100 Otherworldly Facts About The Planet Mars

1. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in our solar system.
2. It’s named after Mars, the Roman god of war, due to its reddish appearance, which reminded ancient observers of blood.
3. Mars is often referred to as the “Red Planet” because the iron oxide (or rust) on its surface gives it a reddish appearance.
4. The length of a Martian day, also known as a “sol,” is about 24 hours and 39 minutes – just a little longer than an Earth day.
5. Mars has the tallest volcano and the deepest, longest canyon in the solar system.
6. Mars is home to Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano in the solar system, standing at about 13.6 miles (22 kilometers) high, which is nearly three times the height of Mount Everest, Earth’s tallest peak.
7. Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the solar system, runs along Mars’ equator for about 2,500 miles (4,000 kilometers) or about the length of the continental United States.
8. Mars has a very thin atmosphere consisting mostly of carbon dioxide (95.3%), with minor amounts of nitrogen (2.7%) and argon (1.6%), and traces of oxygen and water.
9. Despite the thin atmosphere, Mars does experience weather, including clouds and dust storms.
10. The average temperature on Mars is -80 degrees Fahrenheit (-60 degrees Celsius).
11. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are thought to be captured asteroids.
12. Phobos, the larger of the two moons, is being slowly torn apart by the gravitational pull of Mars and is expected to be completely destroyed in about 30-50 million years.
13. Mars has a very weak magnetic field compared to Earth. This is due to its iron core not being fluid enough to generate a strong magnetic field.
14. Mars is home to polar ice caps made from water and carbon dioxide. This is similar to Earth’s polar ice caps, which are made of water.
15. The tilt of the Martian axis is similar to Earth’s, which means Mars has four distinct seasons.
16. However, the length of the seasons on Mars is about twice as long as on Earth because Mars takes longer to orbit the Sun.
17. In terms of landmass, Mars is comparable to Earth as Mars has about the same amount of land (if you take into account Earth’s oceans).
18. The gravitational pull on Mars is only 37% of that on Earth. This means you could jump nearly three times higher on Mars than you could on Earth.
19. Mars’ atmosphere is too thin to protect the planet from most of the Sun’s radiation or to help retain heat at the surface.
20. The Mars Rover, Opportunity, functioned for nearly 15 years before it was officially declared lost after a massive dust storm on Mars.
21. Mars’ year is nearly twice as long as ours. It takes Mars 687 Earth days to orbit the Sun.
22. A Martian dust storm can cover the entire planet and last for months.
23. Mariner 4, a NASA space probe, was the first spacecraft to capture close images of Mars in 1965.
24. Mars has the largest dust storms in the solar system.
25. Mars is much drier than Earth, but it does have water in the form of ice.
26. The Mars Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, discovered signs of the presence of water, including an old streambed on Mars.
27. Scientists have found tiny traces of Martian atmosphere within meteorites violently ejected from Mars, then orbiting the solar system amongst galactic debris for millions of years, before crash landing on Earth.
28. If a human were to walk on Mars without an appropriate space suit, he/she would last only a few minutes before succumbing to hypoxia and hypothermia.
29. The largest canyon in the solar system, Valles Marineris on Mars, is 4 times deeper than the Grand Canyon.
30. While Mars has no tectonic plates like Earth, it does have “wrinkles.” As the planet cooled, it contracted and formed a wrinkled surface.
31. Mars has the solar system’s largest dust devil – a whirlwind filled with dust. These monsters can be up to 8 kilometers high.
32. Because Mars is farther from the Sun, it receives much less sunlight. However, the planet’s thin atmosphere allows much of the solar radiation to reach the surface.
33. NASA’s Mars Rover, Curiosity, discovered rounded pebbles on the surface of Mars, indicating that a river once flowed there.
34. Scientists believe that Mars once had a denser atmosphere, which could have supported liquid water on the surface.
35. In 2013, scientists discovered a rock on Mars very similar to some rocks found on Earth – it was described as a type of basaltic rock.
