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Challenge: Design
a Martian
Mrs. Furumoto's
5th Grade Computer Class
Makawao, HI
Marcus,
Dario, Ginger, Micheal, Chistopher, Octavio
We
have chosen a hardy single celled microbial bacteria that lives in an
underground cave filled with water. The microbe does not depend on any
sunlight to survive, but gets its energy from consuming carbon dioxide
desolved in the water and eating iron and sulphur oxides off of the cave
walls. The tiny organism excretes oxygen as a waste product, creating
a mini oxygen atmosphere inside the cave. The underground location protects
the organism from the excessive solar radiation and helps keep
the temperature more moderate and the water liquid. The bacteria is round
in shape and yellow in color. It tends to live in clusters. The bacteria
lives in a cave located beneath Tempe Terra, a low elevation cratered
plain, near the Northern Pole. The Northern Hemisphere was chosen because
the extreme changes in temperature
caused by Mars‚ elliptical orbit are least felt. It is summer when
Mars is the furthest away from the sun (cooler summers), and winter when
its closest (warmer winters.)
In addition, the Tempe Terra region of Mars is known for its tectonic
activity. There is minor plate movement along several faults in the region
causing heat to be generated and warming our cave -- keeping the water
inside it liquid. Former volcanic activity filled our cave with a denser
than normal atmosphere of carbon dioxide and other green house gases.
The underground location trapped these gases for many generations, allowing
the creation of our microbe. We think there may be other oxygen consuming
organisms living in the cave too, but have not located them yet. This
would explain why the carbon dioxide level has remained constant, and
the oxygen inside the cave has not gotten to a volatile level.
References
American Microbial Society (1999). Bacteria.
Retrieved 11/19/2003
URL: http://www.microbe.org/microbes/bacterium1.asp
Chaussee,
A,, O'Guinn, C.. Astroventure.
Retrieved 10/8/2003
http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/projects/astrobiology/astroventure/
Hauber,E.
and Kronberg, P. (2000)
Evidence for Continental Rifting in Tempe Terra, Mars, from Mars Orbiter
Laser Altimeter and Viking Data.
Retrieved 11/24/2003
URL:http://www.copernicus.org/EGS/egsga/nice00/programme/abstracts/aai2748.pdf
MGS/MOLA
Science Team (2003).
Mars Map - Labeled Atlas of the Regions
Retrieved 11/24/2003
URL: http://www.marsbase.net/m/mars-map.php
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