I have lived with the Milky Way for longer than half a century and I have never stopped admiring its beauty.
Bart J. Bok ( Dutch astrophysician)
We are Yolanda and Paloma , two students of the Juan de Garay Secondary School in Valencia, and we want to study the planet Mars. Since we thought that the best way to do that was to visit the planet, and having found out that the Mars Odyssey shuttle was going to travel to the planet, we decided to ask the people in charge of the mission to allow us to travel with them. They agreed with pleasure, and now we are about to begin this long and wonderful journey to Mars, on board the Mars Odyssey shuttle.
Two friends are coming with us, Lomo and Siri , and, once on Mars, we will join Käpt’n Mosch . They will be our guides, and will help us know the meaning of its name, its origin, its main characteristics and many other things. But, most of all, they will help us detect and measure the planet’s magnetic field.
Let us introduce our friends: this line will not be read nor seenthis line will not be read nor seenthis line will not be read nor seenthis line will not be read nor seenthis line will not be read nor seenthis line will not be read nor seenthis line will not be read nor seen
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| I am Siri | I am Lomo | I am Käpt’n |
And
WE INVITE YOU TO SHARE THIS FANTASTIC ADVENTURE WITH US .
The first stage of the journey
We begin at The City of Arts and Sciences of Valencia . The management have offered us a space shuttle, from the " Cosmo " exhibition, in order to reach Cape Canaveral in a short time. This brief journey will train us for the interplanetary course.
Before we leave we want you to know our high School
First, I am going to tell you about the origin of the planet’s name .
Mars is the fourth planet from the sun, and is commonly known as the Red Planet , owing to the reddish colour of its surface and sky. Ever since antiquity, it captivated the attention of "star searchers" who observed it and studied it with detail.
Every civilization in old times gave a different name and meaning to the planet.
Egyptians called it " Her Descher ", which means “ The Red One ” .
Greeks called it " Ares" , that is, the God of War. According to Greek mythology, Ares was driven by a strong fury and craving for violence. He was enthralled by the thunderclash of battle, and he loved bloodthirsty wars. He liked to spend his days involved in conflicts and stupid fights.
Ares was also connected with agriculture and especially the bay-tree. The month of March was dedicated to him, since March is the forerunner of the rebirth of life and plants on the earth and the season of wars.
Romans named it " Mars " in honour of their God of War. As the legend goes, Mars was the father of the famous Romulus and Remus, who founded the city of Rome. Both heroes were born after Mars kidnapped the Virgin Vestal Rhea Silvia. After losing her virginity, Rhea Silvia was condemned and imprisonned. Years later, her two twin sons freed her of her captivity.
The Mayas were good observers of the sky. They used their astronomic knowledge to foretell future human events. They knew the movements of Mars and they depicted it in their paintings as a ghastly being with a very long nose.
In Hindu mythology the planet Mars is known as Mangala . Hindus believed in nine planets called Navagraha. Planet Mars is identified to the God Karttikeya.
Karttikeya was born from the six sparks that fell from the eyes of God Siva into a lake near Madras. From the sparks six girls were born first, but one day Siva’s wife hugged them with such strenghth and loving care that she melted them into a single body with six heads and twelve arms. The new being would be the God of War Karttikeya, who is depicted carrying a peacock and armed with a bow and arrows.
Did you know that, before now, many other spacecrafts were sent to Mars? I will tell you their names and show you some pictures while we land in Cape Canaveral.
From 1964 to 1973 the USSR and the USA sent several spacecrafts to Mars. Among them we find the Mars, Phobos and Mariner series, especially. They were all small and they weighed about half a ton. They were launched on rockets , and never landed on the planet’s surface.
Since we are about to reach Cap a Canaveral, it’s time for you to know all the instruments we will carry on board.
Superequipment of the Physics Laboratory of the Juan de Garay S. School.
Camera with digital magnetophone.
Instruments to study the cosmic dust.
Termic emission spectrometer
Laser altimeter.
Magnetometer. Reflectometer electron. Compass.
High-stability oscillator.
