NASA is leading our nation and our world on a journey to Mars. Like the Apollo Program, we embark on this journey for all humanity. Unlike Apollo, we will be going to stay. This is a historic pioneering endeavour, a journey made possible by a sustained effort of science and exploration missions beyond low Earth orbit with successively more capable technologies and partnerships.
All About Mars
Mars is a cold desert world. It is half the size of Earth. Mars is sometimes called the Red Planet. It's red because of the rusty iron in the ground.
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Wikipedia
Distance from Sun: 227.9 million km
Orbital period: 687 days
Radius: 3,389.5 km
Length of day: 1d 0h 37m
Surface area: 144.8 million km²
Named after the Roman god of dread, Deimos is the smaller of Mars's two moons.
A new study has revealed that the weird parallel grooves on the surface of Mars's largest moon Phobos could be a sign that the Red Planet's gravity is ripping the satellite apart.
Earth once had two moons, which merged in a slow-motion collision that took several hours to complete, researchers propose in Nature today. Both satellites would have formed from debris that was ejected when a Mars-size protoplanet smacked into Earth late in its formation period
Like Earth, Mars has seasons, polar ice caps, volcanoes, canyons, and weather. It has a very thin atmosphere made of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and argon.
There are signs of ancient floods on Mars, but now water mostly exists in icy dirt and thin clouds. On some Martian hillsides, there is evidence of liquid salty water in the ground.
Scientists want to know if Mars may have had living things in the past. They also want to know if Mars could support life now or in the future.
Structure and Surface
Mars is a terrestrial planet. It is small and rocky.
Mars has a thin atmosphere.
Mars has an active atmosphere, but the surface of the planet is not active. Its volcanoes are dead.
Time on Mars
One day on Mars lasts 24.6 hours. It is just a little longer than a day on Earth.
One year on Mars is 687 Earth days. It is almost twice as long as one year on Earth.
Mars’ Neighbors
Mars has two moons. Their names are Phobos and Deimos.
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. That means Earth and Jupiter are Mars’ neighbouring planets.
Quick History
Mars has been known since ancient times because it can be seen without advanced telescopes.
Several missions have visited Mars. And Mars is the only planet we have sent rovers to. They drive around Mars, taking pictures and measurements. What does Mars look like? NASA's Hubble Space Telescope took this picture of Mars as it was making its closest approach to Earth in 60,000 years!
Part 2 - Mars Rovers coming soon...
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