[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 8 - 11:58:08 ]
Hello and welcome to today's Quest Mars Millennium chat with Peter Thomas. Peter will be ready to chat in about five minutes! Be sure you have read Peter's bio before sending in your question: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/sso/team/thomas.html. We're looking forward to chatting with you!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 14 - 12:05:14 ]
Hello everyone: Peter is here and ready to go!

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 15 - 12:05:24 ]
RE: [Andy-A.Evans/Eriecommunitycollege] What majors or courses did you take in college to get you to where you are today
I took geology and related sciences (chemistry, etc); plus a lot of history, another interest of mine

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 17 - 12:06:23 ]
RE: [Jamie-Mrs.Boatwright/MathScienceSchool] Jamie/MS2 What is the temperature on Mars?
The temperature can get as high as 40F..for short periods at coldest (poles in winter) its about 200 F below!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 19 - 12:07:11 ]
RE: [Samuel-Sam/BooneWildernessAcademyofWisdom] Dear Sandy, I have two questions about storms, four questions about ice caps, and two questions about anyalyzing images. Should I wait to send them? Sam
Samuel: Please send your questions one at a time. Thanks :-) Go ahead and start sending them.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 20 - 12:07:46 ]
RE: [Amanda-Mrs.Boatwright/MathScienceSchool] Amanda/MS2 Are there volcanoes on mars?
There are many large mountains that look like volcanoes: cone-shaped, with flows of material down the side. They may be old, and we have not seen any eruptions going on at present.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 23 - 12:09:29 ]
RE: [Becky-Mrs.Boatwright/MathScienceSchool] Becky/MS2 Is there any radiation on Mars?
Radiation on Mars: radiation in the sense of sunlight, radio waves, etc..yes! Radiation as in radioactivity, also yes..its a natural phenomenon, just like the rocks on earth..but its low level. There is more of ultraviolet rdiation because of the lack of a thick ozone layer there.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 25 - 12:10:24 ]
RE: [George-George/Regency] What's the size of the smallest feature you can see from the orbiters?
The Mars Global Surveyor cameras can see details 5 feet across.

[ Roman-Mr.Korenev/UkrainianAmateur - 26 - 12:10:48 ]
Hello all!

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 28 - 12:11:28 ]
RE: [Samuel-Sam/BooneWildernessAcademyofWisdom] In your profile you mentioned global storms. Do the storms have any kind of precipitation, or are they just dust storms? Do you mean by "global storms" that it covers the whole planet?
Mars does have truly global dust storms..rarely. Local ones, about 100 miles across..occur frequently..right now in fact.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 34 - 12:13:03 ]
RE: [Jamie-Mrs.Boatwright/MathScienceSchool] Jamie/MS2 Is it true that the sun always shines on the same side of Mars?And leaves the other dark?
Mars rotates nearly as fast as the earth..so it has day and night as we do..just slightly longer. The sun is just a bit farther away there..which is mostly why its so cold!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 35 - 12:13:12 ]
RE: [Roman-Mr.Korenev/UkrainianAmateur] Hello all!
Hello Roman in the Ukraine! We're so glad you are able to participate! What time is it where you are?

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 39 - 12:14:43 ]
RE: [Andy-A.Evans/Eriecommunitycollege] Was Nasa your goal or did you have a lot of other career opportunities with a geology major
Not at the start..I put space and geology together in graduate school. was doing "geomorphology" the shape of earth's surface then.

[ Roman-Mr.Korenev/UkrainianAmateur - 40 - 12:14:59 ]
It's 22:12 here! I'm the first time in a chat room like this...

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 43 - 12:16:14 ]
RE: [Celia-Mrs.Graff/OceansideMiddleSchool] If we do decide to build a civilization on Mars how long do you think it will take ?
A very long time..many decades just to get a lot of people there. But that's similar to European exploration in 15th and 16th centuries.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 46 - 12:18:05 ]
RE: [andyM-Mrs.Graff/OceansideMiddleSchool] how long do you think it will take to go to mars?
How long for a spacecraft to fly there: 8-10 months. how long to get people there: many more years (20?).. building all that expensive equipment!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 48 - 12:18:30 ]
RE: [Roman-Mr.Korenev/UkrainianAmateur] It's 22:12 here! I'm the first time in a chat room like this...
Just about the end of your day! Well, send Peter your questions and he'll be glad to answer them!

