RED PLANET MARS

Mars

Mars is named after the roman god of war with a symbol of

ARES

Information of Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is commonly referred to as the Red Planet. The rocks and soil have a red or pink hue due to the iron oxiode (rust) they contain .

Planets of the Solar System

Mars:

Earth’s little brother

Why Mars?

Elliptical orbit like Earth Potential for colony

What are the similarities and differences you notice?

Size

Smaller than Earth

8 Mars would fit inside the Earth!

Atmospheres: Are they similar?Why?

Nitrogen: 78%

Oxygen: 21 %

Argon: 0.9%

Water: > 1%

Carbon Doxide: 0.002%

Carbon Doxide: 95.%

Nitrogen: 3%

Argon: 2%

Oxygen: 0.1%

Water: > 0.03%

Constituents:

Days and Years

One martian day is 24 hours and 37 minutes

One martian year is 686 earth days, almost two Earth years

Basic Facts

Distance from Sun ≈1.52 times as far as Earth

Time to Orbit the Sun ~ 26 Earth months

Atmosphere ~ Mostly carbon dioxide Martian Day ~ 24.7 hours Temperature on the planet’s surface

hardly rises above freezing point

Atmosphere on Mars

Mars has a rocky, dry terrain with huge volcanoes and deep valleys. The atmosphere is much thinner than Earth’s and is comprised primarily of carbon dioxide and nitrogen. It’s gravity is about one-third of our own.

Atmosphere

Very thin atmosphere Mainly carbon dioxide No oxygen Dusty, makes the sky

pinkish, lots of dust storms Composition: 95% CO2, 3% N,

1.5% Ar, 0.1% O2, 0.03% H2O

Mars is Dry

No lakes, rivers, or oceans

Mars is Cold

High = 40F Low = -195F

Moons of Mars

Mars has two tiny moons named “Deimos” (Panic) & “Phobos” (Fear)

The moons are irregular and very small in size Phobos 27x22x18 km Deimos 15x12x10 km

The moons are probably asteroids captured by Mars

Deimos Phobos

Image Courtesy of NASA

The two Martian moons resemble asteroids

Mars has two small, football-shaped satellites that move in orbits close to the surface of the planet

They may be captured asteroids or may have formed in orbit around Mars out of solar system debris

Seasons on Mars

Like Earth, Mars has seasonal changes but the seasons last much longer. In Winter, Mars’ polar ice cap can reach down to 45 degrees latitude and then rapidly shrink during Spring. Dust storms are seasonal, also, as witnessed in this Hubble image.

The two faces of marsthe nortern hemisphere and the southern hemisphere

Largest Volcano on Mars

The largest volcano in the solar system is Olympus Mons. It is 624 km (374 miles) in diameter; about the same size as Arizona.The altitude of Olympus Mons is three times the altitude of the largest peak on Earth, Mt. Everest.

Polar Ice Caps

Mars’s polar caps contain frozen water, a layer of permafrost may exist below the Martian regolith, and there may be liquid water beneath the surface

The Martian polar caps expand in winter as a thin layer of frozen carbon dioxide (dry ice) is deposited from the atmosphere

Mars Atmosphere

Gigantic Canyon

Valles Marineris, or Mariner Valley, is a vast canyon system that runs along the Martian equator. Valles Marineris is 2500 miles long and reaches depths of up to 4 miles.

Gigantic Canyon

For comparison, the Grand Canyon in Arizona is about 500 miles long and 1 mile deep. In fact, the extent of Valles Marineris is as long as the United States and it spans about 20 percent (1/5) of athe entire distance around Mars.

Mars Surface Features

Surface Color: “Red” Features

Impact Craters Largest volcano in the

solar system(Olympus Mons)

Largest Canyon in the Solar System(Valles Marineris)

Ancient river channels Lava Rocks Dust: Reddish from

volcanic rock

Valles Marineris

Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

The Martian atmosphere changes dramaticallywith the seasons

Great dust storms sometimes blanket Mars

Fine-grained dust in its atmosphere gives the Martian sky a pinkish-orange tint

Seasonal winds blow dust across the face of Mars, covering and uncovering the underlying surface material and causing seasonal color changes

Viking Landers

According to scientists, Mars is self-sterilizing. They believe the combination of solar ultraviolet radiation that saturates the surface, the extreme dryness of the soil and the oxidizing nature of the soil chemistry prevent the formation of living organisms in the Martian soil. The question of life on Mars at some time in the distant past remains open.

Is there Water on Mars?

Water is the key to life as we know it The north and south poles of Mars

are covered with thick ice or frost Some astronomers about 100 years

ago thought there were canals on Mars dug by intelligent civilization

Space probes to date have not found any traces of canals on Mars

Odyssey

Discovered subsurface water ice near poles

Track changes of polar ice, clouds and dust storms

Generated maps of radiation and minerals

Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

QUIZ1). What planet is the Red Planet.?2). How many mars could fit inside the earth?3). How many earth days of one martian year?4). What is the two tiny moons of planet mars?5). What shaped resemble of the two moons of mars?6). What is the largest volcano in the solar system?7). What is the gigantic canyon in the solar system?8). What planet is Earth’s little brother?9). How many months last the dust storm in mars?10). Who is the god of war?