PLANET MARS

BASICS
• Fourth planet from the sun.
• Named after the Roman God of War
• Called the “RED PLANET” because of the
iron oxide (rust) in the surface.
• Earth is 9x bigger than Mars
• Apparent Magnitude: - 3 . 0 to 1.6
 ORBIT OF MARS

• Mars is 230 million km

away from the sun.
• Mars’ solar day (sol) = 24
hours and 39 minutes
• Mars Year = 687
earth days
MOONS OF MARS
MOONS OF MARS
• discovered in 1877 by Asaph Hall
• origin is possibly asteroid capture , or
debris from asteroid impact
• named after Greek mythology characters
Panic and Dread
• no total solar eclipses in Mars ; But
total lunar eclipses happen every
night
• They are tiny , 11km and 6 km
radius
ATMOSPHERE

• Consists of 95% carbon dioxide, 3%

nitrogen, 1.6% argon and traces of
oxygen and water
• No magnetosphere
• Extremely thin atmosphere
INTERIOR
• Core – consists of
iron + sulfur,
partially fluid
• Mantle – silicate
• Crust – 5 0 - 1 2 5 km
thick
TOPOGRAPHY
Olympus Mons
- Highest mountain in the
solar system (27km height)

Valles Marineris
-Largest known canyon in
the solar system (4000km
long)
TOPOGRAPHY

Borealis Basin
- (northern hemisphere)
covers 40% of the planet
TOPOGRAPHY
Sinus Meridiani
- Mars’ Prime Meridian

Hellas Impact Basin

- Biggest impact crater in
Mars
WATER IN MARS
Water was speculated
to be once present in
Mars, but today, water
cannot exist due to low
atmospheric
pressure
WATER IN MARS
Signs of water once existing in the planet
include:
• Its two permanent polar ice caps seem
to be made of water.
• Geographical features that show water
r u n - o ff or erosion.
• Detection of specific minerals that are
only present in water.
CLIMATE
CLIMATE
• Largest dust storm in the solar system
• Mars seasons are most Earth-like among
all planets in the solar system
• Temperature: - 8 7 ˚ C (winter) to - 5 ˚ C
(summer)
EXPLORATION

Active Martian probes

• InSight (2018)
• Curiosity rover (2012)
• Mars Reconnaissance Orbit er
(2006)
• Mars Express (2003)
• Mars Odyssey (2001)
• Opportunity Rover (2004)
EXPLORATION
Past Missions:
• Mariner 4
• Mars 2 and 3
• Viking Program
• Mars Pathfinder
• Sojourner
• Phoenix Mars
MAN ON MARS?
Q U E ST I O N S ?