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 52 - 12:19:41 ]
RE: [Samuel-Sam/BooneWildernessAcademyofWisdom] The World Book Encyclopedia says that the polar ice caps get smaller when the pole is tilted towards the sun and larger when the pole is tilted away from the sun. Is that true? Where does the ice go when the caps get smaller?
The ice evaporates into the atmosphere..it is dry ice: carbon dioxide frost, which becomes a gas when it warms up.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 57 - 12:21:35 ]
People are interested in Mars because it is somewhat like the earth ,(those familiar things like volcanoes, frost, and dust storms), fairly close, and less hostile than places that have no atmosphere or too much.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 59 - 12:22:21 ]
RE: [Josh-Mrs.Graff/OceansideMiddleSchool] Has there been any active volcanos on mars ?
In the past..(millions of years?) but none seen by spacecraft

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 62 - 12:23:32 ]
RE: [Emily-Mrs.Super/HudsonPEPSchool] Were you interested in space when you were in elementary school?
Yes. I'fd sneak down to the radio at 5 am to hear latest news on trying to launching rockets to the moon..took many tries!

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 64 - 12:24:13 ]
RE: [JessicaL-Mrs.Graff/OceansideMiddleSchool] why is the suface of mars so gibbled?
The surface of Mars has many textures to it..from wind and water action.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 65 - 12:24:14 ]
RE: [Roman-Mr.Korenev/UkrainianAmateur] Sandy - Thank you :-) By the way, what do you do in NASA?
Why I organize and moderate webchats, of course :-) I also manage the Space Scientists Online project, which this chat is a part of.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 67 - 12:24:59 ]
RE: [Becky-Mrs.Boatwright/MathScienceSchool] Becky/MS2 how many moons does Mars have?
two

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 68 - 12:25:40 ]
RE: [John-Mrs.Super/HudsonPEPSchool] How old do you think the planet Mars is?
The meteorites from Mars are 4+ billion years

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 70 - 12:26:29 ]
RE: [George-George/Regency] RE: Volcanos on Mars - Is Mars a dead planet?
It may not be quite dead..just quiet. Our quick looks might miss some small volcanoes.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 73 - 12:27:21 ]
RE: [Amanda-Mrs.Boatwright/MathScienceSchool] Amanda/MS2 how solid is the surface?
Very solid..to fluffy, depending on where you are. lots of dust and sand are loose, but there are real rocks, too.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 78 - 12:28:30 ]
RE: [JessicaL-Mrs.Graff/OceansideMiddleSchool] have YOU ever been to mars? if not when will you if ever?
Nope..and it will be quite a while before people get there..but it would be nice to do that next century!

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 84 - 12:29:16 ]
RE: [lindsday-Mrs.Graff/OceansideMiddleSchool] with all the talk about living on Mars have you thought about what the houses and buildings would be like ?
Buildings on Mars would have to be pressurized, and well insulated..and built to protect against cosmic rays.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 87 - 12:30:56 ]
RE: [Becky-Mrs.Boatwright/MathScienceSchool] Becky/MS2 What are the weather patterns like?
Because there are no oceans, there are no rain storms, etc. but lots of wind (but the air is thin there). Thin clouds of ice, and some dust blowing around.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 89 - 12:32:04 ]
The polar landers will try to find water ice near the surface, and will see what the mysterious layers look like close up.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 90 - 12:33:00 ]
RE: [Amanda-Mrs.Boatwright/MathScienceSchool] Amanda/MS2 how often are there sand storms?
Many during each mars year..on the whole planet. If you stood in one place, maybe a few weeks in between

[ Roman-Mr.Korenev/UkrainianAmateur - 91 - 12:33:06 ]
I wonder if those layers are really as thick as predicted.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 94 - 12:33:40 ]
RE: [Samuel-Sam/BooneWildernessAcademyofWisdom] The images which you analyze - are they all photographs, or are they different kinds of images?
They are in effect TV images..taken on the spacecraft then radioed to earth.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 95 - 12:34:21 ]
RE: [Roman-Mr.Korenev/UkrainianAmateur] Peter - so, are there any plans to make a really long-living probe, which could survive years rolling over another planet?
They are only begining to work on that!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 97 - 12:34:59 ]
RE: [Jenandlindsay-Mrs.Graff/OceansideMiddleSchool] Thanx for talking but we half to go now . BYE !
Goodbye Jen and Lindsay: Sorry you have to leave early, but thanks for your questions. Peter's chat will be archived later today.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 99 - 12:35:24 ]
RE: [George-George/Regency] Are there any plans to completely photo-survey Mars?
It has been surveyed at low resolution (200 meters); maybe sometime a complete high resolution one will be done. The high res images now cover a small fraction of the planet

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 101 - 12:36:09 ]
RE: [Becky-Mrs.Super/HudsonPEPSchool] Our class wants to know if you think people will actually live and grow things on Mars?
Sometime..but when you folks are about my age now!