The three most important instruments are:
THERMIS
It’s a high resolution infrared camera and a spectometer. With it we can see in full detail the minerals on the surface of Mars and their distribution on its surface. It will also give us information about the temperature of the areas observed, allowing us to spot hot areas where non-extinct volcanoes might be found. It is Thermis duty to store and identify radiations from the carbonates, silicates, oxids and other components of minerals. During the day the sun warms the surface of the planet, and minerals absorb this radiation, but then they send it back into the space.
This method will also provide information about the hidrotermic water and the subsoil.
MARIE
Its an instrument designed to measure the ambient radiation, since it is absolutely necessary to know the possible risks that our future explorers ( and we among them, who will be the first humans to set foot on Mars) will have to face. This radiation is a consequence of Mars not having an atmosphere that can protect the surface from the impact of cosmic rays from our local star, the Sun, and also from stars beyond our solar system.
Cosmic rays do not reach the Earth owing to the protecting effect of magnetosphere. But we do not know what can happen on Mars.
Do not worry about ambience radiation. Our special suits will protect us from the terrible cosmic rays.
GRS
The gamma-rays spectrometer will measure the amount and distribution of the chemical elements found in the rocks on Mars, such as silicon, oxygen, iron, magnesium, calcium, sulfur and carbon. In combination with the spectrometer, we use two neutron detectors.
Do you know what, Siri? When cosmic rays , highly energetic, collide with the soil atoms, some neutrons are released, and these then collide with other atoms which cause the emission of gamma rays.
Lomo! Remember that I’m very good at chemistry, and I must tell you that K, U and Th are, by their nature, radioactive and they also release gamma rays in a spontaneous way. So, the gamma radiation is due both to the radioactive elements and to the collision of cosmic rays with the elements of the soil.
We have reached CAPE CANAVERAL.
Look!!!! It’s our Spaceshuttle The Mars Odyssey. This is wonderful, get on board quick, now we are going to lift off.I never thought we would be travelling to Mars. How lucky we are!
The second stage of the journey .
Here ABC ( on board station) broadcasting to all the world from the Kennedy Space Centre in Capa Canaveral, Florida.
Today April, 7 th 2001 the Mars Odyssey
Is about to lift off carrying on board a very special crew. They are a group of students from the Juan de Garay Secondary School in Valencia (Spain ) perfectly trained and equipped / geared. The spacecraft is bound to reach its destiny next October, and will stay in the orbit of Mars for about two years. The crew will be in contact with you all the time, sending all kind of information and data.
First of all, I’d like to know how long will the journey take? - Well, it depends on the speed at which we travel. If we travel at 120 km/h then we will take 6,547,945 years.
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If we travelled at light speed, it would only take 4 minutes. But you know that is impossible! We will travel at 86400 km/h.
THREE, TWO, ONE, LIFT OFF!!
Our journey to Mars has begun!
Buckle your belts up, adventure is here!
We race into the sky ; the trees, the houses, the people Get more and more tiny!
Around us darkness falls
We travel at incredible speed, in front of us the universe embraces us in its eternal night, and suddenly someone exclaims:
Oh, oh, oh!
-"What is that?", we all say at the same time.
The screen of our spacecraft displays the object of our astonishment:
It is a comet! Followed by its long tail of diffusing matter.
It is the comet IKEYA-ZHANG
It’s been crossing our sky for several weeks.
We proceed with our journey enthusiastically, and over there in the distance Ohhhhhhh!!!! Andromeda! It’s beautiful!
But….Can anyone explain to me what Andromeda is?
Of course we can. Andromeda is a galaxy similar to ours that is at several light-years of distance, and for a long time it was thought to be a nebulose. It can be seen with our own eyes like a dim light with an elliptic shape. Who knows.... maybe one day we might meet people like us in that galaxy.
From here the Sun is bigger and brighter, like a huge ball of fire similar to the many others in our galaxy: the Milky Way. Look at the lines of the solar magnetic field.
Suddenly, someone starts to touch the keys in the control board. "What are you doing? Don’t touch anything!
Lights go off and then everybody starts shouting "What’s going to happen?", "Keep calm!. I just pressed the button to open the rear part of the spacecraft- shouts the head of the expedition. The screen opens and everybody sighs with relief.
