Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Known to Babylonians 3,600 years ago as “Star that Wandered”

The Greeks referred to it as “Ares” the god of War

Romans called it Mars

Image Courtesy of NASA

Distance from Sun ≈1.52 times as far as Earth

Time to Orbit the Sun ~ 26 Earth months Atmosphere ~ Mostly carbon dioxide Martian Day ~ 24.7 hours Temperature on the planet’s surface

hardly rises above freezing point

EarthEarth MarsMars

RadiusRadius 6378 km6378 km 3397 km3397 km

DensityDensity 5515 kg/m5515 kg/m33 3933 kg/m3933 kg/m33

GravityGravity 9.8 m/s9.8 m/s22 3.72 m/s3.72 m/s22

YearYear 365.25 days365.25 days 686.98 days686.98 days

EccentricityEccentricity 0.0170.017 0.0940.094

DayDay 24 hours24 hours 24 hr 39 min24 hr 39 min

ObliquityObliquity 23.45º23.45º 25.19º25.19º

Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Surface Color: “Red” Features

Impact Craters Largest volcano in the

solar system(Olympus Mons)

Largest Canyon in the Solar System(Valles Marineris)

Ancient river channels Lava Rocks Dust: Reddish from

volcanic rock

Valles Marineris

Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Unbreathable Thin Dusty, makes the sky pinkish, lots of dust

storms Surface Pressure: 1/150th of Earth’s (only

5.6 millibars) Composition: 95% CO2, 3% N, 1.5% Ar,

0.1% O2, 0.03% H2O

Mars has two tiny moons named “Deimos” (Panic) & “Phobos” (Fear)

The moons are irregular and very small in size Phobos 27x22x18 km Deimos 15x12x10 km

The moons are probably asteroids captured by Mars

Deimos Phobos

Image Courtesy of NASA

Water is the key to life as we know it The north and south poles of Mars are

covered with thick ice or frost Some astronomers about 100 years ago

thought there were canals on Mars dug by intelligent civilization

Space probes to date have not found any traces of canals on Mars

Viking 1 and 2 in 1976 First pictures of

Martian surface

Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Pathfinder in 1997 Roving vehicle –

Sojourner to explore Martian surface

Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Mars Global Surveyor Accomplishes all

the tasks of its mission

And still going

Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Discovered subsurface water ice near poles

Track changes of polar ice, clouds and dust storms

Generated maps of radiation and minerals

Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Spirit Landed January 3,

2004 Opportunity

Landed January 24, 2004

Image Courtesy of NASA/JPL-Caltech

Pictured: An Ancient Martian?

Unusual Gullies and Channels on Mars

Phobos: Doomed Moon of Mars

A Face On Mars

Close-up of the Face on Mars

Earth Rise