Drama in Three Acts: The Red
Planet in myth, history, and modern exploration.
Narrated by Patrick Stewart.
Discover Mars in this dramatic show for adults and older children.
Produced by Loch Ness
Productions, The Mars Show features a professional
soundtrack and numerous multi-media effects adapted to the OBU
Planetarium's unique theater environment.
- Act 1, Mars in the Mind's Eye
- Explores the role of Mars in history and culture from ancient
mythology to modern Martians, including Lowell's canals, H. G.
Wells, Orson Welles, and wars of worlds. Symbolized by the first
or left disk in the logo, the shield of Mars, Greek god of war.
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- Act 2, Mars in Focus
- Mars as we know it today as seen in the night sky, through
binoculars and telescopes, or by unmanned spacecraft. Its
planetary features are compared with Earth's. Symbolized by the
middle drawing in the logo.
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- Act 3, Mars in the Future
- Focuses on current and proposed missions by the United States
and Russia, including ongoing Hubble Space Telescope observations,
and plans for manned Mars missions. Symbolized by the right
drawing in the logo (note the orbiting spacecraft).
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- Epilogue
- A short live presentation will follow the show. Pathfinder
slides of the Martian surface will be viewed with 3-D glasses.
- Telescopic viewing follows the 3-D Pathfinder slides, weather
permitting.
- Suggested planetarium activities to accompany the show:
- Mars Show focus questions with
topics for discussion.
- Martian canals activity
- Size and scale of the solar system (models)
- Solar System Detectives. Students chase two thieves
throughout the solar system, gathering clues to solve this
"space case" by recognizing scenes near each planet the thieves
pass.
General info
- Spring '98: The Mars Show is shown every Friday night at 8
p.m., immediately after Cowboy
Astronomer.
- Friday night shows are presented only when OBU is in session.
- There will be no show March 20 (spring break).
- Map and directions on how
to find us.
- Ticket information
Parental Advisory
- The Mars Show contains a few brief excerpts from dramatic
radio and science fiction (e.g., H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds
) which may alarm preschool children.
- Cowboy Astronomer, shown at an
earlier time, is appropriate for families and children as well as
adults of all ages.
Mars Facts discussed in the show
- Fourth planet from the sun, next past earth.
- A year on Mars (one revolution around the sun) lasts 687
earth-days.
- A day on Mars (one rotation around its axis) lasts 24 hours 31
minutes.
- There are seasons on Mars because Mars is tilted on its axis
like the earth.
- Mars has an atmosphere composed mainly of carbon dioxide, with
occasional clouds of ice-crystals, high winds, and dust storms
(with resulting sand dunes).
- Mars is cold: summer highs around -20 degrees, summer lows
around -100.
- 4,000 km long (1860 miles), the Valles Marineris is the Grand
Canyon of the solar system. It spans one quarter of Mars, and is
longer than the continental United States.
- The volcano Olympus Mons is the largest mountain in the solar
system, higher than Mount Everest. It is 24 km high (78,000 ft),
500 km in diameter, and rimmed by a 6 km (20,000 ft) cliff.
- The north polar cap is water ice, the south polar cap is
frozen carbon dioxide.
- Including instructional resources for teachers, Pathfinder and
Surveyor mission sites, online versions of Mars classic science
fiction, and more!
Mars Books and Links