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Quiz and Trivia
Newsletter —
Mars Fun Facts
By Dennis Wai
(9th Grade)
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Mars
— An Introduction
Mars,
the 4th planet from the Sun and the last planet before
reaching the pebble-filled asteroid field, was known already
fairly early in mankind’s history. It was first noted by the
Egyptians who called it Her Deschel, or “the red
one" It was also called Nergal, meaning “star of
death" The name most commonly used today however was what
the Romans called it, Mars, after their god of war. Mars has 2
moons, Phobos and Deimos. Phobos is the larger of the 2 moons
and is the closest to Mars. It also takes 22 hours less to orbit
around Mars than Deimos. Phobos, however, will soon perish due
to gravitational powers ripping it apart. The 2 moons however,
are small compare to Earth’s. |
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Orbit of the first 4 planets of
the solar system |
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Past Organism of Mars found
on Meteorite |
Mars, Was there Life?
Mars, the giant red ball in the sky that most of us are familiar with
because it is one of the more-known planets due to its rumors of
sustaining life. Mars have always been the stuff of science fiction with
its possibility for sustaining life. Canals sightings on Mars, recent
discoveries of Mars having water, having an atmosphere, and, most
important of all, a Martian meteorite labeled ALH84001. The most
convincing of all evidence was probably the meteorite. On it was organic
molecules that might have been a result of bacteria or organism
activity. All these evidence led scientists to believe that life on
Mars, in the past, had a high possibility of occurring. Present-day
Mars, however, probably doesn’t have or can sustain life due to the
majority of its water being frozen and the thin atmosphere - consisting
of CO2 - doesn’t have much oxygen.
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Mars, Habitable?
One of the most popular questions of today
and also many science-fictions book’s theme. Can we go
to Mars? There are ways that if we get there, which takes
months, we would have to do extensive terraforming,
which means to change a foreign landscape to what an Earth’s
landscape would look like. This means planting a lot of
vegetation on Mars. The plants will then thrive on the prolific
CO2 and will in turn give off
oxygen, which humans need to breathe and survive. Once
sufficient terraforming has been achieved, humans, in theory
will be able to live there. However, another problem presents
itself here. The trip to Mars takes a lot of provisions to feed
you for the long trip. In addition, being in free-fall
for extended periods of time will cause you to lose bone density
and muscle mass. What this means is that your entire body will
become very frail and weak. It might not even be able to support
your body when you experience gravity again. Another thing that
scientists have to overcome is the hypothesized failed magnetic
field that is present in all planets that could sustain life.
Scientists know that the magnetic field on Earth protects humans
from harmful substances and in addition, keep hold of the
atmosphere. So until scientists are able to rejuvenate the
magnetic field that is no longer present on Mars, living there
will just be out of reach.
Artist's conception of Mars being
successfully terraformed
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Earth Mars Comparison |
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Earth vs. Mars
Earth
Mars
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Orbit (Sun) Time |
365.25 |
686.96 |
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Natural Satellites |
1 |
2 |
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Volume |
1.0832x1012 km3 |
1.638x1011 km3 (0.151
Earths) |
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Mass |
5.9736x1024 kg |
6.4185x1023 kg (0.107
Earths) |
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Diameter |
12,756.270 km |
6,804.9 km (4228.4 Miles)
(0.533 Earths) |
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Surface Temperature (Avg) |
56.93 F (13.85 C) |
-81.67 F (-63.15) |
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Atmospheric Breakdown Top 3 |
Nitrogen 71% Oxygen 21% Argon 1% |
Carbon Dioxide 95.32% Nitrogen 2.7%
Argon 1.6% |
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Quick Mars Fact
· Mars has 2 moons, Phobos and Deimos
· Mars has seasons, although not as
accentuated as ours
· To date, dozens of spacecrafts have
been sent to Mars. However, 2/3 of them never fulfilled their
duties. Of the most successful was Mars Global Surveyor, Mars
Pathfinder, and Mars Odyssey. Of the most recent,
Mars Exploration Rovers named Spirit and Opportunity
. These spacecrafts (some the most recent ones landed) sent back
amazing information about Mars and let scientists know a lot
more about it.
· Mars is red because it is coated with
FeO2, or rust.
· Although Mars do have ice caps, the
majority of it is CO2, dry ice.
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Orbit of Phobos and Deimos |
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Do you think you are ready to take our
quiz? Test your knowledge!
Bibliography
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