| Average Distance From Sun: | 227.8 Million KM |
| Temperature of Sunlit Side: | 0°C |
| Temperature of Dark Side: | -100°C |
| Atmosphere: | Very thin Carbon Dioxide gas |
| Diameter: | 6800 KM |
| Mass: | 0.11 Earth Standard |
| GRAVITY: | 0.5 Earth Standard |
| Moons: | 2, Phobos, Deimos |
| Mars Year: | 687 Earth Days |
| Mars Day: | 24hrs 37.5mins |
Mars is slightly pear-shaped, with a low, level northern hemisphere, which is comparatively uncratered and geologically `young', and a heavily cratered `ancient' southern hemisphere. The landscape is a dusty, red, eroded lava plain; red atmospheric dust whipped up by winds of up to 200 kph account for the light pink sky.
Mars has white polar caps (water ice and frozen carbon dioxide) that advance and retreat with the seasons. There are four enormous volcanoes near the equator, of which the largest is Olympus Mons 24 km, with a base 600 km across, and a crater 65 km.
No proof that life ever existed on Mars has been obtained.
The first human-made object to orbit another planet was Mariner 9. Viking 1 and 2, which landed, also provided much information. Studies in 1985 showed that enough water might exist to sustain prolonged missions by space crews. To the east of the four volcanoes lies a high plateau cut by a system of valleys some 4,000 km, up to 200 km wide and 6 km deep; these features are apparently caused by faulting and wind erosion.
Mars is currently the object of scientific study with many probes either on their way or already orbiting Mars, one of these, the Mars Global Surveyor, has recently sent back the most detailed map of the surface. One of the planned probes contains a microphone equipped landing module, allowing us, for the first time, to hear the sounds of an alien world. (unfortunately, this no longer seems likely to happen - see below)
Deep Space 2
The Deep Space 2 probes that are being carried by the Mars Polar Lander, will be penetrating the Martian surface near the south Polar IceCap. It will take readings from the surface and send them back to the, already orbitting, Mars Global Surveyor. This will allow for the most accurate investigation of the composition of the Martian Surface.
The Mars Polar Lander, mentioned above, was scheduled to land on the planet on 03.12.99, however no signal has yet been received from the probe, and NASA are becoming less confident that communication will be established.
This is another setback for NASA who recently lost another Mars probe, after their "scientists" confused Imperial and Metric measurements!!!
For more news on this subject visit the NASA website.