mars_nolan

media type="custom" key="3020066"

= **~ Planet Mars ~** = =  =  Have you ever wanted to have an amazing vacation on an exotic planet? Have you ever wanted to go bicycle riding on a 1,000 horsepower space bike or go skiing or snowboarding on the polar ice caps. If these activities sound appealing to you, Mars is for you. The planet Mars has been known of since the prehistoric times. Mars was named after the Roman God of War(Ares.) It is only about 400,000,000 km away from Earth. This will take about one and a half years to travel Mars is 6,794 km around and has a lot of room for any activity you can dream of. There are special times of the 687 day Martian year that you will want to know about because of the seasons produced by the 25.2 degree tilt of the axis. Because of the tilt of the axis, the days on Mars are similar to the days on Earth because they to are about 24 hours in length. There are many types of weather on Mars. There are amazingly strong winds that will produce dust storms. You should be ready for these storms at all times. You should bring a variety of clothing to Mars considering that the high on Mars can get to 27 degrees Celsius and the low can get to -133 degrees Celsius. The atmosphere of Mars is about 95.3% carbon dioxide, 2.7% nitrogen, 1.6% argon and a small amount of other gases and elements. There are many places to visit while you are on Mars. Phobos and Deimos, Mars's moons, are two great places to visit. Also, some more geographic features of Mars include Olympus Mons, Tharsis, Vales Marineris and Hellas Planitia. Olympus Mons is the largest mountain(500 km wide and 24 km tall) in our solar system. This is a fun mountain to look at and wander about. Also, Tharsis, a huge bulge on the surface of Mars (4,400 km wide and 10 km long) is another spectacular sight to see while on Mars! If you are interested in some really great sight seeing you can see the polar ice caps on the Southern Pole of Mars that is made of mostly carbon dioxide.


 What was the first spacecraft to visit Mars? Mariner 4


call Martian Travel Agency or Martian Activties and Tours at toll-free 1(800)MAR-TIAN or 1(800)627-8426

**~References:~**
Arnett, B (2008, August 21). Retrieved January 21, 2009, from Mars Web site: http://www.nineplanets.org/mars.html

J. Bell (Cornell U.), P. James (U. Toledo), M. Wolff (Space Science Institute), A. Lubenow (STScI), J. Neubert(MIT/Cornell), Retrieved January 21, 2009, Web site: http://bbsnews.net/bbsn_photos/topics/NASA/2001_mars_best_pic.jpg

Williams, D R, (2007, November 29). Retrieved January 21, 2009, from Mars Fact Sheet Web site: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/marsfact.html

Williams, D R. (2007, November). Retrieved January 21, 2009, from Planetary Fact Sheet - U.S. Units Web site: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/planet_table_british.html Kindersley, D Retrieved January 27, 2009, from dkimages Web site: http://www.dkimages.com/discover/DKIMAGES/Discover/Home/Technology/Communications/Signs-and-Symbols/General/General-50.html