Kaiser Crater, in Noachis Terra (-47. 2° x -19. 1°) Creates a dune field