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Mars: The Red Planet

© Jason Wood

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun, and the last of the small planets. It appears as a orange, red dot in the sky and is observable once every 2 1/2 years.

It is home to the largest canyon (Valles Marineris) and the largest volcano (Olympus Mons). Another landmark is the Tharsis Bulge, a plateau the size of North America 6 miles high.

Mars' atmosphere is very thin and the surface can easily be seen from space. There is harldy any atmospheric pressure at all. Only 6 millibars (compared to 1013 millibars on Earth). Over 95% of it is CO2 with a little Nitrogen and Argon. Oxygen exist in trace amounts as does water vapor, neon, krypton and xenon. The temperature can get up to 27 degrees celsius and as low as -133 degrees celsius.

There are even clouds on Mars. They can appear anywhere between 20 and 80 kilometers above the surface and are composed mostly of water ice crystals. However, these clouds will most likely not produce any rain or snow.

Dust storms are common on Mars, however. They can be small to global in size and can rage for a very long time.

Many cultures have named this planet for their god of war. This is most likely because of the color it radiates.

We have made several missions to mars and will be making many more in the near future. One day we will hopefully reach this planet with a manned mission. That would truely be an exciting event.