|
Everything
that you need to know about the Red Planet but were
afraid to ask.
With
thanks to "Knipel", "Tourdemars",
Erik M. Carlstrom and Perry Baldwin for corrections/additions
to the Mars facts. Last updated 3.18.00
The
Martian day is 24.6 hours long.
Mars
has been observed by astronomers from the Earth
for more than 200 years.
The
first successful landing of a spacecraft on Mars
was by the Soviet Union in 1971. This spacecraft
was called "Mars 3". Mars is the first
planet that a spacecraft from the Earth, Mariner
9, orbited.
Mars
has as much land area as all the Earth but only
about 10% of the mass.
Mars
gravity is about 38% Earth.
It
is so cold on Mars that water cannot exist
in liquid form on the surface of the planet. Liquid
water would flash boil, then freeze. Over time,
some of the ice will sublimate. Both poles are not
dry ice. One is part water ice, but it has the consistency
of extremely hard concrete. It is cold enough on
Mars that Carbon Dioxide freezes. The temperature
on Mars varies from a summer high of -33 C (-27.4
F) to a winter low of -83 C (-117 F).
The
gigantic canyon of Mars, Vallis Marineris, is so
long that if it were transplanted to the Earth it
would span from New York to San Francisco.
Olympus
Mons is the tallest volcano in the solar system.
It is three times taller that Mt. Everest. It is
possible that this volcano is still active.
Mars
still shows evidence that ancient rivers once, billions
of years ago, flowed on the surface of Mars.
The
first successful American Mars landing took place
in 1976 with Viking 1. Viking 1 landed on
Mars exactly nine years after man first landed on
the Moon.
Each
of the Martian moons, Phobos and Deimos, are thought
to be captured asteroids or comets. Phobos is 10
km across and Deimos is about 2-4 km across
Seasons
on Mars are almost twice as long as they are here
on Earth. This is due to the fact that the Martian
year is approximately two Earth years long.
Since
1993, three American missions to Mars have failed.
| |
Lost:
Mars Observer, 1993. Cause – Fuel
tank rupture
Mars Climate Orbiter, 1999. Cause – Entry
into atmosphere
Mars Polar Lander , 1999. Cause – Unknown
(probable programming error that caused the
landing engine to cut off too early) |
eMail
us with more Mars Facts
|
