[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 2 - 10:13:13 ]
Welcome to today's chat with Ken Edgett. Ken will begin answering your questions about Mars, the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft and the images it has taken, at 11 am, Pacific (2 pm Eastern). Chat with you then...

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 3 - 10:17:36 ]
Note to Mrs. Mock: I received the 49 questions from your kids. Thank you! However, due to Ken's travel schedule today, he won't be able to answer any of them in advance. Ken will be stepping out of a Mars Global Surveyor mtg. to participate in today's chat and then will have to return as soon as this chat is over. I suggest you/your kids send in one question at a time during the chat and we'll do the best we can!

[ George-George.Patis/Hellenic.College.Thessaloniki - 4 - 11:04:22 ]
Hello Mr. Ken Edgett

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 7 - 11:06:03 ]
RE: [George.Patis/Hellenic.College.Thessaloniki] Anybody here?
Hi George! We are indeed here! Thanks for joining us today. Where are you from?

[ DrKen-KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 9 - 11:07:15 ]
Good Day! This is Ken, calling from Mars (ha ha).

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 15 - 11:09:50 ]
RE: [Manuel-M.Scharfy/HTLWienerNeustadt] Hi around here! When will the chat begin?
Manuel, the chat begins now! Send in your question :-)

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 16 - 11:11:03 ]
RE: [Jamie-Mrs.Brehm/RDElem] This is for Ken. How long do think it take to build the spacecraft for a manned mission to Mars?
This is a good question. The human flights to the Moon in the 1960s were pretty much put together in about 7 years... however, how quickly we build a human mission to Mars also depends on politics, funding, etc. In contrast to the Apollo Moon flights, the Space Station currently being assembled has taken almost 20 years.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 18 - 11:11:35 ]
RE: [George.Patis/Hellenic.College.Thessaloniki] I am from Greece (Thessaloniki)
Wow! Greece is a country that I've always wanted to visit! Welcome to the Mars chat room! What time is it in Greece? What grade are you in?

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 21 - 11:12:37 ]
RE: [George.Patis/Hellenic.College.Thessaloniki] How much a project like this it cost? (mission to Mars)
Mars Global Surveyor, including the rocket to launch it (which is the most expensive part) cost about $260 Million U.S. Dollars. Pathfinder also cost about the same.

[ George.Patis/Hellenic.College.Thessaloniki - 23 - 11:14:08 ]
The time here is 21:15.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 24 - 11:14:45 ]
RE: [Jamie-Mrs.Brehm/RDElem] Ken, My students are wanting to know the reason for exploring Mars in the first place? Can you give us a great reason? Thanks from Edmond, OK.
Mars is the most Earth-like planet in the Solar System, but even though it is still quite different from Earth, it can tell us a lot about what the Earth was like abou 4 billion years ago. On Earth, the oldest (4 billion) rocks have been destroyed and messed-up by "plate tectonics", but this has not happened on Mars... someday people can go to Mars to better under stand the early Earth.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 26 - 11:16:01 ]
RE: [Manuel-M.Scharfy/HTLWienerNeustadt] What I am interested in is, what minerals can be found on Mars? Are there also Minerals like ferrite or Uran?
Mars is likely to have the same kinds of minerals that we have on earth, but probably in different abundances. One mineral already confirmed to be on Mars is Hematite (from MGS TES data). Other minerals such as pyroxene (a major rock-forming mineral) have also been seen with other data like Hubble and Phobos 2.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 28 - 11:16:56 ]
RE: [Jamie-Mrs.Brehm/RDElem] Our next question is: How long does it take the spacecrafts to get to Mars?
Spacecraft to Mars with todays technology can take from about 7 to 12 months to get there. Pathfinder took only 7, MGS took 11, Mars Polar Lander will take 11.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 29 - 11:17:41 ]
RE: [MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Hello Ken. I am really glad you are doing this chat. The message said noon, so now I have to try to round up my students again. Did the questions I sent early get to you?
I never got the earlier questions-- you will have to send them one by one

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 33 - 11:19:30 ]
RE: [MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Hello Ken. I am really glad you are doing this chat. The message said noon, so now I have to try to round up my students again. Did the questions I sent early get to you?
Mrs. Mock: I didn't send Ken the questions from your kids as there were 49 of them total! It would take Ken the entire hour to answer them all! Please have your kids send one question at a time. Thanks :-) And sorry for the time mix-up!

