Of all the planets in the Solar System, Mars is the one people believe is most likely to contain or to have contained life. In 1900, a prize was offered to the first person to contact an extra-terrestrial being. However, this extra-terrestrial being was not allowed to come from Mars because that would make the competition too easy! In 1938, a radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (a story about an invasion of Earth by Martians) caused a near panic in America because so many people believed it to be true

Mars has seasons like Earth. This is caused by the tilt of the planet’s axis, at a similar angle to the tilt of Earth’s axis. Mars has polar caps like Earth, containing frozen carbon dioxide (and small amount of water). Despite all this Mars is a dead planet like all the rest in our Solar System. So far, life has not been discovered anywhere outside of Earth.

Mars’ thin atmosphere is made up mainly of Carbon Dioxide (95.32%). It is deadly to breathe in just as breathing in fumes of Carbon Dioxide from cars on Earth is extremely dangerous. Although the surface temperature on Mars can reach up to 25°c, the average surface temperature there is -63°c and it reaches as low as -140°c. Temperatures on Earth do go below freezing, and people can survive in them, but -140°c is probably too cold for even the most cold-resistant Eskimos!

There is very little water on Mars. Only 0.03% of its atmosphere contains droplets of water. On Earth, 70% of the planet’s surface is made up of water. Even with this small amount of Martian water, high clouds, frost and fog can form on Mars. The ice in its ice-caps is frozen Carbon Dioxide (also known as ‘Dry Ice’). Water is one of the most important elements for life to exist.

Categories: Universe