All About Mars

• Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun.
• The planet has a thin atmosphere and is dusty, cold, and desert-like.
• Seasons, polar ice caps, extinct volcanoes, and canyons are all present on this dynamic planet.
• Mars is one of the solar system's most explored bodies.
• Mars is the only planet on which rovers have been deployed.
• NASA missions found evidence suggesting Mars was once warmer and wetter with a thicker atmosphere.
• The Romans named Mars after their god of war because of its reddish color.
• Mars has a reddish appearance because iron minerals in the Martian dirt oxidize.
• The soil's rusty iron composition gives the planet its red hue and the name "Red Planet."

Potential for Life

• Scientists are looking for signs of ancient life on Mars.
• Mars was once warmer and covered with water.
• Today, there aren't expected to be living things on Mars.

Orbit and Rotation

• Mars completes one rotation in 24.6 hours.
• The length of a day on Mars is similar to Earth's, which is 23.9 hours.
• Martian days are called sols, short for "solar day".
• A year lasts 669.6 sols on Mars, equivalent to 687 Earth days.
• Mars experiences distinct seasons.
• Seasons on Mars are longer than those on Earth because Mars takes longer to orbit the Sun.
• Mars' orbit around the Sun is elliptical, which causes the length of the seasons to vary in length.
• Spring in the northern hemisphere lasts 194 sols.
• Autumn in the northern hemisphere lasts 142 days.
• Northern winter/southern summer lasts 154 sols.
• Northern summer/southern winter lasts 178 sols.

Moons

• Mars has two small moons: Phobos and Deimos.
• The moons may be captured asteroids.
• Due to their low mass, the moons are potato-shaped.
• The moons were named after the horses that pulled Ares' chariot.
• Phobos is the innermost and larger moon with a heavily cratered surface.
• Phobos has deep grooves and is slowly moving towards Mars.
• Phobos is expected to crash into the planet or break apart in 50 million years.
• Deimos orbits two and a half times farther away from Mars and is about half the size of Phobos.
• The loose dirt covering the surface of the oddly shaped Deimos fills craters, making it appear smoother than Phobos.

Formation

• Mars took shape around 4.5 billion years ago, when gravity pulled swirling gas and dust together.
• Mars became the fourth planet from the Sun.
• Mars is about half the size of Earth, with a central core, a rocky mantle, and a solid crust.

Surface

• Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in the solar system, is located on Mars.
• Olympus Mons is three times taller than Earth's Mt. Everest.
• Mars appears to have had a watery past with lakebeds, ancient river valley networks, and deltas.
• The presence of rocks and minerals on the surface indicates the past existence of liquid water.
• There is evidence of huge floods that occurred about 3.5 billion years ago.
• Water is present on Mars today as water-ice beneath the surface in polar regions.
• Briny water flows down hillsides and crater walls seasonally.

Atmosphere

• The thin atmosphere is composed mostly of carbon dioxide, argon, and nitrogen.
• There is a small amount of oxygen and water vapor
• Temperatures on Mars range from 20 degrees Celsius to -153 degrees Celsius.
• The thin atmosphere causes heat from the Sun to escape easily.
• If standing on the equator at noon, temperatures would range from 24 degrees Celsius at your feet to 0 degrees Celsius at your head.
• Dust storms on Mars can cover the entire planet due to strong winds.

Gravity on Mars

• Objects weigh less on Mars than on Earth.
• A person who weighs 100 pounds on Earth would weigh about 38 pounds on Mars.

Mars Exploration

• Mars is the only planet solely inhabited by robots
• Surface rovers, a helicopter, and spacecraft in orbit are present.
• In 1965, Mariner 4 was the first NASA spacecraft to get a close look at Mars.
• In 1976, Viking 1 and Viking 2 were the first NASA spacecraft to land on Mars.
• NASA's Spirit and Opportunity rovers found proof that water once flowed on Mars in January 2004.
• The presence of water may indicate the planet once supported life.

On The Ground

• Four robotic vehicles or rovers have been sent to Mars.
• In February 2021, NASA's fifth Mars rover, Perseverance, landed on Mars.
• Rovers have wheels and specialize in moving around the planet.
• Rovers help scientists understand what different parts of the planet are made of, as Mars is made of lots of different types of rocks, and each rock is made up of a mixture of chemicals.
• Each rover studies the different chemicals in each rock to determine the past environments of the planet Mars.
• InSight probes the interior of Mars.
• InSight is located on Elysium Planitia, a flat smooth plain.

In The Air

• The Ingenuity helicopter flew to Mars attached to Perseverance.
• Ingenuity made the first powered, controlled flight on another planet on April 19, 2021.

In Orbit

• Three NASA spacecrafts are in orbit
• The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) launched in 2005 to search for evidence of water.
• The Mars Odyssey mission (launched April 7, 2001) is NASA's longest-lasting spacecraft at Mars.
• Mars Odyssey's goal is to detect water and shallow buried ice, find out what the planet is made of, and study the radiation environment
• The Mars Odyssey mission has located ice deposits for astronaut use, studied harmful radiation, and scouted landing sites for missions.
• MAVEN (Mars Atmospheric and Volatile Evolution) is designed to help understand climate change on Mars.