Mars____________Mars,
again 
Mars____________Mars,
again
Mars Data
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the seventh
largest:
orbit: 227,940,000 km (1.52 AU)
from Sun
diameter: 6,794 km
mass: 6.4219 x 1023
kg
Mythology
Mars (Greek: Ares) is the god of War.
The planet probably got this name due to its red color.
Records of observation
The first spacecraft to visit Mars was Mariner 4
in 1965.
Several others followed including the two Viking
landers in 1976 (left).
Mars Pathfinder landed successfully on Mars on 1997
July 4 .
Properties
The temperature variation of about 30 K at the subsolar point between aphelion and perihelion.
Martian temperatures vary from 150 K (-220 F) to 295 K (70 F).
Mars has a surface area about the same as the land surface area of Earth.
Terrains:
-Olympus Mons: the largest mountain in the Solar
System rising 24 km (78,000 ft.) above the
surrounding plain. Its base is more
than 500 km in diameter and is rimmed by a cliff (20,000ft)
-Tharsis: a huge bulge on the Martian surface that
is about 4000 km across and 10 km high.
-Valles Marineris: a system of canyons 4000 km long
and from 2 to 7 km deep (far right);
-Hellas Planitia: an impact crater in the southern
hemisphere 6 km deep and 2000 km diameter.
The interior of Mars is likely to consist of a dense core about 1700 km in radius, a molten rocky mantle somewhat denser than the Earth's and a thin crust.
The lack of a global magnetic field indicates that Mars' core is probably solid.
Mars' relatively low density compared to the other terrestrial planets indicates that its core probably contains a relatively large fraction of sulfur in addition to iron (iron and iron sulfide).
Mars appears to lack active plate tectonics.
There is very clear evidence of erosion in many places on Mars including large floods and small river systems.
Mars has a very thin atmosphere composed mostly of the tiny amount of remaining carbon dioxide (95.3%) plus nitrogen (2.7%), argon (1.6%) and traces of oxygen (0.15%) and water (0.03%).
The average pressure on the surface of Mars is only about 7 millibars (less than 1% of Earth's), but it varies greatly with altitude from almost 9 millibars in the deepest basins to about 1 millibar at the top of Olympus Mons.
It is thick enough to support very strong winds and vast dust storms that on occasion engulf the entire planet for months.
Mars has permanent ice caps at both poles composed mostly of solid carbon dioxide ("dry ice"). The ice caps exhibit a layered structure with alternating layers of ice with varying concentrations of dark dust.
A small number of meteorites (the SNC meteorites) are believed to have originated on Mars.
Mars has no global magnetic field.
Mars' Satellites
Mars has two tiny satellites which orbit very close
to the surface.
Distance Radius Mass
Satellite (000 km) (km) (kg)
Discoverer Date
--------- -------- ------ ------- ----------
----
Phobos
9 11 1.08e16 Hall
1877
Deimos
23 6 1.80e15 Hall
1877
Life on Mars ?
The Viking landers performed experiments to determine
the existence of life on Mars. The results were negative.
Deimos______Vs______Tallest
Mountain 
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