How do you explain Mars to kids?

How do you explain Mars to kids?

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. It is a terrestrial planet which means that like Earth it has a hard, rocky surface you can walk on. Mars is called the Red Planet because of all the iron in the soil. This iron rusts and as a result, makes the surface and atmosphere look red.

What has NASA done on Mars?

NASA’s Viking Project was the first U.S. mission to land a spacecraft safely on Mars and return images of the surface. Mariner 8 failed during launch. Mariner 9 successfully became the first Mars orbiter, photo-mapping 100 percent of the planet’s surface.

What is the time cycle of Mars?

Mars is a planet with a very similar daily cycle to the Earth. Its sidereal day is 24 hours, 37 minutes and 22 seconds, and its solar day 24 hours, 39 minutes and 35 seconds. A Martian day (referred to as “sol”) is therefore approximately 40 minutes longer than a day on Earth.

What are 3 fun facts about Mars?

Impress your family and friends with these 20 fascinating and fun facts about Mars.

• Mars is also known as the Red Planet.
• Mars is named after the Roman god of war.
• Mars has 2 moons called Deimos and Phobos.
• Mars is the 4th planet from the sun.
• Mars is smaller than Earth with a diameter of 4217 miles.

When did NASA first land on Mars?

Mars 3 arrived at Mars on December 2, 1971. The lander was released and became the first successful landing on Mars. It failed after relaying 20 seconds of video data to the orbiter.

What are 5 cool facts about Mars?

10 Interesting Facts About Mars

• Mars Had Water In The Ancient Past:
• Mars Has Frozen Water Today:
• Mars Used To Have A Thicker Atmosphere:
• Mars Has Some Extreme Highs And Lows In Terrain:
• Mars Has Two Moons – And One Of Them Is Doomed:
• We Have Pieces Of Mars On Earth:
• Mars Would Kill An Unprotected Astronaut Quickly:

Has anyone walked on Mars?

As it turns out, nowhere. In the half-century following Apollo 11, NASA’s human spaceflight program stagnated. Even our closest planetary neighbor, Mars, seems like an impossible destination—but this wasn’t always the case. After 1972, no astronaut would stray further than 300 miles from Earth.

Who walked on Mars first?

The first to contact the surface were two Soviet probes: Mars 2 lander on November 27 and Mars 3 lander on December 2, 1971—Mars 2 failed during descent and Mars 3 about twenty seconds after the first Martian soft landing. Mars 6 failed during descent but did return some corrupted atmospheric data in 1974.