#saved on 2017-5-03 # by Christine Shupla # for MAVEN team # Solar System include = /shared/sos/media/astronomy/solar_system/playlist.sos rename = MAVEN: Planet Diagram # Blue Marble include = /shared/sos/media/land/blue_marble/blue_marble/playlist.sos rename = MAVEN: Blue Marble # Current Mars include = /shared/sos/media/extras/live_programs/maven/dry_mars/playlist.sos # Early wet Mars include = /shared/sos/media/extras/live_programs/maven/wet_mars/playlist.sos # Landing sites from missions to Mars include = /shared/sos/media/extras/live_programs/maven/mars_landingsites_2016/playlist.sos # Panorama of Mars from Curiosity rover include = /shared/sos/media/extras/live_programs/maven/panorama/playlist.sos # Blue Marble: without clouds include = /shared/sos/media/land/blue_marble/earth_vegetation/playlist.sos rename = MAVEN: Earth with No Clouds # PIP of water channels on Earth and Mars include = /shared/sos/media/extras/live_programs/maven/waterfeatures/channels/playlist.sos # PIP of deltas on Earth and Mars include = /shared/sos/media/extras/live_programs/maven/waterfeatures/deltas/playlist.sos # comparison of Earth and Mars with split screen include = /shared/sos/media/extras/live_programs/maven/mars_earth/playlist.sos # current dry Mars include = /shared/sos/media/extras/live_programs/maven/dry_mars/playlist.sos # an early wet Mars include = /shared/sos/media/extras/live_programs/maven/wet_mars/playlist.sos # MAVEN in orbit around Mars include = /shared/sos/media/extras/live_programs/maven/maven_orbit/playlist.sos # PIP of the solar wind causing "sputtering" on Mars include = /shared/sos/media/extras/live_programs/maven/mars_sputtering/playlist.sos # Earth's magnetic field include = /shared/sos/media/land/earths_magnetism/magnetic_lines/playlist.sos # Earth Aurorae include = /shared/sos/media/astronomy/aurora/playlist.sos # Early Wet Mars with global magnetic fields include = /shared/sos/media/extras/live_programs/maven/wet_mars_magnetic_fields/playlist.sos # PIP of the Solar Wind at Mars include = /shared/sos/media/extras/live_programs/maven/mars_solar_wind/playlist.sos # Current Mars with Diffuse Aurora include = /shared/sos/media/extras/live_programs/maven/mars_diffuse_aurora/playlist.sos # Blue Marble: Without Clouds include = /shared/sos/media/land/blue_marble/blue_marble/playlist.sos rename = MAVEN: Blue Marble #>---Live Program Info--- #> This live program describes the evidence for changes in Mars' climate and #> how the MAVEN mission is measuring how Mars is losing its atmosphere to space. #> **Note: #> - Lines that begin with ">>" and bracketed text denote presenter instructions. #> - "(Q?)" denotes discussion questions. #> #>---(1) Planet Diagram--- #> Our Solar System has planets orbiting our Sun, along with their moons, #> asteroids, dwarf planets, and comets. #> #>- (Q?) Which one is your favorite? #> #>>>[Use a pointer to point to the planets that the audience identifies.] #>The most special planet is the one with life - our own planet Earth. #> #> #>---(2) Blue Marble--- #>- (Q?) Can you find us - where we are right now - on the Earth? Can you find where you're from? #> #> The Earth - as far as we know - is the only planet in our Solar System that supports life. #>- (Q?) What does Earth have that life needs? #>>>[Audience answers might include air, water, moderate temperatures...] #> #> We've found microbes that deep at the bottom of the ocean and deep in the ground #> that don't need the same type of air that we do. #> But all of the life that we've found needs one thing. (Water) #> #>- (Q?) How much water does the Earth have? #>>> [Let the audience respond - could include percentage covered by the ocean] #>>> [they can mention water vapor in the atmosphere, ice, etc.] #> #> Earth is the only planet we know of that constantly has liquid water on its surface. #> #> Other planets might have had liquid water in the past. #> There's one planet, in particular, that we think once had liquid water on its surface. #>- (Q?) Which planet do you think might have had water? #> #>---(3) Mars Red Planet--- #> That's right: Mars. #> This is what Mars looks like today. Dry. #> #>---(4) Watery Mars--- #> But, billions of years ago, we think it was wetter, with flowing water, #> maybe even with lakes or oceans. Finding out how Mars' climate has changed #> can help us understand more about our own Earth. So let's talk a bit about Mars. #>- (Q?) How do we know that Mars once was wetter? #>>>[Audience answers might mission data, rovers on Mars, or some misconceptions.] #> #> Well, scientists are like detectives. They solve mysteries by searching