Mars

“Mars is there, waiting to be reached.”

– Buzz Aldrin, American pilot, and astronaut

Also known as the “Red Planet” from its iron oxide (rust) cover surface, Mars has been prominent in recent space exploration in our search for extraterrestrial life and a second planet to inhabit. Let’s delve into our sister planet!

Mars is the fourth planet in our solar system from the sun, and it is the last of the rocky planets. It houses the largest volcano in our solar system: Olympus Mons. Mars also has two moons of its own: Phobos and Deimos.

If we were to inhabit Mars, there are ice caps that may be able to sustain life. There are great dust storms on Mars as well. The length of a day is about the same as a day on Earth: 24 hours and 37 minutes, although a year is 687 Earth days. The temperature is -87 to -5 °C on Mars, in comparison to -88 to 58°C on Earth

Even though Mars has been one of our most promising areas of research, only 18 of 40 of our missions have been successful. We have much to learn about our sister planet named after the Roman God of War.