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 34 - 11:19:34 ]
RE: [George.Patis/Hellenic.College.Thessaloniki] Q: Mars have the same activity with earth? (tectonics - Volcano)
Geologically, Mars is "dead" compared to Earth. It has many volcanoes that we think are presently extinct. Mars probably still has occassional earthquakes (mars quakes) but we dont have good data on this. Mars appears to never had the plate tectonic style activity that Earth has.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 36 - 11:20:53 ]
RE: [Manuel-M.Scharfy/HTLWienerNeustadt] You talk about todays technologies, do you mean the "standard" Retros or the Ion-Drive? Can a pobe travell faster to Mars with an Ion-Drive?
I don't know much about future propulsion technologies. Deep Space 1 probe is out there right now, testing our first ion drive in space. When I say present technology, I mean rockets like the Delta 2 which are chemical and solid boosters.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 42 - 11:22:43 ]
RE: [Amber6th-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Is it possible for Mars to have an Ice Age? By the way, when Pathfinder was going up to Mars, I thought they were sending a car. Seems funny now.
Welcome Amber. We're really glad you could make it today!

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 43 - 11:23:10 ]
RE: [Amber6th-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] We have been looking at the pictures from MGS. Do the evidence of recent wind action show us that the wind is causing ripples in the surface?
The camera on MGS can't see ripples--ripples would only be a spaced a few centimeters across. At its highest resolution, the MGS camera can see objects a few meters across. What we see for evidence of active dunes on Mars is some areas in the north polar sands where the dunes were covered with frost, but some of the dark sand underneath was exposed by wind and blown in streaks across the surface (malin web site http://www.msss.com)

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 47 - 11:24:36 ]
RE: [AmberL5th-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] How many pictures do you have of Mars from MGS? Do these pictures show any global activity like storms or tornadoes?
The camera on MGS took pictures between Sept 1997 and Sept 1998, and is presently off until early march 1999. We took approx 2000 pictures during that time, about 1/4th are "wide angle" views that show clouds, dust storms, etc, and about 3/4ths are "narrow angle" high resolution views (close-ups) showing things like sand dunes, craters, canyons.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 48 - 11:25:39 ]
RE: [George.Patis/Hellenic.College.Thessaloniki] Q: By the experiments, did you found any life activity on Mars?
There were no experiments on Mars Global Surveyor or Pathfinder designed to look for life. The Viking 1 and 2 landers in 1976 had several experiments to look for microscopic life, but had a mix of ambiguous and negative results.

[ MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona - 49 - 11:26:33 ]
I wanted to personally thank you, Ken, for the terrific workshops you coordinated when you were at ASU. I went to the one in Sept. 97 when MGS reached Mars and the excitement and energy of all of you at ASU was contagious. I have been following MGS and TES since. THANK YOU!

