This one has answers, but they are pretty weird sometimes….SRS

This might bear some resemblance to what I will throw at you on Friday. When looking at these problems, think of answering them in complete sentences. The actual test will have six questions. Begin each response on a separate sheet of paper.

Compare Mars with the planet Earth. Discuss differences as well as similarities. Be as quantitative as possible, when quantitative points are called for. Mars is smaller, less massive, and has a much more tenuous atmosphere.
In what way does the planet Venus differ most markedly from Earth. Discuss the reason for this difference or differences. The surface temperature on Venus would melt you down to hydrocarbons. The reason is the Greenhouse Effect due to its Carbon Dioxide atmosphere.
The crater Chicxulub on Yucatan is as large as the largest craters on the Moon (aside from the Impact Basins). Why is this fact somewhat strange? The big impacts on the Moon were in the early days of the solar system when there was a lot of such stuff flying around. The extinction of the dinosaurs was 65 million years ago; yesterday cosmically speaking.
Compare the Jovian planets as a class with the Terrestrial Planets, again taken as a class. Think about the sizes, masses, chemical compositions, and location in the solar system.
Based on what you have learned about the terrestrial planets, consider the following. A planet is found orbiting the solar-type star 18 Scorpii at a distance of about 1 astronomical units from the star. The observations can’t resolve features on the surface; all we have to work with is light from the planet (reflected starlight from 18 Scorpii). You can make any kind of measurement you want with the light, however, such as brightness, color, spectrum, changes with time, etc. How would you go about determining if this planet is like the Earth, or its more sterile terrestrial planet siblings? Check the spectrum for absorption lines of gases. If it is mainly carbon dioxide, it is probably a lifeless terrestrial planet like Mars or Venus. If it shows evidence of water vapor and oxygen, things look more interesting.

The Valley Networks on Mars are believed to have been formed about 3.5 billion years ago. What is the basis for this opinion? Look at the association of craters and water channels. Sometimes a water channel flows around a crater, meaning the crater was there first. Sometimes the there is an unblemished crater in the bottom of a dry channel. From that we can tell that the water (in those, the Valley Networks) flowed during the age of bombardment, not before, and not long after.

You are responsible for sending a spacecraft to Jupiter. Draw the orbit (make this a fairly decent drawing) and calculate the time for the trip. Check below and modify for the case of Jupiter.

Congratulations! You have been chosen as the head of NASA’s Mars Exploration Program (even though your major is comparative literature). What kind of mission would you choose, i.e. where on Mars would you send it, what kind of measurements would you make, etc? This one is up to you. Say something intelligent.

What do we mean by “extinction events” on Earth? Discuss them and links to astronomical events. Times in the geological past (five in total) when some catastrophe violently disturbed the climate on Earth. Most species dropped dead. The astronomical connection is the possibility that the disturbance was associated with an asteroid hit.