Mars: Dust Storms and Robot Explorers
- Nguyen Khoa
- Jun 13
- 2 min read
Is Mars the next frontier for human exploration?
Introduction
Mars is our neighboring world—cold, dusty, and red. It has canyons, volcanoes, seasons, and signs that it once had water. Scientists believe it's the most probable place to discover life in the past, or even human settlement in the future.
What is it?
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is similar to Earth but dry and dusty, with a reddish color produced by rusting iron in the soil. It has frozen poles, unstable weather, and enormous landscape features.
Time on Mars
A day on Mars, or a sol, is 24.6 hours—practically an Earth day. But a Martian year is 687 Earth days, close to two of our years.
Size and Distance
Mars is approximately half the size of Earth. It is 142 million miles (or about 1.5 AU) from the Sun. It's small, but full of interesting features like old riverbeds and massive volcanoes.
Moons
Mars has two tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos. They are perhaps asteroids that were captured. Phobos is now slowly spiraling towards Mars and may in the future break apart, possibly forming a ring.
Surface and Weather
Mars boasts the solar system's biggest volcano, Olympus Mons, and a canyon system called Valles Marineris, which is longer than the U.S. It also experiences dust storms, and its winters are as cold as -153°C.
Water On Mars
Mars once had lakes and rivers. Today, there is frozen water at the poles, and there may still be salty water underground.
Explore More
Summary
TMars is half the size of Earth and 1.5 AU from the Sun.
It takes 24.6 hours to complete its day; it is 687 Earth days in its year.
It has two moons, Phobos and Deimos.
Surface features include volcanoes, canyons, and dust storms.
It had liquid water before and now has frozen water remaining.
Comments