ISS Online
Space News Planets Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune
Moon Online Sun Online (SDO/SOHO) NASA TV GOSAT Model of the Solar System in 3D
Explore the Video
Victory is celebrated in space – The Super Bowl on board the ship 6 hours ago
All our news is in a convenient format in VK.
The group has been restarted.
Please re subscribe
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the last of the terrestrial planets.
Like the rest of the planets in the Solar system (not counting Earth) Mars is named after a mythological figure — the Roman god of war.
In addition to its official name, Mars is sometimes called the Red Planet, which is due to the brown red color of its surface.
At the same time, Mars is the second smallest planet in the Solar System after Mercury.
SEE ALSO: The surface of Mars photos, panoramas During almost the entire nineteenth century, it was believed that there was life on Mars.
The reason for this belief lies partly in error, and partly in the human imagination.
In 1877, astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli was able to observe what he thought were straight lines on the surface of Mars.
Like other astronomers, when he noticed these stripes, he assumed that such directness was connected with the existence of intelligent life on the planet.
A popular version at that time about the nature of these lines was the assumption that they were irrigation channels.
However, with the development of more powerful telescopes in the early twentieth century, astronomers were able to see the Martian surface more clearly and determine that these straight lines were just an optical illusion.
As a result, all the earlier assumptions about life on Mars remained without evidence.
Mars and other planets of the Solar system
A large amount of science fiction written during the twentieth century was a direct consequence of the belief that there is life on Mars.
Starting from small green men, ending with tall invaders with laser weapons, the Martians were the focus of many TV and radio programs, comics, films and novels.
Despite the fact that the discovery of Martian life in the eighteenth century as a result turned out to be false, Mars remained for the scientific community the most friendly planet for life (not counting Earth) in the Solar system.
Subsequent planetary missions were undoubtedly devoted to the search for at least some form of life on Mars.
So a mission called Viking, carried out in the 1970s, conducted experiments on Martian soil in the hope of detecting microorganisms in it.
At that time, it was believed that the formation of compounds during experiments could be the result of biological agents, but later it was found that compounds of chemical elements can be created without biological processes.
However, even these data did not deprive scientists of hope.
Having found no signs of life on the surface of Mars, they assumed that all the necessary conditions could exist under the surface of the planet.
This version is still relevant today.
At least, such planetary missions of the present as ExoMars and Mars Science involve testing all possible variants of the existence of life on Mars in the past or present, on the surface and below it.
The atmosphere of Mars
In its composition, the atmosphere of Mars is very similar to that of Venus, one of the least hospitable atmospheres in the entire Solar system.
The main component in both environments is carbon dioxide (95% for Mars, 97% for Venus), but there is a big difference – there is no greenhouse effect on Mars, so the temperature on the planet does not exceed 20°C, unlike 480°C on the surface of Venus.
Such a huge difference is due to the different density of the atmospheres of these planets.
At a comparable density, the atmosphere of Venus is extremely thick, whereas Mars has a fairly thin atmospheric layer.
Simply put, if the thickness of the atmosphere of Mars was more significant, it would resemble Venus.
In addition, Mars has a very thin atmosphere — the atmospheric pressure is only about 1% of the pressure on Earth.
This is equivalent to a pressure of 35 kilometers above the Earth's surface.
One of the very first directions in the study of the Martian atmosphere is its influence on the presence of water on the surface.
Despite the fact that the polar caps contain water in a solid state, and the air contains water vapor formed as a result of frost and low pressure, today all studies indicate that the" weak " atmosphere of Mars does not contribute to the existence of water in a liquid state on the surface of the planet.
Nevertheless, relying on the latest data from Martian missions, scientists are confident that water in liquid form exists on Mars and it is located one meter below the surface of the planet.
Water on Mars: an assumption / wikipedia.org
However, despite the thin atmospheric layer, Mars has quite acceptable weather conditions by terrestrial standards.
The most extreme forms of this weather are winds, dust storms, frosts and fogs.
As a result of such weather activity, significant traces of erosion were observed in some areas of the Red Planet.
See also: NASA: The solar wind deprived Mars of the atmosphere Another interesting point about the Martian atmosphere is that, according to several modern scientific studies, in the distant past it was dense enough for the existence of oceans of water in a liquid state on the surface of the planet.
However, according to the same studies, the atmosphere of Mars was dramatically changed.
The leading version of such a change at the moment is the hypothesis that the planet collided with another sufficiently voluminous cosmic body, which led to the loss of most of its atmosphere by Mars.
The surface of Mars
The surface of Mars has two significant features, which, by an interesting coincidence, are associated with differences in the hemispheres of the planet.
The fact is that the northern hemisphere has a fairly smooth terrain and only a few craters, while the southern hemisphere is literally dotted with hills and craters of different sizes.
In addition to the topographical differences that indicate the difference in the relief of the hemispheres, there are also geological ones — studies indicate that the regions in the northern hemisphere are much more active than in the southern one.
