![]() ![]() About 60% of the surface of Mars shows a record of impacts from that era, whereas much of the remaining surface is probably underlain by immense impact basins caused by those events. Īfter the formation of the planets, all were subjected to the so-called " Late Heavy Bombardment". Elements with comparatively low boiling points, such as chlorine, phosphorus, and sulfur, are much more common on Mars than Earth these elements were probably pushed outward by the young Sun's energetic solar wind. Mars has many distinctive chemical features caused by its position in the Solar System. Scientists have theorized that during the Solar System's formation, Mars was created as the result of a random process of run-away accretion of material from the protoplanetary disk that orbited the Sun. ![]() Currently, Mars is an attractive target for the first future interplanetary human missions. As of 2023, there are at least 11 active probes orbiting Mars or at the Martian surface. Since the late 20th century, Mars has been explored by uncrewed spacecraft and rovers, with the first flyby by the Mariner 4 probe in 1965, the first Mars orbiter by the Mars 2 probe in 1971, and the first landing by the Viking 1 in 1976. Its high-contrast albedo features make it an attractive target for viewing with a telescope. The Romans named it for the god of war, Mārs, as did Greeks ( Ares) and Mesopotamians ( Nergal), likely because its color suggested blood. Mars is among the brightest objects in Earth's sky, and thus has been known from the ancient times. It is not yet known whether life has ever existed on Mars, though search for evidences of life on Mars is still ongoing. The Amazonian period, which continues today, was marked by the wind's influence on geological processes. The Hesperian period from 3.7 to 3.2–2 billion years ago was dominated by widespread volcanic activity and flooding that carved immense outflow channels. During the Noachian period from about 4.1 to 3.7 billion years ago, Mars's surface was marked by meteor impacts, valley formation, erosion, and the possible presence of water oceans. Like the other planets in the Solar System, Mars was formed 4.5 billion years ago. A Martian solar day ( sol) is equal to 24.5 hours and a Martian solar year is equal to 1.88 Earth years. ![]() ![]() This motion causes seasonal changes to the polar ice caps' coverage and temperature swings between −110 ☌ (−166 ☏) to 35 ☌ (95 ☏) on the surface. Mars's celestial motion is comparable to that of Earth, with a slightly eccentric orbit and an axial tilt only slightly greater than Earth's. The surface of Mars hosts a large shield volcano ( Olympus Mons) and one of the largest canyons in the Solar System ( Valles Marineris). Geologically, Mars is fairly active, with dust devils sweeping across the landscape and marsquakes (Martian analog to earthquakes) trembling underneath the ground. Mars has a very thin atmosphere made primarily of carbon dioxide and two irregularly shaped natural satellites: Phobos and Deimos. The Martian dichotomy can be clearly seen on the surface: on average, the terrain on Mars northern hemisphere is flatter and lower than Mars southern hemisphere. Mars has a second smallest radius among the planets in the Solar System at 3,389.5 km (2,106 mi) and has a surface gravity of 3.72 m/s 2 (12.2 ft/s 2), which is 38% of Earth's gravity. The reddish color of its surface is due to finely grained iron(III) oxide dust in the soil, giving it the nickname "the Red Planet". They said there are linear fractures along this outcrop, and this is a place where several linear fractures happen to intersect," the website indicates from statements by NASA's JPL spokesperson.Mars is the fourth planet and the furthest terrestrial planet from the Sun. "The team scientists stressed how small the crack is: about 30 centimeters across and 45 centimeters wide. "The agency's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) said it was actually a " very, very, very, very magnified shot of a small crack in a rock" stated the Snopes website statement. The site's specialists contacted NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for more information. The website Snope, which is in charge of verifying several facts that become viral or popular in the networks to determine if they are real or not, made its analysis about the peculiar "door". It is a natural movement called "shear fracture", which caused the rock to accumulate stress from seismic movements and eventually break. The experts assure that earthquakes are very common on the planet, and the last one recorded was on May 4, which could have caused the formation of the "door". NASA scientists attributed the origin of the "extraterrestrial door", as some have called it, to the seismic movements that occur on the planet. ![]()
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