EXPLORING ON MARS - THE RED PLANET THE PRESENTATION EXPLAINS THE ESSENTIALS OF MARS, IMPACT CRATERS ON MARS AND THE THE REASON FOR OCCURRENCE, BIGGEST IMPACT CRATERS ON MARS AND THE MODERN INNOVATIONS IN MARS (INCLUDING, MARS MISSIONS, PLANETARY ROVING VEHICLES ON MARS & THEIR HISTORY & COMPARISON AND MARS ORBITER MISSION BY INDIA)

1. EXPLORING ON MARS - THE RED PLANET
ARUNSENAPATHY R
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2. PRESENTATION OUTLINE
 OBJECTIVES
 MARS | AT A GLANCE
 IMPACT CRATERS ON MARS
 REASON FOR OCCURRENCE
 BIGGEST CRATERS ON MARS
 MARS MISSIONS
 PLANETARY ROVING VEHICLES ON MARS | HISTORY & COMPARISON
 CONCLUSION
 REFERENCE
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3. OBJECTIVES
 TO UNDERSTAND THE ESSENTIALS OF MARS
 TO KNOW ABOUT IMPACT CRATERS ON MARS AND THE REASON FOR
OCCURRENCE
 TO DISCUSS ABOUT THE BIGGEST IMPACT CRATERS ON MARS
 TO COGNIZE THE MODERN INNOVATIONS IN MARS
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4. MARS | AT A GLANCE
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5. MARS

FOURTH PLANET FROM THE SUN | SECOND SMALLEST
PLANET IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM

NAMED AFTER THE ROMAN GOD OF WAR

DESCRIBED AS THE “RED PLANET”

THE IRON OXIDE PREVALENT ON ITS SURFACE GIVES IT A
REDDISH APPEARANCE

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A TERRESTRIAL PLANET WITH A THIN ATMOSPHERE
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6. MARS - THE RED PLANET

MARS SURFACE IS COMPRISED OF IRONRICH MINERALS (RUST OR OXIDIZE) AND
DUST.
 THE MARTIAN SURFACE IS NOT ALL RUST-COLORED, HOWEVER,
BECAUSE DEPENDING ON THE OXIDATION PROCESS, THE MINERALS
CAN BE A RANGE OF COLORS FROM BUTTERSCOTCH TO RUST.
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7. MARS LOCATION
MARS
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8. MARS FACTS
 DISTANCE FROM SUN ≈1.52 TIMES AS FAR AS EARTH
 TIME TO ORBIT THE SUN ~ 26 EARTH MONTHS
 ATMOSPHERE ~ MOSTLY CARBON DIOXIDE
 MARTIAN DAY ~ 24.7 HOURS
 TEMPERATURE ON THE PLANET’S SURFACE HARDLY RISES ABOVE
FREEZING POINT
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9. EARTH AND MARS | COMPARISON
PARTICULARS
EARTH
MARS
RADIUS
6378 KM
3397 KM
DENSITY
5515 KG/M3
3933 KG/M3
GRAVITY
9.8 M/S2
3.72 M/S2
YEAR
365.25 DAYS
686.98 DAYS
ECCENTRICITY
0.017
0.094
DAY
24 HOURS
24 HR 39 MIN
OBLIQUITY
23.45º
25.19º
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10. CONTD…
THE LAND AREA OF EARTH IS APPROXIMATELY EQUAL TO THE
TOTAL SURFACE OF MARS
THE LAND AREA OF AFRICA IS ABOUT THE SAME
AS THE TOTAL SURFACE OF THE MOON
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11. MARS | SURFACE FEATURES

SURFACE COLOR “RED”

