Claire - 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

Composition
The 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 Atmosphere
Carbon Dioxide
Nitrogen
Argon
Oxygen
Carbon Monoxide
Water Vapor
Nitric Oxide
Trace Gaases (include
krypton, 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.

Terraforming
Since 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.

Citation
 Cain, F. (2013). What is the Distance from Earth to Mars?. [online] Universe Today. Available at:
http://www.universetoday.com/14824/distance-from-earth-to-mars/ [Accessed 22 Apr. 2014].
 Greene, N. (2014). Mars Information. [online] About.com Space / Astronomy. Available at:
http://space.about.com/cs/mars/p/marstest.htm [Accessed 22 Apr. 2014].
 Hypertextbook.com, (2014). Pressure on the Surface of Mars. [online] Available at:
http://hypertextbook.com/facts/2000/LaurenMikulski.shtml [Accessed 24 Apr. 2014].
 Mars.nasa.gov, (2014). Historical Log - Mars Exploration Program. [online] Available at:
http://mars.nasa.gov/programmissions/missions/log/ [Accessed 27 Apr. 2014].
 Moonphases.info, (2010). Who Discovered Mars. [online] Available at: http://moonphases.info/who-discovered-
mars.html [Accessed 27 Apr. 2014].
 News.psu.edu, (2005). Probing Question: Could Mars ever be made habitable for human beings? | Penn State
University. [online] Available at: http://news.psu.edu/story/141270/2005/10/10/research/probing-question-could-
mars-ever-be-made-habitable-human-beings [Accessed 27 Apr. 2014].
 Nineplanets.org, (1994). Mars l Mars facts, pictures and information.. [online] Available at:
http://nineplanets.org/mars.html [Accessed 22 Apr. 2014].
 Planets.findthebest.com, (2014). Does Mars have rings?. [online] Available at:
http://planets.findthebest.com/q/4/1335/Does-Mars-have-rings [Accessed 22 Apr. 2014].
 Planets.findthebest.com, (2014). Mars - Solar System Facts | FindTheBest. [online] Available at:
http://planets.findthebest.com/l/4/Mars [Accessed 22 Apr. 2014].
 Planets.findthebest.com, (2014). What is the volume of Mars?. [online] Available at:
http://planets.findthebest.com/q/4/1328/What-is-the-volume-of-Mars [Accessed 22 Apr. 2014].

Citation
 Quest.nasa.gov, (2014). :: NASA Quest > Aerospace ::. [online] Available at:
http://quest.nasa.gov/aero/planetary/mars.html [Accessed 24 Apr. 2014].
 Quest.nasa.gov, (2014). About Mars. [online] Available at:
http://quest.nasa.gov/mars/background/terra.html [Accessed 25 Apr. 2014].
 Solar System Exploration, (2014). Deimos: Overview. [online] Available at:
http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Mar_Deimos [Accessed 27 Apr. 2014].
 Solar System Exploration, (2014). Phobos: Overview. [online] Available at:
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/profile.cfm?Object=Mar_Phobos [Accessed 27 Apr. 2014].
 Space Facts, (2012). Mars Facts - Interesting Facts about the Planet Mars. [online] Available at:
http://space-facts.com/mars/ [Accessed 22 Apr. 2014].
 Space.com, (2014). Mars: Facts and Information About the Red Planet. [online] Available at:
http://www.space.com/47-mars-the-red-planet-fourth-planet-from-the-sun.html [Accessed 24 Apr.
2014].
 Universe Today, (2008). Mars Weather. [online] Available at:
http://www.universetoday.com/14941/mars-weather/ [Accessed 25 Apr. 2014].
 Universe Today, (2008). What is Mars Made Of?. [online] Available at:
http://www.universetoday.com/14702/what-is-mars-made-of/ [Accessed 22 Apr. 2014].
 Universe Today, (2010). Why Mars Is Called The Red Planet?. [online] Available at:
http://www.universetoday.com/61088/why-mars-is-called-the-red-planet/ [Accessed 22 Apr. 2014].
 Wired UK, (2013). Why we can't send humans to Mars yet, and how we'll fix that (Wired UK).
[online] Available at: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-05/31/getting-to-mars [Accessed
25 Apr. 2014].

Claire - Mars

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