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| What We Know About the Red Planet | ||||
| History | Water | Ice | Air | Canals |
| Seasons | Mountains | Rocks | SandDunes | Rift Valley |
| Moons | Dust Storms | Stats | Closest | Kid Pix |
| Lunar | Movies | Life Search | Wanted | Exploring Mars |
What we know about Mars:
Statistics Reveal the Red Planet
The gravity of Mars is only 38 percent as strong as the gravity of Earth.
The atmosphere of Mars is composed mainly of:
- carbon dioxide – 95.3 percent
- nitrogen – 2.7 percent
- argon – 1.6 percent
The highest point on Mars is Olympus Mons, a volcano more than 16 miles tall. Astronomers say it is the tallest mountain in the Solar System.
It takes Mars about 687 Earth days – almost two Earth years – to revolve around the Sun.
The three ages in the geologic history of Mars were the:
- Noachian Era – 3.8 to 3.5 billion years ago
- Hesperian Era – 3.5 to 1.8 billion years ago
- Amazonian Era – 1.8 billion years ago to the present
Distance from Sun average 141.6 million miles (227.9 million kilometers) Year length 687 days Day length 24 hours 37 minutes 23 seconds Inclination of axis 23 degrees 59 minutes Diameter at equator 4,210 miles (6,787 kilometers) Mass 0.107 of Earth Specific density 3.9 when water=1 Atmosphere 95% carbon dioxide, 2% argon, 3% nitrogen Surface temperature average -19° F, -23° C Natural satellites Phobos and Deimos
Learn more: Human Exploration of Mars:
There have been three stages of exploration so farFlybys:
Probes fly by Mars taking pictures Orbiters:
Spacecraft fly into orbit above MarsLanders and Rovers:
- Orbiters
- Mariner 8-9
- Viking 1-2
- Mars Observer
- Mars Climate Orbiter
- Mars Global Surveyor
- Mars Global Surveyor home
- 2001 Mars Odyssey
- 2001 Mars Odyssey home
- Mars Express
- Mars Express home
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter 2005
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter home
Landers and rovers drop to the surfaceSand dunes: Dust Storms: Air: Carbon Dioxide: Outflow Channels: Valley Networks: Rift Valley: Ice: Ice caps: Frost: Water: Artesian Water: Mars Weather: Mars Photo Galleries: Planet features: Canals: Rocks: Mountains: Dating and aging: Seasons:
