You probably know that Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second smallest planet in our solar system after Mercury. It is often referred to as ‘The Red Planet’ due to its red color. What else do you know about this planet? Check out these 7 interesting facts about Mars.
1. Mars total landmass
Mars is around 15% of the
volume and 10% of the mass of Earth yet they have a very similar
landmass. This is due to the fact that our planet is covered by 70%
of water whereas Mars isn’t. In addition to this gravity on Mars is
only 37% of our gravitational force, meaning if you lived on Mars you
could jump 3 times higher than you can here on earth.
2. Why is Mars called Mars?
You may know that Mars is
named after the Roman god of war, the ancient Greeks called Mars
Ares, coincidentally their god of war. So why did both civilisations
name Mars after their god of War? It is thought that this is due to
the fact Mars has a bright blood-red color.
3. Mars is here on Earth
It’s
true pieces of Mars have been found here on earth, all be it trace
amounts of the Martian atmosphere have been found within meteorites
that originated on Mars. The meteorites orbited our solar system for
many millions of years before eventually entering our atmosphere and
crashing to the ground! Of course, studies of these meteorites have
enabled us to learn much more about Mars.
4. Mission to Mars
There have been 39 missions to
Mars from Earth so far. It all started in 1960 with the USSR’s
Marsnik 1, but of the 39 landers, rovers and orbiters that had
missions to Mars, only 16 of these missions were a success.
5. Mars hosts the 2nd tallest mountain in the Solar System
Named Olympus Mons this
mountain is 21 km high and 600km in diameter. A shield volcano,
Olympus Mons was formed many billions of years ago. Scientists have
recently found some evidence to suggest that Olympus Mons is still an
active volcano. Only one mountain named Rheasilvia Central Peak on
the asteroid Vesta is higher than Olympus Mons.
6. Martians
Mars was once believed to be
populated with intelligent life due to the discovery of lines or
grooves on the planet’s surface. These lines named canali were first
spotted by Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. Sadly due to
advances in astronomy, the lines were proved to be an optical
illusion.
7. Mars is hospitable for life
With the one exception of our planet Earth, Mars is the most hospitable for life in the solar system. Because of this, there are many space missions to Mars planned over the coming decades. These missions will help us understand more about Mars and in particular whether it could host extraterrestrial life or be a viable planet for a future Earth colony!
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