Exploring Mars: Basic Mars Facts:-
The fourth planet from the Sun.Distance from the Sun: "Minimum: 206Million kilometers Average: 228Million kilometers (1.52 times as far as Earth) Maximum: 249Million kilometers" Eccentricity of Orbit: "0.093 vs. 0.017 for Earth (0.00 is a perfectly circular orbit)" Distance From Earth: "Minimum: 56Million kilometers Maximum: 399Million kilometers" Day: 24.6 Earth Hours (1 Mars day is sometimes called 1 sol) Year: 1.88 Earth years = 687 Earth days = 669 Mars days Tilt of Rotation Axis: 25.2° vs. 23.5° for Earth Size: "Diameter: 6792 kilometers vs. 12,756 kilometers for Earth Surface gravity: 0.38 (about 1/3) times Earth's gravity Mass: 6.4 x 10 23 kilograms, about 11% of Earth's mass Density: 3.9 grams/cubic centimeter vs. 5.5 grams/cubic centimeter for Earth" Surface Temperature: "Generally cold Global extremes: -125°C (-193°F) to 25°C (77°F) Average at Viking 1 site: high -10°C (14°F); low -90°C (-130°F)" Atmosphere: "Thin and unbreathable Surface Pressure: about 6 millibars, or about 1/200th of Earth's Pressure varies with season - during the winter, part of the atmosphere freezes (as dry ice) onto the polar cap Contains 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen, 1.5% argon, trace amounts of water, and no oxygen. (Earth has 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen, 1% argon, and 0.03% carbon dioxide.)"Surface:"Color: Rust red Ancient landscape dominated by impact craters Tallest volcano in the Solar System: Olympus Mons, 21 kilometers high and 600 kilometers across, the size of the state of Arizona Largest canyon system in the Solar System: Valles Marineris, 4000 kilometers long and up to 11 kilometers deep. If placed on Earth, Valles Marineris would stretch from California to Washington D.C. Ancient channels carved by massive floods Some rocks are basalt (volcanic lava, as in Hawaii); the composition of other rocks is unknown Dust is reddish, rusty, like soil formed from volcanic rock"Moons:"Phobos ("Fear"), about 21 kilometers across Deimos ("Panic"), about 12 kilometers across Both Phobos and Deimos are very irregular in shape Previous chapter:Next chapter0: Odd, but interesting: 1: 10 Confounding Cosmic Questions 2: Top 10 Cool Moon Facts. 3: Top 10 Star Mysteries 4: Top 10 strangest things in space. 5: The Wildest Weather in the Galaxy 6: Space Station Assembly. 7: ISS: Home, Space Home. 8: Impressive New Tricks of Light, All Within the Laws of Physics 9: Earth-Moon size and distance 10: Dictionary Results for magnetism : 11: Exploring Mars: Basic Mars Facts:- 12: THE MOON 13: What's New on the Moon? 14: Precession: 15: Sedna: A Clue to Nibiru Part 1:Part 2:Part 3: |
(Wednesday, 22 April, 2026.)
