Fun Fact 2: How big is Mars? The planet Mars has a diameter of 6800km which just over half the size of Earth
Fun Fact 3: How far is the Planet Mars away from the Sun? Mars is the fourth furthest planet in our Solar system from the Sun; it is 228 million km away from the sun
Fun Fact 4: Venus, Mercury, Earth and Mars, are made up of rocks and metals, they are collectively called the inner planets
Fun Fact 5: What is it like on the surface of the planet Mars? The surface is cold, and dusty the landscape is marked with sandy craters and canyons
Fun Fact 6: The soil on Mars is made up with a high concentrate of iron, which gives the planet a rusty red glow
Fun Fact 7: Mars is visible to the naked eye; it appears in the night sky like a bright orange star
Fun Fact 8: Does the planet Mars have any moons? Mars has two very small moons which closely orbit the planet. The moons are called Phobos and Deimos and were discovered by U.S. astronomer Asaph Hall in 1877
Fun Fact 9: Some scientists believe the strange shaped moons are actually asteroids that have become trapped in orbit
Fun Fact 10: Early astronomers suggested that the surface of the Planet was marked by visible constructed channels implying life; this lead to the belief that there was life on Mars!
Fun Fact 11: It is possible that primitive life may have once existed on Mars. The terrain suggests that the planet may have flowed with water and NASA claimed that traces of fossil bacteria had been discovered within a Meteorite that was found in 1996
Fun Fact 12: Mars is home to the largest mountain in our solar system! Olympus Mons (Mount Olympus) is the youngest of the large volcanoes discovered on Mars; it measures 24 km in height and 600 kilometres wide
Fun Fact 13: The surface temperature of this Planet varies between -133°C to 27°C. The atmosphere is very thin and mainly composed of carbon dioxide (95%)
Fun Fact 14: Mars has been explored more than any other foreign planet. The first spacecraft to land on Mars was the Russian 'Mars 2' in 1971, since then numerous probes have been sent to analyse the composition of the landscape, environment and atmosphere
Fun Fact 15: There are eight planets in the solar system, an easy way to remember the names of each planet is; 'Many Vegetarians Eat Marvellous Jam Sandwiches Upon Nightfall' The first letter of each word relates to the planet in order from the closest to the sun 'Mercury Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune' |
