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Below are ten
facts about Mars and a table of statistics.
FACT
ONE
Of all the planets in the Solar System, Mars is the one people believe is most
likely to contain or to have contained life. In 1900, a prize was offered to the
first person to be contact an extra-terrestrial being. However, this
extra-terrestrial being was not allowed to come from Mars because that would
make the competition too easy! In 1938, a radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds by
H.G. Wells (a story about an invasion of Earth by Martians) caused a near
panic in America because so many people believed it to be true.
FACT TWO
The largest volcano in the Solar System is on Mars. It is called
Olympus Mons.
FACT THREE
Mars has polar caps like Earth, containing frozen carbon dioxide
(and small amount of water).
FACT FOUR
Mars is believed to have had water flowing around it like Earth once. It may have had a blue sky
too. However, it is unlikely that it had grass, trees and plants
like Earth
has now.
FACT FIVE
The Valles Marineris, the greatest gorge on any
planet in the Solar System, was caused when volcanoes erupting
around it tore up the land, leaving a huge valley.
FACT SIX
We can see how long Mars has been a 'dead' planet by the number
of meteorite impacts on its surface. In comparison, Earth and Venus have fewer impact craters because
they have newer surfaces formed by recent geological activity.
FACT SEVEN
Mars has seasons like Earth. This is caused by the tilt of the
planet's axis, at a similar angle to the tilt of Earth's axis.
FACT EIGHT
The Sun appears about half the size on Mars
as it does from Earth.
FACT NINE
The first space probe to take pictures of Mars' surface (Mariner 4 in
1964) is still in space, orbiting the Sun. Still orbiting Mars
itself are Mariner 9 (launched in 1971), Viking 1 and 2 (launched
in 1975), the Mars Global Surveyor (launched in 1996, which is
currently looking for the Mars Polar Lander, launched in 1998)
and the Mars Climate Orbitor (launched in 1998 to orbit Mars in
1999). These are American space probes. Russian probes orbiting
Mars are Mars 2 and Mars 3 (launched in 1971), Mars 5 (launched
in 1973) and Phobos 1 (launched in 1988). Japan has Nozomi
orbiting Mars (launched in 1998).
FACT TEN
Rocks from Mars have landed on Earth from meteorite impacts blasting debris through
space.
Do you have any fascinating
facts about Mars or any comments on any of the above facts? If so, email Bob
at bob@bobthealien.co.uk!