FEATURES
 IMPACT CRATERS
 LARGEST VOLCANO IN THE SOLAR
SYSTEM
(OLYMPUS MONS)
 LARGEST CANYON IN THE SOLAR
SYSTEM
(VALLES MARINERIS)
 ANCIENT RIVER CHANNELS
VALLES MARINERIS
 LAVA ROCKS
 DUST: REDDISH FROM VOLCANIC
ROCK
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12. MARS | ATMOSPHERE
 UNBREATHABLE
 THIN
 DUSTY, MAKES THE SKY PINKISH, LOTS
OF DUST STORMS
 SURFACE PRESSURE: 1/150TH OF EARTH’S
(ONLY 5.6 MILLIBARS)
 COMPOSITION: 95% CO2, 3% N, 1.5% AR,
0.1% O2, 0.03% H2O
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13. MOONS OF MARS
PHOBOS
 MARS HAS TWO TINY MOONS NAMED “DEIMOS” (PANIC) & “PHOBOS” (FEAR)
Deimos
 THE MOONS ARE IRREGULAR AND VERY SMALL IN SIZE
 PHOBOS 27X22X18 KM
 DEIMOS 15X12X10 KM
 THE MOONS ARE PROBABLY ASTEROIDS CAPTURED BY MARS
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14. WATER ON MARS
 WATER IS THE KEY TO LIFE AS WE KNOW IT
 THE NORTH AND SOUTH POLES OF MARS ARE COVERED WITH THICK ICE
OR FROST
 SOME ASTRONOMERS ABOUT 100 YEARS AGO THOUGHT THERE WERE
CANALS ON MARS DUG BY INTELLIGENT CIVILIZATION
 SPACE PROBES TO DATE HAVE NOT FOUND ANY TRACES OF CANALS ON
MARS
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15. IMPACT CRATERS ON MARS
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16.  IMPACT CRATER IN MARS IS A LARGE HOLE IN THE GROUND CAUSED BY A
METEORITE SMASHING INTO THE SURFACE OF MARS
 EVERY SOLID BODY IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM SUFFERS FROM THE EFFECTS OF
IMPACT CRATERING
 THE PROJECTILES THAT CAUSE IMPACT CRATERS, TRAVEL AT VERY HIGH SPEED
AND FASTER
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18. TERMINOLOGIES
 CENTRAL PEAK - A MOUNTAIN FORMED IN THE CENTRE OF LARGE IMPACT
CRATERS. THESE DO NOT OCCUR IN SMALL IMPACT CRATERS
 EJECTA - A SHEET OF MATERIAL (ROCKS, SOIL) SURROUNDING THE CRATER
THAT WAS THROWN OUT DURING THE IMPACT EVENT
 ERODE - THE PROCESS BY WHICH SOMETHING IS WORN AWAY OVER TIME
 FLOOR - THE FLOOR OF AN IMPACT CRATER (USUALLY EITHER FLAT OR BOWLSHAPED), LYING BELOW THE SURROUNDING GROUND LEVEL
 IMPACT CRATER - A HOLE IN THE GROUND (USUALLY CIRCULAR) CAUSED BY
THE IMPACT OF A METEORITE ONTO THE SURFACE OF A SOLID BODY
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19. CONTD…
 METEORITE - A LUMP OF ROCK OR ICE THAT HITS THE SURFACE OF A
PLANETARY BODY
 PROJECTILE - AN OBJECT THAT STRIKES A SURFACE TO PRODUCE AN IMPACT
CRATER. THESE CAN INCLUDE DUST PARTICLES, PEBBLES, ROCKS, COMETS
AND ASTEROIDS
 RAISED RIM - THIS IS THE EDGE OF THE IMPACT CRATER AND IS COMPOSED OF
ROCKS AND MATERIAL PILED UP ON TOP OF ONE ANOTHER
 RAYS - BRIGHT LINES OF EJECTA COMING FROM AN IMPACT CRATER. THESE
CAN EXTEND FOR VAST DISTANCES IN THE CASE OF LARGE IMPACTS
 TERRACED WALLS - THESE ONLY OCCUR IN LARGE IMPACT CRATERS. AFTER
THE CRATER FORMS, THE WALLS OF THE CRATER SLIP, CREATING HUGE
LANDSLIDES INSIDE THE CRATER
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20. REASON FOR OCCURRENCE OF IMPACT
CRATERS ON MARS
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21.  FORMED BY A LARGE OBJECT SUCH AS AN ASTEROID OR A COMET
 WHEN THESE LARGE OBJECTS HIT THE SURFACE THEY FORM HOLES (CRATERS)
 LATE HEAVY BOMBARDMENT PERIOD OF OUR SOLAR SYSTEM
 NO ATMOSPHERE TO PROTECT IT FROM ASTEROIDS
 THAT'S WHY MARS HAS CRATERS
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22. PHOTOGRAPHS OF VARIOUS IMPACT CRATERS
ON MARS
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23. CONTD…
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24. BIGGEST CRATERS ON MARS
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25. BOREALIS BASIN
 8,500 – KM IN DIAMETER
 A HUGE 4 BILLION YEAR-OLD IMPACT CRATER
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26. CONTD…
HELLAS BASIN
 OVER 2,100 KILOMETERS IN DIAMETER AND NINE KILOMETERS DEEP
 THE HELLAS BASIN ON THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE OF MARS IS VERY
BIG, AND VERY DEEP
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27. CONTD…
ARGYRE BASIN
 SECOND TO HELLAS IN TERMS OF SIZE.
 THE MASSIVE ARGYRE BASIN ON THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE OF MARS.
 1,800 KILOMETRES

