Facts About Mars

In this article, you will find several facts about the planet to help those who are interested to know more about this mysterious planet.

Facts about Mars:

Mars is smaller than Earth

Did you know that the size of the planet Mars is smaller than Earth? It only measures 6,800km across while Earth measures around 6,300km across.

Due to the small size of the planet, the mass is also small. The mass of Mars is only around ten percent of the mass on Earth! The gravity level is also low which means if you jump on Mars, you would rise three times higher than you would on Earth.

Does the planet contain oceans?

In 1965, the first spacecraft was sent to Mars. At the time, nobody had seen Mars very closely. The dark marks were thought to have been rivers, lakes and oceans. But afterwards, everyone found out that the red planet was a dusty dry desert with no signs of water.

However, the planet does contain huge amounts of ice underneath the red surface of the whole planet. If the temperature of the planet was to be warmer, the ice particles would have been able to melt, thus becoming large amount of water which could make oceans etc…

Which planet has the tallest mountain in the solar system?

Did you know that Mars has the tallest mountain in the solar system? The name of the mountain is Olympus Mons which is as much as 27 kilometres high. This would be around 27,000 miles!

The mountain is a shield volcano which had formed over billions of years. It is possible that the volcano is still active due to the recent lava found to be very young.

Which planet has the largest canyon in the solar system?

The planet which has the largest canyon is Mars called Valles Marineris. It is located along the equator and it is as long as 4,000km across and 7km deep around some places. It is so huge that if it were here on Earth, the canyon would have crossed right across the United States!

Is it true that we have pieces of Mars on Earth?

This is true due to the fact that Mars has been hit by asteroids in the past. Even though some of the debris left over falls back onto the planet, some can actually escape the planet and travel across the solar system for several years. Scientists have discovered that some of the meteorites which have landed here on Earth have tiny amounts of Mars atmosphere trapped inside.

Conclusion

To conclude my article, I hope you have learned some interesting facts about Mars like I have as well as enjoying the information I shared with you. It is great to learn new facts about planet Mars and hopefully, a day will come when the planet will be suitable for life forms.