Additional Data:

Diameter:	6.794 km
Average distance to the sun:	227.900.000 km
The mass of 1 kg weighs on Mars:	380 g
One Mars year lasts:	1 year 322 days
One Mars day last:	24 hours 37 minutes
Temperature on the surface:	-138°C to 28°C
Orbital velocity:	24,13 km/s
Orbital inclination:	1,8506 °
Orbital excentricity:	0,0934
Weight:	0,107 earth masses
Density:	3.933 kg/m³
Gravitational accelleration:	3,69 m/s²
Escape velocity:	5,03 km/s
Tilt of the rotational axis:	25,19 °
Number of moons:	2
Number of rings:	0

 

Mars orbits the Sun at a distance of about 50% greater than Earth. It is thus located at the edge of the zone around the Sun, within which liquid water is possible on the surface. Its orange to blood-red color is visible to the naked eye at night. Therefore, he was often associated with the god of war and eventually named after the Roman god Mars. The colour is due to iron oxide particles (rust) on the surface.

Mars orbits the Sun at a greater distance than Earth. It is "overtaken" by Earth every 779 days. Seen from her, this leads to him describing a loop in the night sky. It was not until about 400 years ago that it was possible to reliably calculate its movements.

Mars is one of the rocky planets and therefore has a solid surface. The crust of Mars is on average 50 km thick. It does not form plates. Inside, Mars is divided into an outer and an inner mantle and a liquid core of iron, sulfur, hydrogen, oxygen and carbon. Mars has a relatively light core compared to Earth. It does not have a global magnetic field. Only in the southern hemisphere has a magnetic field been detected in some places, but this comes from rocks that were magnetized by a pre-existing field. Mars has captured two asteroids as moons over time. They are called Phobos and Deimos, Greek for "fear" and "terror".

The surface of Mars can be divided into a northern lowland and a southern highland. Mars is home to Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano in the solar system at 26.4 kilometres. The longest rift valley is also on Mars. The Valles Marineris stretches over a length of 4,000 kilometres, is up to 700 km wide in places and 7 km deep.

Mars is dotted with numerous craters. However, there are also river valleys and delta structures that look as if they were formed by flowing water. They suggest that Mars was not always as dry as it is today.

Mars today has a very thin atmosphere, consisting mainly of carbon dioxide. Mars is thought to have no significant atmosphere since it lost its magnetic field about 500 million years after its formation. The solar wind gradually carried the atmosphere out into space until the air pressure became so low that the water on the surface also evaporated and escaped with the atmosphere. Due to the thin atmosphere, the temperature near the ground fluctuates between day and night, sometimes between 20 °C and -64 °C. Ice caps form at the poles, where the atmosphere also freezes into dry ice.

Several nations and also space companies want to make a manned flight to Mars in the near future. Although the conditions there are difficult, they are manageable in contrast to other celestial bodies. The planet's low gravity also makes it easier to fly back. The biggest challenge is the long travel time. According to today's calculations, flying from Earth to Mars and back again would take more than 500 days. The astronauts would have to cope with emergencies on their own, as the distance would mean that a radio message to Earth would travel for up to 21 minutes.

Although Mars has not yet been set foot on by humans, it is the most visited planet in the solar system. Numerous nations have sent probes and rovers to it. Not all of them arrived safely. A day on Mars is about half an hour longer than a day on Earth. A Martian year is almost twice as long as an Earth year. When scientists on Earth control a Mars rover, they work on Earth according to Mars time. This means that every day they have to go to work half an hour later than the day before.

In 1965, the Mariner 4 probe (USA) flew past Mars and delivered the first images of its surface.

Mariner 6 and Mariner 7 (USA) followed in 1969 and provided more images.

In 1971, the Mars 3 probe (USSR) made a soft landing on its surface.

In 1976, the Viking 1 probe (USA) made a soft landing on Mars and provided the first color images. Experiments to detect life were also on board. But nothing was found.

In 1988, with international participation, the Phobos 1 and 2 probes (USSR) were sent to Mars to explore its moons but contact with the spacecrafts was lost.

In 1997, the Pathfinder and Global Sourveior probes (both USA) reached the red planet. Pathfinder landed the first rover on Mars.

Since 2000, the European Space Agency (ESA) has also been sending probes to Mars.