Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the sun and the last of the solid, non-gas planets in our solar system. Mars is the seventh largest planet in our solar system. The diameter is about 4,220 miles. The equatorial circumference is about 13,259 miles. Earth’s equatorial circumference is about 24,901 miles so Mars’ equatorial circumference is approximately 53.2% that of Earth. The radius of Mars’ core is 1,056 miles. The surface area is 55,742,106 square miles, which is about 28% that of Earth. Mars’ volume is 163,115,609,799 cubic kilometers. The mass is about 641,693,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilograms. The mean density of Mars is 3,933 kilograms/meter3. Mean density gives clues about what the planet is made up of, like how much metal it has, and whether the planet is solid or gaseous (Mars Facts).
Mars is made up of many different materials. The crust and surface is made mostly of iron – rich basaltic rock similar to Earth’s thin crust. The mantle is silicate rock and the core is probably an iron, nickel, and sulfur core. Scientists are not sure though if the core is either hot liquid or cooled metal and if there is two distinct layers like Earth’s or not. Mars’ composition is similar to Earth’s. The main gases that make up Mars’ atmosphere are Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Argon (Ar), Nitrogen (N2) Oxygen (O2), and Carbon Monoxide (CO). There is about 96% carbon dioxide, 1.93% argon, 1.89% nitrogen, 0.145% oxygen, and less than 0.01% carbon monoxide. Mars’ atmosphere also has other gases in very small amounts which are called trace gases. The atmosphere on Mars is about 100 times less dense than Earth’s atmosphere (Mars Facts).
The temperature on Mars is colder than Earth because it is farther away from the sun. Th...
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...mperatures and climates on Mars, the possibility of people reaching the planet and surviving, is realistic according to scientist. Mars One, a community of scientist who believe in this reality, has already begun to collect applications for those willing to take a one-way trip to Mars. They plan to start making these trips in 2024 (Human Settlement on Mars). It may not seem realistic to be able to start human settlement on Mars in just ten years, but it is possible.
Work Cited
"Human Settlement on Mars." Mars One. Mars One, n.d. Web. 09 May 2014.
"Mars Exploration." National Geographic. National Geographic, n.d. Web. 07 May 2014.
“Mars Facts.” Mars Facts-Mars Exploration Program. NASA, n.d. Web. 01 May 2014
"Mars: Moons." Solar System Exploration. NASA, n.d. Web. 11 May 2014.
"The Moons of Mars." The Moons of Mars. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2014.
“The needs of the one outweigh the needs of the many” -Captain Kirk, Star Trek. In this weeks reading of The Martian, this idea is communicated in the story that saving one person is more important than saving many people.
Less than three centuries ago, the entire Western half of North America had been completely unexplored. Today, more than a Hundred-Million people live in the Western states. Most of the oil in America is found on the West Coast, along with dozens of major businesses and institutions. The exploration and colonization of the “Last Frontier” has greatly benefitted humanity. If just a few thousand miles of land could have such a large impact on America and the world itself, imagine what an entire planet of unknown riches could bring for our species.
With a little bit of carbon, nitrogen and oxygen about 1.5%. The other 0.5% is made up of small amounts of a lot of other elements such as neon, iron, silicon, magnesium and sulfur. The definition of Mantle is the planet between the core that is the mantle. There is the upper Mantle and lower Mantle. Did you know that Uranus and Venus spin the opposite direction? Venus spins the opposite direction because it’s axial is tilt at 177 degrees which means that means it is almost spinning the opposite direction to the orbit. Uranus axial is at 97.77 degrees so the axis parallel to the plane of the Solar System. Our Solar System is ginormous, Scientist discovered that the solar System is 40 astronomical units. One astronomical unit is 9.296e+7
Mars is most likely planet that has the ingredients of life that is need for a living organism in the solar system other than the known planet Earth. These ingredients of life are the following. The planet in question must be at the correct distance from a host star. Mars is a planet that is on the outer edge of being correct distance of its host star. Next item is that the planet must have water. Mars has water but its water is frozen in the planet ice caps or under the soil. Last is that the planet must have an atmosphere that is suitable for living organisms. Mars’s atmosphere is weak and it is being blown away by the solar winds form the host star. (""Life" on Mars") With Mars’s weak atmosphere the surface temperature of the planet is every cold and the water on the surface of plane...
