Karl Hankins
4/14/10
Fact sheet
Mars is the fourth planet away from the sun.
Mars is named after a roman war god.
Mars is a Terrestrial planet.
Mars has liquid water on its surface.
Has a big possibility of having life.
Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are small
and irregularly shaped.
Its moons may be captured asteroids.
Mars can also be easily seen from earth with the naked
eye.
Mars Statistics
Mass (kg)
6.421e+23
Mass (Earth = 1)
1.0745e-01
Equatorial radius (km)
3,397.2
Equatorial radius (Earth = 1)
5.3264e-01
Mean density (gm/cm^3)
3.94
Mean distance from the Sun (km)
227,940,000
Mean distance from the Sun (Earth = 1)
1.5237
Rotational period (hours)
24.6229
Rotational period (days)
1.025957
Orbital period (days)
686.98
Mean orbital velocity (km/sec)
24.13
Orbital eccentricity
0.0934
Tilt of axis (degrees)
25.19
Orbital inclination (degrees)
1.850
Equatorial surface gravity (m/sec^2)
Equatorial escape velocity (km/sec)
Visual geometric albedo
Magnitude (Vo)
Minimum surface temperature
Mean surface temperature
Maximum surface temperature
Atmospheric pressure (bars)
Atmospheric composition
Carbon Dioxide (C02)
Nitrogen (N2)
Argon (Ar)
Oxygen (O2)
Carbon Monoxide (CO)
Water (H2O)
Neon (Ne)
Krypton (Kr)
Xenon (Xe)
Ozone (O3)
3.72
5.02
0.15
-2.01
-140°C
-63°C
20°C
0.007
95.32%
2.7%
1.6%
0.13%
0.07%
0.03%
0.00025%
0.00003%
0.000008%
0.000003%
Before space exploration, Mars was considered the best
candidate for harboring extraterrestrial life.
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).
Barometric pressure varies at each landing site on a
semiannual basis. Carbon dioxide, the major constituent
of the atmosphere, freezes out to form an immense polar
cap, alternately at each pole. The carbon dioxide forms a
great cover of snow and then evaporates again with the
coming of spring in each hemisphere. When the southern
cap was largest, the mean daily pressure observed by
Viking Lander 1 was as low as 6.8 millibars; at other times
of the year it was as high as 9.0 millibars. The pressures at
the Viking Lander 2 site were 7.3 and 10.8 millibars.
Moon
#
Radius
(km)
Mass
(kg)
Distance
(km)
Discoverer
Date
Phobos
I
13.5x10.8x9.4
1.08e+16
9,380
A. Hall
1877
Deimos
II
7.5x6.1x5.5
1.80e+15
23,460
A. Hall
1877