36. Mars experiences huge temperature variations ranging from as high as 70°F (20°C) to as low as -225°F (-153°C).
37. Mars is the most explored planet in the solar system, with eight active missions currently studying it as of my knowledge cutoff in September 2021.
38. The first successful Mars flyby was by NASA’s Mariner 4 spacecraft in July 1965, where it returned the first close-up photos of the Martian surface.
39. The Phoenix Mars Lander, launched in 2007, confirmed the existence of water-ice in the Martian subsurface.
40. The main goal of the Mars Science Laboratory mission and its rover, Curiosity, was to determine whether Mars could have supported life in the past.
41. In 2012, Curiosity discovered a fine soil sample that contained 2% water by weight.
42. Mars has an elliptical orbit, which means it is closer to the Sun at certain times of the year than others. This results in stronger winds and larger dust storms in the Martian summer.
43. In 2004, the European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft found an ultra-thin layer of ozone in the Martian atmosphere.
44. Mars has been a destination for science fiction writers and filmmakers. Some of the most famous works include “The War of the Worlds” by H.G. Wells, “Total Recall,” and “The Martian” by Andy Weir.
45. The soil on Mars is particularly good for growing asparagus. Other plants that could potentially grow include potatoes, lettuce, and turnips.
46. NASA’s Mars 2020 mission, carrying the Perseverance rover, successfully landed on Mars in February 2021.
47. The Mars Helicopter, Ingenuity, a part of the Mars 2020 mission, is the first aircraft to perform powered, controlled flight on another planet.
48. Mars’ largest moon, Phobos, orbits the planet in a mere 7.6 hours, which is faster than Mars rotates.
49. Mars is the only known planet populated entirely by robots (as of my knowledge cutoff in September 2021).
50. Scientists speculate that Mars might have ring system in the future. As its moon Phobos disintegrates due to tidal forces in about 20-70 million years, the debris could create a ring around the planet.
51. The highest recorded surface temperature on Mars is 86°F (30°C), similar to a warm summer day on Earth.
52. Even though Mars is only 15% the volume of Earth, its surface area is about the same as the land surface area of Earth.
53. Many of the meteorites found on Earth are from Mars, knocked off the Martian surface by large impact events.
54. Mars has the biggest volcano, the highest mountain (Olympus Mons), and the deepest, longest canyon (Valles Marineris) in the solar system, making it a record-breaking planet.
55. Mars is less dense than Earth, having about 15% of Earth’s volume and 11% of Earth’s mass.
56. Mars does not have a global magnetic field, which indicates the planet’s core is no longer actively producing a magnetosphere. However, localized fields exist in various regions of Mars.
57. The surface of Mars is primarily composed of basalt, a volcanic rock, and its soil contains iron, magnesium, aluminum, calcium, and potassium.
58. Sunsets on Mars are blue. While the days are reddish due to the dust in the atmosphere scattering sunlight, the dust also scatters blue light into the sky near the setting sun.
59. Mars’ thin atmosphere results in a much colder climate than Earth’s. It also means that it has less atmospheric pressure, less than 1% of Earth’s.
60. Mars has no global geodynamo activity like Earth’s broadly magnetic field, but it has some local and regional fields.
61. There are pieces of Mars on Earth. Some meteorites found on Earth have been scientifically proven to be blasted off from impacts on Mars.
62. Mars has been visited by more spacecraft than any other planet in the solar system.
63. There are currently two operational rovers on Mars, NASA’s Curiosity, and Perseverance.
64. Mars is host to seven functioning spacecraft: three in orbit – Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN) – and two on the surface – Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity and Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity.
65. In terms of diameter, Mars is not the smallest planet in the solar system, but it is the second smallest, with Mercury being the smallest.
66. Mars has the largest impact basin in the solar system. The Hellas Basin is over 6 kilometers (3.73 miles) deep and 2,300 kilometers (1,429 miles) in diameter.
67. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter found evidence of liquid water on Mars during the planet’s warmest months.
