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Mars

Mars, known as the 'red planet,' is the fourth planet from the sun, characterized by its reddish surface due to iron oxide and features like Olympus Mons and Valles Marineris. It has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, and experiences temperatures ranging from -220°F to 68°F, with gravity only 38% that of Earth. Mars has a thin atmosphere that prevents liquid water from accumulating, making sustained life virtually impossible, although it was once more habitable than it is today.

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29 views4 pages

Mars

Mars, known as the 'red planet,' is the fourth planet from the sun, characterized by its reddish surface due to iron oxide and features like Olympus Mons and Valles Marineris. It has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, and experiences temperatures ranging from -220°F to 68°F, with gravity only 38% that of Earth. Mars has a thin atmosphere that prevents liquid water from accumulating, making sustained life virtually impossible, although it was once more habitable than it is today.

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lilia.daringa
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PLANET MARS

What does this planet look like?


Mars, commonly referred to as "the red planet," is the fourth planet from the sun. Its reddish color
comes from the high amounts of iron oxide on its surface. Mars has surface features similar to those
found on the moon and on Earth. It has mountain ranges, volcanic fields, valleys, ice caps, canyons and
deserts. It has numerous impact craters including one, discovered in 2008, which measures more than
6,000 miles in length and nearly 5,000 miles in width. It is, by far, the largest impact crater ever
discovered. Mars is also home to Olympus Mons, the highest discovered mountain in the solar system. A
person standing on the surface of Mars (in any location in which the mountain was visible) would have
no chance of viewing the top. With the peak at 88,600 feet, Olympus Mons is about three times as high
as Mount Everest, the highest peak on Earth. Mars' Valles Marineris is the solar system's largest canyon,
measuring more than seven miles deep.

How big is this planet?


Mars is much smaller than the Earth. Its surface area occupies 28% of Earth's, its mass is only 10 percent
of Earth's and its volume is about 15 percent of Earth's.

What is its gravity like?


Gravity on Mars is 38% that of the Earth. A 100 pound Earthling would weigh 38 pounds on Mars.

How far is it from the sun? From the Earth?


On average Mars is located 138,000,000 miles from the sun. When Mars and Earth are on the same side
of the sun, the two planets may come within 35,000,000 miles of each other. When they are on opposite
sides of the sun, they may be as far as 399,000,000 miles apart.

What's the temperature like?


Of all the planets, temperatures on Mars are most similar to those on Earth. Temperatures can range
from about -220 F during a Mars (Martian) winter to a temperate 68 degrees F in summer, though on
average the temperature is about -80 F. Unlike Earth, however, the thin atmosphere gives rise to
fearsome dust storms that may envelop the entire planet and cause overall temperatures to rise.

How many moons does it have?


Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos. Both are small and irregularly shaped and may be former
asteroids. Interestingly, Phobos orbits Mars at a distance of only about 5,500 miles away from its center,
the closest any moon orbits its parent planet. In fact, if a person were to stand on Phobos and look
toward Mars, Mars would look apx. 6,400 times larger than the full moon appears from Earth - taking up
almost a quarter of the celestial hemisphere. Because Phobos has a particularly low orbit, scientists
believe it will eventually crash into Mars, or, break up into pieces, possibly forming rings around the
planet.
Interesting facts:
*There has long been speculation concerning the possibility of life and or liquid water on Mars.
However, the planet's thin atmosphere prevents water from accumulating for any time over significant
portions of the planet. Some evidence on the planet's surface suggests the presence of liquid water at
some point in history, but scientists think this water would be too salty or acidic to support life as we
know it. Furthermore, fierce solar winds and poor heat transfer across its surface would make sustained
life virtually impossible. There is compelling evidence, however, that Mars was once much more
habitable to life than it is today.
* Many Spacecrafts have attempted to visit Mars, the most notable of which was NASA's Mariner 4, the
first to visit in a fly-by in1965. In 1976, Viking 1 and 2 became the first spacecrafts to conduct successful
and sustained landings on Mars. They provided the first color photographs of the "red planet." In May of
2008, the NASA Phoenix lander touched down on the north polar region of Mars to study surface
features. By December, however, NASA had lost contact with the lander and the mission was declared
over.

COMPREHENSION CHECK

The red color of Mars comes from the _________________ on its surface.

 oxygen
  sand
  ice
 iron oxide

Mars is home to ______________________, the largest mountain in the solar system.

 Mount Everest
  Valles Marineris
  Phobos
 Olympus Mons

Select all of the following that are true.

1. The moons of Mars may have once been asteroids.


2. There is no evidence that water ever existed on the surface of Mars.
3. Temperatures on Mars can be similar to those on Earth.
4. Scientists believe that Mars in more habitable today than it was in its past.

Scientists think any water that could possibly be found on Mars would be too
__________________.

 salty
  hot
  contaminated

 cold

Which of the following IS NOT true?

 The average temperature on Mars is similar to the average temperature on Earth.


  It takes Mars much longer to orbit the sun (the length of one year) than it does Earth.
  Gravity is significantly less on Mars than on Earth

 Earth is substantially larger than Mars

Scientists believe ______________________ will eventually crash into Mars.

 Earth
  the moon Deimos
  the moon Phobos

 the sun

Mars is _____________________ the sun than Earth.

 closer to
  about the same distance from

 farther away from

IF 2015
Cites in 2015 to items published in: 2014 = 38 Number of items published in: 2014 = 93
2013 = 61 2013 = 83
Sum: 99 Sum: 176

Cites to recent items 99


Calculation= =0.562
Number of recent items 176

IF 2013

Cites in 2013 to items published in: 2012 = 40 Number of items published in: 2012 = 59
2011 = 75 2011 = 79
Sum: 115 Sum: 138

Cites to recent items 115


Calculation= =0.833
Number of recent items 138

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