On the surface of Mars is the largest of the volcanoes known to date — Olympus Mons (Mount Olympus) and the largest of the known canyons – Mariner (Mariner Valley).
Nothing more grandiose has yet been found in the Solar System.
The height of Mount Olympus is 25 kilometers (this is three times higher than Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth), and the diameter of the base is 600 kilometers.
The length of the Mariner Valley is 4000 kilometers, the width is 200 kilometers, and the depth is almost 7 kilometers.
Mariner Valley on Mars
To date, the most significant discovery regarding the Martian surface has been the discovery of channels.
The peculiarity of these channels is that, according to NASA experts, they were created by running water, and, thus, are the most reliable proof of the theory that in the distant past the surface of Mars significantly resembled that of Earth.
The most famous monopoly associated with the surface of the Red Planet is the so called "Face on Mars".
The relief really looked very much like a human face when the first image of a certain area was taken by the Viking I spacecraft in 1976.
Many people at that time considered this picture a real proof that intelligent life existed on Mars.
Subsequent images showed that this is just a game of lighting and a human fantasy.
The structure of Mars
Like other planets of the Earth group, there are three layers in the interior of Mars: the crust, the mantle and the core.
Despite the fact that accurate measurements have not yet been made, scientists have made certain predictions about the thickness of the crust of Mars based on data on the depth of the Mariner Valley.
The deep, vast valley system located in the southern hemisphere could not exist if the crust of Mars was not significantly thicker than the Earth's.
Preliminary estimates indicate that the thickness of the crust of Mars in the northern hemisphere is about 35 kilometers and about 80 kilometers in the southern hemisphere.
More on the topic: NASA scientist: there is life on Mars and we know where to look for it Quite a lot of research has been devoted to the core of Mars, in particular, to find out whether it is solid or liquid.
Some theories have pointed to the absence of a sufficiently powerful magnetic field as a sign of a solid core.
Nevertheless, in the last decade, the hypothesis that the core of Mars is liquid, at least partially, has become increasingly popular.
This was indicated by the discovery of magnetized rocks on the surface of the planet, which may be a sign that Mars has or had a liquid core.
Orbit and rotation
The orbit of Mars is remarkable for three reasons.
First, its eccentricity is the second largest among all the planets, only Mercury has less.
With such an elliptical orbit, the perihelion of Mars is 2.07 x 108 kilometers, which is much further than its aphelion 2.49 x 108 kilometers.
Secondly, scientific data indicate that such a high degree of eccentricity was not always present, and perhaps it was less than the Earth's at some point in the history of the existence of Mars.
The reason for this change, scientists call the gravitational forces of neighboring planets affecting Mars.
Thirdly, of all the planets of the Earth group, Mars is the only one on which the year lasts longer than on Earth.
Naturally, this is due to its orbital distance from the Sun.
One Martian year is equal to almost 686 Earth days.
A Martian day lasts approximately 24 hours and 40 minutes — which is exactly the time it takes for the planet to complete one complete revolution around its axis.
Another remarkable similarity of the planet with the Earth is its axial tilt, which is approximately 25°.
This feature indicates that the seasons on the Red Planet change each other in exactly the same way as on Earth.
Nevertheless, the hemispheres of Mars experience completely different temperature regimes for each season, different from those on Earth.
This is again due to the much greater eccentricity of the planet's orbit.
So, we know that SpaceX wants to send people to Mars in 2024, but their first Mars mission will be the launch of the Red Dragon capsule in 2018.
What steps is the company going to take to achieve this goal?
Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX
2018.
The launch of the Red Dragon space probe in order to demonstrate technologies.
The goal of the mission is to reach Mars and make some surveys at the landing site on a small scale.
Perhaps, the supply of additional information for NASA or space agencies of other states.
the year is 2020.
Launch of the Mars Colonial Transporter MCT1 spacecraft (unmanned).
The purpose of the mission is to send cargo and return samples.
Large scale demonstrations of technologies for habitat, life support, and energy.
the year is 2022.
Launch of the Mars Colonial Transporter MCT2 spacecraft (unmanned).
The second iteration of the MCT.
At this time, MCT1 will be on its way back to Earth, carrying Martian samples.
MCT2 supplies equipment for the first manned flight.
The MCT2 spacecraft will be ready for launch as soon as the crew arrives on the Red Planet in 2 years.
In case of trouble (as in the movie "The Martian"), the team will be able to use it to leave the planet.
the year is 2024.
The third iteration of the Mars Colonial Transporter MCT3 and the first manned flight.
At that time, all the technologies will prove their workability, MCT1 will make a trip to Mars and back, and MCT2 is ready and tested on Mars.
Interesting facts about Mars
* Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the last of the terrestrial planets.
The distance from the Sun is about 227940000 kilometers.
* The planet is named after Mars — the Roman god of war.
Among the ancient Greeks, it was known as Ares.
It is believed that Mars received such an association because of the blood red color of the planet.
Due to the color, the planet was also known among other ancient cultures.