The Earth appears in front of us like a small blue ball.
The Earth has a blue colour because 95 % of it is water.
A long and loud Ohhhhhh! Can be heard all over the spacecraft.
We get closer and closer to our objective. Mars is rather close, its red surface can be seen. We do not know what mysteries this enigmatic planet holds. It’s time for Kapt’n Mosch to contact us.
Hi, friends. I’m talking to you from Mars. Can you hear me? I know you want to know everything about my planet, so let’s begin.
THE ORIGIN OF MARS . Nowadays, there is no doubt about the origin of the sun and the origin of the planets.
The first step towards the formation of the planets was when the solar nebula disintegrated giving birth to big accumulations of highly concentrated heavy elements at different distances of the protosun. It is probable that, at that time, the sun weren’t hot enough to irradiate much energy. This provides an explanation to the fact that Mars and the Earth have similar mean densities and that they are chemically homogeneous.
Its origin, Mars had a solid nucleus surrounded by an atmosphere made of hydrogen and helium mostly.
But when the thermonuclear reactions in the sun took place, the intense solar radiation and the flow of ionized particles swept away most of the helium and hydrogen of its atmosphere and, as a result, the iron-nickel components collapsed forming a nucleus less dense than the nucleus of the Earth. The silicate and uranium minerals floated up as gases to become the external layer.
The volcanoes then gave away great quantities of heat, and this volcanic activity contributed to create the Mars’s present atmosphere.
MARS’S ATMOSPHERE is very different to that of the Earth. It’s very light and it’s made basically of carbon dioxide and very little free oxygen, with only 0.1 % nitrogen and vapor . At the moment, there are no hydrogen or helium atoms left. The greenhouse effect did not happen in order to keep the planet’s surface hot. You will have to wear spacesuits and bring oxygen bottles, but it won’t be complicated. Remember that the composition of your atmosphere is: 21 % oxygen, 0.035 % carbon dioxide and 78 % nitrogen.
ON THE SURFACE OF MARS there are not flowers or plants, but its beautiful reddish colour remains due to the iron oxide that covers it. We have the highest Volcanoe in the Solar System, OLYMPUS MONS with a height of 27 km and an approximate area of half the extension of Spain. Compare it to the highest mountain on the Earth, Mount Everest which is 9 km high, and three times smaller than Olympus Mons.
There are many Canyons on its surface , the biggest of which is MARINERIS VALLEY, which is 3000 km long and 8 km deep. It can only compare to the COLORADO GRAND CANYON , but it's much bigger.
What is really amazing about my planet is the CANALS on its surface . They are believed to be former rivers that flowed in the past. The huge canals were formed by the action of successive overflows of water and they run from the south hemisphere, of higher lands, towards the north hemisphere, with lower lands.
There are big quantities of Craters in the south hemisphere caused by the battering of meteors. The north hemisphere has fewer craters and its surface is made of lava overflows.
"Siri; do you know that Mars also has geographical poles covered with layers of ice, like the Earth?
Kapt’n tell us about the dust storms. Is it true that Mars is now a windswept desert?
Yes, you’re right. There are large areas of sand dunes and other formations created by the erosion of the wind. When you land on Mars, don’t forget your glasses, sometimes you can’t see because of the dust.
"WHAT’S THE TEMPERATURE?" If you are thinking of going to the equator, you must know that the temperature will vary in different parts of your body. That is, from your waist to your feet, the temperature will be 21ºC and from your waist to your head, it will be of 0ºC. These sharp changes will make you feel with half your body in summer and the other half in winter.
THE AVERAGE/MEAN PRESSURE on the surface of Mars is about 18 milibars, that is, 1/100 the pressure on the surface of the Earth. Owing to this low pressure, you will have to wear a spacesuit. Without it, under that pressure our organs would get bigger and bigger, and would make us look much larger than we are.
I’ll tell you how to land on Mars safely, but it’s a secret, so promise you won’t tell anyone.
Mars has two moons named Phobos and Deimos. These are the names of the two sinister deities that escorted Ares during the fight with the Troyans, according to the Iliad. PHOBOS means terror and DEIMOS fright.
