2. The Planet
• Scientists like studying about Mars because its
similar to the Earth.
• Evidence suggests that Mars once had rivers,
streams, lakes, and even an ocean.
• As Mars' atmosphere slowly depleted into outer
space, the surface water began to permanently
evaporate.
3. What does Mars mean?
• Mars was the Roman god of war and
agriculture
• In Greek, Mars was known as Ares.
4. How much would you weigh on
Mars?
• If you weighed 70 pounds (32 kg) on the
Earth, you would weigh about 27 pounds
(12 kg) on Mars.
5. Exploration
• The satellites sent these pictures back to Earth.
• As scientific technology became more advanced,
scientists were able to put spacecraft into orbit around
the Red Planet.
• In 2007, NASA's Spirit Rover on Mars captured an image
of a rock that is shaped like a human. This is quite a
fascinating find. .
6. • Mars is one of the most explored worlds in the
Solar System, from orbiting satellites to landing
probes to moving robot rovers.
• Since the beginning of the use of the telescope
in the early 1600's, people have been in love,
and even afraid of Mars. Through the telescope,
ancient astronomers could see what appeared
to be season changes .
7. Is there life on Mars?
• No life has been found yet. In recent years,
NASA has sent probes, which are satellites that
actually land, to explore the planet's surface.
One important part of the mission of these
probes has been to look for life. They take little
scoops of dirt and perform a series of
experiments. By looking at the way the dirt
reacts in these experiments.
8. Has there ever been life on Mars?
• In Mars there is a canyon similar to the Grand
Canyon in the USA, which was created by two
big forces: wind and running water. Today there
is no flowing water on Mars. But if there was, as
suggested by this canyon, then it is very
possible that life once existed on Mars.
The experiments looking for life on Mars didn’t
have positive results, but there is some evidence
that supports ancient life on Mars.
9. The Red Planet
• People call Mars "Red Planet." This is
because the surface of Mars is red. If
you stood on the surface of Mars, you
would see red dirt and rocks
everywhere.
10. Mars surface
• Mars has higher
mountains, and deeper
canyons than any other
planet. The largest
canyon on Mars would
stretch from New York
City to Los Angeles on
the Earth. That makes
the Grand Canyon look
tiny. It also has the Solar
System's biggest
volcano, Olympus Mons,
which is nearly 3 times
larger than Mount
Everest.
12. DEIMOS AND PHOBOS
• They are extremely small: Deimos is only 12.6
km long, and Phobos is 22.2 km long. That is
smaller than most towns. Because they are
small, their gravity is very weak. Astronomers
think that these two worlds probably started as
asteroids between Mars and Jupiter.
• Phobos is a doomed world. Those who live in
about 50 million years will never get to see it.
Every hundred years it moves almost two
meters closer to the surface of Mars.
13. Can we live on Mars?
• Mars and Earth are not just different in color, they
are made of different materials – Mars’ surface is
covered in dry iron oxide dust (just like the rust that
you can find on an old car), whereas our home is
mostly wet with water. Since the air on Mars is thin
and made of carbon dioxide - you will need to wear a
spacesuit, and because the red planet hardly has an
atmosphere, you would need to protect yourself
from the Sun’s radiation that here on Earth our thick
atmosphere protects us from.
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