Ringclimber

The Surface Of Mars

A major portion of the action in Ringclimber centers around the planet Mars. Mars is an exciting environment due to its relatively near-Earth conditions, and its monumental landforms.

Mars (MGS Approach Photo) - Tharsis and Arsia to the left

The primary location of action on Mars is the Arsia Mons volcano. Tallest of the Tharsis volcanos relative to the datum (an artifical reference corresponding to Earth's sea level), themselves the largest classical volcanic features in the solar system (the paterae of Mars and Venus are larger but have virtually no vertical relief), Arsia is nearly twice as tall (16,000m / 50,000ft / 10 miles) as Earth's Mt. Everest (8,000m / 25,000 ft / 5 miles). However, despite its height, its local topography not very steep (less than 10 degrees).

The Tharsis Plateau and Arsia Mons (MGS Photo)

For this reason, the climbing team selects the collapse plateaus that transect the volcano and its caldera (the 100 km / 300 mile diameter region where the center of the volcano has collapsed). Those plateaus feature innumerable tall cliffs and spires and represent a significant mountaineering challenge, even in the reduced gravity (38% of Earth).

Arsia Mons and The Climbing Area (Viking photo)

The surface of Mars is littered with shattered boulders of volcanic rock.The color of the surface is caused by various oxides of iron and iron combined with sulfur.

The Martian Surface

At this time it remains unknown whether there is remaining volcanic activity on the Martian surface. Ringclimber assumes that there is at least some, in areas such as Arsia.

Water is very scarce and must be transported.

The atmosphere is primarily carbon dioxide, which is cracked by the surface of the climbing team's suits to provide breathing air. Because sunlight is used to power those reactions, the presence of enduring dust storms is extremely dangerous to the climbing effort.

Atmospheric pressure at the surface of Mars is about 1% that of Earth, which means that the atmosphere is relatively inefficient at stealing heat from the climbers (average temperature is lower than 50 degrees below zero, with high temperatures of 60 above zero possible). Conditions might be withstood unprotected, perhaps for tens of seconds, however, it is not advisable to expose oneself to them at any time, since pressure loss (especially at higher altitudes) can cause significant injury. Wind speeds of 150 kph (approx 75 mph) have been observed and may represent the typical conditions during dust storms.

The Martian day is close in length to the Earth day (roughly 24 hours).

References

The Surface Of Mars - Carr, Yale University Press, 1981

Mars - Kieffer et al, Eds., University Of Arizona Press, 1992

Content, Layout, and Images Copyright © 1999 by Mark Cashman except where indicated (NASA photos)