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The Basics of Mars: Size, Distance, and Life's Possibility

Explore the fundamental aspects of Mars, including its size, distance from Earth, and the potential for life. Learn about the characteristics that define a planet as alive and the conditions on Mars. Discover the unique features of Mars, such as its rotation, seasons, extreme temperatures, thin atmosphere, and polar caps.

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The Basics of Mars: Size, Distance, and Life's Possibility

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  1. Searching for Life: What is life? Why do we need a definition? Examples? What tells us something is alive?

  2. Mars Basics

  3. Size & Distance • Smaller than Earth (0.532x) • Mars diam ~ 6779 km (4212 miles) • Earth diam ~ 12,742 km (7918 miles) • 8 Mars would fit inside the Earth!

  4. Size & Distance

  5. Size & Distance • Smaller than Earth (0.532x) • Mars diam ~ 6779 km (4212 miles) • Earth diam ~ 12,742 km (7918 miles) • 8 Mars would fit inside the Earth! • 1.5 AU from the sun (~140 million miles) • 0.5 AU from the Earth (~43 million miles) • SCALE!!!

  6. Scale • Using an Earth marble and Mars marble to scale: • Q: How far away do you think Mars would be? • A: Depends... • 200 yards or 1 mile

  7. Rotation & Revolution • One Martian day (sol) is 24 hours and 37 minutes • One Martian year is 687 Earth days, almost two Earth years

  8. Seasons • Like Earth, Mars tilts • This tilt contributes to seasons; orbit also contributes

  9. Mars is Cold! • Average temperature is about -80° F • Can drop to -195° F near the poles (winter); can reach 70° F near the equator

  10. Atmosphere • Mars does have an atmosphere, though it is very thin • Air pressure at the surface is about 1/100th the surface pressure on the Earth • Mostly carbon dioxide, some nitrogen

  11. Polar Caps • Northern cap (left) is made of alternating layers of dust and water-ice • Southern cap (right) is made of alternating layers of dust and water-ice below, carbon dioxide ice on top

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