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 102 - 12:36:47 ]
RE: [Andy-A.Evans/Eriecommunitycollege] Are these the probes that drill looking for underground rivers
The best way would be with radar

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 103 - 12:37:37 ]
RE: [PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor] Sometime..but when you folks are about my age now!
Sooooooo Peter... how OLD is that? :-)

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 104 - 12:37:40 ]
RE: [Samuel-Sam/BooneWildernessAcademyofWisdom] Can you actually watch storms, or do you figure out that there was a storm by looking at different images at different times and seeing changes on the surface?
We can see them from the wide angle camera on board Mars Global Surveyor.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 105 - 12:38:53 ]
RE: [Roman-Mr.Korenev/UkrainianAmateur] Peter - are there any plans to make a really long-living probe, which could survive years rolling over another planet? And.... I heard Galileo spacecraft had to be sending compressed jpeg-like images. Was this idea implemented? Is this technique used with other spacecrafts?
Galiloe uses a very sophisticated image compression.. tailored to specific scenes..as will some other missions.

[ Roman-Mr.Korenev/UkrainianAmateur - 107 - 12:39:07 ]
As for me - I'm as old as rocks.... So, come on and quit it ;-)

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 109 - 12:39:43 ]
RE: [Sandy/NASAChatHost] Sooooooo Peter... how OLD is that? :-)
For my age..I was born on the 110th anniversary of the fall of the Alamo..figure it out!

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 110 - 12:40:25 ]
RE: [George-George/Regency] Are there new probes on the way to Mars, or when is the next launch?
The polar lander gets there Dec 3; next launches are in 2001

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 115 - 12:42:10 ]
RE: [Samuel-Sam/BooneWildernessAcademyofWisdom] I am in sixth grade and I am interested in space exploration. Do you have any advice about how I might start preparing myself to be a space scientist?
Study whatever science you like..and get good at the basics..if you know those, then all the parts of the natural world are easier, and more fun, to study and appeciate. and you can land a wide variety of jobs!

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 118 - 12:42:56 ]
RE: [Mary-M.Vandermeid/BethlehemElementary] Is the goal to actually build a community on Mars or to build a space station near Mars but out in space?
There is no agreed goal as of now..either of those might be found to be the best thing to do..what do you think?

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 119 - 12:43:22 ]
RE: [Roman-Mr.Korenev/UkrainianAmateur] Back to images again... you probably mess a lot with all those image enhancment algorythms... Don't you?
home grown ones, some

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 121 - 12:44:19 ]
RE: [Amanda-Mrs.Boatwright/MathScienceSchool] Amanda/MS2 How old is Mars
From the meteorites that came from Mars: over 4 billion years old..same as earth, basically

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 122 - 12:44:30 ]
RE: [Samuel-Sam/BooneWildernessAcademyofWisdom] Dear Sandy, I would like to print out this chat when it is over. Is it possible to do that?
Samuel: Yes! Just cut and paste it into a word processing package. I will be archiving this chat later this afternoon, so you will also be able to view it and print it from the archive. This chat will be linked to Peter's bio.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 123 - 12:45:21 ]
RE: [Andy-A.Evans/Eriecommunitycollege] When you get back rock and ice samples do you expect to find microscopic organisms in them
That is a long shot! may have to get many samples, and then mybe we still won't find them.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 124 - 12:46:20 ]
RE: [George-George/Regency] So, Peter, you're in your mid-30's...do you think we'll land people within the next 30-40 years?
Nope! try again..Andrew Jackson was president when the Alamo fell.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 126 - 12:48:21 ]
RE: [Roman-Mr.Korenev/UkrainianAmateur] Concerning mars and probes..... Is is really such a big trouble making long-alive probes which wouldn't shut down within 30 days after landing like Pathfinder? Was it simply a battery problem, which freezed out?
Batteries, and other things die from the temperature changes. The solution is to send radioisotope generates, as was done on Viking.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 129 - 12:49:42 ]
RE: [Samuel-Sam/BooneWildernessAcademyofWisdom] I read somewhere that they think maybe the moons of Mars were asteroids pulled into it's gravity. What do you think about that? I read in your bio that you did your thesis on the Mars satelites.
They probably formed with Mars..the "dynamicists", people who calculate orbits of planets and how they can change, now seem to doubt the capture idea..we could test it by sampling htem.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 130 - 12:50:17 ]
EVERYONE: There are just a few minutes left in today's chat with Peter. Please be sure to let us know how we did today by filling out the short survey at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/qchats/qchat-surveys. Thank you!