for clues. #> Over the past 50 years, we've found lots of clues about Mars' past. #> - (Q?) How have we found these clues? #>>> [Responses could include telescopes, missions, more.] #>>> [Presenters might need to respond to some common misconceptions:] #>>> [humans have not been to Mars yet] #>>> [aside from meteorites from Mars, we don't have other Mars rocks/samples yet] #> #>---(5) Mars Landing Sites--- #> Over the past 50 years, we've sent spacecraft to all the planets of the Solar System #> to gather clues about the planets. Some of these spacecraft have flown right by Mars, #> sending back pictures like postcards. Some have gone into orbit around Mars. #> And some have even landed on its surface. #> #> - (Q?) Can you name any of the Mars missions? #>>> [Help them to find the landing site for the landers they can name, but don't point out each one.] #> #> #>---(6) Curiosity Rover panorama--- #> This is an image from the Curiosity rover, and you can see that today Mars is dry. #> But there are some interesting features on Mars that we can compare to Earth features. #> These tell us Mars once had water on its surface. #> #> - (Q?) Do you have any ideas on what these clues or features might be? #>>> [Take answers from the audience.] #> #> #>---(7) Blue Marble No Clouds--- #> Geologists have had a long time to study the Earth. #> We understand how wind, water, and volcanoes can shape the land. #> These tell us Mars once had water on its surface. #> Each process leaves different clues that tell us what happened, clues that reveal the difference #> between features that were carved by wind, and ones that were made by flowing water. #> #> #>---(8) Watery Background--- #> Let's compare some clues: images taken from space of features on Earth and Mars. #>>> [Audience Participation Activity: Two options ] #>>> [OPTION 1: Hand out labeled images.] #>>> [OPTION 2: Use PIPs to compare the images] #>>> [For both options, have audience look at, discuss, and compare the images.] #>>> [Ask the audience about their observations of each of the images.] #> #> What do these images show - what are these features? #> Yes, they are river and stream channels. One image is from Earth and one is from Mars. #> - (Q?) Can you tell which picture is Earth and which is Mars? #>>> [Take guesses from the audience.] #> #>>> [Image A: Earth shows river and stream channels in Yemen, a desert region in the Middle East.] #>>> [The light-gray features are channels starting as small streams and growing into larger rivers.] #>>> [Yemen only gets a little rain, but water still plays an important role in shaping the landscape.] #>>> [For both options, have audience look at, discuss, and compare the images.] #> #>>> [Image B: This Viking 1 Orbiter image from 1976 shows channels on Mars.] #>>> [The biggest channel is 350 kilometers (about 215 miles) long.] #>>> [It was probably carved by water flowing over the surface of Mars.] #>>> [For both options, have audience look at, discuss, and compare the images.] #> #> Now let's take a look at a second pair of images. #> - (Q?) Does anyone know what these images show? #>>> [Take guesses from the audience.] #> They are deltas, which form where a river flows into something larger, like an ocean or lake. #> Deltas form when sediment (like sand or mud or pebbles) drops onto the lake bed or sea floor. #> Look at these two photos - you can see how the delta in both pictures has the same shape. #> - (Q?) How many people think the image on the left is Earth? How many people think it is Mars? #>>> [Take guesses from the audience.] #> #> #>>> [Image C: Earth. This is an image of the Yukon Delta in Alaska. ] #>>> [The light-gray features are channels starting as small streams and growing into larger rivers.] #>>> [The squiggly light gray lines are river and stream channels bringing] #>>> [water and sediment from the Yukon River to the Bering Sea.] #> #>>> [Image D: The Eberswalde Delta on Mars is a "fossil delta" - ] #>>> [a delta that no longer has water flowing through its channels.] #>>> [This is evidence that water flowed over Mars' surface for a long period of time.] #> #> #>---(9) Blue Marble/ Red Planet Split screen--- #> When we look at Mars and we see certain kinds of formations - like stream channels and deltas - #> we think that there was once water flowing on the surface of Mars. #> But not anymore. #> #> - (Q?) Is there something about the Earth that might explain #> why WE still have water and Mars doesn't? #>>> [Take guesses from the audience: Mars has less atmosphere, fewer clouds] #>>> [Earth has more gravity; Mars is colder, farther