by Kathleen Romero

Name Size Location Atmosphere Climate Surface Satellites (Moons) Movement Key Explorations Life on Mars? Works Cited

Name Mars was named after the Roman god of war and agriculture (Aries in Greek mythology). The planet probably got this name due to its fiery red color, caused by the high amount of iron oxide in its soil. It is sometimes referred to as the Red Planet. The name of the month March derives from Mars.

Name Mars was named after the Roman god of war and agriculture (Aries in Greek mythology). The planet probably got this name due to its firey red color, caused by the high amount of iron oxide in its soil. It is sometimes referred to as the Red Planet. The name of the month March derives from Mars.

Mars is a relatively small planet, with about half the diameter of Earth and about one-tenth Earth's mass. surface area is about the same as the land surface area of Earth. The diameter of Mars is 14.5 million miles. mass: e23Earth mass

Location Mars is located 143 million miles from the sun, making it the forth planet from the sun. Since Mars is found inside the asteroid belt, it is termed an Inner Planet (or Terrestrial Planet). Mercury, Venus, and Earth are also considered Inner Planets.

Characterized by dramatic weather changes. Since Mars has a thin atmoshere and no oceans to store heat, temperatures quikly change. Mars has seasons, polar caps, clouds, sand dunes, and dust devils, but no running water. Dust storms are also common and sometimes smother the entire planet! The average temperature on Mars is about -67 F!

Mars has a very thin atmosphere composed of: carbon dioxide (95.3%) nitrogen (2.7%), argon (1.6%) oxygen (0.15%) water (0.03%)

Much of Mar’s surface is very old and cratered, but there are also much younger rift valleys, ridges, hills and plains. The dust is not sandy, as in a sandstorm on Earth, but has the consistency of flour. The most interesting surface features of Mars include two very distinct hemispheres, an enormous bulge called Tharsis littered with volcanoes and cut by an enormous rift valley, channels apparently carved by water, and polar ice caps similar to Earth's. it is more like the surface of Earth than that of any other planet.

Mars has two moons that orbit around it. Named after the horses that pulled Ares chariot, these moons were probably once asteroids that got captured in the Martian magnetic field. Phobos Means “Fear” Phobos Means “Panic”

Movement Martian orbit: 14.5 miles per second 227,940,000 km (1.52 AU) from SunAU Length of Martian year: 687 Earth days. Length of Martian day: 24 hours and 37 minutes.

Key Explorations Mariner 4 Reached Mars in 1965 and took the first close-up images of the Martian surface (22 in all) as it flew by the planet. The probe found a cratered world with an atmosphere much thinner than previously thought. M ariner 9 In 1971, became the first craft to orbit Mars. It returned information on the Red Planet that no other probe had done before, revealing huge volcanoes on the Martian surface, as well as giant canyon systems, and evidence that water once flowed across the planet. The probe also took the first detailed close up images of Mars' two small moons.

Life on Mars? Mars has been a favorite of people’s imaginations-- especially science fiction writers-- as the most likely planet in our solar system (other than Earth) for human habitation. The 1938 radio show “War of the Worlds” spread histeria through the nation, convincing listeners that aliens landing in spaceships were attacking Earth.

Life on Mars? In 1976 the Viking Orbiter 1 took pictures of an ususual rock formation. Many people at the time believed that it resembled a face, therefore proving Mars had once been inhabited! Scientists, on the other hand, believe that the “face” is merely a coincedence--a combination of rock formation and erosion. What do you think?

Life on Mars? Although many scientists claim that Earth is the only planet that has ever had life, some claim that Martian meterorites hold fossils and bacteria indicating otherwise. In either case, it appears unlikly that Mars has ever been home to little green men.

Works Cited Images Star Background and Galaxy Free Backgrounds Mars Digital Image Model, Astronaut, NSSDC Photo Gallery -mars.html Ares Tom’s Zena Page Mars Compared to Earth and Planet Sequence Science Monster Explorers on Mars Surface e/humans_med.jpg Mars Atmosphere k_h_mars_atmosphere_02.jpg Mars Moons, Mars Surface, and Face The Nine Planets Martian Meteorite NASA Mars Exploration War of the Worlds Poster Movie Props reviews/waroftheworlds.jpg New York Times Newspaper Berger, Marilyn. "John Houseman Dies." New York Times Online. 1 Nov Oct /bday/0922.html. /bday/0922.html Orson Wells Photo Orson Wells and the Mercury Theater Group students.goucher.edu/.../ Orson%20wells%20broadcast%202.jpg