MARS

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is commonly referred to as the Red Planet. The rocks, soil and sky have a red or pink hue. The distinct red color was observed by stargazers throughout history. It was given its name by the Romans in honor of their god of war. Other civilizations have had similar names. The ancient Egyptians named the planet Her Descher meaning "the red one."

We thought Mars was the only place life could exist outside Earth. For centuries, people referred to alien life as "Martians". In the 50's we discovered that Mars, even with its little atmosphere and ice caps, probably couldn't support lifeforms any more involved than bacteria.

In July of 1965, Mariner 4, transmitted 22 close-up pictures of Mars. All that was revealed was a surface containing many craters and naturally occurring channels but no evidence of artificial canals or flowing water. Other instruments found no sign of organic chemistry.

Mars Statistics

Mass (kg) ......................................... 6.421e+23

Mean distance from the Sun (km) ................. 227,940,000

Rotational period (hours) ........................... 24.6229

Orbital period (days) ................................ 686.98

Minimum surface temperature .......................... -140°C

Maximum surface temperature ............................ 20°C

Atmospheric composition Carbon Dioxide (C02) ............................. 95.32% Nitrogen (N2)....................................... 2.7% Argon (Ar) ......................................... 1.6% Oxygen (O2) ....................................... 0.13% Carbon Monoxide (CO) .............................. 0.07% Water (H2O) ....................................... 0.03% Neon (Ne) ...................................... 0.00025% Krypton (Kr) ................................... 0.00003% Xenon (Xe) .................................... 0.000008% Ozone (O3) .................................... 0.000003%

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