La Lune by Ruby Packham-Dale

LA LUNE

EDITION 2

MARS

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THE GRAVITY ON MARS’ SURFACE IS MUCH LOWER THAN IT IS HERE ON EARTH – 62% LOWER TO BE PRECISE. AT JUST 0.376 OF THE EARTH STANDARD (OR 0.376 G), A PERSON WHO WEIGHS 100 KG ON EARTH WOULD WEIGH ONLY 38 KG ON MARS. THIS DIFFERENCE IN SURFACE GRAVITY IS DUE TO A NUMBER OF FACTORS – MASS, DENSITY, AND RADIUS BEING THE FOREMOST. EVEN THOUGH MARS HAS ALMOST THE SAME LAND SURFACE AREA AS EARTH, IT HAS ONLY HALF THE DIAMETER AND LESS DENSITY THAN EARTH – POSSESSING ROUGHLY 15% OF EARTH’S VOLUME AND 11% OF ITS MASS. SCIENTISTS HAVE CALCULATED MARS’ GRAVITY BASED ON NEWTON’S THEORY OF UNIVERSAL GRAVITATION, WHICH STATES THAT THE GRAVITATIONAL FORCE EXERTED BY AN OBJECT IS PROPORTIONAL TO ITS MASS. WHEN APPLIED TO A SPHERICAL BODY LIKE A PLANET WITH A GIVEN MASS, THE SURFACE GRAVITY WILL BE APPROXIMATELY INVERSELY PROPORTIONAL TO THE SQUARE OF ITS RADIUS. WHEN APPLIED TO A SPHERICAL BODY WITH A GIVEN AVERAGE DENSITY, IT WILL BE APPROXIMATELY PROPORTIONAL TO ITS RADIUS. UNDERSTANDING MARS’ GRAVITY AND ITS AFFECT ON TERRESTRIAL BEINGS IS AN IMPORTANT FIRST STEP IF WE WANT TO SEND ASTRONAUTS, EXPLORERS, AND EVEN SETTLERS THERE SOMEDAY. BASICALLY, THE EFFECTS OF LONG-TERM EXPOSURE TO GRAVITY THAT IS JUST OVER ONE-THIRD THE EARTH NORMAL WILL BE A KEY ASPECT OF ANY PLANS FOR UPCOMING MANNED MISSIONS

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GRAVITY

MARTIAN SURFACE GRAVITY IS ONLY 37% OF THE EARTH’S (MEANING YOU COULD LEAP NEARLY THREE TIMES HIGHER ON MARS).

5

AT THE CLOSEST POINT TO THE SUN, THE MARTIAN SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE LEANS TOWARDS THE SUN, CAUSING A SHORT, INTENSELY HOT SUMMER, WHILE THE NORTHERN HEMISPHERE ENDURES A BRIEF, COLD WINTER: AT ITS FARTHEST POINT FROM THE SUN, THE MARTIAN NORTHERN HEMISPHERE LEANS TOWARDS THE SUN, CAUSING A LONG, MILD SUMMER, WHILE THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE ENDURES A LENGTHY, COLD WINTER.

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MARS AND THE SUN

ON MARS THE SUN APPEARS ABOUT HALF THE SIZE AS IT DOES ON EARTH.

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M S ON U P S M Y

OLYMPUS MONS, A SHIELD VOLCANO, IS 21KM HIGH AND 600KM IN DIAMETER. DESPITE HAVING FORMED OVER BILLIONS OF YEARS, EVIDENCE FROM VOLCANIC LAVA FLOWS IS SO RECENT MANY SCIENTISTS BELIEVE IT COULD STILL BE ACTIVE.

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OLYMPUS MONS IS THE SIZE OF THE STATE OF ARIZONA, BUT THREE TIMES HIGHER THAN MT.

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LA LUNE EDITION 2 MARS CREATED BY RUBY TRON