Origin of the name of the planet Mars. Planet Mars - history and description of the planet

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), it is named after a mythological figure - the Roman god of war. In addition to his official name Mars is sometimes referred to as the Red Planet, due to the brown-red color of its surface. With all this, Mars is the second smallest planet in the solar system after.

For most of the nineteenth century, life was thought to exist on Mars. The reason for this belief lies partly in error and partly in 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 suggested that such directness is associated with the existence of intelligent life on the planet. The version popular at that time about the nature of these lines was the assumption that they were irrigation canals. 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 optical illusion. As a result, all earlier assumptions about life on Mars were left without evidence.

Much of the science fiction written during the twentieth century was a direct consequence of the belief that life existed on Mars. Starting from small green men, ending with tall invaders with laser weapons, Martians have been the focus of many television and radio programs, comics, films, and novels.

Despite the fact that the discovery of Martian life in the eighteenth century turned out to be false as a result, Mars remained for the scientific community the most life-friendly (other than Earth) planet in the solar system. Subsequent planetary missions were no doubt dedicated to the search for any form of life on Mars. So a mission called Viking, carried out in the 1970s, conducted experiments on Martian soil in the hope of finding microorganisms in it. At the time, it was believed that the formation of compounds during experiments could be the result of biological agents, but later it was found that the compounds chemical elements can be created without biological processes.

However, even these data did not deprive scientists of hope. Finding no signs of life on the surface of Mars, they suggested that all the necessary conditions could exist below the surface of the planet. This version is still relevant today. At the very least, such planetary missions of the present as ExoMars and Mars Science involve testing all possible options for the existence of life on Mars in the past or present, on the surface and under it.

Atmosphere of Mars

The composition of the atmosphere of Mars is very similar to the atmosphere, 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 - Greenhouse effect on Mars is absent, so the temperature on the planet does not exceed 20 ° C, in contrast to 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, while Mars has a rather thin atmospheric layer. Simply put, if the thickness of the atmosphere of Mars were more significant, then it would resemble Venus.

In addition, Mars has a very rarefied atmosphere - atmospheric pressure is only about 1% of the pressure on. This is equivalent to a pressure of 35 kilometers above the Earth's surface.

One of the earliest 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 research indicates that the "weak" atmosphere of Mars does not contribute to the existence of water in liquid state on the surface of the planet.

However, relying on the latest data from Martian missions, scientists are confident that liquid water exists on Mars and is one meter below the surface of the planet.

Water on Mars: speculation / wikipedia.org

However, despite the thin atmospheric layer Mars has quite acceptable by earthly standards weather conditions. 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 have been observed in some areas of the Red Planet.

Another interesting point about the Martian atmosphere is that, according to several modern scientific research, in the distant past, it was dense enough for the existence of oceans on the surface of the planet from water in a liquid state. However, according to the same studies, the atmosphere of Mars has been dramatically changed. The leading version of such a change to this moment is a hypothesis about the collision of the planet with another sufficiently voluminous cosmic body, which led to the loss of Mars of most of its atmosphere.

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 relief and only a few craters, while the southern hemisphere is literally dotted with hills and craters of various 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 areas in the northern hemisphere are much more active than in the southern.

On the surface of Mars is the largest volcano known to date - Olympus Mons (Mount Olympus) and the largest known canyon - 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 Everest, the most high mountain on Earth), and the diameter of the base is 600 kilometers. The Mariner Valley is 4,000 kilometers long, 200 kilometers wide and almost 7 kilometers deep.

To date, the most significant discovery regarding the Martian surface has been the discovery of channels. A feature of these channels is that they, according to NASA experts, were created by running water, and thus are the most reliable evidence for the theory that in the distant past, the surface of Mars greatly resembled the earth's.

The most famous peridolia associated with the surface of the Red Planet is the so-called "Face on Mars". The relief is really very reminiscent human face when the first image of a certain area was taken by the Viking I spacecraft in 1976. Many people at the time considered this image to be real proof that intelligent life existed on Mars. Subsequent shots showed that this is just a game of lighting and human fantasy.

Like other terrestrial planets, three layers are distinguished in the interior of Mars: the crust, mantle, and core.
Although exact measurements have not yet been made, scientists have made certain predictions about the thickness of the Martian crust based on data on the depth of the Mariner Valley. The deep, vast system of the valley, located in the southern hemisphere, could not exist if the crust of Mars was not much thicker than the earth. Preliminary estimates indicate that the thickness of the Martian crust in the northern hemisphere is about 35 kilometers and about 80 kilometers in the southern.

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 pointed to the lack of a sufficiently powerful magnetic field as a sign of a hard core. However, in last decade the hypothesis that the core of Mars is liquid, at least in part, is gaining more and more popularity. This was indicated by the discovery of magnetized rocks on the planet's surface, which may be a sign that Mars has or had a liquid core.

Orbit and rotation

Mars' orbit is notable for three reasons. First, its eccentricity is the second largest of all the planets, only Mercury is smaller. In this elliptical orbit, Mars' perihelion is 2.07 x 108 kilometers, much further than its aphelion, 2.49 x 108 kilometers.

Secondly, scientific evidence suggests that such high degree eccentricity was far from always present, and, perhaps, 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 that affect Mars.

