Mars

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Mars
Mars photographed by Viking Orbiters
Known to the ancients
Name origin	Roman god of war
Orbital characteristics
Celestial class	Planet
Primary	Sun
Order from primary	4
Perihelion	206,644,545 km1.381 AU 128,402,967.296 mi
Aphelion	249,228,730 km1.666 AU 154,863,553.1 mi
Semi-major axis	227,936,637 km1.524 AU 141,633,259.887 mi
Titius-Bode prediction	1.6 AU
Circumference	1,429,033,627 km9.552 AU 887,960,328.556 mi
Orbital eccentricity	0.093
Sidereal year	686.96 da1.881 a
Synodic year	779.96 da2.135 a
Avg. orbital speed	24.077 km/s86,677.2 km/h 14.961 mi/s 53,858.715 mph
Inclination	1.851°0.0323 rad 2.057 grad to the ecliptic
Rotational characteristics
Sidereal day	24.62296194 h1.026 da
Solar day	24.65979 h1.027 da
Rotation speed	465.11 m/s0.465 km/s 1,674.396 km/h 0.289 mi/s 1,040.421 mph
Axial tilt	25.19°0.44 rad 27.989 grad
Physical characteristics
Mass	6.4185 * 1023 kg0.107 M⊕ 3.38047e-4 M♃
Mean density	3,943 kg/m³3.943 g/ml 246.153 lb/ft³
Equatorial radius	3402.5 km2,114.215 mi
Surface gravity	3.72 m/s²12.205 ft/s² 0.379 g
Escape speed	5.02 km/s18,072 km/h 3.119 mi/s 11,229.42 mph
Surface area	144,800,000 km²55,907,592.557 mi² 0.284 A⊕ 0.00233 A♃
Minimum temperature	186 K-87.15 °C -124.87 °F 334.8 °R
Mean temperature	227 K-46.15 °C -51.07 °F 408.6 °R
Maximum temperature	268 K-5.15 °C 22.73 °F 482.4 °R
Number of moons	2
Composition	Rock
Color	#BB6633
Albedo	0.15

The name of the planet Mars comes from a Greek word describing the ancient Roman god of war. Mars has gained a cornucopia of attention, not only for its odd appearance, but also for the fact that this planet has the highest probability of life second only to the Earth. Mars mimics the Earth in many ways--although Mars is about half the size of Earth, they both have moons that are in orbit with them (in Mars' case it has two smaller ones called Phobos and another called Deimos). Because of its semi-realistic livable situation, the United States has funded many programs to get cameras and "rovers" onto the planet for surveillance. [1]

Out of approximately 37 attempts at reaching Mars, only about 13 (not including the success/failure expeditions, see link) have actually made successful missions to Mars. As of now no life, or signs of life have been found on Mars. That however does not stop people from looking for it. Astrobiology is the study of biology, astronomy, and geology in regards to life in outer space.[2]

Mars gets its distinct red coloring from a large percentage of iron in the clay dirt covering its surface. Mars has seasons much like Earth due to its axial tilt, but due to its long year they are twice as long. Temperatures can range from -140°C (-220°F) during the winter at the poles to a temperate 20°C (70°F) in the summers at the equator. It has a lot of surface craters that were formed by meteroids smashing into Mars' surface. Mars has a physical terrain much like the earth, with valleys and volcanoes, and actually is the planet with some of the largest numbers of physical imperfections (such as mountains and valleys) compared to the other planets. It is host to the highest known mountain in the Solar System, called Olympus Mons, which at its summit is 26 km (17 miles) above the surface of Mars. [3]

Contents 1 Rovers 2 Missions 3 Gallery 4 Satellites 5 Related References 6 See Also

Rovers

Rovers are very important to the furthering of our knowledge of Mars. Mars rovers are robot cameras that take pictures of every possible surface point of Mars and send them to stations on Earth. NASA has two rovers already on the planet (their names: Spirit and Opportunity) and two more on their way. Both rovers have been very successful: while the Opportunity has been taking pictures of the Victoria Crater, the Spirit has been on the other side of Mars relaying pictures of Esperanza which apparently has been "the first “vesicular” basalt that has undergone detailed scrutiny". Spirit is currently journeying back to "home plate" which is the base for both rovers on Mars. [4]

Missions

The first recorded mission launch to Mars was in 1960, and the rover's name was Korabl 4. The first four years of missions, exactly six missions in all, were failures, returning little or no useful information.

The first lander to successfully reach Mars was Mariner 4 in 1960 and it sent back 21 images from the red planet. Over the next 40 years, rovers would both succeed and fail. The failures resulted from a wide variety of causes, including launch failures, insufficient fuel, rovers being lost on the vast planet, and altogether missing the planet and being sent into the unknown (1973, by the USSR, rover "Mars 4").

Most of the missions to Mars have either been by the United States (18 missions and first successful mission) and the USSR (17 missions, first 5 missions by this country as well). Other countries such as Japan, and the ESA have tried their hand at Mars explorations, including Japan.[5]

Gallery

Gas giants: from top - Neptune, Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter

Our solar system planets: 1)Mercury, 2)Venus, 3)Earth, 4)Mars, 5)Jupiter, 6)Saturn, 7)Uranus, 8)Neptune

The Valles Marineris canyon extends over 3,000 kilometers long, spans as much as 600 kilometers across, and delves as much as 8 kilometers deep.

Photograph by the Spirit rover of rocks believed ejected by an active Martian volcano.

Satellites

Mars has two satellites, called Phobos and Deimos.

Table of satellites, in order from the innermost to the outermost:

Name	Periareion	Apoareion	Eccentricity	Sidereal month	Inclination	Mass	Sidereal day
Phobos	92363909,236.39 km6.17415e-5 AU 5,739.227 mi	95196109,519.61 km6.36347e-5 AU 5,915.211 mi	0.01510.0151	0.31890.319 da8.73101e-4 a	0.0190764487242981.093 °0.0191 rad 1.214 grad	1.073E+161.4602e-7 M☾1.073e+16 kg 1.79552e-9 M⊕	27552.967.654 h0.319 da
Deimos	2345500023,455 km1.56787e-4 AU 14,574.261 mi	2346500023,465 km1.56854e-4 AU 14,580.475 mi	0.00022.0e-4	1.2621.262 da0.00346 a	0.0314159265358981.8 °0.0314 rad 2 grad	1.4E+151.9052e-8 M☾1.4e+15 kg 2.34271e-10 M⊕	88646.424.624 h1.026 da

Related References

• Nasa Historical Log: Missions to Mars
• Mars Solar Time by NASA
• Mars by Wikipedia
• Space.com All About Mars
• Nine Planets.org Orbit, Mass, Diameter
• Starchild Mars: the red planet

Browse

See Also

• Solar system
• Planet
• Mercury
• Earth
• Jupiter
• Saturn
• Uranus
• Neptune