10 Must Know Mars Facts You Probably Didn't Know

Canyons

Mars is the 4th planet from the Sun and the second smallest planet in the Solar System, after Mercury. Titled after the Roman god of war, it is frequently called the "Red Planet" as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface makes it reddish. Mars is a rocky planet with a thin atmosphere, having landscapes reminiscent both of the impact craters of the Moon and the volcanoes, valleys, deserts, and polar ice caps of Earth.

Here are 10 astonishing Mars facts you should know in order to sound smarter.

1. Driving To Mars:

If you are travelling 100 km/h in a car, it would take 271 years & 221 days to reach Mars from Earth — I don’t think you make it back in time for dinner.

2. Canyons: 

Mars have the biggest steep-walled canyons in the solar system called the Noctis Labyrinthus, and is approximately 13,000 feet deep — so that would be one hell of a fall.

3. Volcano: 

One of The Mars’ tourist attractions is the Olympus Mons, the biggest volcano in the solar system — so if you ever go to Mars, this would be one of the sights to visit.

4. Crust: 

Mars’ crust is denser than Earth’s and is believed to be one piece. It has no tectonic plates unlike Earth’s crust which comprise of numerous moving plates, which could lead to earthquakes.

5. Temperature and atmosphere: 

There are a lot of unfriendly situations for somebody who takes off the helmet on Mars. First, Mars is generally pretty cold. Its average temperature is -81°F.

Secondly, Mars, almost, has no atmosphere. It is composed generally of carbon dioxide 95%, much less than 3% nitrogen, 1.6% argon and a few other elements. Though, researchers do believe that, in the future, Mars has the likelihood to turn out to be a more habitable planet, capable of creating an atmosphere same as the one we have here on Earth.

6. Seasons: 

Mars, similar Earth, also has Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn. This is because of the resemblance in both planets’ tilt of the rotation of axes. Earth’s tilt is about 23.5°, just a little less than Mars’ which is 25°.

7. Winter: 

Throughout Winter season, approximately 20% of the air freezes. This is not a surprise. In winter, near the poles, temperatures can get down to -125 C. So for those of you who complain when it’s cold, you in fact do not want to go to Mars.

8. Sandstorms: 

The biggest and most fierce dust storms in our solar system were recorded on Mars. These storms can grow in a matter of hours, often have a frenetic speeds, getting up to 200 km/h.

They can continue for weeks and can cover the entire planet in few days. This doesn’t occur often, but when it happens, it could be so big that you could observe it by a usual backyard telescope.

9. Gravity: 

On Mars you’d experience 62.5% less gravity than you would on Earth. This means that, stand on Mars, you could jump three times as high.

10. Craters: 

Mars has so many impact craters on its surface. The most famous, called the Borealis basin, is the biggest observable impact crater ever discovered in the solar system.

This crater is so massive that it measures 10,600 km from end to end, covering up 40% of planet’ surface. Researcher believe that this could be the consequence of huge impact that occurred when the solar system was still forming (at least 3.9 billion years ago). The impacting object must have been about 2,000 kilometres wide — that’s bigger than Pluto.