M6+-+5

 ·  To map out Mars, and a take pictures of the planet  ·  Gullies and debris flow features that suggest there may be current sources of liquid water, similar to an aquifer, at or near the surface of the planet  ·  water-related minerals leading to selection of a Mars rover landing site  ·  Magnetometer readings showed that the planet's magnetic field is not globally generated in the planet's core, but is restricted in particular areas of the crust  ·  The moon has powdery material at least 1 meter (3 feet) thick, caused by millions of years of meteoroid impacts  ·  First views of the northern ice cap  ·  It last communicated with earth Nov. 2, 2006 due to battery failure  ·  Operated at mars longer than any other spacecraft in history  ·  The battery failure appears to have been caused by a complex sequence of events involving the onboard computer memory and ground commands. ||  ·  // Launch: // December 4, 1996 //Landing:// July 4, 1997  ·  Mars Pathfinder was originally designed as a demonstration of how to deliver an instrumented rover and a free-ranging robot to the surface of mars  ·  returned an unprecedented amount of data and outlived its primary design life  ·  The landing site, an ancient flood plain in Mars’ northern hemisphere Called Ares Vallis,  ·  among the rockiest parts of Mars.  ·  It was chosen because scientists believed it to be a relatively safe surface to land on   ·    contained a wide variety of rocks <span style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol"> ·  than 16,500 images from the lander and 550 images from the rover, <span style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol"> ·  15 chemical analyses of rocks and soil <span style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol"> ·  extensive data on winds and other weather factors <span style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol"> ·   the rover suggest that Mars was at one time in its past warm and wet <span style="FONT-SIZE: 8pt; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol"> ·   water existing in its liquid state and a thicker atmosphere. ||
 * Category 5 – Mars/Venus **
 * Mars Global Surveyor || JPL Past
 * // When //**
 * // Launch: // November 7, 1996
 * // Arrival: // September 12, 1997
 * // Why //**
 * // What they learned //**
 * // Problems  //**
 * Mars Pathfinder || JPL Past
 * Mars Pathfinder- **
 * // When //**
 * // Why //**
 * // What they learned //**
 * Mars Exploration Rovers || JPL & NASA Current

Purpose – Looking for liquid water. When – // Launch of first rover, Spirit: // June 10, 2003, // Launch of second rover, Opportunity: // July 7, 2003 Data – Rocks and soils analyzed Problems – Temperature sensitive. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Picture – http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/spacecraft/mer-low-angle-052003-130-104.jpg || <span style="FONT-SIZE: 8.5pt; FONT-FAMILY: Symbol; mso-bidi-font-family: Symbol; mso-fareast-font-family: Symbol"> ·  1&2 // Launch: // August 27, 1962 //Flyby:// December 14, 1962 > //Flyby:// July 14, 1965 > //Flyby:// October 19, 1967 > //Mars Flyby:// July 31, 1969 (Mariner 6); August 5, 1969 > //Arrival (Mariner 9):// November 13, 1971 > //Flybys:// Venus on February 5, 1974; Mercury on March 29 and September 21, 1974, and March 16, 1975\ ****// When? //**
 * Mariner || JPL Past
 * Mariner **
 * // When? //**
 * 3&4 // Launch: // November 28, 1964
 * 5 // Launch: // June 14, 1967
 * 6&7 // Launch: // February 24, 1969 (Mariner 6); March 27, 1969 (Mariner 7)
 * 8&9 // Launch (Mariner 9): // May 30, 1971
 * 10 Launch // : // November 3, 1973
 * // Why? //**
 * 1973, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory designed and built 10 spacecraft named Mariner to explore the inner solar system
 * The Mariner series were designed to be the first U.S. spacecraft to go to other planets, specifically Venus and Mars.
 * Mariner 1 and 2 were identical spacecraft developed to fly by Venus.
 * Mariner 3 and 4 were identical spacecraft designed to carry out the first flybys of Mars.
 * Mariner 5 originally built as a backup to Mariner 4
 * When Mariner 4 completed its mission successfully, the backup was renamed Mariner 5 and refitted for a flyby of Venus.
 * Mariner 6 and 7 were the second pair of Mars missions
 * Mariner 8 and 9 were the third and final pair.
 * Both were designed to be the first Mars orbiters,
 * Mariner 10, JPL engineers embarked on an experiment with an ingenious way of traveling through the solar system using the gravity of one planet to help propel the craft on to the next destination
 * // What they learned //**
 * As it flew by Venus on December 14, 1962, Mariner 2 scanned the planet with infrared and microwave radiometers, revealing that Venus has cool clouds and an extremely hot surface.
 * Mariner 3 flew past Mars on July 14, 1965, collecting the first close-up photographs of another planet. showed lunar-type impact craters (just beginning to be photographed at close range from the Moon), some of them touched with frost in the chill Martian evening
 * Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 both flew over cratered regions and missed both the giant northern volcanoes and the equatorial grand canyon that was discovered later
 * Mariner 9 observed that a great dust storm was obscuring the whole globe of the planet.
 * The storm persisted for a month, but after the dust cleared, Mariner 9 proceeded to reveal a very different planet than expected -- one that boasted gigantic volcanoes and a grand canyon stretching 4,800 kilometers (3,000 miles) across its surface
 * the relics of ancient riverbeds were carved in the landscape ||
 * Magellan || JPL Past
 * Magellan
 * // Launch: // May 4, 1989
 * // Why? //**
 * map venus’ surface
 * // What they learned? //**
 * swirling clouds
 * scorchingly hot world with a surface temperature of about 470 C (about 900 F).
 * mapped 99 percent of the surface of Venus.
 * Magellan made global maps of Venus's gravity field. ||
 * Mars Odyssey || JPL Current

Purpose – Determine the composition of the planet's surface, to detect water and shallow buried ice, and to study the radiation environment. When – // Launch: // April 7, 2001 //Arrival:// October 24, 2001 Data – Exact composition of Mars’ surface. Problems – None. Pictures – http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/images/mars-odyssey-th.jpg ||
 * Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter || JPL Current

Purpose – For further information and images of Mars. When – Aug. 12, 2005 Data – New views of Mars’ moon, Phobos. Problems – None. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Picture – http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/press/20080409a/20080409_th371x246.gif ||
 * Phoenix || JPL & NASA Current

Purpose – Collecting data about Mars. When – Launch: Aug. 4, 2007 Land on Mars: May 25, 2008. Data – Images of Mars. Problems – Landing on Mars, there are several tasks that need to be done before the critical landing. <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">Picture – http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/phoenix/images/pia09943-330.jpg ||
 * Mars Express || NASA Current

Purpose – Mission to search for subsurface water from water. When – Landed December 2003. Data – Polar-layered deposits under the surface of Mars. Problems – None. Picture – http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/express/gallery/martianterrain/images/20080417_PIA10375_br.jpg || RIGHT-CLICK on these links to "Open in a new window"

JPL PAST Missions http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/past_missions.cfm JPL CURRENT Missions http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/index.cfm NASA PAST Missions http://www.nasa.gov/missions/past/index.html <span style="FONT-SIZE: 12pt; FONT-FAMILY: 'Comic Sans MS'; mso-bidi-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman'; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA">NASA CURRENT Missions http://www.nasa.gov/missions/current/index.html>