WQ #10

The first spacecraft to orbit another planet circled Mars in 1971. It was: a. Viking 1 b. Voyager 1 c. Apollo 1 d. Mariner 9 e. Venera 11

d. Mariner 9

The highest mountain on Venus is also the only feature to be named after a man; its namesake is the Scottish scientist who laid the foundations for our understanding of electro-magnetic waves. This is Mount: a. Tyson b. Olympus c. Lowell d. Maxwell e. Faraday

d. Maxwell

Which of the following statements about the atmosphere of Mars today is FALSE? a. it is made mostly of carbon dioxide b. it is roughly as thin as the Earth's air would be about 30 km up c. it has a haze made of carbon dioxide crystals d. droplets of liquid water rain irrigate the surface of Mars regularly e. there are occasionally great windstorms in the lower atmosphere

d. droplets of liquid water rain irrigate the surface of Mars regularly

Valles Marineris is a wide, deep network of chasms stretching for some 2500 miles on the surface of Mars. How do we believe such a big set of canyons formed originally? a. it was caused by tectonic pressures from deep within the planet b. it was produced suddenly by flooding water some four billion years ago c. it was scoured out of the Martian sands by the action of the regular dust storms d. it was made by hundreds of impacts from space billions of years ago e. the canyons were places the ancient Martians used for drag racing

a. it was caused by tectonic pressures from deep within the planet

The canals that late 19th and early 20th observers thought they saw on Mars turned out to be: a. optical illusions b. enormous cracks caused by extensive plate tectonics on Mars c. very narrow oceans of water d. huge chains of thousands of large volcanoes e. built by the same race of ancient martian engineers who constructed the "face on Mars"

a. optical illusions

The largest volcano on Mars is called: a. the Red Spot b. Olympus Mons (Mt. Olympus) c. Mariner Valley d. Hellas e. Mount Maxwell

b. Olympus Mons (Mt. Olympus)

The planet that most resembles the Earth in size and internal composition is a. Mars b. Venus c. Mercury d. Jupiter e. the Moon

b. Venus

There was a pair of spacecraft whose components both orbited the planet Mars and landed on its surface in 1976. These spacecraft were called: a. Voyager b. Viking c. Magellan d. Galileo e. Percival & Lowell

b. Viking

Astronomers estimate that the runoff channels seen on Mars must be at least 3.9 billion years old. How do they estimate ages like this? a. by examining radioactive rocks from these channels returned to Earth by robot probes b. by counting impact craters in the regions containing these channels c. by looking for the erosion of these channels by the regular periods of rainfall that occur on Mars even today d. by measuring the height of the region in which the channels occur; on Mars, older regions are always lower in elevation e. guessing

b. by counting impact craters in the regions containing these channels

Mars rovers (such as Opportunity and Curiosity) have identified evidence that their landing sites were once under water. Which of the following is among the kinds of evidence they have identified? a. they found liquid water deposits just under the surface when they dug down a few feet b. they found rock formations that show the area was under water and also minerals that only form in water c. they found warm salt water spurting up in the form of geysers d. they found a lot of water vapor in the martian atmosphere just above their landing sites e. they found buried ropes and buoys from ancient martian swimming holes

b. they found rock formations that show the area was under water and also minerals that only form in water

What makes astronomers believe that Mars once had rivers and running water? a. there is a grand canyon system about 2,500 mi long on its surface (all of it made by running water) b. the volcanoes today show evidence of water coming from their highest points and running down (implying this would have happened even more long ago) c. Images from orbiting spacecraft reveal ancient channels that look like dried-up river beds on Earth (and our rovers show geological formations made by running water) d. giant basins (like Hellas) show evidence of being filled with frozen water that was once probably a sea e. you can't fool me, there is no evidence at all that Mars ever had any water

c. Images from orbiting spacecraft reveal ancient channels that look like dried-up river beds on Earth (and our rovers show geological formations made by running water)