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 131 - 12:50:54 ]
RE: [George-George/Regency] Okay, never was good at Texas history...has sedimentary layering been seen on Mars?
The polar deposits are sedimentary layers, and other layers probably are also(ones in craters). Other layers seen in the canyons may be volcanic

[ Samuel-Sam/BooneWildernessAcademyofWisdom - 135 - 12:51:51 ]
Thanks Dr Thomas, for answering my questions.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 136 - 12:52:07 ]
RE: [Roman-Mr.Korenev/UkrainianAmateur] Peter - do you use any of those high-end computers while analysing incomming data? What is the most computer resource-requiring task you ever managed?
The most computer intensive stuff is calculating gravity on the surface of irregularly-shaped objects..have to treat it like millions of small particles..

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 137 - 12:52:19 ]
RE: [George-George/Regency] Thank you for your time, Peter, Sandy, and NASA!
You are MOST welcome! Thank you for coming today and for asking excellent questions! Come back again!

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 139 - 12:52:53 ]
RE: [Samuel-Sam/BooneWildernessAcademyofWisdom] Do the moons have any affect on the weather patterns?
Probably not..their shadows are small, so they wouldn't affect solar heating, hence weather, much.

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 140 - 12:53:26 ]
RE: [Andy-A.Evans/Eriecommunitycollege] Is life more possible on either of Mars' moons rather than Mars itself
probably not..no atmosphere.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 141 - 12:53:30 ]
RE: [Samuel-Sam/BooneWildernessAcademyofWisdom] thank you too Sandy!
You're welcome Samuel! It was a pleasure to chat with you today :-)

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 145 - 12:55:24 ]
RE: [George-George/Regency] One last one...anything been observed at Mars' Trojan points?
One asteroid at one Mars trojan point I think.

[ Roman-Mr.Korenev/UkrainianAmateur - 146 - 12:55:35 ]
Oh my... one's head is probably cracking after an hour of questions ;-)

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 147 - 12:55:52 ]
RE: [Samuel-Sam/BooneWildernessAcademyofWisdom] Does the gravitational pull of the moons have any affect on the weather patterns?
Probaby not..very weak.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 148 - 12:56:28 ]
Everyone: Be sure to join us on Oct. 5 for another Mars Millennium Chat with planetary geologist Jeff Plescia. To register go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/sso/chats

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 149 - 12:56:44 ]
RE: [Roman-Mr.Korenev/UkrainianAmateur] Peter - what hardware do you use for those tacks? is the preference given to SGI, or IBM, for instance? do you cooperate with some other corporations dealing with this?
A variety of machines..little coorperate dealings for academics.

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 150 - 12:56:46 ]
Everyone: Be sure to join us on Oct. 5 for another Mars Millennium Chat with planetary geologist Jeff Plescia. To register go to: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/sso/chats

[ Samuel-Sam/BooneWildernessAcademyofWisdom - 151 - 12:56:49 ]
Thanks again! I really liked being able to talk with you!

[ Sandy/NASAChatHost - 154 - 12:58:04 ]
EVERYONE: It's time for Peter to go back to his REAL job, so it's goodbye for now! Please join us again real soon. AND, be sure to fill out the short survey at: http://quest.arc.nasa.gov/qchats/qchat-surveys Thanks for all of your GREAT questions!!! Bye :-)

[ PeterThomas/MarsGlobalSurveyor - 155 - 12:58:11 ]
Well its time to go back to picking targets for MGS to image on Oct 2. Its been a fun break from that stuff (but its fun too!). Hope everyone is busy exploring the world one their own, too!