Mars

Origin of Mars

Mars is named after the Roman god of war. The appearance of Mars inspired people to give it its current

name. Red is the color of war (all the blood that gets spilled). Its reddish appearance is also the reason why it’s given another name – Red Planet and Hardecher

(meaning “Red One”).

Discovery of Mars

Unlike other planets, the discovery of Mars is not credited to a single individual. Therefore, it means there isn’t an exact time and location of when and how Mars is discovered. However, the discovery of Mars is often sought to be the Egyptians in 1570 B.C.. Often time, credit is also given to Nicolaus Copernicus, who apparently was the first individual to view Mars through a telescope.

Quick Facts about Mars : Distance

• Distance from the sun in AU (astronomical unit) : 1.52368479

• in km : 2.2794x108

• Distance from the Earth in AU : • Closest Possible : 0.226607503• Furthest Possible : 2.68051944

• in km : • Closest Possible : 33.9 million • Furthest : 401 million

Symbol of Mars

Quick Facts about Mars : Planet Measurement

Mass : 6.4129x1023

Volume : 1.63114609799x1011 km3

Equatorial Circumference : 2.12969x104 km Mean Density : 3.934g/cm Gravity : 3.71 m/s• 1lbs (Earth) = 0.38lbs (Mars)

Therefore, if you weighed 100lbs on Earth, you would weigh 38lbs on Mars.

Quick Facts about Mars : Orbit & Rotation Number of days to

orbit around the sun : 686.98 Earth days (1.88 years)

Perihelion : 2.06655215x108 km

Aphelion : 2.49232432x108 km

Length of one day : 24.623 hours

Appearance & Rings

Mars is often described as the “Red Planet” because of its reddish orange appearance. Mars’ reddish color is quite visible to the naked eye. This color is due to the presence of iron oxide dust. In the Solar System, there are four planets with rings; and mars does not belong to one of them.

Satellites (Moons)

There are 2 moons orbiting Mars – Phobos and Deimos. Phobos was discovered on 17 August, 1877 and Deimos was discovered on 11 August, 1877 by Asaph Hall. Phobos and Deimos were also named after Greek gods. Phobos ws the god of panic fear, fight and batte field rout, and Deimos, Phobos’ twin brother, was the god of fear, dread and terror. They were the sons of Ares (Mars), god of war.

For specific facts & figures please go to Moons of Mars Facts and Figures

CompositionThe composition of Mars’ core is iron and sulfur, which are wrapped in a mantle that is silicates. Unlike Earth, the Martian core solid is solid (doesn’t move). The diameter of the core is 22,960km. Even though the core of Mars is not like Earth’s core, the surface of the two planets are very similar. Like Earth, Mars has a rocky surface, and volcanic & tectonic features. The surface of Mars contains basalt, what made up the crust, and enough iron oxide to create reddish hue.

Atmosphere

Gases in AtmosphereCarbon Dioxide

Nitrogen

Argon

Oxygen

Carbon Monoxide

Water Vapor

Nitric Oxide

Trace Gaases (include kryp-ton, Methane, etc.)

Climate

Mars has an amazing variety of weather. It never rains on Mars due to the thin atmosphere and the lack of a magnetosphere. Since the sun’s radiation and the solar wind are constantly bombarding the planet, liquid water can not exist; therefore, rain can not form nor fall. However, occasionally, clouds do form and snow does fall. Clouds on Mars are very small and wispy and the majority of the clouds are formed by carbon dioxide ice. Dust storm is the most dramatic version of the weather of Mars. They occur frequently because of the temperature gradient on the planet and because the surface is covered in light dust that is easily picked up by wind.

Surface Conditions Temperature:

The highest temperature on Mars may reach 22º Celsius at noon and at the equator in the summer and at summer nights, the temperature can drop to -90ºC;the lowest temperature may reach -153º Celsius at the poles and in the winter.

Wind Speed: Occasionally, winds on Mars are strong enough to create

dust storms that cover much of the planet. The maximum wind speeds recorded by the Viking Landers in the 1970’s were about 30 meters per second (60 miles an hour) with an average of 10 m/s (20 mph). Like on Earth, at certain latitudes, the winds tend to blow in certain directions.

Surface Pressure: The pressure at the surface of Mars’ is approximately 1kPa

and depends upon the Martian weather. The typical surface pressure is 0.006 bar.

Water

Since the temperature on Mars is very cold, water can’t exist in liquid form. It can only remain as either frozen in the Martian Poles as permafrost or hidden in deep underground springs.

Exploration

For specific log please go to Mars Exploration Historical Log

Habitability

If human traveled to Mars, it is very likely that humans may die because there are very little atmospheric oxygen. Currently, Mars has 0.15% of atmospheric oxygen. However, humans require at least 20% of atmospheric oxygen.

Future Human Travel

There are various problems for human to travel to Mars, including getting off the Earth, fuel storage, advanced propulsion, landing on Mars, keeping the crew healthy, and living on the land...etc. There isn’t a rocket in existence that can take off from the Earth’s surface and escape its gravitational pull along with the weight of people who traveled and supplies. Therefore, the problem should be solved, starting with constructing a rocket that is capable to travel to Mars.

TerraformingSince Mars is the most Earth-like planet, it is the best candidate for terraforming. However, since currently, Mars is not quite suitable for human life, scientists are searching for ancient life on Mars. If life was once sustainable on Mars, it is important to know what caused Mars to evolve into the cold and lifeless planet it is today. Thus, we can terraform Mars by reversing the process.

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