VIEW FACTS ABOUT OTHER
DESTINATIONS
The Sun -
Mercury -
Venus
- Earth -
The Moon -
Mars
- Jupiter -
Saturn -
Uranus
- Neptune -
Pluto and Dwarf
Planets
PLANETARY STATISTICS
| NAME |
Mars |
| MEANING OF
NAME |
Roman God of War
(Ares is the Greek equivalent) |
| NAME
IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES |
Mars
(French, German, Russian, Latin), Marte (Spanish, Italian, Portuguese),
Ares (Greek) |
| AVERAGE
DISTANCE FROM THE SUN |
227,936,640 km / 141,633,260 miles /
1.52 A.U.
Comparison with
Earth: 149,597,890 km / 92,955,820 miles, 1.000 A.U. |
| CLOSEST
DISTANCE TO THE SUN (PERIHELION) |
206,600,000 km / 128,400,000 miles /
1.38 A.U.
Comparison with
Earth: 147,100,000 km / 91,400,000 miles, 0.983 A.U. |
| FARTHEST
DISTANCE FROM THE SUN (APHELION) |
249,200,000 km / 154,900,000 miles /
1.67 A.U.
Comparison with
Earth: 152,100,000 km / 94,500,000 miles, 1.017 A.U. |
| DIAMETER
ACROSS EQUATOR |
3,397 km / 2,111 miles
Comparison with
Earth: 12,756 km / 7,926 miles
|
| DIAGRAM
SHOWING PLANET'S SIZE COMPARED TO THE SIZE OF EARTH |
|
| CIRCUMFERENCE
AROUND EQUATOR |
21,344 km / 13,263 miles
Comparison with
Earth: 40,074 km / 24,901 miles |
| MASS |
641,850,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg
Comparison with
Earth 5,973,700,000,000,000,000,000,000 |
| TIME TO SPIN
ON AXIS |
24 hours, 37 minutes
Comparison with
Earth: 23 hours, 56 minutes |
| TIME TO ORBIT
THE SUN (1 YEAR) |
687 days
Comparison with
Earth: 365 days, 6 hours |
| DISTANCE
PLANET TRAVELS TO COMPLETE ONE ORBIT |
1,366,900,000 km / 849,400,000 miles
Comparison with
Earth: 924,375,700 km / 574,380,400 miles |
| GRAVITY (EARTH
= 1) |
0.38 |
| ESCAPE
VELOCITY |
18,072 km/h / 11,229 mph
Comparison with
Earth: 40,248 km/h / 25,009 mph |
| MINIMUM
SURFACE TEMPERATURE |
-133 °c / -207°F / 140 K
Comparison with
Earth: -88 °c / -126 °F / 185 K |
| MAXIMUM
SURFACE TEMPERATURE |
27 °c / 80 °F / 300 K
Comparison with
Earth: 58 °c / 136 ° F / 331 K |
| WEATHER
CONDITIONS |
Mars is almost always sunny but very
very cold.
Dust in the thin atmosphere can cause haziness, and frost can form in polar
regions. Thin water-ice clouds can form. Mars is extremely dry so there
is never any rain on the planet (this may have been different in the
past when surface water was present and the atmosphere was thicker).
Mars has seasons, which means that the weather changes dependent on
season - at the equator in summer, temperatures can reach up to 27 °c
(80 °F). Mars is mostly calm although wind speeds can reach up to 100
mph and cause dust storms which can completely cover the planet. |
| CONTENTS OF
ATMOSPHERE |
95.3% carbon
dioxide (CO2), 2.7% nitrogen (N2), 1.6% argon (Ar),
and 0.1% oxygen (O2). Other gases present in tiny quantities
include carbon monoxide (CO), water (H2O), nitric oxide (NO),
neon (Ne), krypton (Kr), and xenon (Xe). |
| KNOWN MOONS |
2 - Phobos and Deimos (both discovered
in 1877 by Asaph Hall) |
| PAST MISSIONS
(including nationality and year of launch - failed missions are in red) |
Marsnik
1 (USSR, 1960), Marsnik 2 (USSR, 1960,
Sputnik 22 (USSR 1962), Mars 1 (USSR 1962),
Sputnik 24 (USSR, 1962), Mariner
3 (USA, 1964), Mariner 4 (USA, 1964),
Zond 2 (USSR, 1964), Zond 3 (USSR, 1965), Mariner 6 (USA, 1969), Mariner
7 (USA, 1969), Mars 1969A (USSR, 1969), Mars
1969B (USSR, 1969), Mariner 8 (USA 1971),
Cosmos 419 (USSR 1971), Mars 2 (USSR,
1971), Mars 3 (USSR, 1971), Mariner 9 (USA, 1971), Mars 4 (USSR, 1973),
Mars 5 (USSR, 1973), Mars 6 (USSR, 1973), Mars 7 (USSR, 1973), Viking 1
(USA, 1975), Viking 2, (USA 1975), Phobos 1 (USSR,
1988), Phobos 2 (USSR, 1988), Mars Observer
(USA, 1992), Mars Global Surveyor (USA, 1996), Mars Pathfinder
(USA, 1996), Nozomi (Japan, 1998), Mars Climate
Orbiter (USA, 1998), Mars Polar Lander
(USA, 1999), Deep Space 2 (USA, 1999) |
| PRESENT
MISSIONS |
2001 Mars Odyssey
(USA, 2001), Mars Express (Europe, 2003 - this mission included the
failed Beagle lander), Spirit / MER-A (USA, 2003), Opportunity / MER-B
(USA, 2003), Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter (USA, 2005), Phoenix / Mars
Scout 1 (USA 2007) |
| PLANNED
MISSIONS |
Mars Science
Laboratory (USA, 2009), Mars Orbiter (USA, 2011), Mars Sample Return
Lander (USA, 2014), Mars Scout 2 (USA, 2011), ExoMars (Europe, 2013),
Mars Astrobiological Field Lab Rover (USA, 2016), Mars Scout 3 (USA,
2018) |
| NOTABLE
FEATURES |
Olympus
Mons, a
volcano on Mars, is the largest volcano in the Solar System. The Valles
Marineris is the greatest gorge in the Solar System. |
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