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 50 - 11:26:58 ]
RE: [Amber6th-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Is it possible for Mars to have an Ice Age? By the way, when Pathfinder was going up to Mars, I thought they were sending a car. Seems funny now.
The tilt of Mars' axis changes over time (right now it is about 25 degrees). As it changes, the polar caps can either go away or grow bigger. In that sense, Mars can have ice ages. However the 'ice" probably doesnt make GLACIERS like on Earth.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 51 - 11:28:11 ]
RE: [AmberandAmber-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Are the boulders on Mars made out of the same stuff as on earth?
Boulders on Mars would be made of rock, as on Earth. As for what kinds of rocks, that is still unknown, despite 3 landings and now Mars Global Surveyro. The TES instrument (http://tes.asu.edu) on MGS will help answer this at a big scale--bigger than individual boulders.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 53 - 11:29:52 ]
RE: [Jamie-Mrs.Brehm/RDElem] Where is the money coming from to pay for all of this exploration?
The money for the US missions to Mars is allocated by Congress... i.e., it comes from your taxes. The Mars Global Surveyor cost each U.S. citizen a total of 1 dollar spread out over the course of the entire mission--which acutally started in 1994 whentheys tarted building it,and will end sometime like 2002 or so.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 55 - 11:31:00 ]
RE: [George.Patis/Hellenic.College.Thessaloniki] Mars have any atmosphere? And if it does, by what elements does consist of?
Mars has an atmosphere that is thinner than ours---at the surface, the pressure is about 100 times less than on Earth at Sea Level. The air ois about 95% carbon dioxide, the rest is mostly argon and other trace gases. Very little free oxygen.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 57 - 11:32:42 ]
RE: [MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Lisa (3rd) asks: What is Mars made out of? What lives on Mars? How many miles wide is Mars and how fast does it spin? What kind of clothing do you have to wear when you visit Mars?
Mars is made of the same kind of stuff as Earth-- the surface is rock, and the rocks contain mostly silicon, oxygen, and aluminium. As far as we know, nothing lives on Mars--but many people have high hopes that we will someday find microscopic organisms there (or at least dead/fossil ones).

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 61 - 11:33:46 ]
RE: [MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Heather (3rd) : Do you know if there is really a faceprint on Mars? Why is Mars red? How many animals did you send up to go around on Mars?
Mars is red because of oxidized iron... RUST. We have never sent any animals to Mars, just robots.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 62 - 11:34:41 ]
RE: [MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Alexis R. (3rd) : I am only in 3rd grade but what do I need to study to get a job like yours?
Well, I studied a lot of different kinds of sciences-- chemistry, physics, math, biology, and earth science. I mostly enjoy Earth science (and MARS science--ha ha).

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 66 - 11:36:01 ]
RE: [Mrwest-Mr.West/ChurchillElementarySchool] Hello from the second grade Churchill Elementary School... may we ask a few questions?
Welcome1 Ask your questions!

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 67 - 11:36:02 ]
RE: [George.Patis/Hellenic.College.Thessaloniki] Mars have any internal energy?
It did at one time-- ie. to make the volcanoes... but we don't have the complete story on its activity today.... preliminary results from MGS suggest that Mars today does not have a global magnetic field, thus it likely suggests that theinternal activity has largely been shut-down.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 70 - 11:37:31 ]
RE: [MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Alexis M. (4th) : How long did you have to stay in college to become a scientist? Is it a hard job? Do you have an assistant? Were you ever on TV? Do you like Star Wars? What are the probes that are going to launch into the planet?
I was in college almost constantly from Fall 1983 to Fall 1994.. eleven years! That's for B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. degrees. Yes, I have been on TV, including a show called "Brainstorm" that sometimes airs on Ch. 3 in the Phoenix, AZ, area.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 76 - 11:39:48 ]
RE: [Jamie-Mrs.Brehm/RDElem] What makes the sand and the dunes move around on Mars? If it is wind what makes the wind occur?
Sand moves on Mars when winds get up to about 2 cm per second (i guess that is like 100 mph--you should see if you can figure is out, since I am trying to type as fast as I can right now...)..... winds are caused by differences in pressure from one part of the atmosphereto another, commonly this also means different temperatures. Denser air blows toward thinner air, hot air is thin, cold air is dense. Just like weather on Earth only without as much water involved.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 80 - 11:41:02 ]
RE: [MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] All my students want to know if you type with proper fingers, i.e., touch type.
For many years I typed with just 2 fingers. Now I type the right way, but you will notice typos in my web chat because (1) I am typing fast and (2) I am working on a different keyboard than I am used to, because today I am in Arizona for a meeting(normally I would be in San Diego).

