Page 73 - (DK) Eyewitness - Mars

ORBIT The path of a body SHIELD VOLCANO A volcano in
that is moving around a the shape of a flattened
second body or a point. dome and with gradual
slopes; formed by
ORBITER A spacecraft underground pressure
that orbits a planet. that lifts the surface and
by lava flows.
PATERA A shallow
crater, often also SECONDARY
a volcano. IMPACT CRATERS
Additional craters
PLANITIA Broad formed by the fall of
lowlands plains. ejecta debris during
the creation of an
PLANUM A plateau impact crater. Louros Valles
or high plain.
SOLAR SYSTEM SPECTROSCOPY The study of how
POLAR HOOD The A sun and all the bodies various materials reflect or radiate light
shroud of clouds that forms that revolve around it. as measured by spectrometers.
over the Martian Northern
Polar region in wintertime. SPECTROMETERS Scientific SURFACE MICROROVER A small robotic
Above Olympus Mons instruments that estimate the machine that can travel over a planet’s surface
PROBE A spacecraft with a absorption and emission of to conduct scientific experiments.
mission to approach a planet but not to land, light and other radiation; by studying the
orbit, or return to Earth. spectrometer’s data, scientists can tell TERRAFORMING The process of changing
what minerals and chemicals are in a a planet’s climate in order to make it more
RAMPART CRATER A crater surrounded planet’s rock and soil. habitable, and more like Earth.
by sloping ejecta blankets, usually formed
by the impact throwing up and melting THOLUS A small-domed mountain or hill,
underground ice; the ice flies out of the often a volcano.
crater and creates rampart-like masses
around the rim. VALLIS A valley, often winding.

REVOLUTION The movement of a planet VASTITAS A vast lowland.
around the Sun, or of a moon around a planet.
VENT The opening in a planet’s crust
ROTATION The spinning of a planet. through which volcanic material erupts.
One full rotation is a day.
VOLCANO A vent in the planetary surface
ROVER A robotic machine that travels over through which lava, gases, and ash erupt.
the surface of a planet and conducts
experiments, or that could transport WANDERING STARS An ancient name for
astronauts from place to place on a planet. the planets, which seem to move across the
heavens while the “fixed” stars keep the same
SATELLITE A body that revolves around a relative positions in the night sky.
larger body; a man-made spacecraft in orbit.
Hellas Planitia

3-D model of Martian
North Pole

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