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MARS
The Red Planet
Viking lander
• Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It
gets its red color from a rustlike coating
found on its surface soil. Great storms
pick up this coating and blow it furiously
around the planet. The diameter of Mars
is 6,794 km. The core is iron sulfide. Both
the mantle and the crust are silcate.
• The atmosphere consists of carbon
dioxide. Mars air pressure is low. Its axis
tilt is 25.2 degrees. The length of a day is
24 hrs. 37 min. and the length of a year
• is 687 Earth days. Mars average orbital
speed is 24 km per sec and the average
distance from the Sun is 227,900,000 km.
• Two small moons that look like giant
potatoes orbit Mars. Deimos at a height of
20,123 km orbits Mars every 30 hours.
Phobos is only 5,973 km high and takes
less than eight hours to make a orbit.
Phobos rises and sets twice a day.
• Some special features of Mars are its
rocky surface, barren dunes and valleys.
• It has many canyons. One of which is four
times deeper than our Grand Canyon.
The northern hemisphere has more
volcanoes than the southern hemisphere.
But the southern hemisphere has more
craters than the northern hemisphere.
Both hemispheres have polar ice which is
frozen carbon dioxide or “dry ice”.
• NASA has sent Viking landers to help
them better understand Mars. Cameras
provided numerous pictures of the planet.
• Viking carried an instrument which was
• used to analyze the soil. Viking also
carried three different laboratories for
testing. It is hoped that one day
astronauts will be sent to explore the Red
Planet.
• One theory as to the history of Mars is that
the tremendous heat from the formation of
the planets partially melted the young
planet. Heavy metal, mainly iron, sank to
the center and formed the core. Silicate
material then formed the mantle. The
crust has been battered by meteoroids.
• Strong internal heating is believed to have
led to the expansion of the globe. The
dense atmosphere was formed by an
outpouring of gases from the hot interior.
During its lifetime Mars had a period of
time when it had rain accounting for its soil
erosion. Today due to volcanic activity,
atmospheric conditions, and the impact of
large meteoroids sections of Mars’ surface
have collapsed.
• Compared to some other planets Mars is
small. It is the last of the rocky planets.
• The more distant planets are gas giants.
Like most of the other planets it has no
known life forms. But it is close enough to
Earth for exploration. Hopefully in the
future Mars will serve as a base for further
exploration of the more distant planets.
• Mars should be president because it is
said that it already has a face. It is fiery
and has furious wind storms. Mars has
numerous minerals and is close enough to
hold the interest of the people of Earth.
Also Ancient Romans honored Mars as
• their god of war.
• As a person I believe Mars could be
Alexander the Great. After all the Ancient
Romans thought of Mars as a god of war.
There was perhaps no greater leader in
war than Alexander the Great.
• Reference: National Geographic Book
•
“Our Universe”
TJ, Victor, and Amondo