Printable Page
Only on KBears.com, by the Knowledge Bears
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Visit
these amazing |
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Visit
these amazing |
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Picture Credit: NASA/JPL |
Printable Page
Only on KBears.com, by the Knowledge Bears
|
Visit
these amazing |
|
|
Visit
these amazing |
|
|
Picture Credit: NASA/JPL |
 |
Mars |
| Despite its
warm, red coloring, Mars is a very cold planet even on its hottest
day. The atmosphere on Mars is deadly for humans because it is composed of 95% carbon dioxide. The Martian atmosphere is thin due to very weak gravitational and magnetic fields. Much of what is known about the surface and atmosphere of Mars is from the Viking 1 and 2 probes that gathered information and performed experiments on the surface. More recently, we have sent really cool rovers that are still taking pictures and gathering information about Mars. It is believed that the surface of Mars was once covered with water, much like Earth, and it has recently been discovered that there may be frozen water beneath the surface of the planet. Mars is very active tectonically; as a result, there is a lot of volcanic and seismic activity. The biggest Martian volcano, Olympus Mons, is the largest known volcano in the universe. Mars has two natural satellites named Phobos and Deimos. The irregular shapes and orbits of these two satellites lead scientists to believe that these were probably asteroids that passed too close to Mars and were pulled into their current orbit by the gravitational pull of Mars. |
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