UT Goes to Mars
This exhibit is sponsored by the University’s Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences and Planetary Geosciences Institute, and highlights the ongoing exploration of the Red Planet through the eyes of the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. UT Goes to Mars was inspired by the recent participation of Professors Harry Y. McSween, Jr. and Jeff Moersch and several graduate students, undergraduates, alumni, and post-docs from the University of Tennessee in the Mars Exploration Rover (MER) missions.
The exhibit takes visitors from launch to landing and beyond with video and displays of the latest imagery from the Gusev Crater and Meridiani Planum landing sites. Stand on the rim of Bonneville Crater, climb the Columbia Hills with Spirit, or roll over the edge with Opportunity into Endurance Crater. Serveral ‘3-D Vision’ images give viewers a new perspective on Mars. Explore how these “robotic geologists” use scientific instruments to unravel the geologic record of Mars. Included is a section of an actual meteorite from Mars and a larger meteorite on loan from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History, Department of Mineral Sciences, Division of Meteorites.