What Is Mars?
Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. It is known for its red colour, small size, proximity to Earth, and for being a common home for aliens in works of science fiction. It is approximately 1.5 times as far from the sun as Earth is, and has about half the diameter of Earth. It is the second-smallest planet in the solar system, larger than Mercury and all other objects in the solar system, except for the other planets and the Sun. It formed at around the same time as all the other planets, 4.5 billion years ago. Various probes have visited the planet, some staying in orbit, while others, such as Curiosity and Sojourner, have landed on the planet in the past, collecting data that has furthered our understanding of the solar system as a whole. Humans have never landed on the planet, and although NASA has been talking about the possibility of sending humans to Mars, there are no concrete plans for a mission to send astronauts there. The movie, The Martian, explored some of the difficulties that could be involved in sending a manned mission to Mars. Being close enough to be visible to the naked eye, Mars has been known since ancient times. It has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are likely captured asteroids.
How Long Are Days And Years On Mars?
Mars takes almost 687 Earth days to orbit the sun, making a year on Mars almost twice as long as a year on Earth. However, Mars has very similar days to Earth, with days lasting about 24.5 hours.
What Is The Atmosphere Of Mars?
Mars, in contrast to Venus, has a very thin atmosphere, as its atmosphere is only about 1% as thick as Earth’s. The most prominent gas in the atmosphere is carbon dioxide, making up 95% of said atmosphere, with both Argon and nitrogen being at or above 2% of the total atmosphere. There are also trace amounts of water vapour, oxygen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and a few other gases. There are some signs that Mars might have had a much thicker atmosphere at one point, with some scientists thinking that it might have been as thick as Earth’s. Nobody is sure why the atmosphere left, but it’s often thought by scientists that it has to do with Mars’ weaker gravity and weaker magnetic field.
How Warm Is Mars?
Mars is colder than Earth and Venus, and also colder than Mercury during the day. Although temperatures and even estimates vary, it is commonly accepted that the average temperature of Mars ranges between -60 °C (-76 °F) and -65 °C (-85 °F). There, however, is great variation, both higher and lower.
Temperatures near the equator often rise above freezing, with daily highs often hitting 20 °C (68°F) near the equator in the summer. The highest recorded temperature on Mars is 35 °C (95°F), and was recorded by the Spirit rover in July 2007. The lowest temperature ever recorded on the planet is -153 °C (-243 243°F), which was recorded near the poles in the winter. This large range is due to the fact that Mars has a thin atmosphere. However, due to having some atmosphere, Mars has warmer nights than Mercury, although this is more so due to the fact that Mercury’s nights are extremely cold, averaging about -180 °C (-290 °F).
How Windy Is Mars?
Mars can be very windy. It often has planet-wide dust storms that last for weeks at a time, even possibly over a month. Both the Mariner 9 probe and Viking spacecraft have detected such storms, with winds of 90km/h (56 mph) lasting around the entire planet for prolonged periods of time. The planet also has several dust devils, which are much larger than the ones on Earth, often over 1 km wide, and even reaching up to 160 km/h (99mph), which would be powerful enough to rank as an F1 on the Fujita Scale for tornadoes on Earth. It should be noted that despite these powerful winds, they will not feel as powerful as equally fast winds on Earth, due to Mars’ thinner atmosphere.
How Rainy Is Mars?
Due to the lack of water and water vapour, as well as cold temperatures, any form of precipitation on Mars is rare. Rain as we know it has never been detected, but there have been some trace amounts of snow on the planet, found by rovers, although said snow tends to vaporize before reaching the surface.
Does Mars Have Storms?
Yes. As mentioned before, Mars has dust devils that can reach up to F1 speed, dust storms that can cover the majority of the planet at once, with winds of 90km/h (56 mph). However, despite the speed of these winds, they do not feel as strong due to the thinner atmosphere. Also, Mars’s lack of precipitation can make these storms seem tame, but they would be dangerous to any researchers working there. Thunderstorms on Mars do occur as part of the dust storms, but lightning is not as powerful as on Earth.
Can Mars Support Life?
In theory, yes. The idea of Life On Mars has been part of fiction since Orson Well’s 1938 radio broadcast War Of The Worlds, with scientists having been studying it before that, although any research that could have been done at the time was with telescopes that were incapable of producing tangible results. The idea of life on Mars has been more prominent than on any other planet. Although the idea of life large enough to be visible to the naked eye is unlikely to have existed on Mars, at least in recent history, the idea of microscopic life from the planet is seen as very likely.
The rovers on Mars have not found any hard evidence of life on Mars. This means no current life, and no fossils. A meteorite that is thought to have originated as a rock on Mars that reached Earth, known as ALH84001, discovered in 1984 in Antarctica, is one of the most prominent bits of evidence for life on Mars having been possible in the past. In 1996, a group of scientists researching the meteor discovered that it contains something that might be microscopic fossils of bacteria, although there is no guarantee this is the case. Scientists have been simulating Martian conditions in laboratories since the 1950s, and introducing microscopic life, seeing how well it survives. Although many forms of microscopic life have been shown to survive for weeks at a time, there is no guarantee they can reproduce at a rate needed to maintain their species, and there is also no guarantee that the lab conditions were perfect simulations of Mars or exposed the microbes to exactly the right conditions.
Although the colder temperatures are an issue, many extremophiles that live on Earth can survive the extreme cold found on most of the planet. The largest challenges for life, at least as we know it, are the fact that liquid water is not to be found (although ice does exist), and oxygen is found in trace amounts. It is possible that life exists not as we know it, but that goes beyond the speculation that would be suitable for this article.
Can Mars Be Terraformed?
Mars has had more support for terraforming than any other planet, and it is theoretically possible. There is even a board game called “Terraforming Mars” where players play as corporations that adjust the levels of water, oxygen, and heat on the planet. However, actually terraforming the planet is much more complicated than playing a handful of cards.
On the optimistic side, there are plenty of reasons why terraforming the planet could happen. The planet is in the ‘habitable zone’, which is the area of the solar system where it is possible for liquid water to exist on the surface. There is also a lot of untapped oxygen, in the form of carbon dioxide, and water in the form of ice, both of which could theoretically be made available. Distance and the length of a day are also less of an issue for the scientists who travel there to coordinate the terraforming.
However, there are many challenges that terraformers will face. The thin atmosphere and weak magnetic field might mean that any ‘heat’ that can be permanently added might simply fade into space. There is also the question of how to heat up the planet. Growing vegetation could fix the atmosphere, although doing so has many practical issues as well. There is also the very long time it would take. Estimates of how long it would take range greatly, but since even the most optimistic predictions range in the hundreds of years, and it is debatable as to whether anyone influential and powerful enough to contribute would do so, as any real impact their contributions would yield would not be noticeable until after they pass. There would also be a large number of astronauts, scientists, and engineers who would need shelter for the duration of the terraforming, and they would likely need to remain on Mars for the rest of their lives.