These two satellites are the darkest heavenly bodies in the solar system, reflecting only 6 % of the light that reaches them.
They are ellipsoids, and somewhat irregularly-shaped, and their surface is full of craters. However, Deimos has a smoother surface since most of the craters have been partially filled.
According to some theories the satellites are meteors attracted into Mars’s gravitatory field. Both satellites were discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877.
Phobos takes 7 h and 40 min to go around Mars, and Deimos does it in 38 h 18 min.
The third stage of the journey
ABC broadcasting, contacting the Earth, Listen! Listen! We’ve made it at last! Aft er a journey of seven months and sixty million kilometers, the Mars Odyssey is in the orbit of Mars. So much effort has been worthwhile:
TODAY OCTOBER 24 TH 2001 WE ENTER ORBIT.
Fasten your belts because we are going to spin. Our plan of action will be first to record the data provided by the board instruments, then find out the gravitational field of the planet, and finally to land.
Here ABC again contacting the Earth: after several weeks working non-stop, the board instruments have recorded the first data:
We have found water on Mars!!
Possibly, this fact will be a turning point in the history of the planet. These are the data we have collected and we offer them to you so that you can share we us this wonderful discovery.
The Gamma Rays spectrogram ( GRS) has yielded the first evidence that Mars contains huge quantities of ice under its surface . The data analysis reveals the presence of ice in large areas around the south pole of the planet.
The amount of water found is approximately twice the amount of water in Lake Michigan, and, should it happen to melt, it would flood the red planet. The ice stretches even under the warm regions, which makes us suspect the presence of caverns with water.
We have also found hydrogen in the south hemisphere, but not near the pole, owing to the presence of CO 2 , which covers it in winter.
It has been known for a long time that Mars used to have large amounts of water on its surface. The question was ¿What became of the water? Now we know that, at least part of it is to be found as ice.
The fourth stage of the journey
Our instruments keep on recording data, but now is the great moment for us. Kapt’n give us a hand with our experiment. Equipment consists of: We want to measure the magnetic field of Mars.
Our equipment consists of:
A torsion pendulum similar to the one developed by Cavendish to measure the gravitation constant, to which some modifications have been applied.
We have replaced the two masses with a compass.
We have suppressed the graduated scale and, in its place, we have fixed a detector /sensor connected to a computer, that will gradually store / record the different positions of the compass and then will digitalize them. We will use laser light and the thread of the pendulum is made of fiberglass.
A MAGNETIC FIELD MEASURER operating on wide band.
These instruments are inside a transparent and airtight enclosure, and placed on an aerostatics balloon.
We shall lower the balloon and place it close to the surface of the planet, since its magnetic field is very low. It will be remotely controlled from the spacecraft. We shall do a screening of the poles and the areas near the equator.
We have analyzed the data registered and stored with our devices. The processed image on the left shows the successive positions of the compass in a large area near the equator, which has enabled us to draw the lines of the magnetic field. The registered intensity of the magnetic field was:
The most important conclusions are:
Mars does not have, like the Earth, magnetic poles, or at least we haven’t found them. The been active in the areas shown in the picture. There may be more, although we have not screened the whole surface of the planet. Our conclusion is that compasses have Mars has several local magnetic fields that do not cover the whole planet.
We have decided to land on Athbasca Valley, since scientifically it seems to us to be the most interesting place. This area is near Olympus Mons, and visiting the great volcano was one of our great dreams, and near Marineris Valley. We think this area has been modified by water at some time in it history.
Get ready to land. You will come down in a balloon, and you will roam the planet in a Rover . You’re lucky, because there are no dust storms at this time. I’m waiting for you.
We have strolled along the canals and we have approached Marineris Valley, and everything is different from what we expected. It’s amazing to be on a deserted land with no trace of life. Siri has picked up a big crystal with something inside. We’ll take it to the spacecraft and study it there.