Mars appears to have long branching channels that have the appearance of being formed by a flowing liquid. Yet we know that liquids would not stay liquid in the very thin atmosphere we have on the Martian surface? So how can we explain the channels? a. they were made by wind-blown dust during the great Martian dust storms b. they are made by plate tectonics; by plates in the crust separating c. Mars had a thicker atmosphere long ago when the channels formed d. they were formed by volcanic lava from Olympus Mons e. the channels are artificial, made by a race of Martians that died out

c. Mars had a thicker atmosphere long ago when the channels formed

The person who really publicized the idea of canals on Mars and impressed it on the public mind was: a. Orson Welles b. Asaph Hall c. Percival Lowell d. H. G. Wells e. Frank Drake

c. Percival Lowell

On some parts of Mars, it gets cold enough for a gas to freeze out of the atmosphere that does not freeze out by itself at the temperatures and pressures on Earth. This gas makes up some of the polar caps on Mars and is: a. water b. argon c. carbon dioxide d. methane e. oxygen

c. carbon dioxide

The Magellan spacecraft revealed a wide variety of volcanic features on Venus, including some that looked like ticks and spiders. What instrument aboard Magellan was used for these investigations? a. spectrograph b. ultraviolet telescope c. imaging radar d. a magnetometer e. a net

c. imaging radar

I want to examine the surface of a planet which is completely covered by a thick layer of clouds all the time. What wavelength of electromagnetic radiation would I be smartest to use: a. visible light b. x-rays c. radio waves (like radar) d. any of the above would work e. none would work

c. radio waves (like radar)

Which of the following is NOT one of the key reasons that so many spacecraft from Earth have visited Venus and Mars? a. they are the two planets closest to the Earth b. they resemble the Earth in a number of significant ways c. their atmospheres are very similar to the Earth in terms of their chemical make-up d. both have tantalized us when seen through a telescope -- one because it is perpetually covered by clouds, the other because it shows seasonal changes e. they each have a solid surface on which we can trace their geological history

c. their atmospheres are very similar to the Earth in terms of their chemical make-up

The troposphere (the lowest layer in the atmosphere) of Venus a. is quite cold and thin b. is a layer with quite a bit of water vapor, held down by the pressure of the layers above c. has roughly the same air pressure as the troposphere of the Earth resembles being about a kilometer or so under the Earth's ocean -- a d. huge mass of air keeps temperatures pretty much the same all over the planet e. resembles the ozone layer of the Earth's atmosphere in many ways

d. huge mass of air keeps temperatures pretty much the same all over the planet

Which of the following statements about Valles Marineris, the great "grand canyon system" on Mars is true? a. it is much shorter than the Grand Canyon in Arizona, but much much wider b. it was discovered by Giovanni Schiaparelli in the 19th century c. it was hard to photograph because it is always covered by wind-blown dust d. landslides have helped broaden the canyons since they were first formed e. although the canyons are long and wide, they are very shallow, only a few feet deep

d. landslides have helped broaden the canyons since they were first formed

Which of the following is NOT a way that Venus resembles the Earth? a. its size (diameter) b. its overall density c. the surface gravity (which tells us how much we would weigh there) d. the thickness and pressure of its atmosphere e. you can't fool me; Venus resembles Earth in all of the above ways

d. the thickness and pressure of its atmosphere

The largest continental (highland) area on Venus is called: a. Stein b. Sapas Mons c. Venera d. Danu e. Aphrodite

e. Aphrodite

Astronomers estimate that the plains of Venus are only about 500 to 600 million years old. How do they estimate dates like this? a. by looking for little brass plates that give the founding date and the name of the governor at the time b. by looking at the radioactive rock samples that have been returned to Earth from Venus c. by noting that all the plains on all the terrestrial planets have the same age d. by seeing how much the continental plates on which the Venus plains are floating have spread apart e. by counting the craters visible on the surface and comparing crater counts to other worlds

e. by counting the craters visible on the surface and comparing crater counts to other worlds

The same gas makes up most of the atmosphere of Mars and Venus. This gas is: a. water vapor b. nitrogen c. ozone d. ammonia gas e. carbon dioxide

e. carbon dioxide

Which of the following is NOT a way we have studied the planet Mars so far? a. observing it through telescopes from Earth b. sending a spacecraft into orbit around it c. landing a spacecraft on the surface and examining the soil in an automated laboratory d. studying samples of Mars that were blasted off Mars by impacts long ago, and found later on Earth e. sending spacecraft to Mars which have brought samples of the planet back to Earth

e. sending spacecraft to Mars which have brought samples of the planet back to Earth