About the Course
In January, 2004, Spirit and Opportunity, two NASA rovers, landed on the surface of Mars. One year later, these remote geologists are still exploring the planet and provide a unique opportunity for scientific education. This seminar will focus on the scientific questions and societal factors driving these and other missions to Mars. We will discuss fundamental scientific questions such as how the planet has evolved and whether conditions on Mars could have sustained life. We will also discuss the technical challenges of sending missions to distant planets, the feasibility of sending humans to Mars, and the societal motivations behind space exploration. Each student will participate in the exploration of Mars by submitting a proposal to NASA to use the Mars Orbital Camera to solve a scientific question posed by the student.

Information about Mars exploration

• NASA - the US space agency
• Mars Global Surveyor
• The Mars Orbital Camera
• Mars Exploration Rover Mission
• 2001 Mars Odyssey
• Mars Express (European mission with US collaboration)
• Beagle 2
• Nozomi (Japanese mission)
• Past, present and future missions to Mars
• About Mars
• Additional web resources for Mars

Format
The seminar will meet for two and one half hours each week for eight weeks. The time will be divided between informal lecture presentations, discussion, and student presentations. Reading material will be provided. There is no text for the course.

Information will be presented through informal lectures, readings from scientific journals, and in-class discussions. We will use NASA's web coverage of the Mars missions, adjusting the order of topics to take advantage of real-time developments from the Mars rovers. Students will be asked to critically evaluate information, and will work in small groups to research selected topics in more depth.  We will also take advantage of NASA's program allowing members of the public to propose "targets" to be photographed by the Mars Orbital Camera, by asking students to propose a site for a photo to be taken of the surface of Mars. A key component of the assignment (and of NASA's program) is that the purpose of the proposed image must be described in detail. This assignment will provide an opportunity for students to consider the scientific rationale for planetary exploration. Students will submit their proposed target to NASA for consideration as the final project in the class.

Outline

• Week 1 Introduction to Mars and planetary exploration
• Week 2 Mars rovers
• Week 3 Orbital Camera- Maps and Visual Observations
• Week 4 Exploring Mars: At what cost?
• Week 5 Crustal dichotomy, impacts, and giant volcanoes
• Week 6 Did Mars have running water?
• Week 7 Should humans go to Mars
• Week 8 Student presentations

Grading
Students will be required to research a topic, in order to propose a possible target for the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbital Camera. Students will present their proposed target in written form and in class. The course grade will be based on the quality of their written (1/3) and oral (1/3) presentations of their research projects and on the frequency and quality of their participation in class discussion (1/3).

Some features on Mars (possible targets of future images)

• Volcanoes
• Impact craters
• Rift
• Polar ice caps
• Dunes

Professor Zierenberg is a member of the faculty in the Department of Geology. His research interests include aqueous geochemistry; stable isotope geochemistry; economic geology, and the environmental effects of mining. His research has focused on water/rock interaction in active and ancient hydrothermal systems, including the "black smokers" on the mid-ocean ridges, where life may have originated on Earth.