Mars - The Red Planet
Mars, named after the Roman God of War, is the second closest planet to the Earth. Often described as the red planet, Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is located 2,067,669,000 km from the sun. Before the first flyby, it was thought to have liquid water on the surface, and many have speculated about 'life on Mars'. It has a thin atmosphere, comprised of 95% carbon dioxide, and only 0.13% of oxygen. The diameter of Mars is 0.5 of Earth's, and accordingly has 0.4 of Earth's surface gravity, and 0.1 the mass of that of Earth. The year length on Mars is 730 Earth days and the Martian day lasts approximately 24 hours - the same as Earth's. The average temperature is 213.15 Kelvin, but can go as low as 148.15 Kelvin.
Exploration
There have been four succesful unmanned vehicles sent to Mars, their role being to:
Terrain
The terrain of Mars shares the cratered surface of the moon with the mountains, canyons and valleys of Earth. The ground is covered by fine iron oxide III dust, which gives Mars its red appearence. The tallest mountain and volcano in the solar system is Olympus Mons, which is located on Mars, and it stands 27 km tall. It also has the longest valley, the Valles Marineris, which is 10km deep at its deepest point and stretches 4000 km across the surface of Mars. At the polar caps are permanent deposits of frozen water which if liquified would be enough to cover the entire surface of Mars. This cannot happen, nor can liquid water exist on the surface of Mars, because of the low atmospheric pressure. The surface of Mars is also radioactive, as the planet does not have a magnetosphere to protect from cosmic radiation and solar wind.
Moons
Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Both irregulary shaped, they are pockmarked with craters and are believed to have once been asteroids. Phobos is gradually moving towards Mars, at the rate of 1.8 metres per century. Within 50 million years Phobos will either collide with Mars or fragment into debris forming a ring around the planet.
Exploration
There have been four succesful unmanned vehicles sent to Mars, their role being to:
- Determine whether life ever arose on Mars
- Characterize the climate of Mars
- Characterize the geology of Mars
- Prepare for human exploration
Terrain
The terrain of Mars shares the cratered surface of the moon with the mountains, canyons and valleys of Earth. The ground is covered by fine iron oxide III dust, which gives Mars its red appearence. The tallest mountain and volcano in the solar system is Olympus Mons, which is located on Mars, and it stands 27 km tall. It also has the longest valley, the Valles Marineris, which is 10km deep at its deepest point and stretches 4000 km across the surface of Mars. At the polar caps are permanent deposits of frozen water which if liquified would be enough to cover the entire surface of Mars. This cannot happen, nor can liquid water exist on the surface of Mars, because of the low atmospheric pressure. The surface of Mars is also radioactive, as the planet does not have a magnetosphere to protect from cosmic radiation and solar wind.
Moons
Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Both irregulary shaped, they are pockmarked with craters and are believed to have once been asteroids. Phobos is gradually moving towards Mars, at the rate of 1.8 metres per century. Within 50 million years Phobos will either collide with Mars or fragment into debris forming a ring around the planet.