Thirdly, of all the terrestrial planets, Mars is the only one on which the year lasts longer than on Earth. Naturally, this is related to its orbital distance from the Sun. One martian year equals almost 686 Earth days. A Martian day lasts approximately 24 hours and 40 minutes, which is the time it takes for the planet to complete one complete revolution on its axis.

Another notable similarity between the planet and Earth is its axial tilt, which is approximately 25°. This feature indicates that the seasons on the Red Planet follow each other in exactly the same way as on Earth. However, the hemispheres of Mars are experiencing completely different, different from the earth, temperature conditions for every season. This is again due to the much greater eccentricity of the planet's orbit.

SpaceX And ​​plans to colonize Mars

So we know that SpaceX wants to send humans to Mars in 2024, but their first Martian mission will be the launch of the Red Dragon capsule in 2018. What steps is the company going to take to achieve this goal?

• 2018 year. Launch of the Red Dragon space probe to demonstrate technology. The goal of the mission is to reach Mars and do some surveys on the landing site on a small scale. Possibly a supply additional information for NASA or space agencies of other states.
• 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 technology for habitation, life support, energy.
• 2022 Launch of the Mars Colonial Transporter MCT2 spacecraft (unmanned). Second iteration of MCT. At this time, MCT1 will be on its way back to Earth, carrying Martian samples. MCT2 is supplying equipment for the first manned flight. The MCT2 ship will be ready for launch as soon as the crew arrives on the Red Planet in 2 years. In the event of trouble (as in the movie "The Martian"), the team will be able to use it to leave the planet.
• 2024 Third iteration of the Mars Colonial Transporter MCT3 and first manned flight. At that time, all technologies will prove their performance, MCT1 will make a trip to Mars and back, and MCT2 is ready and tested on Mars.

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the last of the terrestrial planets. The distance from the Sun is about 227,940,000 kilometers.

The planet is named after Mars, the Roman god of war. He was known to the ancient Greeks as Ares. It is believed that Mars received such an association because of the blood-red color of the planet. Due to its color, the planet was also known to 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 landmass on Mars is very similar to that on Earth. 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 you can theoretically jump three times higher on Mars than on Earth.

Only 16 out of 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 have been successful. In 2016, a probe was launched as part of the Russian-European ExoMars mission, the main objectives of which will be to search for signs of life on Mars, study the surface and topography of the planet, and map potential hazards from environment for future manned missions to Mars.

Debris from Mars has been found on Earth. It is believed that traces of some of the Martian atmosphere have been found in meteorites that have bounced off the planet. After they left 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 convinced that Mars was home to intelligent life. This was largely influenced by the discovery of straight lines and ditches on the surface of the Red Planet by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli. He believed that such straight lines cannot be created by nature and are the result of intelligent activity. However, it was later proven that this was nothing more than an optical illusion.

The highest planetary mountain known in the solar system is 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 enough evidence that the age of the volcanic lava of the object is quite small, which may be evidence that Mount Olympus may still be active. However, there is a mountain in the solar system that Olympus is inferior in height to - this is the central peak of Reyasilvia, located on the asteroid Vesta, whose height is 22 kilometers.

Occur on Mars dust storms are the largest 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 results in ferocious dust storms that engulf the entire planet and can last for many months.

The Sun appears to be about half 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, the planet experiences a very short but incredibly hot summer. At the same time, a short, but Cold winter. When the planet is further from the Sun, and pointed towards it by the northern hemisphere, Mars experiences a long and mild summer. At the same time, a long winter sets in in the southern hemisphere.

With the exception of the Earth, scientists consider Mars the most suitable planet for life. Leading space agencies are planning a series of spaceflights over the next decade to find out if Mars has the potential for life to exist and whether it is possible to build a colony on it.

Martians and aliens from Mars have long been the main candidates for the role of extraterrestrial aliens, which made Mars one of the most popular planets. solar system.

Mars is the only planet in the system other than Earth that has polar ice. Solid water has been discovered under the polar caps of Mars.

Just like on Earth, Mars has seasons, but they last twice as long. This is because Mars is tilted on its axis by about 25.19 degrees, which is close to Earth's axial tilt (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 Gulliver's Travels by author Jonathan Swift. This was 151 years before they were discovered.

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. Because of its distinctly red color in the sky, the color of blood, the Greeks named it after their god of war - Ares. The Romans liked the comparison with the god of war and they willingly adopted it, although they called it in their own way - Mars. Other civilizations also named this planet by visual impression, such as the Egyptians called Mars "Her Desher" which means "red" and the ancient Chinese astronomers referred to it as a "fiery star".

Dawn on Mars. When viewed from the surface of the red planet, it no longer seems so red to us. In any case, her sky is ... bluish

Orbital characteristics of Mars

The axis of Mars, like the axis of the Earth, is tilted relative to the sun, which automatically implies the presence of seasons on the planet. However, since Mars moves around the Sun not in a round, but in an elliptical orbit (by the way, the most elongated among the planets of the solar system), all seasons are also of two types at once. When Mars is closest to the sun and facing it with the southern hemisphere, the summer will be short but hot, and the northern hemisphere will have the same short but cold winter. When Mars is farther from the sun and the northern hemisphere is facing it, summer and winter will be long, without temperature fluctuations.

The tilt of the axis of Mars can change quite a lot, because unlike the Earth, it does not have an impressive "counterweight" (Moon) to stabilize the system. Theoretically, such jumps can have a very large impact on the planet's climate. In particular, it is assumed that it is the change in the inclination of the planet's axis that affects the sharp emissions of methane from the planet's interior into its atmosphere, which in the past may have caused periods of sharp warming.

