Mars Probes
- large extinct volcanos, huge canyon, evidence for flowing H2O in the past
- Mars is a very interesting planet, worthy of carefull study
- may harbor life (now or in the past)
- Landers
- Closeup view of rocks and soil
- Mars looks similar to high dry deserts on the Earth
- the Atacama desert 16,000 ft high in the Chilean Andes with a reddish tinge
- 16O/17O/18O isotope ratios differ from Earth and Moon
- allows us to identify some meteorites as being from Mars
- Weather
- Temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind speed and direction
- Test Martian soil for life signs
- no definite evidence of life activity
- changes seen could be explained by inert chemistry
- no evidence for organic molecules