What is it Like on the Surface of Mars?
The surface of Mars is not a terribly friendly place. Our information about what life is like on the surface of the red planet comes from numerous Mars landers which have taken geological samples and other data, along with data from the Mars rover landings and various orbiting spacecraft. A great deal of useful data has been collected using these techniques, and humans know more about the surface of Mars than they do about any other planet. As people who have seen images taken by spacecraft on Mars may have noted, the Martian landscape is similar to that of a desert. Most of the surface of the planet appears to be made from basalt, and the surface is covered in a layer of iron oxide dust. This red dust is what gives the planet its distinctive appearance. In the Southern hemisphere, the planet is heavily pitted with craters, while the Northern hemisphere has more shield volcanoes and evidence of recent geological activity. The atmosphere of Mars is every thin, and the planet is a cold,
The surface of Mars is not a terribly friendly place. Our information about what life is like on the surface of the red planet comes from numerous Mars landers which have taken geological samples and other data, along with data from the Mars rover landings and various orbiting spacecraft. A great deal of useful data has been collected using these techniques, and humans know more about the surface of Mars than they do about any other planet. As people who have seen images taken by spacecraft on Mars may have noted, the Martian landscape is similar to that of a desert. Most of the surface of the planet appears to be made from basalt, and the surface is covered in a layer of iron oxide dust. This red dust is what gives the planet its distinctive appearance. In the Southern hemisphere, the planet is heavily pitted with craters, while the Northern hemisphere has more shield volcanoes and evidence of recent geological activity.