Average distance from the sun: 227,936,640 km. (1.524 times farther than Earth).

Perihelion (closest point to the sun): 206,600,000 km (1,404 times farther than Earth).

Aphelion (farthest point from the sun): 249,200,000 km (1.638 times farther than Earth).

Physical characteristics of Mars

The famous red color of Mars is due to loose iron-rich dust that covers the entire surface of the planet, if you make some assumptions, then without organic materials, in millions of years, the soil of our planet would look something like this.

Now, that water cannot exist on its surface in a liquid state, but judging by the soil samples, it used to be much warmer here, and rivers flowed on the surface of the planet. In any case, the beds of the Martian rivers that have dried up by now, speaking of their not small sizes - up to 100 km wide and up to 2000 km long. Not bad for a planet that's about half the size of the Earth and 10 times the mass!

Typical - flat plains and lowlands. Mars does not have plate tectonics, so the diverse landscape on its surface is nowhere to be found. Northern hemisphere of the planet medium height, slightly lower than the southern one. It is assumed that once most of these northern lowlands of the planet were occupied by the Martian ocean.

The number of craters on Mars varies dramatically depending on the location. Most of the surface of the southern hemisphere of the planet has many craters, among which Hellas stands out, 2300 km wide, while in the northern hemisphere it is younger and therefore has fewer craters. In general, in terms of size, Mars is a planet of contrasts. On purpose, you can’t imagine that on a planet almost entirely covered with plains, there would be both the highest volcano in the solar system (Mount Olympus, 27 km!) And the longest canyon system (Marine Valley, 4000 km!).

Some craters have unusual "smudges" around them, reminiscent of hardened mud. Theoretically, this could mean that there is still a lot of water under the surface of Mars in the form of ice, which heats up and splashes onto the surface during a powerful impact.

Both poles of the planet are covered with snow caps, although the snow here is not quite ordinary - it is a condensate of carbon dioxide (“dry ice”) that freezes and falls as precipitation. However, under a layer of gas, the usual water ice is also hidden. During the summer period, the northern snow cap of Mars may melt completely, the southern one never melts completely.

Some volcanoes have multiple craters, suggesting that they erupted recently, leaving lava to cover older craters.

The volcanoes of Mars are one of the "wonders" of the solar system. They are so huge because the molten rock manages to find an exit to the surface of the planet, only at a few points.

Composition and structure of the surface and atmosphere of Mars

The composition of the atmosphere of Mars

The atmosphere of Mars is about 100 times thinner than Earth's. According to NASA, it is composed of 95.32% carbon dioxide, 2.7% nitrogen, 1.6% argon, 0.13% oxygen, 0.08% carbon monoxide, and trace amounts of water, nitrogen, neon, heavy hydrogen, krypton and xenon.

Mars magnetic field

At present, there is no global planetary field on Mars, but there are local areas of the surface where the magnetic field is not inferior, if not superior to that of the earth. These "islands" are the remains of an ancient planetary magnetic field that existed 4.5-3.5 billion years ago..

The chemical composition of the interior of Mars

Mars most likely has hard core, consisting of iron, nickel and sulfur. The mantle of Mars is similar in composition to Earth's and includes various compounds of silicon, oxygen, iron and magnesium. The crust of the planet is represented by volcanic basalt rocks, which are also widespread in the earth and lunar crust. However, the composition of the Earth and Martian crust is not identical - if on Mars the main element of the crust is basalt, then on Earth it is silica.

Moons of Mars

Mars has two satellites - Phobos and Deimos, discovered by the astronomer Asaph Hall in 1877. The names of the satellites are translated from Greek as "Fear" and Horror. However, for the sons of the god of war, the names are quite normal, right?

Compared to our Moon, Phobos and Deimos do not look at all representative - the diameter of Phobos in the widest part is 27 km, and Deimos is 15 km. Both satellites are irregularly shaped because their gravity is too weak to "compress" themselves into a ball, giving a spherical shape.

The composition of both satellites of Mars is the same - stone interspersed with ice. Although both of them have traces of meteorite impacts on the surface, the surface of Phobos is much more heterogeneous, covered with a network of cracks, in addition, it also has a large crater about 10 km wide, or almost half the width of the satellite itself.

Like our moon, Martian satellites always face it on one side.

While it remains unclear where Phobos and Deimos came from, but most likely before being retrained as the moons of Mars, both satellites were ordinary asteroids captured by the gravity of the red planet. Be that as it may, both Martian moons are a temporary phenomenon in the sky of the red planet. At least, this is true for Phobos, which is getting closer to Mars with each orbit, overcoming a “ridiculous” distance of 1.8 meters in a year. However, in 50 million years, if things continue at the same pace, Phobos will either crash into Mars or break up into small fragments that form a ring around the planet.

The moons of Mars are Phobos and Deimos. Ordinary pieces of stone bear little resemblance to our moon

Research and exploration of Mars

The first person to initiate the "instrumental" study of Mars was Galileo Galilei, who observed the planet through a telescope in 1609. For the next three and a half centuries, the telescope became the main (and only) study of Mars, with its help a lot of discoveries were made, but ... it’s better to touch with robotic arms once than to see, right? The "real" study of Mars began only when humanity was able to send automatic research stations to it, in the second half of the 20th century.