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 83 - 11:43:06 ]
RE: [MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Kimber (4th): What info did you find out when you sent the robot to Mars? What are the Deep Space 2 microprobes? Why was the spacecraft launched on a Delta 2 rocket? Randy (4th): How deep do the rockets (Deep Space 2 probes) go down in the ground?
Deep Space 2 are two penetrators that basically will drop from space all the way to the surface of Mars. Like giant lawn darts, theywill stick in the ground. instruments inside the part that penetrates the surface will measure temperature and water content of the soil. the part that sticks out of the ground will radio the data back to Earth. Deep space 2 probes need names--there is a contest. Look at the Mars Polar Lander web site for details. I vote we name them Xena and Gabrielle (ha ha).

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 87 - 11:44:00 ]
RE: [George.Patis/Hellenic.College.Thessaloniki] How many moons Mars have?
Two: Phobos and Deimos

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 89 - 11:45:01 ]
RE: [MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Leslie (4th): How does the spacecraft speak to people in NASA? My teacher said you might say "telemetry". What is telemetry?
Spacecraft sends all of its data by radio, and the signals are received at big radio antenna dishes. There are 3 stations around the world, so they cover the entire sky at all times--one is in California, one in Spain, andone in Australia. "Telemetry" is the data about the Health of the spacecraft-- for example on the MGS camera we get temperatures that tell us how hot or cold the onboard computers and the telescope mirror are getting.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 90 - 11:45:57 ]
RE: [MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Jaclyn (4th): What is your favorite fact about Mars?
I think my favorite fact about Mars is that it is a place that people could visit within our lifetimes. We know how to do it, we simply need the will to spend the money to do it.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 92 - 11:46:56 ]
RE: [Jamie-Mrs.Brehm/RDElem] How long will a person be able to stay on Mars when we finally get to that part of the study?
A typical mission plan for humans going to Mars has that they would stay either 1 month or 1 year. These depend on the launch windows to come to and from Earth/Mars.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 94 - 11:47:41 ]
RE: [Mrwest-Mr.West/ChurchillElementarySchool] What things have you found on Mars from the first probe?
The very first probe was Mariner 4 in 1965. It dicovered that Mars had lots of craters--hardlyanyone expected this, and it found thatMars really didnt have canals.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 96 - 11:48:19 ]
RE: [Mrwest-Mr.West/ChurchillElementarySchool] Are any of these questions getting through?
Yes, they are! Sorry, Ken is wading through them as fast as he can!

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 97 - 11:48:25 ]
RE: [George.Patis/Hellenic.College.Thessaloniki] The white spot on the north pole of Mars is ice? (as it's seen from a telescope)
The north and south poles both have ice caps. The ice composition is some mixture of frozen water and frozen carbon dioxide, and the amount of each changes as the seasons change.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 100 - 11:50:22 ]
RE: [Manuel-M.Scharfy/HTLWienerNeustadt] Is Nasa working together with the Esa?
ESA is the European Space Agency, and yes, NASA works alot with ESA on a variety of projects... especially the Space Station, the Cassini/Huygens probes to Saturn, and the current plans for Marsmissions in 2003 and 2005.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 101 - 11:51:14 ]
RE: [George.Patis/Hellenic.College.Thessaloniki] How about the temp. at the poles?
COLD. To freeze carbon dioxide at Mars pressure you need temps around 148 Kelvin (about -200 F)--you can convert to C.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 104 - 11:52:50 ]
RE: [Mrwest-Mr.West/ChurchillElementarySchool] thanks... I was just not sure if they were getting through... did you get the question about the temps found on Mars?
Temps on Mars-- on a warm summer day it can be up above Freezing (i.e. above 0C or 32 F). Pathfinder's warmest day in July1997 was about 0C, at night it would drop about 100 degrees colder than that.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 105 - 11:53:20 ]
EVERYONE: THERE ARE 5 MINUTES LEFT IN TODAY'S CHAT WITH KEN...

