“The Earth means ground in Anglo-Saxon, whereas all the other planets have names from the Roman or Greek gods. Mars formed four and a half billion years ago just like the Earth. The rusty red color of the planet comes from iron oxide. Since it orbits much further from the Sun, the Martian year is twice as long as the Earth’s year. Similar to Earth, it spins on its axis with its day being approximately twenty-four and a half hours long. However, Mars is only half the size of Earth, which translates into much less gravity and a hundred times thinner atmosphere of mainly carbon dioxide with a small amount of water vapor. Like Earth, Mars has a changing of the seasons with an average temperature of minus sixty-three degrees Celsius. During summer, the surface temperature is as high as thirty-five degrees Celsius, but the temperature drops to minus a hundred and forty-three degrees Celsius in the winter. Any liquid water would evaporate quickly due to the thin atmosphere although there are the polar ice caps made of water. Notably, Mars is home to the Olympus Mons, an extinct volcano, three times the height of Mount Everest. Two moons orbit Mars called Phobos and Deimos. We thought of Mars as the most habitable planet for humans until the discovery of
“The Earth means ground in Anglo-Saxon, whereas all the other planets have names from the Roman or Greek gods. Mars formed four and a half billion years ago just like the Earth. The rusty red color of the planet comes from iron oxide. Since it orbits much further from the Sun, the Martian year is twice as long as the Earth’s year. Similar to Earth, it spins on its axis with its day being approximately twenty-four and a half hours long. However, Mars is only half the size of Earth, which translates into much less gravity and a hundred times thinner atmosphere of mainly carbon dioxide with a small amount of water vapor. Like Earth, Mars has a changing of the seasons with an average temperature of minus sixty-three degrees Celsius. During summer, the surface temperature is as high as thirty-five degrees Celsius, but the temperature drops to minus a hundred and forty-three degrees Celsius in the winter. Any liquid water would evaporate quickly due to the thin atmosphere although there are the polar ice caps made of water. Notably, Mars is home to the Olympus Mons, an extinct volcano, three times the height of Mount Everest. Two moons orbit Mars called Phobos and Deimos. We thought of Mars as the most habitable planet for humans until the discovery of