Ten Facts about mars

1. The southern hemisphere of Mars is predominantly ancient cratered highlands somewhat similar to the Moon.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is commonly referred to as the Red Planet.
5. 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).
6. 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.
7. Mars orbits the sun at an average distance of 228,000,000 kilometers from the Sun.
8. Mars has polar ice caps that grow and recede with the seasons and has evidence of water channels similar to those on Earth today.
9. Mars has several weak magnetic fields in various parts of the planet, probably left-overs of a global magnetic field from long ago.
10. 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.
11. 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.
12. Jan 17: It's the fourth anniversary of the Mars Exploration Rovers.
13. In this image provided by NASA the Phoenix Mars Lander used its Robotic Arm during the mission's...
14. 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.
15. 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.