Mars
The voyage
Getting from Earth to Mars requires less energy per mass unit(delta-v) than to the other
planets in the solar system (not including closer Venus). Using Hohmann’s transfer
maneuver, the travel time to Mars would be approximately 9 months. A modified trajectory
transfer reducing travel time to seven or six months is possible using incremental increases
in energy and fuel consumption. This is a technique comparable to the Hohmann transfer
orbit used for unmanned missions to Mars. Reducing travel time below 6 months requires
higher delta-v and exponential fuel growth and is not feasible with chemically propelled
rockets. Advanced propulsion technologies that are not yet widely used, such as VASIMR or
nuclear propulsion, offer this possibility. Nuclear propulsion would cut the trip down to as
much as 2 weeks.
62,8 mln km away / from the Earth
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It orbits between Earth orbit path and Asteroid belt
(which separates it from Jupiter).
The Roman god
The name of this planet comes from Roman mythology where there’s a god called Mars. The
Romans believed that Mars is the god of war. That’s why the first association of the red
planet was the fight. The color is caused by iron oxides covered the surface of Mars.
Astronomy on Mars
Thanks to orbiters, landers and rovers, it is now possible to observe astronomical
phenomena from Mars. While Phobos as seen from the equator of Mars is one-third the
angular diameter of the Moon as seen from Earth, Deimos viewed with the naked eye would
look more like a star than a moon (3′ angular diameter) and would be slightly brighter than
Venus as seen from Earth. Various phenomena known from Earth are now observed on
Mars, such as meteors and auroras. From Mars it is possible to observe the passage of
Mercury against the background of the disc of the Sun (transit of Mercury), the transit of
Venus, as well as transits of the Earth, the nearest of which will occur on November 10,

2084. The moon Phobos has an angular diameter small enough to cause only a partial
      eclipse of the Sun; in the case of Deimos, the degree of obscuration of the solar disk is
      negligible, so one speaks of a Deimos transit rather than an eclipse.
      The history of Mars observation
      In 1877, Italian astronomer Giovani Schiaparelli drew a network of man-made canals he had
      observed, which the Martians supposedly built to distribute water across the planet. We
      now know that the „channels” were merely an optical illusion. Last century, some
      astronomers detected „canals” crossing the planet’s surface and suggested that they were
      built by Martians to irrigate the dry soil. They thought the changing dark spots on the
      surface were places where plants developed. We now know that the „channels” are an
      optical illusion, and that the spots appear when gusty winds blow dust off the rocks.

Areography
Areography – the description of the physical features, such as the surface, atmosphere, etc,
of the planet Mars.
Polar zone
There we can find a huge realm of ice caps. It is a reason why this place is one of the most
suitable areas for colony. There have been a few mission which did research work here. One
of them was Mars Odyssey which discovered the biggest water concentration nearby the
north pole. Fortunately, it is also known that the water exists in tiny amounts on smaller
latitude.
The equator zones
Mars Odyssey found natural caves near to volcano called Arsia Mons. Unfortunately, sizes
and shapes of these caves are unknown until now. What’s more, scientists guess water
exists there. That’s why caves with water resources would be used by colonists as a natural
shelter from radiation. Furthermore, it is possible that on equator zones we could use
geothermal energy.
Olympus Mons
The largest volcano in the Solar System – Olympus Mons id located on Mars. It is 26 km high,
which is three times as high as Mount Everest. All the other volcanoes on Mars are also in
the shapes of a huge truncated cones. The area of the base of the volcano is larger than the
area of England, and the its crater is as big as the area of two cities like London. All
volcanoes on Mars are now presumed to be defunct.
Valles Marineris
Valles Marineris is the biggest canyons system and is about 4000 km long. The Grand
Canyon in the USA is a dwarf comparing to this one. In some parts Valles Marineris is 200
km wide and 7 km deep. Canals that lead to the canyon might have been formed by periodic
water flows. It is possible that water would stream there in the past.
