Mars   by Shannon Maloney      

Mars used to be a mystery to us, but since astronomers have closely examined the surface, it appears that there aren't any creatures there. "Massive volcanoes not yet eroded by the winds of Mars still loom on the Martian surface. Mars comes into opposition with the earth every 2 years, and 50 days on average, yet each two successive oppositions are unique because the orbit of Mars is considerably more eccentric than that of earth". Mars is 228 million kilometers away from the sun. The length of a Martian year is 687 earth days. (Burgess, Eric, "To the Red Planet". New York: Exposition Press, 1978.)                                                               

                                                            The Solar System

                                Mars                                                                  

               The Moon

                                                                                                                                                                                                   The Earth                                                                                         

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. Mars has two moons, Phobos, and Deimos." Mars is a landscape of frigid, windswept deserts that make Antarctica seem balmy by comparison. On Mars there are canyons, which are caused by shifting landmasses, and channels that geologists say were created by flowing water. Mars is midway between Earth, and the Moon in size. Mars is the most similar planet to Earth, such as, Mars, and Earth have volcanoes, deserts, and dried- up riverbeds. Mars also has an atmosphere, although it is much thinner than the Earth's. The rotation rate of Mars's day is only 39 minutes longer than an Earth day. The temperature at the equator on Mars drops to -94 degrees Fahrenheit every night. That's colder than Antarctica in midwinter. Away from the equator, it is colder still. Spacesuited astronauts will have no trouble walking on Mars, since its gravity is only two-fifths as strong as the Earth's. The exsistence of more than 100 channels on Mars indicates that liquid water washed across at least part of the planet sometime in the past.What remains unanswered is how long the water era lasted and why it ended. (Dickenson, Terence. "Other Worlds". Ontario: Bookmarkers Press, 1995.)

         Glossary  

eroded- to form. 

eccentric- strange. 

era- a period of time. 

gravity- a force of attraction between two objects in space. 

channel- The bed of a stream, river, or other waterway.

atmosphere-The gaseous envelope surrounding the planets; the air. 

Equator- A circle separating a surface into two equal groups.

 Create your own educational wiki!HelpPublic, not yet premium Privacy Policy RSS