JASON Expedition:
Mysteries of Earth and Mars
January 30 - February 4, 2006

Join host Dr. Bob Ballard and an international team of scientists, teachers and Student Argonauts for the latest JASON Expedition: Mysteries of Earth and Mars. Students will have the opportunity to look at Mars analogs, or locations on Earth where environmental conditions, geologic features or biologic attributes resemble in some way those thought to exist on Mars, now or at some point in its past.

Studying sites such as these provides new insights into the nature and history of Mars, Earth and life itself. Deserts on Earth provide a particularly good point of comparison for scientists trying to learn more about the Martian landscape. Like Earth, Mars has seasons, weather, floodplains, polar ice caps, volcanoes, canyons, craters and an atmosphere.

Exciting recent findings hint at the presence of liquid water, either in Mars' ancient past or preserved in the subsurface today. Water is one of the key ingredients for life; we will examine the role that water plays in shaping life here on Earth and apply that knowledge to the search for life elsewhere in the solar system. We will also explore the cutting-edge research and technology that goes into a robotic mission to Mars; the efforts to one day send humans to Mars, and the people who are helping to make these dreams a reality.

JASON Expedition: Mysteries of Earth and Mars will consist of three core units that will address key standards-based topics:

Physical Science
Examines the physical properties of space science as well as the engineering challenges of robotic exploration.

Topics include:

• Characteristic properties and chemical changes of water: freezing point, boiling point, solubility, density, chemical reactions
• Motions and Forces: Newton's Laws, gravity
• Transfer of Energy: potential and kinetic energy
• Science and Technology: technological design

Earth and Space Science
Examines comparative planetology, the geological features and processes on Earth and Mars.

Topics include:

• Physical Geology: landforms, rocks, minerals, soil
• Geological Processes: tectonics, volcanism, cratering, erosion, measuring geological time
• Electromagnetism: waves, infrared radiation and spectroscopy
• Solar System: planets and meteors

Life Science
Examines requirements for life, astrobiology (the search for life throughout the solar system), and extremophiles (organisms adapted to extreme environments).

Topics include:

• Requirements for Life: energy, nutrients, water
• Living Systems: structure and function in living systems, cells, microbes
• Diversity and Adaptation of Organisms: extreme environments, extremeophiles
• Earth's History: fossils, biosignatures

This JASON Expedition is sponsored in Bermuda by:

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