Other zones
Nowadays, the research of Martian Surface is still proceed. Mars Exploration Rovery, Spirit
and Opportunity showed that properties of soil and stones are different in different parts of
planet. It suggests the Martian geology is even more diverse.
Rocks and Minerals
We can find many rock types not only on Mars but also in meteorites from Mars. Nowadays
we point out rocks such as: igneous basalt, sedimentary sandstone, mudstone, impactites,
evaporites. They are composed of minerals like olivine, pyroxene, amphiboles, feldspar,
carbonates, sulfates (jarosite, gypsum), silica, phyllosilicates, phosphates, and iron oxides
(hematite).
Mars and Earth
Table
Mars and Earth surface

The photo on the right was taken by the robotic rover, Spirit, on Mars. The photo on the left
was taken in the desert, south of Morocco that is on Earth. Both photos show vast plains
covered with rocks and sand. We will not see water or other obvious signs of life on any of
them. Each of these planets has a surface so complex that any single photo may not reveal
that particular planet to us. It turns out that understanding either of these helps you
understand the other.
Martian moons
Mars has two moons which resemble potato tubers in shape: Phobos (Fear) and Deimos
(Terror). They perfectly match the small companions of the god of war. Both are small
Phobos is 28km long and Deimos is 16km long. They are most likely asteroids, intercepted
by Mars. Phobos and Deimos are orbiting Mars in different orbits (Phobos on the near side,
Deimos on the far side). Phobos orbits so close to the planet (about 5,800 kilometers above
the surface compared to 400,000 kilometers for our Moon) that gravitational tidal forces
pull it down. In about 100 million years, it will probably fall to the surface or be torn apart by
tension caused by tidal forces, and its remains will from a ring around Mars.
Cimate
Of all the planets in the Solar System, Mars’ seasons are the most similar to Earth’s due to
the similar inclination of both planets’ rotation axes to the plane of orbit. However, because
of Mars’ greater distance from the Sun, the seasons on Mars are about twice as long as on
Earth. Mars’ surface temperature fluctuates, dropping to about -133°C during winter at the
poles and reaching +2 °C on warm days at the equator. The lower temperatures are due to
the fact that the planet is 1. 52 times farther from the sun than Earth, resulting in 43
percent of the energy incident on the same surface on Earth reaching its surface. The large
variations, in turn, are due to the low heat capacity of the thin atmosphere (due to low
pressure) and the thermal inertia of the Martian soil, which cannot store solar heat for long.
Mars’ climate is also affected by the relatively large eccentricity of its orbit. Mars is near
perihelion when it is summer in the southern hemisphere and winter in the northern
hemisphere, and near aphelion when it is winter in the southern hemisphere and summer in
the northern hemisphere. As a result, seasons in the southern hemisphere are more severe
than in the northern hemisphere, where the differences between summer and winter are
smaller. Summer temperatures in the south can be up to 30°C higher than summer
temperatures in the north, at the same areographic latitude. Furthermore, the Martian
atmosphere is so thin that even after a warm day where the temperature can be as high as
20°C, it can drop to -90°C at night.
Martian dust storms
The biggest in whole Solar System dust storms occur on Mars. They encompass small parts
or whole planet. During dust storms wind can approach 300 kmph. Storms are more
common when Mars is closest to the Sun, resulting in more intense heating of its surface.
Recent studies indicate that the occurrence of storms is also related to changes in the
planet’s angular momentum relative to the solar system’s center of mass as the planet
moves around the center of the solar system. Other planets influence Mars’ momentum,
which changes periodically over a period of 2. 2 years (it takes 1. 9 years to revolve around
the Sun), Mars’ dust storm season begins when momentum increases.

Dust storms are very dangerous for future flights to Mars. The surface of planet is severed
from solar rays and everything is covered by fine dust layer. It could have a bad influence on
mechanical and electronic devices working on planet, includes solar panels whose capability
would reduce. These suppositions were confirmed during the global dust storm in 2007,
after which a significant decrease in the energy produced by solar panels installed on board
the then active Mars rovers Spirit and Opportunity was noticed. The 2018 dust storm ended
the Opportunity rover’s work.
