Planet Mars
by Krysta CardinaleMars, also known as the “Red Planet,” is the fourth closest planet to the sun. The reddish hue giving off from this planet at night gives it the nickname the “Red Planet.” It was given the name Mars by the Romans after their god of war. Other ancient civilizations have given it similar names as well. For example the ancient Greeks referred to it as “the red one,” or the Asian cultures that refer to it as the “fire star” after the ancient Chinese. The blazing appearance that planet Mars possesses is actually caused by iron oxidation on its surface.
Physical Features of Mars
The equatorial diameter of Mars is said to be 6,804.9km or 4,228.4 miles, this is about half of the Earth’s. The polar diameter is also about half of the Earth’s measuring in at about 6,754.8km or 4,197.2 miles. These measurements of planet Mars make it an oblate spheroid meaning it as two equal longer axes and one shorter axes. The total surface area is about 1.448×108 km2 which is 55,907,000 square miles or 0.284 the total of Earth’s. Mars’ volume comes in at around 1.6318×1011 km3, which is 0.151 of Earth’s. Its’ mass is approximately 0.107 of the Earth’s or 6.4185×1023 kg. The mean density of Mars would be near 3.934 g/cm3 and the equatorial gravity pull is 3.69 m/s2. This red planet has a rotation period of 1.025957 days or about 24.6 hours at the velocity of 868.22km/h or 539.49mph. The axial tilt of Mars is 25.19 degrees. The average surface temperature on this planet is approximately -63 ° C (-81° F), its’ maximum has been measure at 20° C (68° F) and the minimum 140° C (-220° F).
The atmosphere on planet Mars is considered very thin (in comparison to Earth); however it actually has a much larger height. Its atmospheric pressure ranges from 0.7-0.9 kPa and its height is measured to be about 11km. The composition of the planet Mars’ atmosphere is much different than ours here on Earth. It consists of mostly six components including 95.32% Carbon Dioxide (CO2), 2.7% Nitrogen (N2), 1.6% Argon (Ar), 0.13% Oxygen (O2), 0.03% Water (H2O), and 0.00025% Neon (Ne). Mars, similarly to Earth, also has seasonal changes. Mars’ thin atmosphere makes it unable to retain a lot of heat this explains why the drastic minimum and maximum in surface temperature. In the winter months the poles of Mars remain in the darkness creating the CO2 to form into large pieces of dry ice covering the surface. Once the poles are once again exposed to the Sun, the dry ice sublimates, or goes skips the liquid phase and goes straight from a solid to a gaseous state. This process creates tremendous winds and creates large dusk clouds across the surface.
As seen from Earth the surface of Mars can be divided into two sections, the north and the south. The north contains large flat plains created by lave flows. The Red Planet contains large regions of volcanoes containing the tallest recorded, the “Olympus Mons”. In pictures, these flat plains show up as the reddest portions. The darker parts would be the southern half of Mars containing highlands cratered by ancient impacts. The planet Mars lacks any form of sea, ocean, or body of water on its surface.
In comparison to Earth, Mars has one additional moon. The two moons of Mars are believed to be asteroids stuck in orbit around the planet. They are relatively small and are in close orbit. The names given to these two moons are Phobos and Deimos. The speed and path of the two orbits of these moons are completely different. Phobus rises in the west and sets in the east. It then rises again only 11 hours later. On the other hand, Deimos rises in the east but very slowly and takes 2.7 days to set in the west.
Mars Landing
Space programs all over the world have made attempt after attempt to try and land ships, orbiters, rovers on Mars to observe and survey aspects of this red planet. However, for the most part these attempts wouldn’t really be called successful. In fact only about two-thirds of the overall efforts have actually seen success. The more common beliefs about Mars landings will be that life on Mars will be found.
The very first successful Mars mission was by NASA and its Mariner 4 in 1964, but it was only a fly-by. In 1971 the Soviet Union had the first successful Mars Landing, but it was not human instead two of its probes that lost contact to Earth after only a short amount of time. NASA then tried what the Soviets failed at, landing probes and keeping the in contact. In 1975 they did just that, and were actually able to maintain this contact for several years. In 1992 NASA failed in its try to map out the geography of Mars, however in 1996 its’ “Mars Global Surveyor” proved to be a complete triumph. Only a month after launch the surveyor, NASA additionally launched the “Mars Pathfinder” that carried an actual robotic vehicle that explored Mars sending back pictures to Earth. This was again another huge achievement for NASA.
Between 2001 and 2004 more giant steps were taken in the exploration of the planet Mars. In 2001 NASA launched the “Mars Odyssey,” which is still orbiting and obtaining information to the present day. The European Space Agency (ESA) launched the “Mars Express” in 2003. This spacecraft included the “Mars Express orbiter” and the lander “Beagle 2.” The Beagle 2 was considered missing after it lost contact in 2004. However, the orbiter made a significant finding by discovering methane in Mars’ atmosphere. This fact is critical to whether or not there is life on Mars. Another accomplished Mars landing was also achieved in 2003 by NASA. It launched two identical exploration rovers and have both brought back such ground breaking information such as evidence that the Red Planet once contained liquid water. The most recent victorious Mars landing would be the “Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter” by NASA. This mission was launched in August of 2005.
The biggest reason for these missions is to determine if there is, was, or could ever be life on Mars. There is much controversy on this topic and contradictory evidence. Even though there is evidence that Mars was once more adequate to sustain life, there is none that proves there ever actually was life on Mars or will ever be.