Successful missions to explore Mars

The first "space robot" that laid the foundation for the study of Mars were automatically interplanetary stations Mariner-4(USA, 1964), Mariner-6 and 7 (USA, 1969). In principle, the very first flights showed the picture as it is - the red planet turned out to be a barren world, without any signs of life on the surface. Soviet space stations Mars-2(USSR, 1971) and Mars-3(USSR, 1971) confirmed the same truth, but they did not advance much further - both stations fell into the very heart of Martian dust storms and the task of compiling the first map of the Martian surface was not completed by them.

In 1973 Mariner 9(USA) entered the orbit of Mars, after which he managed to map about 80% of the planet's surface, as well as discover the largest Martian volcanoes and canyons, the most extensive of which was named after a family of American research vehicles - Mariner Valley.

Descent vehicle Viking-1(USA, 1976) was the first man-made vehicle to successfully land on the surface of Mars. He transmitted the first photographs of the surface of Mars to earth, but did not find any evidence of the existence of life on this planet. His twin brother Viking-2 also landed successfully in the same year, carried out numerous soil tests, but also found no signs of life.

The next two ships to successfully reach the surface of Mars were "Mars Pathfinder"(Mars Pathfinder, Pathfinder, 1996), and "Mars Global Surveyor"(Mars Global Surveyor, 1996). At the same time, the Pathfinder mission included a small wheeled rover " Sojourner"(Sojourner," The Alien (or rather, "Hugger" :))") is the first rover to successfully complete a soil analysis mission on another planet.

Went to Mars in 2001 "Mars Odysseus"(Mars Odyssey, USA), who discovered a large number of water ice below the surface of Mars, more than one meter below the surface.

In 2003, NASA launched two similar rovers to Mars at once: Spirit" (Spirit, "Spirit") and " Possibility”(Opportunity,“ Opportunity ”), which successfully landed in different areas of the red planet and in both areas found clear signs that water really once flowed on the surface of Mars.

In 2008, NASA sent a lander to Mars as part of the Mars Scout mission. Phoenix» ( Phoenix), who landed on the planet's northern plains and searched for water.

In 2011, NASA sent a fourth rover, known as " Curiosity"(Mars Curiosity, Curiosity)". Of all the rovers, this was the most advanced and largest (weight on earth 899 kg, on Mars 340 kg). This rover - in fact, a whole mobile automated laboratory, conducted a huge range of analyzes of the soil and atmosphere of the red planet and gave scientists a lot of information about the present and past of Mars. Having started work in 2012, as of 2017, Curiosity still maintains some efficiency and continues its mission.

In 2014, an apparatus entered the orbit of Mars MAVEN(Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN - "Evolution of the Atmosphere and Volatile Substances on Mars") - the second part of the Mars Scout project, which made it possible to more accurately determine the reasons for the loss of Mars most of its atmosphere. Also in 2014, the Indian satellite " Mangalyan» delivered to the target with the help of a Russian missile.

The Opportunity rover in a typical Martian landscape. The artist really overdid it and got carried away, because most of The surface of Mars is still covered not with mountains, but with almost flat plains dotted with stones.

Planned missions to Mars

• « insight» (InSight, NASA, 2018) - a double mission of a lander and an orbital station that will study the interior of Mars.
• « Mars 2020"(Mars 2020 Rover Mission, NASA, 2020) - the "receiver" of the Curiosity rover, which will replace the old man at his post.
• « Exo-Mars”(ExoMars, ESA-Roscosmos, 2020) is a space program that includes both its own rovers and orbital stations for the integrated study of Mars.

Failed missions to Mars over the past 25 years

• 1992 - Mars Observer ("Observer", NASA)
• 1996 - "Mars-96" (Roscosmos)
• 1998 - "Mars Climate Orbiter" (Mars Climate Orbiter, NASA)
• 1998 - "Nozomi" (Japan)
• 1999 - Mars Polar Lander (NASA)
• 2003 - "Beagle-2" (Beagle-2, European Space Agency)
• 2011 - Phobos-Grunt (Roscosmos)
• 2011 - "Inho-1" (Yinghuo-1, China)
• 2016 - "Schiaparelli" (Schiaparelli, European Space Agency) tests of the ESA lander Schiaparelli

The story about Mars for children contains information about the temperature on Mars, about its satellites and features. You can supplement the message about Mars with interesting facts.

A brief message about Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. Named after the god of war for the color blood red.

The surface of the planet contains a large amount of iron, which, when oxidized, gives a red color. Due to the fact that Mars is not far from the Earth, scientists have suggested that life could also be on this planet. After all, on Mars, as well as on Earth, there is a change of seasons.

The Martian year is 2 times longer than the Earth's - 687 days, and the day is only slightly longer than the Earth's - 24 hours 37 minutes. After research with the help of an interplanetary station, the assumptions about life on Mars were refuted.

Mars is almost 2 times smaller than Earth. The climate of Mars is the climate of a cold, dehydrated, high-altitude desert with mountains, craters, and volcanoes. Mars has two satellites - Phobos and Deimos, which in Latin means "Fear" and "Horror". Deimos is the smallest moon of the planet in the solar system.

Message about the planet Mars

The fifth planet from the Sun is called the "red planet". The planet was named after ancient roman god wars - its reddish surface was associated in people with bloody battles. This color is created by reflection. sunlight from the surface of the planet, which is covered with metallic dust of silicon, iron and magnesium. Iron on Mars oxidizes (rusts) and takes on a reddish tint.