Atmosphere
Martian atmosphere is very rare and its density is in line with terrestrial atmosphere at
height of 30 km. The atmosphere consists mostly of carbon dioxide (95%). Nevertheless,
clouds of ice crystals and solidified carbon dioxide are created in this very rare atmosphere.
Ice caps are covered by solidified carbon dioxide.
Water
It isn’t possible that liquid water exist on Mars because the pressure on Martian surface is
less than 10 mbar. However, trenches in the inner walls of some craters looks like they were
grooved by water and there is a chance liquid water isn’t deep under the surface.
Missions
Research expeditions
Many space probes, including orbiters, landers and rovers, have been sent towards Mars by
the USSR, the US, Europe and Japan to study the planet’s surface, climate and geological
structure. The current cost of sending from the surface of the Earth to the surface of Mars 1
kg of the load oscillate around 309 thousand dollars.
About half of all missions to Mars have been unsuccessful, failing before completion or even
in the initial stages of flight. Although the high percentage of failures is due to various
technical problems, the number of minor failures or incidents of unexplained loss of
communications is so high that there was a joke at NASA for many years about a „great
galactic wraith” that preys on spacecraft flying to Mars. The Russians had a particularly bad
run – almost all of their probes failed completely, and the others collected very little data.
Missions completed
The first successful flyby near Mars was made by Mariner 4 in 1965. On November 14, 1971,
Mariner 9 became the first probe to orbit another planet, entering orbit around Mars. The
first successful landing on the surface was made by the Soviet Mars 3 probe from the Mars
program, launched in 1971, but contact was lost within 20 seconds of landing. In 1975 NASA
sent probes of the Viking program, which consisted of two orbiters equipped with landers
that successfully landed on the planet in 1976. Viking 1 remained operational for six years,
Viking 2 for three. Viking landers have transmitted color panoramas of the Martian surface
and performed biological experiments to search for signs of life on the planet, and orbiters
have made maps of the surface in such detail that they are still in use.
Probes of the Soviet Phobos program were sent to Mars in 1988 to study the planet and its
moons. Contact with Phobos 1 was lost en route to Mars, while Phobos 2 successfully

photographed Mars and Phobos, but was damaged before the two landers that were to land
on that moon’s surface were detached.
After the failed mission of the Mars Observer orbiter launched in 1992, NASA sent the Mars
Global Surveyor probe in 1996. This mission was a complete success, completing its primary
mission of mapping the planet’s surface in early 2001. Contact with the probe was lost in
November 2006, during the Third Extended Program, after exactly 10 years in space.
Launched in the same launch window, a month after Surveyor, the Mars Pathfinder lander
with the Sojourner rover landed in the Ares Vallis valley on Mars in the summer of 1997.
That mission, too, was a success and generated a lot of interest, in part because of the
significant number of images that were sent back to Earth.
In 2003, NASA launched the Mars Exploration Rover program, consisting of two rovers
named Spirit (MER-A) and Opportunity (MER-B). Both probes successfully landed in January
2004 and met or exceeded all primary mission objectives. Among the most important
scientific findings is finding evidence that water existed on the surface of Mars in the past
and at both landing sites. Swirls of Martian dust and wind occasionally cleared the solar
panels of both rovers, thereby increasing their lifespan. The Spirit rover lost mobility in 2009
and finally lost contact with it in March 2010. Opportunity, after surveying exposed geologic
layers in smaller craters, reached the large crater Endeavour in August 2011, where it
conducted further research. Last contact was made in June 2018, just before the historic
dust storm began. The mission was considered completed in February 2019.
