MARS
CLASSIFIED INFORMATION
INTRODUCTION
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in our Solar System, it is named after the Roman god of War of the same name. Mars is named after a god of war particularly to its red color, which comes from the iron oxide on the planet itself. Mars has been the subject of many tests, such as when the small, remote-controlled lunar rover Sojourner Truth. Mars is very much like Earth, or WAS very much like Earth until something must have happened to it. I say this because of how some scientists have reported to finding small specimens of frozen water on Mars. Mars has deep craters on it just like the Earth does. It also has the largest Canyon in the entire Solar System.
Mars' atmosphere consists of Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen, Argon, Oxygen,and some amounts of water vapor. Sure, there are some of the same stuff on Mars as on Earth that we breathe, but the air on Mars is very thin, so you would have to wear a special space suit with your own air supply if you wanted to walk around on Mars and be able to breathe. Mars is like a very, very, cold desert. Mars is covered in a layer of soft red sand. Sometimes huge dust storms blow across Mars and make the sand swirl and go all over the place. If you were caught up in a Martian sandstorm, you could not see anything, not even your own hands.The regular Martian winds on Mars are like Tornadoes here on Earth. Luckily though, there are good days for climate and winds on Mars. The strong winds turn into soft, gentle breezes and the dust settles. The Sun comes out. The "hottest" temperature on Mars can be up to negative 9 degrees Fahrenheit. And that is about how cold it is in the Midwest states during Winter.You would never see snow on the ground on Mars, because if there was snow on the ground in Mars, wouldn't the planet be red and white instead of just red? The reason for there not being much snow on Mars is that there is not that much water on Mars, the very little water on Mars is a little bit of frost on the ground. The picture right here shows the wind on Mars and how it also create its own sand dunes.
On Mars there are also volcanoes, an example of the is the volcano called Olympus Mons. Olympus Mons is the largest known volcano in the Solar System. Olympus Mons is a giant being over SIXTEEN MILES HIGH!!!!! Wow, the highest volcano on Earth is only five miles high. I would not like to be there when it erupts, oh no. Mars also happens to have some extremely deep canyons. These canyons stretch across the planet for many many miles. There is ever one canyon that is four miles deep! You could put 16 Empire State buildings in the canyon one on top of the other!! But there is one more major mystery to Mars is the Martian channels. It seems like that they were once rivers but now they just look like little grooves that rivers could make. Was there life on Mars once?
Moons
There are two moons circling Mars. These two moons are Phobos and Deimos. Scientists believe that these two satellites were once asteroids that were just pulled in by Mars' gravitational pull to become Mars' moons.
STATISTICS
Distance from Sun...................................................................141,642,000 miles
Diameter................................................................................. 4,222 miles
Average Surface Temperature............................................................................ -13 degrees F
Length of Day............................................................................................................................. 24 Hours, 37 minutes
Click Here To go Back to the Space Station And choose another planet.