Mars is almost half the size of the Earth in size - its equatorial radius is 3,396.9 kilometers (53.2% of the Earth's). The surface area of ​​Mars is roughly equal to the land area of ​​Earth.

On Mars, just like on Earth, the seasons change. Temperatures on Mars the most favorable of all the planets of the solar system, excluding the Earth. During the day they reach an average of 30ºС, and at night they drop to -80ºС. At the poles of Mars, the temperature is lower, so they, like the poles of the Earth, are covered with ice and snow. Thus, on Mars there are two favorable conditions for the emergence of life: favorable temperature and water, but there is no main thing - air. The atmosphere of Mars consists mainly of carbon dioxide (95%), and the oxygen necessary for life contains only about 0.1%.

Water on Mars is concentrated mainly at the poles in the form of snow and ice. If all these ices are melted, the surface of Mars will be covered by a world ocean similar to the Earth's, the depth of which will be several hundred meters. Some scientists even put forward versions that it is possible to artificially create favorable conditions for human life on Mars. To do this, you need to increase the temperature on the surface of the "red planet" and plant plants there that will convert carbon dioxide into oxygen. However, all these ideas are still far from reality. Mars has two natural satellite: Deimos and Phobos.

Mars is famous for the presence of numerous mountains - the highest in the entire solar system. The Martian Mount Olympus has a height of 21 km!

The average distance from Mars to the Sun is 228 million kilometers, the period of revolution around the Sun is 687 Earth days. A day on Mars is slightly longer than on Earth.

We hope that the above information about Mars has helped you. And you can leave your report on Mars through the comment form.

Mars- the fourth planet of the solar system: a map of Mars, Interesting Facts, satellites, size, mass, distance from the Sun, name, orbit, research with photo.

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the most Earth-like in the solar system. We also know our neighbor by its second name - the Red Planet. It was named after the Roman god of war. The point is its red color, created by iron oxide. Every few years, the planet is closest to us and can be found in the night sky.

Its periodic appearance has led to the fact that the planet is displayed in many myths and legends. And the external menacing appearance became the cause of fear of the planet. Let's find out more interesting facts about Mars.

Interesting facts about the planet Mars

Mars and Earth are similar in surface massiveness

• The red planet covers only 15% of the earth's volume, but 2/3 of our planet is covered with water. Martian gravity is 37% of Earth's, which means your jump will be three times higher.

Possesses the highest mountain in the system

• Mount Olympus (the highest in the solar system) stretches for 21 km, and covers 600 km in diameter. It took billions of years to form, but the lava flows hint that the volcano may still be active.

Only 18 missions ended in success

• Approximately 40 space missions have been sent to Mars, including simple flybys, orbital probes and rover landings. Among the latter were the apparatus Curiosity (2012), MAVEN (2014) and the Indian Mangalyan (2014). Also in 2016, ExoMars and InSight arrived.

Major dust storms

• These weather disasters are capable of not calming down for months and cover the entire planet. The seasons become extreme due to the fact that the elliptical orbital path is extremely elongated. At the nearest point in the southern hemisphere, a short but hot summer sets in, and the northern one plunges into winter. Then they change places.

Martian debris on Earth

• The researchers were able to find small traces of the Martian atmosphere in the meteorites that arrived to us. They floated through space for millions of years before reaching us. This helped to conduct a preliminary study of the planet even before the launch of the devices.

The name came from the god of war in Rome

• AT Ancient Greece used the name Ares, who was in charge of all military operations. The Romans copied almost everything from the Greeks, so they used Mars as their counterpart. This trend was served by the bloody color of the object. For example, in China, the Red Planet was called the "fire star". Formed due to iron oxide.

There are hints of liquid water

• Scientists are convinced that for a long time the planet Mars had water in the form of ice deposits. The first signs are dark stripes or spots on the crater walls and rocks. Given the Martian atmosphere, the liquid must be salty so as not to freeze and evaporate.

Waiting for the ring

• In the next 20-40 million years, Phobos will come dangerously close and be torn apart by planetary gravity. Its fragments will form a ring around Mars that can last up to hundreds of millions of years.

Size, mass and orbit of the planet Mars

The equatorial radius of the planet Mars is 3396 km, and the polar radius is 3376 km (0.53 Earth). Before us is literally half the size of the earth, but the mass is 6.4185 x 10 23 kg (0.151 of the earth). The planet resembles ours in terms of axial tilt - 25.19 °, which means that seasonality can also be noted on it.

Physical characteristics of Mars

Equatorial	3396.2 km
Polar radius	3376.2 km
Medium radius	3389.5 km
Surface area	1.4437⋅10 8 km² 0.283 Earth
Volume	1.6318⋅10 11 km³ 0.151 Earth
Weight	6.4171⋅10 23 kg 0.107 terrestrial
Average density	3.933 g/cm³ 0.714 Earth
Acceleration free fall at the equator	3.711 m/s² 0.378g
first cosmic speed	3.55 km/s
Second space velocity	5.03 km/s
equatorial speed rotation	868.22 km/h
Rotation period	24 hours 37 minutes 22.663 seconds
Axis Tilt	25.1919°
right ascension north pole	317.681°
declination of the north pole	52.887°
Albedo	0.250 (Bond) 0.150 (geom.)
Apparent magnitude	−2.91m

The maximum distance from Mars to the Sun (aphelion) is 249.2 million km, and the proximity (perihelion) is 206.7 million km. This leads to the fact that the planet spends 1.88 years per orbital passage.

