managing fire Random Corner

•Mars is known as the Red Planet because it’s covered in soil, rock and dust made from iron oxide which gives the surface a red rusty color.

•Mars is named after the Roman god of war. Its two moons, Deimos and Phobos are named after the two horses that pull Mars’ chariot.

•One year on Mars is 687 days long, the equivalent of 1.9 Earth years. This is because Mars is further away from the sun, so it takes longer to orbit it.

•Mars is home to the largest volcano and highest mountain in our solar system. It is 16 miles high and 370 miles across at the base, making it three times the height of Mount Everest.

•Mars also has the largest canyon in our solar system, Valles Marineris. It is 4 miles deep and stretches thousands of miles long.

•The biggest crater on Mars is Borealis Basin. It is 5,300 miles from end to end and covers 40% of the planet’s surface.

•Mars has north and south poles like earth. The polar ice caps are covered in a layer of frozen carbon dioxide, or dry ice.

•Sunsets on Mars are blue. The Martian atmosphere is dominated by large-sized dust particles. These particles cause something called “Mie Scattering,” which filters out the red light from the sun’s rays and only lets the blue reach our eyes.

•We have sent out unmanned Mars Rovers on missions to explore Mars and collect samples and record scientific data for scientists on Earth to study. Some of these Rovers include Viking 1, Viking 2, Mars 2, Mars 3, Spirit, Phoenix, Pathfinder, Curiosity, and Opportunity.

•There is no evidence of life on Mars. However, it is the planet with the best conditions to support life and scientists believe there is potential for life under the surface of mars because they recently found water ice just under the surface.