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 107 - 11:54:15 ]
RE: [George.Patis/Hellenic.College.Thessaloniki] How can you explain the canyons on the surphase of Mars?
The really big canyons like in the Valles Marineris are formed by acombination of faulting/spreading of the crust and retreat of the cliff-faces by landslides. Other smaller canyons might have been carved by liquid water.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 108 - 11:55:53 ]
RE: [Mrwest-Mr.West/ChurchillElementarySchool] Do you think there could have been life there sometime in the past?
Some people think Mars could have had life in the past. I think we don't know enough about Mars, nor do we know enough about the origin of life, to really be sure. That is why it is worth LOOKING on Mars for this evidence, although I worry that in so doing, we might loose sight of the fact that Mars is interesting in its own right, whether therre was life or not. I expect that someday, there WILL be life, because humans will bring it there.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 114 - 11:58:34 ]
EVERYONE: Ken needs to go out and get some lunch before his meeting reconvenes. Thank you for all of your great questions and be sure to join us again for another chat this Thursday with Sten Odenwald. Ken will chat again in February.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 115 - 11:58:40 ]
RE: [George.Patis/Hellenic.College.Thessaloniki] If there is liquid water that make these canyons, where it can be now?
THAT is the question. This is why we are sending so many missions to Mars. We don't know where all the water went. Some might have escaped to space (no room to explain it all here...) some might still be there, frozen underground. Cool, huh?

[ Manuel-M.Scharfy/HTLWienerNeustadt - 116 - 11:58:51 ]
I want also say thank you for the time you offered us! And I want also thank Sandy this time, because she is also friendly everytime!

[ MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona - 117 - 11:59:29 ]
Thank you Sandy. We look forward to chatting with Ken again in February. Thank you Ken if you are still there.

[ George.Patis/Hellenic.College.Thessaloniki - 118 - 11:59:42 ]
I also thank you for the chat and I hope to chat with you soon...!!!

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 119 - 11:59:48 ]
Hey everyone, I really enjoyed this session today. I will be back on in February, LIVE from Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego California. Until then, adios! --- Dr. Ken

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 120 - 11:59:55 ]
RE: [George.Patis/Hellenic.College.Thessaloniki] Can we send our questions to Ken and answer them when he can? (maybe by e-mail)
George: Ken will chat again in February. Check the schedule later this week for that date. In the meantime, you can send questions to Mars Team members at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov.mars and click on the "Question" icon.

[ KenEdgett/MarsScientist - 121 - 12:00:13 ]
RE: [Manuel-M.Scharfy/HTLWienerNeustadt] I want also say thank you for the time you offered us! And I want also thank Sandy this time, because she is also friendly everytime!
Here here! 3 cheers for Sandy!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 122 - 12:01:07 ]
RE: [MrsMock-Mrs.Mock/MontessoriSchoolofCorona] Thank you Sandy. We look forward to chatting with Ken again in February. Thank you Ken if you are still there.
Thanks to you and your kids Mrs. Mock! Please join us again!

[ George.Patis/Hellenic.College.Thessaloniki - 123 - 12:01:26 ]
Greatings to all of you from Greece...!!! See you soon!

[ Jamie-Mrs.Brehm/RDElem - 124 - 12:02:09 ]
Thank you from Edmond Oklahoma. We have 40 kids watching this chat. It has been very informative and we will look for Ken's books.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 127 - 12:03:44 ]
RE: [KenEdgett/MarsScientist] Here here! 3 cheers for Sandy!
Thanks Manuel and Ken :-) You made my day!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 133 - 12:10:20 ]
RE: [Mrwest-Mr.West/ChurchillElementarySchool] Thanx everyone... Glen Ellyn Il is sigin off.
Goodbye Mr. West! Thanks for joining us today! Hope you can come back again soon and get more questions answered!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 134 - 12:11:02 ]
RE: [Manuel-M.Scharfy/HTLWienerNeustadt] Good Bye to all who are still in here! Nice greetings from Austria/Europe and I hope I see you next time!
Bye Manuel. You asked some terrific questions today! Please join us again, all the way from Austria :-)