Saturn is a gas-giant planet and has no solid surface but has a solid core and a thick layer of liquid. Saturn is mostly made of hydrogen and an outer layer of gas making it the least
It makes up 13% of the planet's mass and a large fraction of the planet's mantle.
Scientists have dreamt over the possibility that it may be possible to live on another planet. Some think that Mars has that potential to support life, if it's hidden resources are uncovered and exploited to their full potential. There is even evidence that it once contained enough water that it had been possible to hold life. Think about it, what if we could transform it into such a place, even if only our children's children get to see any result? The following will describe Mars, present evidence of ice and water, give possible ideas for the future exploration of Mars, and give reasons for why it is important.
The Martian starring Matt Damon depicts the horrific situation in which an astronaut is abandoned on the surface of Mars after an impossible storm sent his crew fleeing. While an enthralling story, there are moments when scientific accuracy is thrown out the window. The enormous storm which forced the crew to abandon their mission and the reduced gravity on Mars, were not depicted accurately in The Martian. Other aspects of the move like the necessity, use and number of solar panels used on the surface of Mars appear to be more accurate.
The main focus of the program was to collect information about Venus, Mars and Mercury. Mariner 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 were sent to coll...
The gas giants are a collection of planets in our solar system. As can be told from their name, they are mostly composed of differing mixtures of gases and ices. The gas and ice composition in question varies among the different planets. This mix of gases gives much of the planets an extremely thick atmosphere. At the very center of a gas giant is a core of liquid heavy metals. The gas giants are also called Jovian planets, taken from the largest planet in our solar system: Jupiter. Due to the fact the the majority of a gas giant planet is gas, the planet isn’t very dense and therefore, very large as a result. In fact, all of the gas giants are vastly larger than all of the terrestrial planets. Another common factor of the gas giants are their large amount of moons. The terrestrial planet, Mars, has the largest amount of moons, 2. The amount of moons of Mars is dwarfed in comparison to Saturn’s and Jupiter’s moo...
The time to colonize Mars would certainly be required when the Earth becomes uninhabitable as the global warming rises up. When that happens, Mars has the potential to become the most habitable planet in our solar system. Nevertheless, even with positive extrapolation of robotic manufacturing techniques, Mars will not have the labor required to make it fully self-sufficient; until and unless its population is in millions. Thus it will be necessary for colonization of Mars to import goods from Earth.
Scientists believed that about 3.5 million years ago, “Earth and Mars may even have had similar ecological environments.” (Exploring Space). Mars has the tallest mountain in the Solar System, the Olympus Mons, which is 27 kilometers high. (Interesting Facts About Planet Mars). It is also one of the largest volcanoes in the Solar System with a diameter 370 miles, “wide enough to cover the state of New Mexico.” (Facts and Info about Red Planet). Like Earth, Mars also has canyons, including the Valles Marineris which was formed mostly by the pulling of Mars’ crust. Some canyons in the System are as wide as 60 miles. (Mars: Facts and Info about Red Planet).
Since 1976, when the Viking Landers took off toward the red planet, people have been wondering if there is life on Mars. There have been questions of pictures taken from Mars and skepticism about why some of the recent landings have failed. Scientists, up till now, have been doubtful about life on Mars.
Mars, the beautiful red planet, is the most similar planet to earth. The terrain in general is very close to what we are used to on earth, minus the vegetation. Earth and Mars both contain polar ice caps. Mars also has water throughout the planet, but it is mostly subsoil.
Humans can expect to face some major challenges on an expedition to Mars. It has been proven that humanity can travel in space for over two years. Cumulatively, Sergei Constantinovich Krikalev, a Russian cosmonaut, has spent over eight-hundred and three days in Earth orbit (Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center, 2005). The expedition to Mars would require the crew to endure a six month journey to the planet, a year of living on the planet, and a six months journey back to Earth. Russian cosmonaut, Valery V. Polyakoz, clocking in at four-hundred and thirty-eight days for just one stay in Earth orbit, shows humanity is capable of a twelve month round trip to Mars (Schwirtz, 2009). Earth's orbit has provided some benefits to space exploration, like the magnetic field from cosmic radiation, and the proximity to Earth if an emergency were to arise (Jones, 2009). The further humans travel away from Earth the greater the risks become. The major risks to human health on a flight to Mars, living on Mars, and returning to Earth are: radiation exposure, biological problems induced by weightlessness, spacecraft malfunctions, and psychological problems brought on by isolation.