WIDE AND 5 KM IN DIAMETER
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28. MARS MISSIONS
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29. NASA - MARS SCIENCE LABORATORY [MSL]
CURIOSITY ROVER
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30. PHOTOGRAPHS OF CURIOSITY ROVER
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31. CONTD…
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32. CONTD…
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33. PLANETARY ROVING VEHICLES ON MARS
HISTORY & COMPARISON
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34. MARINER - MARS
(MARINER-4 TOGETHER WITH MARINER-3)
 OPERATOR NASA
 MISSION TYPE FLYBY
 LAUNCH DATE NOVEMBER 28, 1964
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35. SPIRIT ROVER
 OPERATOR NASA
 MISSION TYPE ROVER
 LAUNCH DATE JUNE 10, 2003
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36. OPPORTUNITY ROVER
 OPERATOR NASA
 MISSION TYPE ROVER
 LAUNCH DATE JULY 07, 2003
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37. PHOENIX
 OPERATOR NASA
 MISSION TYPE LANDER
 LAUNCH DATE MAY 25, 2008
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38. CURIOSITY
 OPERATOR NASA
 MISSION TYPE ROVER
 LAUNCH DATE NOVEMBER 26, 2011
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39. COMPARISON OF PLANETARY ROVING
VEHICLES ON MARS
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40. CONTD…
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41. MARS ORBITER MISSION
MARS ORBITER MISSION IS INDIA'S FIRST INTERPLANETARY MISSION TO
PLANET MARS WITH AN ORBITER CRAFT DESIGNED TO ORBIT MARS IN AN
ELLIPTICAL ORBIT.
THE MISSION IS PRIMARILY TECHNOLOGICAL MISSION CONSIDERING THE
CRITICAL MISSION OPERATIONS AND STRINGENT REQUIREMENTS ON
PROPULSION AND OTHER BUS SYSTEMS OF SPACECRAFT.
SUCCESSFULLLY LAUNCHED ON 5 NOVEMBER 2013, 09:08 UTC IN PSLV-XL
C25 ROCKET FROM SATISH DHAWAN SPACE CENTRE (SDSC)
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42. MARS ORBITER MISSION – LAUNCH IMAGES
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43. CONCLUSION
 A BASIC OUTLINE TO IMPACT CRATERS IS DISCUSSED
 IMPACT CRATERS ON MARS AND THE REASON FOR OCCURRENCE WERE
DELIBERATED
 MODERN INNOVATIONS IN MARS WERE CONFERRED
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44. REFERENCES
[1] T. BARATA, E. I. ALVES, J. SARAIVA, AND P. PINA, “AUTOMATIC RECOGNITION OF
IMPACT CRATERS ON THE SURFACE OF MARS,” IMAGE ANALYSIS AND
RECOGNITION, VOL. 3212, LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE. NEWYORK:
PRINGER-VERLAG, 2004, PP. 489–496.
[2] “TEN BIGGEST IMPACT CRATERS IN THE SOLAR SYSTEM” BY “SCIENCE PHOTO
LIBRARY FEATURE STORIES”
[3] TEANBY, N.A., WOOKEY, J., SEISMIC DETECTION OF METEORITE IMPACTS ON
MARS, PHYSICS OF THE EARTH AND PLANETARY INTERIORS (2010), DOI:10.1016 /
J.PEPI.2011.03.004
[4] http://www.isro.org/pslv-c25/mission.aspx
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45. THANK YOU
CONTACT DETAILS
ARUNSENAPATHY R | PROJECT ASSOCIATE
PLANETARY SCIENCES AND EXPLORATION PROGRAMME | PLANEX DIVISION
PHYSICAL RESEARCH LABORATORY | A UNIT OF DEPT. OF SPACE, GOVT. OF INDIA
NAVRANGPURA | AHMEDABAD | 380 009 | INDIA | www.prl.res.in
MOBILE +91-9558549700 | E-MAIL senaarun@prl.res.in (OFFICIAL) | senaarun@gmail.com (PERSONAL)
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