This page is about the planet. For the Roman God see Mars (mythology).
Basic Information
Mars, the Red Planet is the fourth closest planet to the Sun in our solar system, lying between Earth and Jupiter. It is 34 million miles from Earth. The orbits of the two planets means that the best opportunity for a short trip to Mars from Earth happens once every two years. Even then, with our current technology, it takes about 7 months to cross the gap.
Mars is a Terrestrial Planet with an Iron core. In fact, Iron is one of the most common elements found on Mars. Rusting iron colors the rocks, the dust, even the atmosphere, and gives Mars the nickname "The Red Planet".
Climate, Weather, and Water
Ice has been found on Mars at poles, and also just beneath the surface. The polar caps are made of Dry Ice. Water ice exists in the Martian Permafrost, and thus probably in Aquifers. Images from one of the craters now show what appears to have been some water flow within recent years - but that that flow quickly evaporated. Mars has a very thin atmosphere, and is extremely cold. The combination of no pressure and cold temperature means that liquid water can only exist for brief moments of time and only in certain situations. Typically, the ice turns straight to gas without ever becoming a liquid, via a process called Sublimation (chemistry). In order for liquid water to exist for more than a few moments on Mars' surface, it would need a thicker atmosphere. However, because Mars has a very minimal magnetic field, it's atmosphere is regularly blasted away by Coronal Mass Ejections from the Sun. This makes Terraforming Mars a complicated proposition.
The temperature of Mars can get as low as -100oF at night. The clouds are mostly composed of Carbon Dioxide. Windstorms are frequent, including Dust Devils that race across the surface.
There is also an Avalanche Season on Mars.
Notable Regions, Features, and Satellites:
Mars is much smaller than the Earth, but has geological features that dwarf those found on our world.
- Olympus Mons is a 15-mile-high mountain that's as big around as Missouri
- Valles Marineris is a canyon as long as the entire United States
- Cydonia (Region of Mars) has the Pyramids of Mars and Face on Mars
- Galle (Martian crater) is shaped like a smiley face
- Martian Canals are actually an optical illusion, but in the 19th Century everyone thought they were real.
- Phobos (moon) is the larger (and innermost) of Mars' two moons, but it's still very small and irregularly shaped. It's slowly getting closer to Mars and is likely to crash or break up under 100 million years. Until then, it could serve as a useful Skyhook base to make trips to and from Mars faster and easier.
- Deimos (moon) is the smaller of Mars' moons, also irregularly shaped. It's slowly drifting away and will eventually be lost into space.
- 5261 Eureka - an asteroid that trails Mars in it's L5 Point.
Man-Made Objects On or Orbiting Mars
Surface Objects | Orbiting Objects | Origin | Arrival |
---|---|---|---|
Mars 2 and Mars 3 Landers | Mars 2 and Mars 3 Orbiters | USSR | 1971 |
Mariner 9 | United States | 1971 | |
Mars 6 | USSR | 1973 | |
Mars 5 | USSR | 1974 | |
Viking 1 & Viking 2 landers | Viking 1 & Viking 2 Orbiters | United States | 1976 |
Phobos 2 | USSR | 1989 | |
Mars Pathfinder lander & Sojourner (rover) | Mars Global Surveyor | United States | 1997 |
Mars Climate Orbiter, Mars Polar Lander & Deep Space 2 | United States | 1999 | |
2001 Mars Oddyssey | United States | 2001 | |
Beagle 2 (mission lost, landing status unknown) | UK / ESA | 2003 | |
Mars Express | ESA | 2003 | |
Spirit rover (MER-A) and Opportunity rover (MER-B) | United States | 2004 | |
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter | United States | 2006 | |
Phoenix (spacecraft) | United States | 2008 | |
Mars Science Laboratory (aka Curiosity) | United States | 2012 | |
Mars Orbiter Mission (Mangalyaan) | India | 2014 | |
MAVEN | United States | 2014 | |
Schiaparelli EDM Lander | ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter | ESA / Russia | 2016 |
InSight Lander | USA | 2018 |
Mars in Fiction:
Early and Traditional:
Until quite recently, it was not appreciated that Mars would not support life in any meaningful fashion - indeed, astronomers thought they were able to pick out what appeared to be a network of vast canals criss-crossing large parts of the surface and apparently connecting to what appeared to be large lakes or seas. Other apparent structures included a huge "face" and at least one set of pyramids. These led to the idea of Mars as a predominately desert planet inhabited by a civilisation organised enough to build this huge water distribution network and other large structures. This was popularised by writers such as Edgar Rice-Burroughs in his John Carter novels, featuring an American soldier transported to the Red Planet.
Modern:
Most modern sci-fi considers Mars as being a logical first step for human colonization of space and thus explores a variety of themes from the cycle of colonial growth and independence, to terraforming and the challenges thereof. More fringe sources toy with relics of precursor civilisations left from an era when Mars might have been able to support life - some of these include Easter Egg tributes to older fiction (itself a recursive "precursor" theme).
See Also:
- Allan Hills 84001
- Colonization of Mars
- Life On Mars and Martians
- Mars-like Planet
- Terraforming of Mars
- News: Precious Gems Discovered On Mars
- News/Event: Rumors Abound About Potential For Life On Mars
- News/Article: Avalanche Season on Mars
Sources
Game and Story Use
- Given the Face On Mars (and other features in the Cydonia region), and the presence of ice/water (that was detected and acknowledge by the ESA several years before NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander found it), it's a natural for any game with conspiracy theories.
- It's also the likely site of our likely first colony on another planet.