Mars has remained in the human imagination, and not
even the rise of science and technology has interrupted
our wary fascination with this neighboring world.
Telescopes in the 1880s revealed strange markings on
Mars which convinced masses of people that Mars had
canals built by an alien race. Were these Martians
warlike and should we fear an invasion?
Radio convinced us "yes" when a 1938 broadcast of "War of the Worlds" scared millions of listeners into believing that tentacled creatures had landed on Earth in their war machines.
Today, we know that there is no intelligent civilization on Mars. However Mars is the only planet on which humans could one day settle, making it a place of hope as well as trepidation.
What would it be like to live on Mars?
The geology of Mars should sound familiar: Volcanism, plate tectonics,
wind, ice and water-related erosion and geology, and evidence of
past impacts.
Pictures from the surface show a desert like landscape, drifts and dunes of sand, scattered with larger rocks. Click HERE for a high res image of the Mars surface..
- Temperature?A summer day
in the South, may be 65 F! But average T = -80 F.
Atmosphere? Very thin and bone dry. Primarily CO2. 1/100th the density of Earth's. No Ozone. Essentially all light gets through to the surface (including deadly ones).
Mars' Day and Year? About the same as Earth: 24.6 hours. Being 1.5 times further from the Sun (and moving on a slower orbit), a Mar's year is 686 (Earth) days = 1.9 (Earth) years.
Seasons? YES! Mars is tilted 25o, similar to Earth's 23.5o. Only the orbit is not as Circular: Mars is closest to Sun during Southern Summer, making Southern Winter very cold. The northern climate is more moderate.