Mars

Introduction: Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and orbits the Sun at an average distance of approximately 141 million miles (225 million km). Mars rotates on its axis, completing one revolution every 24.6 hours. The axis of Mars is tilted at 25 degrees and 12 minutes relative to its orbital plane about the Sun. This produces seasons on the surface of Mars, similar to the seasons on Earth. Mars completes one orbital revolution around the Sun every 1.88 Earth years. Two small natural satellites, Demos and Phobos, orbit Mars. Mars has no magnetic field to protect the surface from radiation from the Sun.

History: Originally, Mars provide for the name of the God of war in Rome and Egypt called it 'Har decher' or the Red One.

In 1576,

Tycho Brahe, a Danish astronomer made accurate calculations of the position of Mars with his eyes! He had a really keen eyesight that helped in calculating the position without sophisticated instruments in a matter of just 4 minutes! Wow! That's what I call a hawk's eyesight.

Then German astronomer Johannes Kepler came forth with a revolutionary idea that orbit of Mars is elliptical and not circular. This was the most contradictory statement as most of the astronomers believed the orbits of all planets were circular. Soon, Kepler claimed, not only Mars, but all planets have an elliptical orbit.

Nicolas Copernicus became the first person to develop the heliocentric model of the Solar System. He was able to break the notion that earth was the center of universe and proved that planets of the Solar System revolved around the sun. He published his theory in 1543 and Galileo Galilei backed his claims. Galileo used his rudimentary telescope that helped him discover Jupiter had moons that orbited around it. He also found that Venus underwent phases just like the moon.

In 1659, Christian Huygens, a Dutch astronomer drew Mars with the observations he made using a telescope he designed himself. He also discovered a strange feature on the planet that was later known as the Syrtis Major.

Men have always been intrigued by Martians and one scientist claimed there was life on Mars in 1802. He suggested drawing huge figures in snow that will help signaling the Martians. In 1877, Giovanni Schiaparelli discovered several lines crossing one another. He said they were water canals that were made by intelligent life forms.

Mariner 9 was sent to Mars in 1971 that came back with images of huge volcanoes and vast canyons. It helped discover the famous volcano that is not on earth, Olympus Mons. It is so big that is could cover the state of Missouri. It would reach a height of of 15 miles above the surface of the earth. In 1975, Viking I and II landed in Mars that analyzed rocks and soil of the planet.

Mars Odyssey was launched in 2001, that is still in orbit and the end date has been extended to September 2010. Many more explorations have taken place since then and future missions are under way. We are still in the process of fully discovering Mars and fulfill the fantasy of existance of life in Mars.

You can read more in detail about various Mars facts related to:

<
a href="http://www.buzzle.com/articles/mars-pathfinder-mission.html">Mars Pathfinder Mission

<
a href="http://www.buzzle.com/articles/mars-exploration-rover.html">Mars Exploration Rover

<
a href="http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/7-16-2004-56698.asp">Mars Pathfinder

<
a href="http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/7-16-2004-56697.asp">Mars Ariel Platform Mission

How long are its years and days? Since Mars is so much further away from the Sun than Earth, a Martian year is much longer than an Earth year, being 687 Earth days. A Martian day is a little longer than an Earth day, at 24 hours and 37 minutes.

How Big Is It? Mars, with a diameter of about 6800 kilometers., is a little more than half the size of Earth. If Earth was the size of a cricket ball, Mars would be about the size of a golf ball.

Can It Be Seen From Earth? Mars can be seen without a telescope. Mars is a small, rust-colored light in the sky.

What Is It Made Of? Mars has a central core made of iron. In this way, the Red Planet is similar to Earth. On top of the iron core, Mars has a layer of rock, again like Earth, but Mars' rock layer is much thicker than that of the Earth. Also, Mars has a very thin atmosphere, or layer of air, that covers the planet. The atmosphere of Mars is much thinner than that of Earth, but Mars still has weather, including dust storms and clouds.

What Is It Like on The Surface? Mars has a rocky, dusty surface, complete with clouds and dust storms that can cover the whole planet at once. The weather on Mars is very cold, with an average temperature of around -12 degrees Celsius. During the Martian winter, the temperature gets even colder, and can drop to -70 degrees Celsius. During the Martian winter, the planet has ice caps at the north and south poles like Earth does. The difference is that these caps are made of frozen carbon dioxide, or "dry ice". Mars also has mountains, sandy deserts and many, many inactive volcanoes. Mars has the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Moons, which is over 133000 meters tall, much higher than Mount Everest, and is over 965 kilometers. wide at its base. There are also many canyons on Mars, including Valles Marineris, which is over 3200 kilometers. long and deep enough to hold a mountain range.

How Many Moons Does It Have? Mars has two very tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos. The two Martian moons are among the smallest moons in the solar system. Phobos is only about 30 kilometers. in diameter, while Deimos is even smaller at around 15 kilometers. in diameter. The two Martian moons are actually asteroids, which are small rocky bodies that are scattered throughout the solar system. A very long time ago, these two asteroids came so close to Mars that they were "captured" by Mars' gravity. They have been circling the planet ever since.

Conclution:

For me it was very interesting because how the planet could have many mistery that the human cannot still solve. All of the people says that the Mars have aliens, but I do not call then "Aliens" because they are like us, the Only difference is that we have other style to talk, to think, to express and some one.

Other question is that why the grece, the roman and the egypt people was very surprised to see the Mars? Is that true that other people have a comunication to these strangers? And How did to comunicate with them? These problems are the most strangest question that the people at this time cannot answers these questions.

Also that I considered interesting was, how the red planet are same structle as the blue planet because if you see all the plantes that have in the world, you see that the planet is diferent.

For me, thise project is the best one what I did in all my school year.