Mars

Mars is very bright, which makes it easy to spot in the night sky. It was named after the Roman god of war because its reddish color reminded people of blood.

Basic Facts

	Mars	Earth
Position from the Sun	4	3
Diameter	4,223 miles (6,796 km)	7,926 miles (12,753 km)
Moons	2	1
Rings	0	0
Average Distance from Sun	142,000,000 miles (228,000,000 km)	93,000,000 miles (149,000,000 km)
Your Weight on the Planet	Multiply your weight by 0.38	Multiply your weight by 1.0
Length of One Year	680 Earth days	365 Earth days
Length of One Day	1 Earth day and 37 minutes	1 Earth day
What’s in the Atmosphere?	Carbon dioxide, nitrogen	Nitrogen, oxygen
Temperature	[day] 60ºF (20ºC) [night] -220ºF (-140ºC)	-128ºF to 136ºF (-89ºC to 58ºC)

Discovery

Since Mars is so bright and easy to see with the naked eye, we don't know who exactly discovered Mars. Ancient astronomers could see it long before the invention of telescopes.

Missions to Mars

	Mariner 4, 6, 7, & 9
	Viking I & II
	Mars Observer
	Mars Pathfinder
	Mars Global Surveyor
	Mars Polar Lander

Interesting Facts About Mars

	Mars has the tallest mountain (Olympus Mons) in the solar system, three times the size of Mt. Everest.
	Mars’s moons, which are shaped like potatoes, probably used to be asteroids.

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Space: Today, Tomorrow, and Always

Novi Meadows Elementary School 2001

Unless otherwise noted, all images courtesy of NASA. Permission for use at http://www.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/guideline.html.

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