The composition and surface of the planet Mars

With a density of 3.93 g/cm3, Mars is inferior to Earth and has only 15% of our volume. We have already mentioned that the red color is due to the presence of iron oxide (rust). But due to the presence of other minerals, it is brown, golden, green, etc. Study the structure of Mars in the picture below.

Mars belongs to the terrestrial planets, which means it has high level minerals containing oxygen, silicon and metals. The soil is slightly alkaline and has magnesium, potassium, sodium and chlorine.

In such conditions, the surface is not able to boast of water. But the thin layer of the Martian atmosphere allowed the preservation of ice in the polar regions. Yes, and you can see that these hats cover a decent territory. There is another hypothesis about the presence underground water at middle latitudes.

The structure of Mars has a dense metallic core with a silicate mantle. It is represented by iron sulfide and is twice as rich in light elements as the terrestrial one. The crust extends for 50-125 km.

The core covers 1700-1850 km and is represented by iron, nickel and 16-17% sulfur. The small size and mass lead to the fact that gravity reaches only up to 37.6% of the earth. An object on the surface will fall with an acceleration of 3.711 m/s 2 .

It is worth noting that the Martian landscape is similar to the desert. The surface is dusty and dry. There are mountain ranges, plains and the largest sand dunes in the system. Mars also boasts the biggest mountain- Olympus, and the deepest abyss - the Mariner Valley.

In the images, you can see many crater formations that have been preserved due to the slowness of erosion. Hellas Planitia is the largest crater on the planet, covering a width of 2300 km and a depth of 9 km.

The planet boasts ravines and channels through which water could previously flow. Some are 2000 km long and 100 km wide.

Moons of Mars

Two of its moons rotate near Mars: Phobos and Deimos. Asaph Hall found them in 1877 and named them after characters from Greek mythology. These are the sons of the god of war Ares: Phobos is fear, and Deimos is horror. Martian satellites are shown in the photo.

The diameter of Phobos is 22 km, and the distance is 9234.42 - 9517.58 km. It needs 7 hours for an orbital passage, and this time is gradually decreasing. Researchers believe that in 10-50 million years the satellite will crash into Mars or be destroyed by the planet's gravity and form a ring structure.

Deimos has a diameter of 12 km and rotates at a distance of 23455.5 - 23470.9 km. The orbital route takes 1.26 days. Mars may also have additional moons with a width of 50-100 m, and a dust ring can form between two large ones.

It is believed that previously the satellites of Mars were ordinary asteroids that succumbed to planetary gravity. But they have circular orbits, which is unusual for captured bodies. They may also have formed from material torn from the planet at the start of creation. But then their composition should have resembled a planetary one. A strong impact could also have occurred, repeating the scenario with our Moon.

Atmosphere and temperature of the planet Mars

The red planet has a thin atmospheric layer, which is represented by carbon dioxide (96%), argon (1.93%), nitrogen (1.89%) and oxygen impurities with water. It contains a lot of dust, the size of which reaches 1.5 micrometers. Pressure - 0.4-0.87 kPa.

The large distance from the Sun to the planet and the thin atmosphere have led to the fact that the temperature of Mars is low. It fluctuates between -46°C to -143°C in winter and can warm up to 35°C in summer at the poles and at noon on the equatorial line.

Mars is notable for the activity of dust storms that can mimic mini-tornadoes. They are formed due to solar heating, where warmer air currents rise and form storms that stretch for thousands of kilometers.

The analysis in the atmosphere also found traces of methane with a concentration of 30 parts per million. So, he was released from specific territories.

Studies show that the planet is capable of creating up to 270 tons of methane per year. It reaches the atmospheric layer and persists for 0.6-4 years until complete destruction. Even a small presence suggests that a gas source is hiding on the planet. The bottom figure indicates the concentration of methane on Mars.

Suggestions have hinted at volcanic activity, comet impacts, or the presence of microorganisms below the surface. Methane can also be created in a non-biological process - serpentinization. It contains water, carbon dioxide and the mineral olivine.

In 2012, some calculations were made on methane using the Curiosity rover. If the first analysis showed a certain amount of methane in the atmosphere, then the second showed 0. But in 2014, the rover encountered a 10-fold surge, which indicates a localized release.

Satellites also recorded the presence of ammonia, but its decomposition time is much shorter. A possible source is volcanic activity.

Dissipation of planetary atmospheres

Astrophysicist Valery Shematovich on the evolution of planetary atmospheres, exoplanetary systems and the loss of the Martian atmosphere:

History of the study of the planet Mars

Earthlings have long been watching the red neighbor, because the planet Mars can be found without the use of tools. The first recordings were made in Ancient Egypt in 1534 BC e. They were already familiar with the retrograde effect back then. True, for them, Mars was a bizarre star, whose movement was different from the rest.

Even before the advent of the neo-Babylonian empire (539 BC), regular records of planetary positions were made. People noted changes in movement, brightness levels, and even tried to predict where they would go.

In the 4th century BC. Aristotle noticed that Mars hid behind the earth's satellite during the period of occlusion, and this indicated that the planet was located further than the moon.

