Introduction
General
Mars
Implications
of Life
Life
Definition
of Life
Fossils
Martian
Meteorite
Data
Analysis
Thin Section
Analysis
Isotope Analysis
Gas Chromatograph
Mass Spectrometer
Infrared Spectroscopy
Alpha-Proton
X-Ray Spectrometer
Detection
of Carbon Complexes
Labeled Release
Gas Exchange
Pyrolytic Release
Stimulus Response
Experiments |
Scientific
Research and Design
Introduction -- General
Mars Information
What is Mars like?
Distance from the Sun:
Minimum: 206,000,000 kilometers
Average: 228,000,000 kilometers (1.52
times as far as Earth)
Maximum: 249,000,000 kilometers
Eccentricity of Orbit:
0.093 vs. 0.017 for Earth
(0.00 is a perfectly circular orbit)
Distance From Earth:
Minimum: 56,000,000 kilometers
Maximum: 399,000,000 kilometers
Day: 24.6 Earth Hours (1 Mars day is
sometimes called 1 sol)
Year: 1.88 Earth years = 687 Earth
days = 669 Mars days
Tilt of Rotation Axis: 25.2°
vs. 23.5° for Earth
Size:
Diameter: 6792 kilometers vs.
12,756 kilometers for Earth
Surface gravity: 0.38 (about 1/3) times
Earth's gravity
Mass: 6.4 x 1023 kilograms,
about 11% of Earth's mass
Density: 3.9 grams/cubic centimeter vs.
5.5 grams/cubic centimeter for Earth
Surface Temperature:
Generally cold
Global extremes: -125°C (-193°F)
to 25°C (77°F)
Average at Viking 1 site: high -10°C
(14°F); low -90°C (-130°F)
Atmosphere:
Thin and unbreathable
Surface Pressure: about 6 millibars, or
about 1/200th of Earth's
Pressure varies with season - during the
winter, part of the atmosphere freezes (as dry ice) onto the polar cap
Contains 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen,
1.5% argon, trace amounts of water, and no oxygen. (Earth has 78% nitrogen,
21% oxygen, 1% argon, and 0.03% carbon dioxide.)
Surface:
Color: Rust red
Ancient landscape dominated by impact
craters
Tallest volcano in the Solar System: Olympus
Mons, 25 kilometers high and 600 kilometers across, the size of the state
of Arizona
Largest canyon system in the Solar System:
Valles Marineris, 4000 kilometers long and up to 11 kilometers deep. If
placed on Earth, Valles Marineris would stretch from California to Washington
D.C.
Ancient channels carved by massive floods
Some rocks are basalt (volcanic lava,
as in Hawaii); the composition of other rocks is unknown
Dust is reddish, rusty, like soil formed
from volcanic rock
Moons:
Phobos ("Fear"), about 21 kilometers
across
Deimos ("Panic"), about 12 kilometers
across
Both Phobos and Deimos are very irregular
in shape
Sources: Basic Mars Facts from the Lunar and Planetary Institute
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Copyright
© 2000 Massachusetts Institute of Technology