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On to MARS. Claudia Tugui. Laura Baciu. Physical characteristics.
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On to MARS Claudia Tugui Laura Baciu NationalCollegeIasi
Physical characteristics Mars has approximately half the radius of Earth. It is less dense than Earth, having about 15% of Earth's volume and 11% of the mass. Its surface area is only slightly less than the total area of Earth's dry land. Mars is 4,5 billion years old. NationalCollegeIasi
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. National College Iasi
Martian surface NationalCollegeIasi
The atmosphere on Mars consists of 95% CO₂ , 3% nitrogen, 1.6% argon and contains traces of O₂ and water. Martian surface temperatures varies from lows of -87 °C during the polar winters to highs of up to -5 °C in summers. National College Iasi
Polar caps Mars has two permanent polar ice caps. During a pole's winter, it lies in continuous darkness, chilling the surface and causing 25–30% of the atmosphere to condense out into thick dry ice. NationalCollegeIasi
Moons Mars also has two tiny natural moons, Phobos and Deimos, which orbit very close to the planet. Both satellites were discovered in 1877 by Asaph Hall. NationalCollegeIasi
Current missions In 2001 NASA launched the successful Mars Odyssey orbiter, which was still in orbit and the ending date has been extended to September 2010. In 2003, the European Space Agency launched the Mars Express craft, consisting in the Mars Express Orbiter and the landerBeagle 2. NationalCollegeIasi
Beagle 2 failed during descent and was declared lost in early February 2004. After that , NASA launched the twin Mars Exploration Rovers named Spirit (MER-A) and Opportunity (MER-B). Both missions landed successfully in January 2004 and have met or exceeded all their targets. National College Iasi
Spirit landing on Mars National College Iasi
Facts about Mars A hundred pound¹ man on Earth would only weigh 38 pounds² on Mars. It takes 687 Earth days for Mars to make one orbit around the Sun. A day on Mars last just longer than an Earth day at 24h 39’ 35”. National College Iasi
Mars is home to the largest mountain in our Solar System. It is called Olympus Mons and it rises 15.5 miles ³ into the sky and is 372 miles ⁴ across. National College Iasi
NASA photographs 'trees' on Mars The images seem to show rows of dark ‘trees’ sprouting from dunes and hills on the planet surface. But the scene is actually an optical illusion. NationalCollegeIasi
The photographs actually show sand dunes coated with a thin layer of frozen CO₂ or dry ice, less than 240 miles ⁵ from the planet's north pole. The ‘trees’ are really trails of debris caused by landslides as ice melts in Mars's spring. You can even see a cloud of dust, just to the left of centre of the picture, where an avalanche is caught happening. National College Iasi
The ‘Trees’ National College Iasi
Mars 500 Soon six men from Russia, Europe and China are preparing to spend 500 days together in a sealed-off warren to take a simulated trip to Mars to test how long isolation would affect humans. National College Iasi
The six men, allowed just 3 m² of "personal space" each. Communication with Earth will be only via e-mail, with connections occasionally disrupted. It will include a maximum 40 minutes , as on a real Mars mission. National College Iasi