from the Sun] #>>> [Mars doesn't have volcanic activity anymore.] #> #> There aren't many clouds on Mars because it is so cold and dry. Water and air are connected; #> the mystery of Mars' missing water is connected to its atmosphere and climate. #> #> #>---(10) Mars today--- #> Mars has a very thin, poisonous atmosphere, less than 1% of Earth's. #> It is too thin and far from the Sun to hold in the heat, making Mars very cold! #> To keep water as a liquid, a planet needs temperatures above freezing. #> If Mars used to have liquid water, it must also have had warmer temperatures #> and a different climate. In order to have warmer temperatures, Mars must have had #> a thicker atmosphere, to hold in the heat. #> #> So, maybe we can figure out what happened to the water on Mars #> by asking a different question: What happened to Mars' atmosphere? #> #> #>---(11) early Mars with water--- #> If Mars used to have a thicker atmosphere but doesn't anymore, what do you think #> could have happened to it? Where could it go? #>>> [Facilitator starts slowly looking around, down, up, ...] #> Up! That's right. Or down! Those are two possibilities. #> #> DOWN means that maybe the atmosphere went down into the rocks and below the surface. #> We have evidence that some of the atmosphere has been trapped in the rocks #> but we don't know how much of it. There are still some missing pieces to the puzzle. #> Another possibility is that Mars' atmosphere escaped UP, into space. #> #> #>---(12) MAVEN orbiting Mars--- #> We're studying how much of Mars' atmosphere has escaped into space. #> One of the missions orbiting Mars is the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission #> or MAVEN, for short. #> #> MAVEN is telling us how Mars' climate has changed, by studying #> how the Mars atmosphere is being blown away by energy from the Sun. #> #> #>---(13) Mars with PIP sputtering video--- #> The Sun gives off light, and blows off charged particles called the solar wind. #> The white particles in this video represent the solar wind. #> #> Sometimes the Sun burps out an enormous cloud of particles along with lots of radiation, #> called a solar storm. The Sun's radiation, the solar wind, and occasional solar storms #> can wear away Mars' atmosphere over time. #> #> #>---(14) Earth's magnetic field--- #> - (Q?) So why don't the solar wind and solar storms wear away Earth's atmosphere? #>>> [Take guesses from the audience] #> We have a powerful protector: a strong magnetic field that surrounds our planet. #> #> #>---(15) Earth Auroras--- #> As charged particles from the Sun run into our magnetic field, they are caught #> and spiral into our atmosphere at the North and South magnetic poles, #> the Northern and Southern Lights. #> But Mars doesn't have a strong global magnetic field anymore. #> #> #>---(16) Wet Mars with Global Magnetic Field --- #> Those lines around Mars represent ancient Mars' magnetic field. #> Mars used to have a strong magnetic field which protected it from the solar wind. #> #>>> [Add PIP of solar wind] #> But Mars is too cold inside now. The hot "engine" that powered its magnetic field #> isn't running anymore. Without a global magnetic field, #> the solar wind helped strip away Mars' atmosphere. #> #> MAVEN has measured the solar wind, crashing into Mars' remaining thin atmosphere. #> Just like a water hose can spray away dirt from a driveway or sidewalk, the Sun's particles #> are blowing away charged particles from Mars' atmosphere. #> MAVEN measured the speeds and directions of ionized gas particles in Mars' atmosphere, #> as they are being blown away. #> The red particles are moving the fastest as they escape into space, #> and the blue are the slowest. #> #> #>---(17) Diffuse Auroras on Mars--- #> Some of the Sun's charged particles punch deep into Mars' atmosphere. #> These can interact with gases and create a new type of aurora on Mars, #> one that we don't have on Earth. This aurora can be detected all over Mars, #> not just at the poles. Imagine the entire sky glowing at night! #> #> #>---(18) Blue Marble--- #> Sometimes people wonder why we study things so far away. #> - (Q?) What are some reasons for studying Mars' atmosphere? #>>> [Take responses from the audience: #>>> [It tells us more about how Earth's atmosphere is interacting with the Sun, in comparison] #>>> [It tells us how planets change over time] #>>> [It tells us about the relationship between Mars' climate and its atmosphere] #>>> [It might be able to tell us more about climate change] #> And science is really about learning as much as we can our own world - our home.