68. Some of the dunes on Mars are made from tiny pieces of broken glass.
69. Mars may have a form of life. It’s not little green men, but microscopic life. In 2015, NASA reported that liquid water flows intermittently on Mars’ present-day surface.
70. Perseverance, which landed on Mars in 2021, is the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).
71. Mars’ moons are named after the Greek words for Fear (Phobos) and Panic (Deimos) – the two horses that pulled the chariot of the Greek god of war, Ares. The Roman equivalent to Ares is Mars.
72. The Beagle 2 Mars Lander, thought lost since 2003, has been found intact on the surface of Mars in 2015.
73. Mars has some of the most highly varied and interesting terrain of any of the terrestrial planets, some of it quite spectacular.
74. A day on Mars, from one sunrise to the next, lasts 24 hours 39.5 minutes, very close to an Earth day.
75. Mars’ red color is due to iron oxide, also known as rust, and has the consistency of talcum powder. Literally, the metallic rocks on Mars are rusting.
76. One of Mars’ polar ice caps is made almost entirely of dry ice (carbon dioxide).
77. If you weighed 100 pounds (45.36 kg) on Earth, you would weigh 37.7 pounds (17.11 kg) on Mars.
78. Mars is the site of Hellas Planitia, the largest visible impact crater in the Solar System, measuring 2,300 kilometers in diameter and 9 kilometers deep.
79. Mars takes its name from the Roman god of war. The ancient Greeks called the planet Ares, after their god of war; the Romans then did likewise, associating the planet’s blood-red color with Mars, their own god of war.
80. Mars’ symbol, a circle with an arrow pointing out to the upper right, is used as a symbol for the male gender.
81. In the next 10 to 20 million years, Mars’ largest moon Phobos will be torn apart by gravitational forces leading to the creation of a ring that could last up to 100 million years.
82. The Mars Rover, Spirit, was operational on Mars for more than 6 years.
83. Scientists have discovered many key ingredients for life on Mars such as organic compounds in rocks and the presence of methane in the atmosphere.
84. A 2010 study published in the journal Icarus, found that liquid saltwater might exist on the surface of Mars during its warmest months.
85. The best time to see Mars from Earth is during the Mars Close Approach which happens every 26 months.
86. A year on Mars lasts 669.6 sols, which is the equivalent of 687 Earth days, or 1.9 Earth years.
87. Mars has 37.5% of the Earth’s gravity, meaning a 100-pound person would weigh only 38 pounds on Mars.
88. Mars is 142 million miles from the Sun. On average, the distance from Mars to the Sun is over 1.5 times greater than the distance from Earth to the Sun.
89. Because Mars orbits the Sun more slowly than Earth, the Sun appears to move across the Martian sky at roughly half the speed that it does on Earth.
90. The soil on Mars is very diverse and varies from region to region. The Viking Lander found that Martian soil is rich in iron, and the iron oxide gives the Martian soil its red color.
91. The surface of Mars is also populated with small rocks that have been rounded and smoothed over time. This suggests that these rocks have been exposed to the action of liquid water in the past.
92. The surface of Mars also contains a great deal of fine dust that is rich in silicon and oxygen.
93. Mars also has a type of weathering that occurs in its soil, which is a type of chemical weathering that is unique to Mars.
94. The surface of Mars is also characterized by the presence of a large number of impact craters, much like the Moon.
95. The surface of Mars is also home to a number of dried up river beds, deltas, and lake beds, further suggesting that liquid water was present on the surface of Mars in the past.
96. Mars is home to the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons, which is three times the height of Mount Everest, the highest peak on Earth.
97. Mars has a very thin and cold atmosphere, which consists of 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen, 1.6% argon, and contains traces of oxygen and water.
98. The atmosphere of Mars is so thin that water cannot exist in liquid form – it evaporates or freezes directly.
99. Mars also experiences dust storms, which can sometimes cover the entire planet and last for months.
100. One of the biggest dust storms ever seen on Mars occurred in 2018, which caused NASA’s Opportunity rover to lose power and eventually cease operations.

Originally posted 2023-09-15 21:36:51.

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