Mission To Mars
Voyagers Group 1
The Well-Needed Mission
Since the late 90's, the Mars rover, Curiosity, has been exploring Mars. It takes pictures, collects and analyzes soil, and probes for signs of life, but NASA wants more. NASA wants to send the first humans to Mars in the mid-2030's. NASA hopes that this first mission will lead to colonies of explorers and their families building a new society on Mars. The demand for having people on Mars will only increase as time goes by because by 2075, Earth's population is projected to hit 9 billion.
Eclipses
The eclipses on Mars are very different from Earth, but they still occur when one object gets in between the sun and another object. The difference is that Mars has two different moons. This would mean that eclipses occur twice as often. Mars' moons are also not round like Earth's and are much smaller. This creates a different shape blocking the sun in a solar eclipse.
Day And Night
Mars' rotation on it's axis takes 1.03 Earth days which results in a 40 minute longer day. Since Earth's day is 1,440 minutes, Mars' day is 1,480 minutes and this would impact how we do things because we would have 20 more minutes of light and 20 more minutes of darkness.
Seasons
The seasons of Earth and Mars are similar because the axis tilt of a planet causes it's seasons. Earth's axis is tilted at 23.5 degrees while Mars' is at 25 degrees. This is such a minor difference that it would potentially not be a change from Earth's seasons to Mars' seasons.
Phases Of The Moon
The phases of the moon on Earth and Mars are also similar. This is because, even though Mars has two moons, all moons go through the same phases while orbiting around the planet whose gravity they are captured in.
Mountains
Mars' rocky surface is covered with mountains. These mountains have layers that reveal that Mars used to be a warm and wet environment. Mars' mountains range from 1,778 to 69,459 feet tall. Mars is also home to Olympus Mons, the tallest mountain in our solar system.
Huge Bulge
Like in this picture, Mars has a bulge on its surface. This bulge is like a mountain, but much rounder and wider. Mars' bulge, Tharsis, is about 5 km tall and 4,000 km wide. These measurements are approximate because there are no very clear boundaries for where Tharsis starts and ends.
Canyons
Along with it's mountains, Mars has huge canyons on it's surface. These massive canyons range from 2 to 7 km deep. The largest system of canyons on Mars is called Valles Marineris and it stretches 4,000 km long. This 4,000 km is about a quarter of Mars' circumference.