Magnificent Mars
Learn About Mars and Its Fascinating Features
Intro
Is there life on Mars? How similar are Mars and Earths' geography? How many voyages has there been to Mars? Well, Mars is a very interesting planet because of all the recent excitement about life, voyages, and even learning about the planet itself. Actually Mars is the most studied planet out of all the planets, other than earth. It's also the most visible planet in our night sky. It's 142 million miles from the sun, but is there more to it?
Life on Mars
When you look up at the night sky, do you ever wonder if there is anything up there? Well, there is a chance because as far as we know, there is water on Mars hidden under its polar ice caps. Scientists have little bits of evidence because of the Rover Curiosity. On a voyage, the rover picked up methane or better known on our planet as "Burps." 95% of methane on our planet comes from living things. Also, water is a big thing life relies on and Mars has water according to Nasa. In the 1800's astronomers spotted lines on Mars' surface so they thought there was life, but it ended up being an illusion. There also is one more thing that keeps the theory going relating to oxygen. If there is oxygen and warm and wet weather on Mars, there could be life. But is there really life on Mars? Scientists are still working hard to discover this big question and mystery.
Geography
Mars is a very interesting planet when it comes to its geography. It has a very similar geography to Earth because of its similar tilt. Also, it has canyons and riverbeds, plus it has a north pole and a south pole! Also its weather is a lot like ours: cold but not extremely cold. It has four seasons like Earth too. In the winter, polar ice caps cover the planet. Lastly, do you ever want to know why it's red? That is because of all of the iron oxide within its surface. We can obviously see that Mars has an extremely cool geography. Many are still curious about whether there is more findings beneath the surface.
Voyages to Mars
Where do you think we get most of our information? We get it from Rovers and Flybys. The first flyby was the mariner 9. Then, the Mars 2 Orbiter and Lander launched in 1971. It was on mars for 189 days. We also have some Rovers on Mars right now as we speak. One of the Rovers is Curiosity, and it has picked up water samples and it has taken tons of pictures. Another successful mission was the Viking Orbiter and Lander because it was getting pictures of Mars in 1973. That is a long time ago and quite a surprise. it was truly a great accomplishment with the limited technology. How much more can we achieve with just Rovers? Hopefully scientists will continue their missions to find out if life can really survive on Mars.
Fun Facts
- Buzz Aldrin quoted"Forget the moon lets head to Mars!''
- We've driven farther on Mars with rovers than on any other planet.
- Mars has a canyon longer than the width of the USA.
- Mars has a volcano three times bigger than Mt. Everest
- We have failed more missions to Mars than successes
- PIeces of Mars have fell to earth
- It would take 6 Mars to fill earth
- The sun Looks half its size on Mars than it does on Earth
Conclusion
So you can probably conclude that Mars is a pretty cool planet. I feel that Mars isn't just any planet because it very different from all the planets because of Rovers,Life, and evan the way it looks. In conclusion I just want to say Mars is the most fascinating planets ever.
References
- 13 Planets(Book)
- Is There Others(Book)
- Nasa.com
- Space Facts
- Space For Kids
- Wikipedia
Glossary
- Buzz Aldrin- astronaut on Apollo 13
Will D.
Fourth Grade Student