Mars

Journey To The Red Planet

Mars Characteristics

• Diameter : 4,212 miles

• Mass : 6.39 x 1021 kg

• Density : 3.93 g/cm3

• Surface Gravity : 3.71 m/sec2

• Valles Marineris

– Largest canyon in the Solar System

Mars Orbit• Average Orbital Speed:

• 54,780 miles/hour

• Average Distance to the Sun

• 141,600,000 miles

• Period of Rotation:

• 1 Day, 0 hours, 40 minutes

• Period of Revolution

• 686.98 Earth Days

• On mars the Sun appears about half the size on Earth.

Mars Surface and Atmosphere

• Terrain : Craters, Volcanoes, Valleys, Deserts, Ice Caps

• Temperature Range : -143 ˚C to 35 oC

• Atmosphere : Composed mostly of CO2

• Geology: • Basaltic

• Iron Oxide

• Olympus Mons

• Largest volcano in the Solar System

• 3X larger than Mt. Everest

Mars Discovery

• Discovered by : Asaph Hall

• Date Discovered : 1877

• Mariner 4 : (1965)

• 1st fly-by of Mars

• Viking 1 & 2 : (1976)• 1st photographs from the surface

• Mars Exploration Rover Mission : (2003)• Rovers, Spirit & Opportunity, are exploring the surface

Mars Facts

• Mars has very weak gravity

• Mars has two moons

• Phobos

• Deimos

• Mars is known as the “Red Planet”

• Mars has huge dust storms

• Olympus Mons is the 2nd largest mountain in the Solar System

• Peak of Rheasilvia on the asteroid, Vesta, is taller

Resources

• http://space-facts.com/mars/

• https://pds.jpl.nasa.gov/planets/special/mars.htm

• http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/sciencefacts/planets/mars.html

• http://voices.yahoo.com/10-mars-facts-kids-6622488.html

Mars Video

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crsqzZNUXsY• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySFpJ-clnzU