Discussion 2
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Dallas County Community College *
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Course
1403
Subject
Geology
Date
Apr 3, 2024
Type
docx
Pages
5
Uploaded by JudgeRavenMaster561
1.
Compare the geological activity of the Earth and the Moon. Why is the moon covered in craters?
Why are there just a few on the surface of the earth?
The Moon is covered in craters due to its lack of geological activity, while Earth has fewer craters because its active geology continually erases them.
2.
Who was Giovanni Schiaperelli?
Giovanni Schiaperelli was an Italian astronomer who observed Mars.
3.
What was the mission of Mariner 4?
What did its images reveal? What were the implications to the geological activity of Mars?
Mariner 4's mission was to fly by Mars and take close-up images of its surface, thus revealing a cratered landscape and
suggesting a lack of recent geological activity on the planet.
4.
Discuss Brad Smith's observations of Mars?
How did he assist the Mariner 6 and 7 missions?
Describe the pictures they sent back.
Brad Smith's observations of Mars assisted the Mariner 6 and 7 missions by identifying potential landing sites based on surface features, and the missions sent back images showing Martian craters, valleys, and polar ice caps.
5.
How was the Mariner 9 different from previous Mars missions? What did it discover?
Mariner 9 was the first spacecraft to orbit Mars. It discovered towering volcanoes, a huge canyon system, and evidence of past water erosion.
6.
Discuss the volcanoes of Mars.
Mars has volcanoes such as Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano
in the solar system.
7.
Discuss the Mars model that was put together by the planetary geologists. How were the satellite images put together? What was the dominant features on the planet?
8.
What is the Valles Marinaras?
What is its size? How was it formed?
Valles Marineris is a vast canyon system on Mars, stretching over 4,000 kilometers long, believed to have formed from tectonic activity.
9.
Discuss the Viking mission. How was it different from the
Mariner missions? How long did the signals take to travel
back to the Earth. Describe the Viking control room at touchdown, and Jerry Sofron's account.
The Viking mission was the first to successfully land and operate on Mars, using instruments to analyze the planet's soil
and search for signs of life, with signals taking approximately 15 minutes to travel from Mars to Earth.
10.
What did Viking's images look like?
What was the composition of the rocks that were discovered?
What other instruments were part of the Viking mission?
Viking’s images showed a rocky, desolate Martian landscape, and the composition of rocks discovered suggested a chemically reactive surface; instruments included a robotic arm for soil sampling.
11.
Describe the challenges of the exploration of Venus.
Discuss the history of the Venera missions.
What kinds of rocks did we find on Venus?
The exploration of Venus faced challenges due to its thick atmosphere and extreme temperatures, with the Venera missions, conducted by the Soviet Union, providing images
and data on Venus's surface, revealing volcanic plains and rocky terrain.
12.
How was the Magellan mission different from the Venera missions? What did Ellan Stofan (NASA/JPL) discover in the images? Was Venus geolocially active?
T
he Magellan mission used radar mapping to study the surface of Venus, revealing vast volcanic plains and lava flows; Ellen Stofan discovered evidence of tectonic activity and plate boundaries, suggesting Venus was geologically active.
13.
How can the crater density of a planet reveal its geological history?
The crater density of a planet can reveal its geological history,
with heavily cratered surfaces indicating little geological activity and younger surfaces showing fewer craters.
14.
Discuss the surprises planetary geologists found as the moons of Jupiter were explored by Voyager.
What was found by Linda Hyder on Io?
What was her early hypothesis?
Voyager revealed surprises on Jupiter's moon Io, including active volcanoes spewing sulfur and lava. Linda Hyder observed volcanic plumes on Io and hypothesized that they were caused by volcanic eruptions.
15.
What were some of the reasons volcanism was not expected on Io?
Why does Io have volcanism? Discuss the predictions of physicist Ray Reynolds of NASA.
Why shouldn't you buy a map of Io?
Volcanism was not expected on Io due to its small size and distance from the Sun, but tidal forces from Jupiter and other moons create heat within Io's interior. Ray Reynolds predicted
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Io's volcanic nature, advising against purchasing a map due to
its ever-changing surface.
16.
Discuss Jupiter's moon, Europa.
Why was surface topography absent? Why were craters absent? Europa's surface topography is absent due to its icy crust, which constantly reforms and erases surface features, while craters are absent because of the moon's active ice processes and potential subsurface ocean.
17.
Ten years after it Jupiter flyby, Voyager passed Neptune's moon, Triton.
After several months of work, NASA scientists made an incredible discovery.
What was it? What did it reveal about Triton's atmosphere?
Ten years after Voyager's Jupiter flyby, NASA scientists discovered geysers erupting from Triton's surface, indicating a
subsurface ocean and suggesting potential atmospheric phenomena on the moon.
18.
How did the Voyager mission redefine our concept of
volcanism?
The Voyager mission redefined our concept of volcanism by discovering active volcanoes on other moons, expanding our understanding of geological processes beyond Earth.
19. What did the Mars Global Surveyor reveal on Mars?
Tell us a little bit about this mission.
The Mars Global Surveyor revealed features like layered sedimentary rocks, evidence of past water flows, and possible signs of recent volcanic activity.
20. Which first-hand accounts discovery appealed to you the most? If you could visit any of the planets or moons mentioned in the video, where would you go?
Why? Which might contain life?
The discovery of geysers on Triton was particularly appealing, as it revealed unexpected activity on a moon of Neptune. If I could visit any planet or moon, I would choose Europa because I think it would cause for some interesting adventures. Europa also has a potential ocean which has a possibility of extraterrestrial life.