Searching For Life - Where to Look Worksheet - Philip V (1)

.pdf

School

Purdue University, Fort Wayne *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

ASTR-100

Subject

Geology

Date

Feb 20, 2024

Type

pdf

Pages

4

Uploaded by ChefBisonPerson1094

Report
Page 1 of 4 Searching For Life on Mars: Identifying Places to Search One of the best ways to find out if life ever existed on another planet is to send a laboratory to the planet. Mars shows many indications that it was much warmer and wetter in the past, and may have been capable of supporting life. In fact, there is some evidence to suggest there may still be liquid water just below the surface, which may provide a habitat for si mple organisms. It’s also one of the closer bodies to us, making it a little cheaper to get to and easier to observe. These combined factors make it one of our favorite places to search for life. There are two things a science team needs to consider in choosing where to send a robotic laboratory: likelihood of finding evidence for life and mission safety. This part of the activity is focused on the likelihood of finding evidence for life. Warm-Up Questions Begin by discussing these two questions with your group, and come up with a single answer everyone in your group can agree on. Your answers will be your guide for the next part. 1. What do you think are important criteria that need to be met to assure the best likelihood of detecting life, past or present? Explain your reasoning. There needs to be a planet within habitable distance from its star. The body must also house natural ways of energy production. Another thing that needs to be satisfied is the existence of solvents (i.e., water). Life cannot start without these coincidences taking place within perfect order. 2. What do you think are important things to be avoided to assure the best likelihood of detecting life, past or present? Explain your reasoning. The planet should not be producing so much energy that it produces a kind of runaway greenhouse effect. This is vastly important because it can determine the existence of solvents. Without solvents, the implications of natural complex chemistry cannot take place.
Page 2 of 4 Explore Mars Begin by going to https://trek.nasa.gov/mars/ If the tutorial window opens, click the button to skip the tutorial. 3. Place a check in the second column of Table 1 (below) for every map you think will be useful in picking a landing site. Remember, at this point you’re looking for places likely to have evidence for life. 4. In the third column, explain why you think it will or will not be useful. You should refer to your answers to questions 1 & 2. The following information about the maps may be helpful in determining the usefulness of each map. Most of the maps have some data missing, which usually shows up as gaps of gray or black. ● Photographic maps are compiled from optical wavelength images meant to represent what it actually looks like. ● Topographic maps show elevation, usually using color, with shading to indicate surface features. Contour maps are similar, but use lines superimposed over another map, like a photographic map. ● Ion maps show areas where there are a lot of a particular type of ion, usually detected from orbit. ● Mineral maps show the composition of the planet's surface, usually detected from orbit. ● Gravitational anomaly maps show the density of the crust – higher gravity equates to denser materials. Table 1: Available Maps Layer Useful? Reason MOLA topographic See also "Elevation" at http://www.google.com/mars/ Because it’s not really highlighting different features of the terrain but instead just highlighting it a light yellow. H ion abundance – equatorial We can clearly see the differences in the terrain. In terms of Hydrogen abundance. H ion abundance - poles We can clearly see the differences in the terrain. Especially in relation to the differentiation of the hydrogen abundance Hydrated mineral map from Mars Express This map highlights hydrated mineral sites. Where there are “ hydrated ” minerals there may be complex chemistry. Photographic Atlas of Mars at http://www.msss.com/mars_images/ moc/moc_atlas/ It just seems to be a greyscale image of mars ’ surface. That are dividing the planets into thirty "quadrangles." Mars Global Surveyor gravitational anomaly map I t’s a map of gravitational anomalies - I see the relevance but not the practicality of this information in the search for life. Clay mineral distribution and diversity on Mars (Ehlmann et al. Nature Vol 479, 3 Nov ‘11) | The original link would not work for me. I was instructed to use the This is a map detailing the description of mars carbonate mineral deposits. Theres not much of a description of this map. Just that it marks the deposits. And so, I say no it ’ s not useful because carbonate minerals need water to activate natural complex chemistry.
Your preview ends here
Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version
  • Access to all documents
  • Unlimited textbook solutions
  • 24/7 expert homework help