The next NASA probe to land on Mars was the Phoenix lander, which got close to the
planet’s northern polar cap on May 25, 2008. The lander had a 2.5-meter-long arm capable
of digging one meter deep into the Martian soil, and a microscopic camera with a resolution
one thousandth the thickness of a human hair. On June 15, 2008, the lander’s cameras
transmitted an image of a bright substance at the landing site, which later on was identified
as ice; it had sublimated by June 20. The mission was declared terminated on November 10,
2008, as engineers were no longer able to contact the lander.
Missions in progress
In 2001, a mission was launched by NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter, which is still (as of
February 2021) active in Mars orbit. The probe’s gamma-ray spectrometer has detected
significant amounts of hydrogen in the upper regolith layer on Mars. The hydrogen is
thought to be bound in the form of water molecules, forming perennial permafrost.
In 2003, the European Space Agency (ESA) launched the Mars Express mission, consisting of
the Mars Express orbiter and the Beagle 2 lander. The Beagle 2 mission has failed. Contact
with the lander was lost during descent and later on it was classified as permanently lost. In
early 2004, the team responsible for the Planetary Fourier Spectrometer (PFS) instrument
on board of the orbiter announced that methane was detected in the Martian atmosphere.
In June 2006, ESA reported the discovery of auroras on Mars (associated with local magnetic
anomalies).
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter probe, launched in 2005, reached the planet’s orbit on
March 10, 2006. Orbiter creates maps of Mars terrain and its weather to find suitable

landing sites for future landers. The data transmission system from the probe to Earth has
been greatly improved, providing it with more bandwidth than all previous missions
combined. The IAC has sent, among other things, the first pictures of an avalanches coming
down the slopes near the planet’s North Pole or evidence of salt water on Mars.
On November 26, 2011, the Mars Science Laboratory mission was launched. The mission
utilised the Curiosity rover, which is larger, faster (up to 90 m/h) and equipped with
perfected instruments compared to the Mars Exploration Rovers. The machine’s equipment
includes a chromatograph, gas spectrometer and laser that can analyze the composition of
rocks at a distance of up to 13 m. The rover landed on the planet’s surface on August 6,
2012.
In September 2014, two probes entered the orbits around the planet: the U.S. MAVEN used
to study the planet’s atmosphere and India’s Mars Orbiter Mission probe.
In March 2016, the ExoMars 2016 mission prepared by ESA in cooperation with Roskosmos
was launched. It consisted of an orbiter searching for trace gases in the planet’s atmosphere
and a small stationary lander. The probe arrived near the Red Planet in October 2016. The
Schiaparelli lander failed to land on the planet, crashing on October 19. A second mission of
the ExoMars program is planned for 2022. It will deploy the Rosalind Franklin rover which
will be able to drill to a depth of 2m in search of organic compounds.
The InSight mission was sent to Mars in 2018 and has been conducting geophysical studies
of the planet since November 26, 2018, including measuring its seismic activity.
In the July 2020 launch window, the Emirati Al Amal (Hope) mission, the Chinese Tianwen-1
mission and the U.S. Mars 2020 mission were sent toward Mars. The Al Amal probe entered
the orbit on February 9, 2021, Tianwen-1 entered the orbit a day later. A lander with a rover
will detach from Tianwen-1’s orbiter and attempt to land on the planet’s surface in April
2021.
Future missions
A manned expedition to Mars has been identified by the United States as a major long-term
goal of the Vision for Space Exploration program, which was announced by the former U.S.
President George W. Bush in 2004. NASA and Lockheed Martin have begun to work on the
Orion spacecraft (formerly the Crew Exploration Vehicle), which would make it possible to
land on the Moon again by 2020, as a step towards a Mars expedition. In 2007, NASA
Administrator Michael D. Griffin stated that the agency intends to bring humans to Mars
before 2037. Due to budget cuts, a return to the Moon was crossed out of NASA’s upcoming
plans. The 21st century is still in the planning stage.
The ESA hopes to land a human on Mars between 2030 and 2035. It will be preceded by
landing successively larger probes, starting with ExoMars and the joint NASA/ESA Mars
Sample Return Mission, the timing of which remains undetermined.
