LFM 01 Broadcast, Oct. 30, 2001
CMS E-mailed Q&A
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LFM 01 Broadcast, Oct. 30, 2001 CMS E-mailed Q&A |
The questions below were submitted by CMS students to the official Live From Mars 01 web site for the October 30, 2001 television broadcast. Their questions were answered by Mars 2001 Odyssey mission scientists and Mars education outreach staff at Arizona State University.
1. How do scientists think the "Face on Mars" was created?
Jordan Hawker, 8th grade, Charleston Middle School, Charleston, IL
Here is their response:
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
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2. When planning a long-term human mission to Mars, what is the most difficult problem we face?
Frank Baker, 8th grade, Charleston Middle School, Charleston, IL
Here is their response:
NASA is already looking at the challenges that will be faced by the crew that will go on a long-term mission to Mars. Some of those challenges will be long-term exposure to radiation (it will be a 2-3 year mission). The MARIE experiment onboard the 2001 Mars Odyssey will begin to measure the radiation in orbit around Mars. Another challenge is a water source. We must locate water on Mars for it to be feasible to send humans. We cannot send a spacecraft large enough to hold enough water for a crew over a period of several years. The northern polar cap has a mixture of water ice and carbon dioxide ice, so that is a possibility. Food has already been addressed. We cannot use the ususal freeze-dried food that the shuttle uses, as again, it would weigh too much to feed a crew over several years. Cornell University has already developed the first 100 recipes for hydroponically grown vegetable dishes. The Mars crew will be space farmers growing their own food. The mental! stability of the Mars crew confined in a small space and living under conditions that require them to stay mostly in space suits for long periods is also of concern.
Sheri Klug,
Mars K-12 Outreach Program Coordinator, Arizona State University
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3. Was Mars once like Earth?
Dirk Bennett, 8th grade, Charleston Middle School, Charleston, IL
Here is their response:
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
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4. How exactly does aerobraking work?
Greg Frank, 8th grade, Charleston Middle School, Charleston, IL
If you think of the feeling when you hold your hand out the car window as you travel down the highway, you can understand aerobraking. The spacecraft uses its solar panel as you use your hand. The force of the Martian atmosphere pushes on the panel, just like the air pushes on your hand. This force slows down the Odyssey spacecraft. By slowing the spacecraft down, we allow gravity to exert more force on the spacecraft and pull it closer to Mars. This allows us to control the shape and size of Odyssey's orbit until we achieve the orbit we need for mapping.
Larry Bryant,
Test and Training Engineer
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5. 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
Here is their response:
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
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6. How much of Mars' surface has been mapped by the MOLA instrument on MGS?
Jordan Hawker, 8th grade, Charleston Middle School, Charleston, IL
Here is their response:
Hi Jordan,
Great question, MOLA has covered the entire surface of Mars at very high accuracy. In fact, we now know the elevations on Mars better then we do for some areas on Earth. We can now pick locations anywhere on Mars and have the elevation measurement with in 10 meters (33 feet) or much less.
Trevor Graff
Mars Space Flight Facility, Arizona State University, Tempe Arizona
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7. Why doesn't a terrestrial planet like Mars have a ring system?
Scott Preston, 8th grade, Charleston Middle School, Charleston, IL
Here is their response:
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,
Mars Science Writer
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8. Why is water a key for looking for past life?
From Cambrige Weber, 8th Grade, Charleston Middle School, Charleston, IL
Here is their response:
On Earth we know that water was an essential ingredient for the start and growth of life. For Mars (and other places) this is assumed to hold true. Water has many special properties that make it very unique. This is why the Mars program is specifically looking to find water and understand its history on Mars. Stay tuned, I think many clues to solving the questions about water and Mars will come in a few years.
Trevor Graff
Mars Space Flight Facility, Arizona State University, Tempe Arizona
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9. Do some scientists think that Mars may actually have been the first planet to contain life, and if so, what do they think happened to it?
Coartney Campbell, 8th grade, Charleston Middle School, Charleston
Here is their response:
Mars could very well be the first planet to contain life. The outer planets have much more extreme temperatures, than Mars. For example, Venus can be as hot as 900 degrees Fahrenheit. The temperature range for Mars is -199 degrees F to 80 degrees F. 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 Geology Student
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10. Do you plan on using a method similar to electrolysis on any manned missions to colonize Mars? If so, is it possible to use a similar technique on Mars' CO2 atmosphere as on the water to create oxygen?
Luke DeYoung, 8th grade, Charleston Middle School, Charleston Illinois
Here is their response:
Good question, Luke! Electrolysis works for water but not CO2. So if water is detected on Mars, electrolysis can be used to generate oxygen. However. even though water and oxygen are critical to sustain life, we need to understand the radiation in the Martian environment before colonization can be considered viable. The Odyssey spacecraft has an instrument called MARIE (Mars Radiation Environment Experiment) that can detect radiation. A spectrometer in the MARIE instrument will measure the types of radiation present in the Martian environment as the spacecraft orbits the planet.
Erik Pounders,
Odyssey Academic Geology Student
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11. How is it possible that a planet smaller than Earth can have such an enormous volcano like Olympus Mons?
Natica Robinson, 8th grade, Charleston Middle School, Charleston, Illinois
That's a very good question and we aren't totally sure, but we have a few good theories. On Earth volcanos generally can form anywhere two tectonic plates meet, so we get a string of volcanos along that border. On Mars, however, there is a single plate, so there is no border area for the volcanos to form around. We believe that in the region of Tharsis Mons (where Olympus Mons and the other huge volcanos are) there is a weak spot in the crust of Mars. Lava therefore can only come to the surface through these weak points. Over billions of years of eruptions, all of the lava was deposited in the same place so the volcanos got bigger and bigger, rather than just creating a lot of small volcanos like we have here on Earth.
Keith Watt
Assistant Director
ASU Mars Education Program