Ptolemy decided to create a model of the entire universe in order to understand planetary motion. He suggested that there are spheres inside the planets that guarantee retrograde. It is known that the ancient Chinese knew about the planet as early as the 4th century BC. e. The diameter was estimated by Indian explorers in the 5th century BC. e.

The Ptolemaic model (geocentric system) created many problems, but it remained the main one until the 16th century, when Copernicus came with his scheme, where the Sun was located in the center ( heliocentric system). His ideas were reinforced by observations Galileo Galilei into a new telescope. All this helped to calculate the daily parallax of Mars and the distance to it.

In 1672, the first measurements were made by Giovanni Cassini, but his equipment was weak. Tycho Brahe used parallax in the 17th century, after which Johannes Kepler corrected it. The first map of Mars was presented by Christian Huygens.

In the 19th century, it was possible to increase the resolution of instruments and to consider the features of the Martian surface. Thanks to this, Giovanni Schiaparelli created the first detailed map of the Red Planet in 1877. It also displayed channels - long straight lines. Later they realized that it was just an optical illusion.

The map inspired Percival Lowell to create an observatory with two powerful telescopes (30 and 45 cm). He has written many articles and books on the subject of Mars. Channels and seasonal changes (reduction of the polar caps) prompted thoughts about the Martians. And even in the 1960s. continued to write studies on this topic.

Exploration of the planet Mars

More advanced exploration of Mars began with space exploration and the launch of vehicles to other solar planets in system. Space probes began to be sent to the planet at the end of the 20th century. It was with their help that we managed to get acquainted with a strange world and expand our understanding of the planets. And although we were unable to find the Martians, life could have existed there before.

Active study of the planet began in the 1960s. The USSR sent 9 unmanned probes that never made it to Mars. In 1964, NASA launched Mariner 3 and 4. The first failed, but the second flew to the planet 7 months later.

Mariner 4 managed to get the first large-scale images of an alien world and transmitted information about atmospheric pressure, absence of magnetic field and radiation belt. Mariners 6 and 7 arrived on the planet in 1969.

In 1970, a new race began between the USA and the USSR: who will be the first to install a satellite in Martian orbit. Three vehicles were used in the USSR: Cosmos-419, Mars-2 and Mars-3. The first one failed at launch. The other two were launched in 1971 and took 7 months to get there. Mars 2 crashed, but Mars 3 landed softly and was the first to do so. But the transmission was only 14.5 seconds long.

In 1971, the United States sends Mariner 8 and 9. The first one fell into the waters Atlantic Ocean, but the second successfully established itself in Martian orbit. Together with Mars 2 and 3, they fell into the period of the Martian storm. When it ended, Mariner 9 took several pictures hinting at liquid water that may have been observed in the past.

In 1973, four more vehicles departed from the USSR, where all but Mars-7 delivered useful information. The most useful was from Mars-5, which sent 60 images. The US Viking Mission started in 1975. These were two orbitals and two landers. They were supposed to track biosignals and study seismic, meteorological and magnetic characteristics.

The Viking survey showed that once there was water on Mars, because it was large-scale floods that could carve deep valleys and erode depressions in the rocks. Mars remained a mystery until the 1990s, when the Mars Pathfinder set off, presented by spaceship and probe. The mission landed in 1987 and tested a huge amount of technology.

In 1999, the Mars Global Surveyor arrived, setting up surveillance of Mars in a nearly polar orbit. He studied the surface for almost two years. Managed to capture ravines and garbage streams. The sensors showed that the magnetic field is not created in the core, but is partially present in areas of the cortex. It was also possible to create the first 3D surveys of the polar cap. Contact was lost in 2006.

Mars Odysseus arrived in 2001. He had to use spectrometers to detect evidence of life. In 2002, huge hydrogen reserves were found. In 2003, the Mars Express arrived with a probe. Beagle 2 entered the atmosphere and confirmed the presence of water and carbon dioxide ice at the south pole.

In 2003, the famous Spirit and Opportunity rovers landed, which studied rocks and soil. MRO reached orbit in 2006. His instruments are set to search for water, ice, and minerals on/below the surface.

MRO surveys Martian weather and surface features daily to find best places for landing. The Curiosity rover landed in Gale Crater in 2012. His instruments are important because they reveal the planet's past. In 2014, MAVEN began to study the atmosphere. In 2014, Mangalyan arrived from the Indian ISRO

In 2016, active study of the internal composition and early geological evolution began. In 2018, Roscosmos plans to send its apparatus, and in 2020 the United Arab Emirates will join.

Public and private space agencies are serious about creating crewed missions in the future. By 2030, NASA expects to send the first Martian astronauts.

In 2010, Barack Obama insisted on making Mars a priority target. ESA plans to send people in 2030-2035. There is a couple non-profit organizations who are going to send small missions with a crew of up to 4 people. Moreover, they receive money from sponsors who dream of turning the trip into a live show.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk launched global activities. He has already made an incredible breakthrough - a reusable launch system that saves time and money. The first flight to Mars is scheduled for 2022. Speech already underway about colonization.

Mars is considered the most studied alien planet in the solar system. Rovers and probes continue to explore its features, offering each time new information. It was possible to confirm that the Earth and the Red Planet converge in terms of characteristics: polar glaciers, seasonal fluctuations, atmospheric layer, running water. And there is evidence that earlier life could be located there. So we keep going back to Mars, which is likely to be the first planet to be colonized.

