Next Stop: Mars!

Walter S. Kiefer

Lunar and Planetary Institute

Earth and Mars

Basic Facts about Mars

Diameter:Mars Day:

Mars Year:Mass:

Gravity:Atmosphere:Atmospheric

Pressure:Surface

Temperature:

6,794 km (53% of Earth)24 hours 37 minutes687 Earth days11% of Earth38% of Earth95% Carbon Dioxide< 1% of Earth at sea

level

-125 to +20 Celsius

Giant Volcanos

Valles Marineris

An Impact Scarred Surface

Ancient Floods

50 km

Phobos and Deimos

A Desert World

A Geologic Time Machine

Life on Mars?

• Look for evidence of respiration, response to nutrients.– Results probably indicate

unusual soil chemistry.

• No evidence for organic molecules at the parts per billion level.

• Claimed evidence for life in martian meteorite is not generally accepted.