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Solar System: Mercury Venus Jupiter Moon Sun

The solar system contains 8 planets that orbit the Sun, including Earth and Mars. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and has seasons, polar ice caps, and the largest volcano in the solar system called Olympus Mons. India's Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft launched in 2013 contains instruments to study Mars' atmosphere, surface, and climate in order to determine if Mars could sustain life.

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33 views

Solar System: Mercury Venus Jupiter Moon Sun

The solar system contains 8 planets that orbit the Sun, including Earth and Mars. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and has seasons, polar ice caps, and the largest volcano in the solar system called Olympus Mons. India's Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft launched in 2013 contains instruments to study Mars' atmosphere, surface, and climate in order to determine if Mars could sustain life.

Uploaded by

aldert_path
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Solar System

Sun

Mercury Venus Moon

Jupiter

Earth
Mars

2 Saturn

Uranus

Neptune

Pluto

An artistic view of our solar system. Source: https://spacetechinfo.worldpress.com


The Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in our Solar System. It orbits the Sun in ~687 Earth
days. Its rotation is little longer than Earth, 24 hours 37 minutes and 23 seconds, so a
Martian day is similar to an Earth day. Mars has nearly the same inclination of its rotational
axis as Earth, 25 degrees 12 minutes, so Mars has seasonal changes. Its radius across its
equator is about 3383 kilometers. The red colour of Mars is due to oxidised iron in the
Martian rocks. Its atmosphere is composed primarily of carbon dioxide (95.32%) with
small amounts of other gases such as Nitrogen (N2) (2.7%), Argon (Ar) (1.6%), Oxygen
(O2) (0.13%), Water (H2O) (0.03%), Neon (Ne) (0.00025 %). Martian air contains only
about 1/1,000 times the water when compared to Earth. This small amount can condense
out, forming clouds high in the atmosphere and at the slopes of towering volcanoes. The
average recorded temperature on Mars is ~-63C with a maximum temperature of 20C
and a minimum of -140C.The atmospheric carbon dioxide condenses in the form of snow
at both the polar caps. It evaporates again during the spring season in each hemisphere. 3

Different geologic processes involving volcanism, tectonism, water, ice, and impacts have
shaped the planet on a global scale. The northern part of the planet is an enormous
topographic depression. The southern hemisphere is heavily cratered and characterized
by rugged surfaces. Mars western hemisphere is a massive volcano-tectonic province
known as the Tharsis region. Tharsis contains the highest elevations on the planet and the
largest known volcano, called Olympus Mons in the Solar System. A smaller volcanic
province lies in Elysium region. Near the equator in the western hemisphere lies an
immense system of deep canyons and troughs collectively known as the Valles Marineris.
The canyon system extends eastward from Tharsis for a length of over 4,000 km. The
canyons are up to 300 km wide and ~8 km deep. The largest impact basin on Mars is
Hellas basin located in the southern hemisphere which contains lowest elevations on the
planet. Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are thought to be captured
asteroids.
Mars Orbiter Mission Spacecraft

Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) is ISROs first interplanetary


space probe dedicated for the Mars research. Mars
Orbiter Mission (MOM) was launched from Sriharikota,
India using a Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) rocket
on November 5, 2013.

The major objectives of the MOM included, design and


realization of an interplanetary spacecraft with a capability
to survive and perform Earth-bound manoeuvres, cruise
phase, Mars orbit insertion, and on-orbit phase around the
Mars. The science objectives include exploration of the
surface of Mars and its atmosphere.
4
Mars Orbiter Mission spacecraft

Deployed View of MOM


MOM integrated with PSLV launcher
Sensors on board MOM
The scientific exploration of Mars is driven by key science questions such as whether Mars was, is or can be a habitable world. This requires
observations on geologic, climatic and atmospheric processes acting on Mars. Considering these requirements, five scientific payloads have been put
onboard MOM. These five scientific payloads are, Mars Colour Camera (MCC), Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS), Methane Sensor for Mars
(MSM), Mars Exospheric Neutral Composition Analyser (MENCA) and Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP).

Mars Colour Camera (MCC) is an electro-optical sensor imaging surface of Mars in three colours, varying spatial resolution between 19 m to 4 km in 16
different exposure modes, depending on its position in orbital plane and illumination conditions. Important science objectives of MCC include studying
morphology of landforms, dynamic processes such as dust storms in different seasons. Thermal Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (TIS) instrument is
aimed to observe thermal emission from Mars surface to detect its temperature and hot spot regions or hydrothermal vents on Martian surface. The TIS
is designed to observe emitted infrared radiation from Martian environment in 713 m region of electromagnetic spectrum using micro bolometer
device. Methane Sensor for Mars (MSM) is a differential radiometer based on FabryPerot Etalon filters to measure columnar methane (CH4) in the
Martian atmosphere at several parts per billion (ppb) levels. This differential signal is to provide a measure of columnar amount of CH4. The possible
finding of methane in Martian atmosphere will provide clues about the presence of life on Mars. Measurements of D/H (deuterium/ hydrogen) ratio from
Lyman Alpha Photometer (LAP) allow us to understand the water loss process from Mars surface through the atmosphere. Mars Exospheric Neutral 5
Composition Analyser (MENCA) is a quadrupole mass spectrometer covering the mass range of 1300 amu with mass resolution of 0.5 amu. MENCA,
provides in-situ measurement of the neutral composition and density distribution of Martian exosphere.

Mars Colour Camera Thermal-Infrared Imaging Spectrometer

Mars Exospheric Neutral


Methane Sensor for Mars Lyman Alpha Photometer Composition Analyzer

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