Scientists still haven't given up hope of finding life on Mars, even if it's primordial remains rather than living organisms. Thanks to telescopes and spacecraft we always have the opportunity to admire Mars online. On the site you will find a lot of useful information, high-quality high-resolution photos of Mars and interesting facts about the planet. You can always use the 3D model of the solar system to trace the appearance, characteristics and orbital movement of all known celestial bodies including the Red Planet. Below is a detailed map of Mars.

Click on the image to enlarge it

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and probably the most famous representative terrestrial group of planets after Earth. Mars gained its popularity due to its relative proximity to the Earth and the similarity of some characteristics with our planet, which made it possible for scientists to assume the existence of Martian life! However, how to speak in one famous movie: “Is there life on Mars, is there life on Mars. Science doesn't know that."

The history of the discovery of the planet

All the planets of the terrestrial group were known to people thousands of years ago. The first detailed observations of the planet's orbital motion were made by the Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe in the 1580s. With the help of a sextant, the most accurate astronomical instrument at that time, Tycho discovered a discrepancy between the movement of the orbit and the existing models of Copernicus and Ptolemy. For help in solving this problem, he turned to Johannes Kepler, whose mathematical abilities were much higher than Tycho's. It was Kepler who proved that Mars moves in an elliptical orbit, in one of the focuses of which is the Sun.

10 things you need to know about Mars!

1. Mars is located on the fourth orbit from the Sun;
2. The Red Planet hosts the tallest volcano in the solar system;
   
3. Of the 40 exploration missions sent to Mars, only 18 were successful;
4. Mars has the largest dust storms in the solar system;
5. In 30-50 million years, a system of rings will be located around Mars, like that of Saturn;
6. Fragments of Mars have been found on Earth;
7. The sun from the surface of Mars looks half as large as from the surface of the Earth;
   
8. Mars is the only planet in the solar system that has polar ice caps;
9. Two natural satellites revolve around Mars - Deimos and Phobos;
10. Mars has no magnetic field;

Astronomical characteristics

The meaning of the name of the planet Mars

The planet got its real name during the time of Ancient Rome in honor of the god of war Mars. The red-orange hue of the planet, apparently, was associated by the ancients with blood and destruction, which prompted them to choose this name.

Physical characteristics of Mars

Rings and satellites

Two natural satellites move in orbit around Mars, Deimos and Phobos, discovered by Asaph Hol almost simultaneously in August 1877. Their names correspond to the spirit of the "God of War" and mean "Horror" and "Fear".

Both satellites have irregular shapes and relatively small sizes, which speaks in favor of the theory of their asteroid origin and gravitational capture by Mars.

The satellite orbits are very close to the planet. Recent studies show that Phobos loses 2 meters in orbit every 100 years. This will lead to its fall to the surface of Mars in the next 30-50 million years. However, another theory speaks in favor of the fact that Phobos is most likely to be destroyed on approach to the surface due to increasing tidal forces. As a result, a ring of debris from Phobos, similar to those we observe around Saturn, may appear in orbit around Mars.

Planet Features

Mars is a small, rocky planet that until recently was thought to be very similar to Earth. Like other terrestrial planets - Mercury, Venus and the Earth - its surface was formed in the process of volcanic activity, the impact of other cosmic bodies, the movement of the crust and atmospheric processes. Mars has polar caps at its poles that wax or wane depending on the time of year on the planet. Areas of layered soils near the Martian poles suggest that the planet's climate has changed several times. Most likely, this was caused by a change in the orbit of the planet.

Martian tectonism, a process that shapes and changes the planet's crust, is different from Earth's. Earth tectonics is based on horizontally sliding tectonic plates. Martian tectonic plates move vertically, pushing lava to the surface.

Periodically cover the entire planet sandstorms. The effect of these storms is quite significant. Thanks to them, giant dunes and various weathered features of the planet's surface appear.

Scientists believe that about 3.5 billion years ago, Mars experienced the largest flood in the history of the solar system. There could be so much water on the surface of the planet that it could form lakes and small oceans.

However, at present, Mars is too cold and its atmosphere is too thin for liquid water to be on the surface of Mars. All water is in a frozen state, and most of it is located in the polar caps of the planet. But the amount of water that formed huge seas and oceans in the past has not been found on the surface. According to scientists, the answer to this question is hidden deep under the surface of the Red Planet.

Studying the history of Martian water is an important component in understanding the planet's climatic past, which will help us understand the evolution of most planets, including our own. In addition, the presence of water is the main component for the formation of life in the form that we know.

There are some distinctive geological features on the surface of Mars, including the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons. Its height reaches 21.2 kilometers, which is almost twice the highest Earth volcano Maina-Keya, whose height is about 10.2 kilometers. Volcanoes in the Tarsis region are so large that they visually deform the roundness of the planet. The Mariner Valley is the largest canyon system in the solar system. Its dimensions exceed the famous grand canyon on Earth 10 times in length and 7 times in width.

planetary atmosphere

The atmosphere is present on the planet, but in a more rarefied form than on Earth (pressure near the surface is 160 times less than Earth's), however, even it is enough to form winds and dust storms, the speed of which can reach up to 100 m/s.

The main component of the atmosphere is carbon dioxide, which solar heat. The temperature range ranges from -153°C at the polar poles and up to +20°C at the equator at noon.

Useful articles that will answer most interesting questions about Mars.

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