This is an image of a plateau and surrounding steep slopes within the Valles Marineris.
Click on image for full size
Image from: Malin Space Science Systems
Questions about Mars to be addressed by the Mars Surveyor Program
After decades of exploration of Mars, many questions still remain.
- What happened to the water on Mars?
- Has all the water escaped is it hidden in the ground and polar caps?
- What is the present and past climate of Mars?
- What is the crustal history of Mars
- How and when did Mars experience separation and evolution of the surface?
- What caused the surface of Mars to split into two halves (old southern highlands, young northern lowlands)?
- Did the crust of Mars stop evolving, and if so when & why?
- If Mars used to have a thick atmosphere made of CO2, where is all the CO2 now?
- if CO2 went into the ground, where is the carbonate on the surface of Mars?
- Unlike Hyrodgen or Helium, CO2 does not readily escape from an atmosphere
- Does Mars have a magnetic field?
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