2001 SPACE SCIENCE VIDEOTAPES |
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Tape Title | Record ID |
Date Produced | TRT: |
Synopsis |
| MARS WAS ONCE ALL WET | G01-082 | 11/29/01 |
00:03:45 | Although Mars is now very dry,
scientists observing the Martian atmosphere with NASA's Far
Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) spacecraft, combined with
other research, estimate that Mars could have been born with more
water in proportion to its mass than the Earth.
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TAPE CONTENTS: |
| ITEM (1): Hints of a
Martian Ocean - This sequence illustrates what Mars would
look like today if it still had the massive amount of water
researchers believe was present at its formation. If the primordial
Martian ocean still existed, it would cover large areas of the
planet, represented by the blue regions.
Although Mars is now very dry, scientists observing the Martian
atmosphere with NASA's Far Ultraviolet Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE)
spacecraft, combined with other research, estimate that Mars could
have been born with more water in proportion to its mass than the
Earth. If the initial quantity of water on Mars could have been
evenly distributed across the planet somehow, it would have been
equivalent to a global Martian ocean at least three-quarters of a
mile (1.25 kilometers) deep. This is 1.3 times more water per mass
than the Earth.
The image was made by taking the estimated ancient Martian water
supply and calculating how extensive the coverage would be if it were
in the form of an ocean that could flood the low-lying regions on
Mars today. An elevation map of the Martian landscape was created
from a topographic survey by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS)
spacecraft, and a computer artist filled in the ancient Martian
ocean. Note that the ocean covers much of the northern hemisphere of
Mars, which is a vast basin according to the MGS survey.
Courtesy: NASA
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| ITEM (2): Animation of FUSE
Spacecraft - Animation of NASA's Far Ultraviolet
Spectroscopic Explorer (FUSE) spacecraft. FUSE was launched on June
24, 1999 to explore the Universe using the technique of
high-resolution spectroscopy in the far-ultraviolet spectral region.
Courtesy: NASA
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