Mars: The Red Planet

Submitted By michellefosho
Words: 875
Pages: 4
Open Document
Mars
The red planet

As one travels through space, they would pass many planets in our solar system. Gas giants, to planets with atmospheres and then to our own planet that houses billions of humans. But, there seems to be one planet that, in my opinion, is the most interesting and this would be Earth’s own neighbor. It has the ability to our second home, a planet that long ago could have been just like Earth with running water and blue skies. This planet is Mars, not yet visited personally visited by humans but has been under the eye of my rovers that roam the planet; giving scientists all the information that we know today about Mars. Mars means the god of war, often equated with the Greek god Ares, getting its name from due to its red color. It is the fourth planet from the sun, like the rest of the planets in the Solar System; Mars travels an elliptical orbit around the Sun. The perihelion for Mars is 207 million km and the average distance from Mars to the Sun is 228 million km. Mars actually has the second oddest orbits in the Solar System, right after Mercury. The wide ranging distances have an important impact on its seasons. When Mars is at perihelion, its southern hemisphere is tilted towards the Sun, and can heat up much more than when it’s northern hemisphere is experiencing summer. It takes 1.03 Earth days (24.6 hours) to rotate on its axis and a year on Mars is about 687 Earth days. Mars is about 6,794 km in diameter and the mass is 6.42 x 1023 Mars is like the middle child when it comes to the terms of size with other planets, it’s not the smallest nor is it the biggest. The force of gravity on Mars is much less than the gravity on Earth, about 68% less. So, if you weighed 100 pounded on Earth, you would weigh in a mere 37.7 pounds. The atmosphere of the planet is very thin, It consists of 95% carbon dioxide (CO2), 3% nitrogen, and 1.6% argon (there is no oxygen). The atmospheric pressure is only a fraction of that on Earth (about 1% of Earth's atmospheric pressure at sea level), and it varies greatly throughout the year. There are large amounts of frozen carbon dioxide in the north and south poles, during the warm seasons it melts and gets lifted into the atmosphere and during the cold seasons it freezes again trapping the gas once again in the poles. Sometimes, there are clouds in the Mars’ sky, most of the clouds are made up of carbon dioxide and ice crystal. There is a lot of fine dust particles in Mars’ atmosphere, the particles absorb blue light which gives mars’ sky somewhat of a blue look but mostly it’s pink/yellow. The temperature on Mars is much colder than early, the surface temperature average is about -81 degrees Fahrenheit and the temperature ranges from a high of 68 degrees Fahrenheit to a low of -220 degrees Fahrenheit. Mars is a very rocky planet, filled with the largest known volcanoes in the solar system. Scientists believe that Mars's interior consists of a crust, mantle, and core like Earth's interior but they do not know the sizes for sure of them because no humans have actually been there
Show More

Related Documents: Mars: The Red Planet

Greenhouse Effect Research Paper

process that keeps the earth at temperatures that are livable. Energy from the sun warms the earth when its heat rays are absorbed by greenhouse gases and become trapped in the atmosphere. Some of the most common greenhouse gases are water vapor, carbon dioxide and methane. If there were no greenhouse gases, very few rays would be absorbed and the earth would be extremely cold. However, when too many rays are absorbed, the earth’s atmosphere starts to warm, which leads to global warming. Global warming…

Words 1855 - Pages 8

The Benefits Of Stem Cell Research For Healthcare

3: Temperature vs. Time in Relation to Bleaching Thresholds…….….............5 Effects of Coral Bleaching on Biodiversity……………………………………………………….6 Disintegration of Coral Reefs……………………………………………………………………..6 Figure 4: Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Concentration in Sea Surface Water………6 Effects of Acidity on Biodiversity………………………………………………………………...7 Figure 5: Chemical Equation of Calcium Bicarbonate…………………………………7 Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………...…8 Works Cited…………………………………………………………………………………………

Words 2150 - Pages 9

Terraforming Of Mars

Describe in detail at least 5 proposed strategic steps and methods to turn Mars into a second Earth through the process of terraforming. The first proposed step would be thickening Mars atmosphere. To do this we would need to increase ammonia levels in the air to allow the Mars ozone layer to be thick enough to filter the suns radiation. A second step would be creating a breathable atmosphere. Since Mars “air” is mostly carbon dioxide, we would bring greenhouses over to allow plants to photosynthesize…

Words 996 - Pages 4

Nuclear Power and Power Plant Essays

but they produce 5.5% of total electricity in the world. The Nuclear fuel, uranium, is a radioactive element. Nuclear energy has a lot of advantage. First, uranium, nuclear fuel, is a high energy element. Second, Nuclear power plant doesn’t emit carbon dioxide, which is a major cause of global warming. Third, nuclear power is one of the cheapest power resource available. According to Euro Nuclear Organization, 1 kg of natural uranium corresponds to nearly 10,000 kg of mineral oil or 14,000 kg of coal…

Words 1946 - Pages 8

The Apollo 11 Mission

Mars is the fourth planet in the solar system and the closest planet to earth. Its weather and climatic conditions are most similar to earth, making it the most hospitable place in the solar system. Exploring the Martian surface will not be easy, but it will ensure the survival of the species as the conditions on earth are deteriorating over time. According to the Mars One official website, the first manned mission, which will carry four astronauts to Mars, will cost around $6.6 billion. Many people…

Words 211 - Pages 1

Essay on atmosphere evolution of rocky planets

and outside its planet [2]. Of the interest of this essay is the atmospheric evolution of a rocky planet. Rocky planet is a terrestrial body consists mainly of silicate or metal [3]. Some known rocky planets with substantial atmosphere such as Venus, Mars and Earth has a very different composition of atmospheric gas [4]. These planets experienced very…

Words 2546 - Pages 11

Carbon Dioxide and Earth Essay

News Clipping Summary of “Study of Ice Age Bolsters Carbon and Warming Link” A study done in Antarctica suggests that the high levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, contributed to the last Ice Age. About 20, 000 years ago the world started “recuperating” from the Ice Age, ultimately changed the global levels of carbon dioxide. The author of this article, Justin Gillis, states “to assert that rising carbon dioxide levels were essentially irrelevant to the earth’s temperature — a side effect…

Words 666 - Pages 3

Essay on Global warming

world’s emission of carbon dioxide. In addition, Americas own approximately 30 percent of the world’s vehicles, drive farther each year than the international average and burn more fuel per mile. Freeman also states that according to the report, GM, the number one U.S. automaker, produced as much carbon dioxide in 2004 as American Electric Power Co., the nation’s largest operator of coal-fired power plants, and all the automakers resisted government restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions because…

Words 1635 - Pages 7

Essay on Is there other Life?

Civilization on another planet, seems to be highly unlikely. Hypothetically if the possibilities for any celestial body closest to us to harvest life, most astrobiologists feel Europa or Mars to have the best conditions to make this possible. The environment of Mars suggest at one point it did contain water and could have the potential with much terrain like Earth, and Europa is thought to have a large ocean to harvest potential life The issue is having all the variables just…

Words 1332 - Pages 6

Argumentative Essay On Life On Mars

Exploration of Mars and Possible Alien Life Space exploration has been a dream of many people for many years. Mankind has been on countless missions to send people into space and onto the Moon. Where will we send people next you may ask? Mars; it is an amazing planet. It is the second smallest in our solar system, red, empty, and dry. Or so we thought until just recently when NASA discovered and officially announced flowing water on the Red Planet. “What we thought we knew about water on Mars is constantly…

Words 937 - Pages 4