The first Chinese astronomers called Mars the "Star of Fire", and the ancient Egyptian priests designated it as "Her Desher", which means"red".
* The land mass on Mars and on Earth is very similar.
Despite the fact that Mars occupies only 15% of the volume and 10% of the mass of the Earth, it has a land mass comparable to our planet as a result of the fact that water covers about 70% of the Earth's surface.
At the same time, the surface gravity of Mars is about 37% of the gravity on Earth.
This means that, theoretically, you can jump three times higher on Mars than on Earth.
* Only 16 of the 39 missions to Mars were successful.
Since the Mars 1960A mission launched in the USSR in 1960, a total of 39 descent orbiters and rovers have been sent to Mars, but only 16 of these missions were successful.
In 2016, a probe was launched as part of the Russian European ExoMars mission, the main goals of which will be to search for signs of life on Mars, study the surface and terrain of the planet and map potential environmental hazards for future manned flights to Mars.
Mars 1960A
* Debris from Mars was found on Earth.
It is believed that traces of some of the Martian atmosphere were found in meteorites that bounced off the planet.
After leaving Mars, these meteorites for a long time, for millions of years, flew around the Solar system among other objects and space debris, but were captured by the gravity of our planet, fell into its atmosphere and crashed to the surface.
The study of these materials allowed scientists to learn a lot about Mars even before the start of space flights.
• In the recent past, people were sure that Mars is home to intelligent life.
This was largely influenced by the discovery of straight lines and ditches on the surface of the Red Planet by Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli.
He believed that such straight lines could not be created by nature and were the result of intelligent activity.
However, it was later proved that this is nothing more than an optical illusion.
• The highest planetary mountain known in the Solar system is located on Mars.
It is called Olympus Mons (Mount Olympus) and rises 21 kilometers in height.
It is believed that this is a volcano that was formed billions of years ago.
Scientists have found quite a lot of evidence that the age of the volcanic lava of the object is quite small, which may be proof that Olympus may still be active.
Nevertheless, there is a mountain in the Solar System to which Olympus is inferior in height — this is the central peak of Rheasilvia, located on the asteroid Vesta, whose height is 22 kilometers.
* There are dust storms on Mars – the most extensive in the Solar system.
This is due to the elliptical shape of the trajectory of the planet's orbit around the Sun.
The path of the orbit is more elongated than that of many other planets and this oval shape of the orbit leads to ferocious dust storms that cover the entire planet and can last for many months.
• The sun looks about half of its visual earth size when viewed from Mars.
When Mars is closest to the Sun in its orbit, and its southern hemisphere is facing the Sun, a very short but incredibly hot summer comes on the planet.
At the same time, a short but cold winter is coming to the northern hemisphere.
When the planet is further away from the Sun, and the northern hemisphere is directed towards it, Mars experiences a long and mild summer.
At the same time, a long winter comes in the southern hemisphere.
* With the exception of Earth, scientists consider Mars to be the most suitable planet for life.
Leading space agencies are planning to carry out a number of space flights over the next decade in order to find out whether there is a potential for life on Mars and whether it is possible to build a colony on it.
* Martians and aliens from Mars have been the main candidates for the role of extraterrestrial aliens for quite a long time, which has made Mars one of the most popular planets in the Solar System.
* Mars is the only planet in the system, except for Earth, on which there is polar ice.
Water in a solid state was discovered under the polar caps of Mars.
• Just like on Earth, there are seasons on Mars, but they last twice as long.
This is because Mars is tilted on its axis by about 25.19 degrees, which is close to the value of the tilt of the Earth's axis (22.5 degrees).
* Mars has no magnetic field.
Some scientists believe that it existed on the planet about 4 billion years ago.
• The two moons of Mars, Phobos and Deimos, were described in the book "Gulliver's Travels" by the author Jonathan Swift.
This was 151 years before they were discovered.
Photo of Mars Planet Mars
Opportunity Rover
Earth and Mars
See also The changing cosmic World, what do we know about it?
NASA plans the next flight to the orbit of Mars in 2022 How much to fly to Mars and other details
Share Tweet Share Plyusanut
2 10 369 tags, colonization of Mars, mars, the surface of mars
2 comments Pingback: The moon - a description of the satellite, a man on the moon, interesting facts and photos of the Moon
Pingback: Mars Planet
Leave a comment Cancel the response Your e mail will not be published.
Required fields are marked * Comment Name * E mail *
Popular materials 1 502 Live broadcast of the launch of the Zenit 2SB launch vehicle The launch vehicle puts the Electro L spacecraft No. 2 into orbit!
1 839 An unknown object was discovered near the ISS An eyewitness provided a video!
592 What the rover looks like after drilling Curiosity selfie is a popular NASA photo!
© 2016 MKS Onlain.ru.
Contacts • Website editorial Board • All tags • Support the project
We are in social networks:Vkontakte
Report a typo to the text that will be sent to our editors:
Send a Comment
