Detailed Report on Mars: Characteristics, Missions, and Discoveries

This report provides a comprehensive overview of Mars, the fourth planet from the sun. It details key facts about Mars, including its size, landmass, and surface features like Olympus Mons and Valles Marineris. The report discusses the planet's reddish-brown color, its gravity compared to Earth, and the challenges faced by Mars missions, including a summary of the successful and unsuccessful missions. It also highlights the discovery of Martian traces on Earth and the planet's unique orbital path, leading to severe dust storms. The report further explores the potential for extraterrestrial life, the presence of polar ice caps, seasonal variations, and the planet's atmospheric conditions, including the thin ozone layer. The report concludes with a summary of Mars's physical characteristics, including its diameter, atmospheric pressure, and composition, referencing several scientific sources.

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Astronomy
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Mars Important Points
Mars is the last terrestrial planet occupying position four from the sun 227,940,000 km away. Its
name came from Ancient Greek mythological figure known as the Roman god of war. It is also
known as a red planet because its surface is reddish brown in color. Mars in terms of size follows
Mercury which is the smallest planet2.
Mars and Earth have equal landmasses even if mars is about 15% and 10% the volume and mass
of the Earth respectively. They have similar landmass since water covers 70% of the surface of
the Earth. In Mars you can jump three times higher that you could on Earth since the gravity on
the surface of Mars is 37% the Earth’s surface gravity. Out of 39 missions that have been done,
only 16 missions became victorious. In 1960 USSR’s Marsnik 1 became the first mission to be
launched to the mars3.
Traces of Mars have been spotted on Earth. The pieces are believed to be remains of Martian
atmosphere that were within the meteorites which were released by mars ending up crushing on
the Earth’s surface. Scientists used the pieces to study and obtain more information about Mars
before initiating their space missions. Giovanni Achiaparelli who was an Italian astronomer
discovered lines of grooves called canali on the surface of Mars. Giovanni argued that these lines
of groove showed the possibility of Mars being a place of intelligence but was later rejected and
perceived to be an illusion.
Mars has the tallest mountain in the universe called Olympus Mons and is 21 kms high and 600
km in diameter. Mars has an orbit path with an elliptical shape around the sun which contributes
to the occurrence of extreme dust storms in it. Mars has a more elongated and oval orbit path

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than any other planets leading to severe dust storms that occur all over the plant and happens for
several months.
After the Earth, Mars is the second most hospitable planet to live. Several missions and studies
are still being carried out to confirm if Mars actually has a potential for extraterrestrial life. Mars
takes 687 Earth days to revolve around the sun with an orbital radius of 337,840,000 km. Apart
from the Earth, Mars is the only other planet with polar ice caps. In the south there is Plenum
Australe while the northern cap is Planum Boreum. Mars has similar seasons with the Earth but
they last twice longer because on its axis, Mars is tilted by almost 25.19˚ which is almost equal
to that of the Earth which is 22.5 ˚1.
When the sun is viewed from the Mars, it looks a third smaller than its actual size. The southern
hemisphere points towards the sun when Mars is closest to the sun causing its summer to be hot
and very short. At the north it undergoes a short but cold winter. Mars undergoes a lengthy and
mild summer when Mars and the Sun are at the farthest distance apart because the northern
hemisphere points towards the sun while in the south there is long and cold winter.
Mars has the most eccentric orbit among the other planets meaning it has the least circular orbit
path among them. Mars has very low atmospheric pressure therefore it cannot hold liquid water
on its surface for long. Mars is visible from the Earth at night because of its reddish appearance.
Its brightness and size varies depending on its distance from the Earth. Mars do not have
magnetic field though it is believed to have possessed magnetic fields four billion years ago5.
NASA in 1975 sent two spacecraft, Viking 1 and Viking 2 to Mars with an aim of obtaining
information about its structure and composition. The minimum distance between Earth and Mars
is inconsistent because they don’t have circular and regular orbits. Mars was discovered to have

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Ozone in 1971. However, the Ozone concentration on Mars is 300 times thinner that the Ozone
on Earth, and its size varies with location and time. Valles Marineris is the deepest and longest
canyon in the whole solar system and it is found on Mars4.
Mass 6.4169 × 1023 kg
Equatorial Diameter 6,805 km
Polar Diameter 6,755 km
Equatorial Circumference 21,297 km
Notable Moons Phobos and Deimos
Orbit Distance 227,943,824 km
Surface Temperature -87 to -5 ˚C
First Record 2nd Millennium BC
Atmospheric pressure 6.36 mb at mean radius
Composition Mantle: silicate rock
Crust and Surface: mainly iron rich ballistic
rock
Core: Nickel, Iron or Sulphur
Average distance from the sun 142 million miles
Average speed in orbiting Sun 14.5 miles per second
Length of year 687 Earth Days

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Length of day 24 hours 37 minutes6
Source: https://space-facts.com/mars/

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References
1 A. Rivoldini et al., Geodesy constraints on the interior structure and composition of Mars. Sci.
Direct, 213(2): 451-472 (2011).
2 B. Isaac, Smith, J, J.W. Holt Onset and migration of spiral troughs on Mars revealed by orbital
radar, Nat, 465(4): 450-453 (2010).
3 J.F. Buenestado et al., Planetary Exploration; Mars on the Scope. Astrobiol Outreach 3: (2015),
pp. 133, Doi: 10.4172/2332-2519.1000133
4 M.P. Golombek, H.Y. McSween. Mars: Landing Site Geology, Mineralogy and Geochemistry.
Encyclopedia of the Solar System. (2014), pp.331-348
5 S.E. Lauro et al., Supplementary Materials for: Radar evidence of subglacial liquid water on
Mars. Sci, 361(6401): 490-493 (2018).
6 Mars facts, Space Facts, (https://space-facts.com/mars/).