Mars Direct is a proposal for a relatively low-cost manned mission to Mars. The solution has
been proposed by Mars Society founder Robert Zubrin. Future Saturn V-class rockets would

be used to lift large masses into space in order to skip building a ship in Earth’s orbit. One
variant of the project assumes that astronauts will not immediately return to Earth, if they
were ever to return at all.
Colonization
The possibility of future life development
The conditions on the surface of Mars are much more habitable for living creatures than the
conditions of most planets and moons. The conditions are significantly more favorable than
on the strongly thermally contrasted Mercury, the hot surface of Venus, or the cryogenically
cold bodies of the outer Solar System and their moons. Only the upper clouds on Venus are
more life-friendly than Mars.
Terraforming Mars
Some have speculated about the possibility of terraforming Mars to make it more like Earth
and to allow terrestrial life forms to exist on it without any further outside help. The process
of terraforming has still not been thoroughly planned. However, scientists agree that the
planet’s temperature must first be increased in order to achieve a higher atmospheric
pressure and consequently liquid water. Huge amounts of greenhouse gases (mainly carbon
dioxide) trapped in the globe’s polar caps may help to accelerate the process.
Radiation
Mars has no global magnetic field comparable to Earth’s magnetic field. Combined with thin
atmosphere, it causes a significant increase in ionizing radiation reaching the surface of the
Red Planet. The Mars Odyssey space probe is equipped with the Mars Radiation
Environment Experiment (MARIE) instruments to measure the potential danger to humans.
MARIE discovered that radiation levels in orbit around Mars are 2.5 times higher than on
the ISS. This averaged about 22 billion per day (220 microgreens per day or 0.08 greens per
year). Three years of exposure to such radiation would be close to the safety limit currently
approved by NASA. Radiation levels on the surface of Mars could be slightly lower and
would vary significantly from place to place, depending on altitude and the local magnetic
field.
Sporadic solar events (SPEs) produce much higher radiation doses. Astronauts on Mars
could be warned of such phenomena by transducers close to the Sun. Presumably, these
would protect the astronauts from SPE. Some SPEs that were not recorded by near-Earth
sensors were observed by MARIE.
Communication
Direct communication with Earth is possible when our planet is above the Martian horizon.
NASA and ESA have attached communication equipment to several of Martian orbiters. As a
result, Mars already has communications satellites.
The time needed for information to arrive is limited by the speed of light in vacuum.
Conversations between Earth and Mars could be highly impractical due to connection delays
ranging from 3 to 22 minutes (one way), depending on the planets’ positions relative to the
Sun.

A direct connection may be blocked for about 2 weeks during the conjunction when the Sun
is exactly between Mars and Earth. A satellite located at the L4 or L5 libration point can
serve as an intermediary in this situation. The transmission delay in such situation would be
further increased.
Establishing a colony on Mars must be preceded by unmanned probe-robot missions such as
the Mars Exploration Rover with Spirit and Opportunity. It will make it possible to locate raw
materials, primarily water. The time of such exploration missions must be measured in years
or even decades.
Missions to Mars, such as those planned by NASA, ESA or other space agencies, will not yet
be missions directly preparing for colonization. They are conceived as exploration missions
only, just as the Apollo program was not intended to establish a permanent base on the
Moon.
Colonization requires permanent bases which would have the potential to grow on their
own. The Mars Direct project is a famous proposal to build such bases. The project is
advocated by Robert Zubrin. The Mars Society has established the Mars Analogue Research
Station Programme on Devon Island in Canada and in Utah in order to experiment with
different versions of colony development on Mars, based on Mars Direct.
Mars facts
Mars is no place for the faint-hearted. Arid, rocky, cold and apparently lifeless, the Red
Planet offers few hospitalities. Fans of extreme sports can rejoice, however, the Red Planet
will challenge even the hardiest souls among us. Home to the largest volcano in the solar
system, the deepest canyon and crazy weather and temperature patterns, Mars looms as
the ultimate lonely planet destination.
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