Have you ever heard Mars referred to as "The Red Planet"? What makes Mars appear so red from Earth?
The surface of Mars is highly oxidized, meaning that oxygen has combined with other elements of the surface (like iron) to form rust.
Could a human being live on Mars?
If you brought along a lot of oxygen! The atmosphere of Mars consists of 95% Carbon dioxide and only .13% oxygen!
| Carbon Dioxide | 95%| Nitrogen
| 2.7% | Argon
| 1.6% | Oxygen
| .13% | Carbon Monoxide
| .07% | Water
| .03% | Neon
| .00025% | Krypton
| .00003% |
|
Although most evidence points out that Mars supports no life, many question whether life did exist on Mars at one time. Evidence of former bodies of water appear everywhere in the form of valleys, gorges, basins, and canyons. Some scientists surmise that Mars' atmosphere was once thick enough to support water in liquid form, and possibly also life. A recent discovery of what appears to be fossilized microbes in a rock from Mars also points to the possibility that Mars once supported life.
