RBradbury-SPST435-Week 3 Mars

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Apr 3, 2024

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Mars: Current Knowledge and Missions Reiley Bradbury American Military University SPST435: Planetary and Space Exploration Dr. Kunal Kothari February 24, 2024

Introduction Mars, popularly known as the Red Planet, has been a hot subject of space for decades because of its potential for life. It is one of the most explored planets and NASA has successfully sent five rovers to its surface as well as other missions (NASA, 2021). Astronomers have been very hopeful that we can one day inhabit the Red Planet, and it is believed among many scientists that this other Earth-like world has already been inhabited in the past. Our Current Knowledge The Red Planet is named after the Roman god of war because of its red color and was observed for the first time in 1610 by Galileo Galilei (The Nine Planets, 2019). The dusty planet’s red appearance is caused by the high concentration of iron in its regolith, covering the surface (dust and rock), which is why it appears as a bright red dot easily seen from Earth (Choi, 2019). It sits fourth from the sun at about 142 million miles and orbits at 14.5 miles per second. Mars is twice as small as Earth with a 4,220-mile diameter, 3.389 km radius, 6.42 x 10 23 kg mass (10 times less than Earth) and a volume of 1.6318 x 10 11 km 3 (NASA, 2019). Additionally, Mars has a very thin atmosphere composed mainly of carbon dioxide with traces of water vapor, making it unbreathable (Choi, 2019). Mars is very similar to Earth because it experiences four seasons, has a day length (sol) of approximately 24 hours and 37 minutes, and axis tilt of about 25 degrees (close to that of Earth). Unlike Earth, however, a year on Mars is 687 Earth days. This means the seasons are very long. Mars is very cold compared to our home planet and averages - 81 degrees Fahrenheit, but during the winter, however, can drop to -195 degrees Fahrenheit (The Nine Planets, 2019).

There are only four terrestrial planets in our Solar System, and Mars is one. Touching on its similarities to Earth, the Red Planet also has some of the same geological structures such as rocks, canyons and volcanoes. As briefly mentioned before, the surface of Mars is covered in red-colored dust (due to oxidation) and sometimes experiences severe dust storms that can consume most of the planet (The Nine Planets, 2019). Mars is also home to the biggest volcano in our Solar System, Olympus Mons. This is a shield volcano located in the Tharsis Montes region of the planet and measures about 374 miles wide and 16 miles high. Olympus Mons features a 50-mile-wide caldera at the top. For reference, Olympus Mons is roughly 100 times larger than Mauna Loa in Hawaii (NASA, n.d.). Furthermore, the Red Planet contains a 2,500- mile-long canyon called Valles Marines, which accounts for one-fifth of the entire surface of Mars (Mars Exploration: Multimedia, n.d.). It does not, however have a global magnetic field or any active plate tectonics. Instead, Mars has a strong crustal magnetic field, over 30 times as strong as Earth’s. It is because of the lack of a global magnetic field that the planet has faced erosion and strong solar winds, eradicating all water on the surface over the years (Mars Global Surveyor Magnetic Field Investigation, n.d.). Even though the planet does not currently contain water, scientists believe it did once in the distant past thanks to evidence found by the Mars Rovers. Finally, Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, discovered by Asaph Hall in 1877. Scientists believe that millions of years from now, Phobos will impact Mars and create rings (The Nine Planets, 2019). Missions There have been several missions sent to Mars over the decades, to explore and investigate. Perhaps, the most popular objectives are to find water and signs of life, since scientists hope to colonize Mars in the distant future. Some of the most notable missions sent to

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