Mars

__**Mars **__

Color The color is associated with battle and war, bloodred.

Revolution: 188 years.

Moons: Phobos, Deimos.

Sun: Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. Mars has an elliptical orbit around the sun so sometimes it's closer to the sun and sometimes it's farther. When it's closest, it's 206,600,000 km away when it's farthest, it is 249,200,000 km away.

Satellites: Mars has 2!

Atmosphere: Mar's atmosphere is very thin and mostly made of carbon dioxide.

Surface: Made out of Iron oxide, mostly dust and rocks. There is a lot of iron oxide (rust) that gives Mars it's reddish color.

Rotation: 24 hours and 39 minutes and 35 seconds Mars takes to rotate fully. Mars only rotates 39 minutes slower than the Earth.

Symbol: This sign means the male gender.

Fun Facts: - Mars is currently host to three functinol orbiting space craft. - Mars could be seen from Earth with the naked eye. - Mars has the largest canyon in the solar system. - About every two years Mars and Earth come close together. - There are volcanoes on Mars. - The first spacecraft to visit Mars was Mariner 4 in 1965. - Early in its history, Mars was much more like Earth. - A small number of meteorites (the snc meteorites) are believed to have originated on Mars. - Before space exploration, Mars was considered the best candidate for harboring extraterrestrial life. Astronomers thought they saw straight lines crisscrossing its surface. This led to the popular belief that irrigation canals on the planet had been constructed by intelligent beings. - The average recorded temperature on Mars is -63C (-81F) with a maximum temperature of 20C (68F) and a minimum of -140C (-220F). - Scientists have long thought that there is no liquid water on the surface of Mars now, but recent photos from Mars indicate that there might be some liquid water near the the surface. - Mars' mass is about 6.42 x 10 23 kg. This is 1/9th of the mass of the Earth. A 100-pound person on Mars would weigh 38 pounds. - Olympus Mons, a 550 km wide volcano, is the largest volcano in the solar system and covers an area about the size of Arizona. - **Compared to the other planets in the solar system, Mars is quite small.** - **In the 1970’s, the Viking orbiter took pictures of what appear to be giant faces and pyramids carved into the planet’s surface in the Cydonia region.**