Hunted Facts on mars
- The southern hemisphere of Mars is predominantly ancient cratered highlands somewhat similar to the Moon.
- Mars' thin atmosphere produces a greenhouse effect but it is only enough to raise the surface temperature by 5 degrees (K); much less than what we see on Venus and Earth.
- Mars is a difficult but rewarding target for an amateur telescope though only for the three or four months each martian year when it is closest to Earth.
- Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is commonly referred to as the Red Planet.
- The average recorded temperature on Mars is -63 C (-81 F) with a maximum temperature of 20 C (68 F) and a minimum of -140 C (-220 F).
- One of the discoveries of the Mariner 9 spacecraft was that the south polar cap of Mars was made of thin layers or laminations of ice and sediment.
- Mars orbits the sun at an average distance of 228,000,000 kilometers from the Sun.
- Mars has polar ice caps that grow and recede with the seasons and has evidence of water channels similar to those on Earth today.
- Mars has several weak magnetic fields in various parts of the planet, probably left-overs of a global magnetic field from long ago.
- The arm of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander released a handful of clumpy Martian soil onto a screened opening of a laboratory instrument on the spacecraft Friday, but the instrument did not confirm that any of the sample passed through the screen.
- A view of the ground underneath NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander adds to evidence that descent thrusters dispersed overlying soil and exposed a harder substrate that may be ice.
- Jan 17: It's the fourth anniversary of the Mars Exploration Rovers.
- In this image provided by NASA the Phoenix Mars Lander used its Robotic Arm during the mission's...
- In this image provided by NASA the Phoenix Mars Lander used its Robotic Arm during the mission's 15th Martian day since landing Monday June 9, 2008 to test a "sprinkle" method for delivering small samples of soil to instruments on the lander deck.
- Phoenix's first science experiment to heat the permafrost soil was delayed after it was discovered that virtually none of it passed through a screen to reach a miniature oven, one of eight aboard the spacecraft that will heat soil and sniff the resulting vapors for signs of life-friendly elements.