8th grade ch. 3 sec. 3 inner planets

Ch. 3 Sec. 3Ch. 3 Sec. 3Inner PlanetsInner Planets

inner inner planetsplanets

Mercury Venus Earth Mars

terrestrial planets

• close together• no or

few moons

small, rocky surfaces

closest planet to Sun

no moons

Mariner 10 space probe photographed it

similar to our moon- • size• flat plains• craters

almost no atmosphere

temp. ranges from 4500 C -1700 C

(day) (night) Mercury, messenger of the Roman gods

•Closest planet to Sun •Smallest terrestrial planet•No moons•Explored by Mariner 10•Similar to Earth’s moon- size & craters•Almost no atmosphere•Planet of extremes- temp. -170o- 450oC

Front of card

Picture & name of planet

Back of card

7 stats (# of moons, names of moons, atmosphere, etc.)

“morning star” & “evening star”

Earth’s twin- similar in size

retrograde rotation= rotates backwards (east west)

thick atmosphere-• sulfuric acid clouds• greenhouse effect- atmosphere traps heat

no moons

Venus, goddess of love & beauty, springtime & flowers

Whenever you see a bright object Whenever you see a bright object in the west after sunset, it is in the west after sunset, it is

probably Venus.probably Venus.

The morning sky looking east

Venus

Jupiter

70% covered with water

only planet with oceans

3 main layers-

1. crust

2. mantle

3. core

Gaea, Earth goddess (ancient Greeks thought of her as Terra Mater) Earth Mother

Earth & moon

“red planet”

atmosphere mostly CO2

polar ice caps covered by layer of frozen CO2

tilted axis causes seasons

2 moons-

1. Phobos

2. Deimos

Mars, Roman god of war

Mars is so cold that carbon dioxide (dry ice) freezes on the winter pole and Venus is so hot that tin and lead would melt on its surface.

Mars and Earth size comparison

polar ice cap

Mars

Is there life on Mars ?

Mars’s moons very small

Phobos- larger moon

27 km in diameter

Deimos- smaller

15 km in diameter

both covered with craters

Spacecraft to Mars

Mars

Pathfinder preparations

Journey of the Pathfinder

Pathfinder airbags

360 Degree Panorama Mars Pathfinder Landing Site

Rover Sojourner

The rover "Sojourner" is a six-wheeled vehicle which is controlled by an Earth-based operator, who uses images obtained by both the rover and lander systems. Note that the time delay is about 10 minutes, requiring some autonomous control by the rover.