Space Probes to Mars

• Mariner flyby’s in ‘60’s

  • Data shown on “Voyage to the Planets” video
  • First closeup pictures of Mars
    • Somewhat disappointing because terrain looked heavily cratered -- like Moon and Mercury
      • the signature of a dead planet
    • Mariner only looked at the S. Hemisphere
      • The N. Hemisphere is more promising/interesting

• Viking missions 1976

  • Orbiter viewed whole surface
    • Saw Mariner’s heavily cratered S. Hemisphere
      • From crater counts, age similar to Moon and Mercury
    • Polar ice caps
      • Permanently frozen H2O ice
      • CO2 ice freezes from atmosphere in Winter, thaws in Summer
        • drives strong winds which kick up planet-wide dust storms

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