Lomo, where’s Käpt’n Mosch? He said he’d be waiting for us on Mars, but he’s disappeared, he’s nowhere to be seen. Don’t you think it’s strange? Yes, but we can’t waste more time, we have to go back, we’re running out of oxygen – it’s very strange –
We go back to the spacecraft and go on orbiting and researching. After a few days we find out that the stone found inside the ice crystal is a diary and by using a smaller stone we can turn the pages. On the first page we manage to translate an inscription: "To future visitors". We eventually manage to translate the rest of the text, the words in bold are translated in the brackets to avoid misunderstandings.
The diary of a Vorash (martian)
First day: We first notice extravorashian (extramartian) activity on Tauri (planet Earth). We remark that they are preparing the launching of spacecrafts.
Second day: According to our investigations, they are preparing a crewed mission to our planet.
Third day: With their primitive spacecrafts they will take three months.
Fifth day: Today has been the great day: the launching. Their imperfect spacecrafts need large quantities of hydrogen and fuel to lift off. They don’t know ingravity engines.
Tenth day: The spacecraft precedes its journey. It will take them another 85 days.
Ninetieth day: The Tauri spacecraft is at sight. They will soon activate the aerobraking. They will land on our planet with the help of parachutes.
Ninety-fifth day: After a journey of ninety terrestrial days they have arrived. We don’t know yet what they mean to do here, so we will use our invisibility suits; however, we suppose they are friendly.
Ninety-sixth day: First observations of Tauri life (terrestrial life). Their mission is scientific; they have come to know Our World. However, we have decided to keep on wearing our invisibility suits. We understand their conversations since, with our advanced technology, we have made a Tauri-Vorash translator.
Ninety-seventh day: The Tauri believe that they came to our planet before we went to theirs. This is false. The many UFO sights on Tauri, 200 years before the catastrophe on Tauri, and then the sight of a UFO on the west coast of the United States, and the Tungusta disaster when a Vorash mother craft accidentally crashed in the former USSR.
Ninety-eighth day: We have started our visual studies of Tauris (terrestrians). Their unadapted bodies can’t resist the sharp temperature changes, nor the low pressure, and they have to wear thick suits to protect themselves.
The Tauri seem to be arguing, they speak non-stop and they all want to be right. They don’t know that in our government system, virtual democracy, all decisions are taken after a world poll, in which all people vote. Moreover, they are divided into countries, and they don’t have a global union. They say that after the Great Disaster all the countries signed a treaty of nuclear weapons control.
This fragment is the only part of the diary that we managed to transcribe. The remaining text was so damaged that it was impossible to translate it.
The objective of our journey was to know more things about this planet and, not only have we succeeded, but we have also found an invaluable document that has enabled us to know about life on Mars. But there are still many questions to ask. The diary appears to have been written during our space journey and inspection trip on Mars. But we haven’t found any living creature. The Martians seem to have been watching us. Are they made of anti-matter?
Siri, we are exhausted. Don’t ask yourself more questions. When the "Mars Express" spacecraft travels to Mars in 2003, maybe we will be able to come back and learn about anti-matter. By the way, what’s that?
With broken hearts we had to travel back to the Earth, but on an evening of May we went out to the countryside to see Mercury, Venus, Saturn, Jupiter and even our Moon aligned with Mars. The sight was breathtaking but we were all fascinated by the faint red colour of Mars. Our hearts are still on Mars.
CITATIONS
Books: El Universo de Carl Sagan
Historia de Marte, Francisco Anguita
¿Qué sabemos del Universo?, Juan Pérez Mercader
El Universo, Lloyd Molz
Los mitos griegos, Robert Graves
El arte y sus creadores, Tania Raquejo Grado
Newspapers: Secciones culturales del País, Mundo y ABC
Journals: Scientific American
La recherch
Revista española de Física
Tribuna de astronomía y Universo
Diccionario de Astronomía, Oxford Complutense
Webpages: http://www.nasa.org
Paper by:
Yolanda López Gómez
Paloma Ruíz Sendra
Photographies and drawings by:
Maisa Falcón Almodóvar
English translation by:
Carmen Alcañiz Raya BA English Teacher at the Juan de Garay High School.
Directed by:
Emilia Navarro de Oña Head of the Physics and Chemistry Department
Juan de Garay High School
Valencia, Spain 2001-2002
