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Few people know what Mars is made of. The solar system has many special features and interesting facts in store for us. We have summarised for you some interesting facts about Mars.
What Mars is made of: What you need to know
Mars is also called the most Earth-like planet. But what is Mars actually made of?
- The surface of Mars is formed by a crust consisting of silicate minerals. The Martian rock is thus similar to the basalts that occur on Earth. The crust of Mars is about 85 kilometres thick.
- The sandy surface with many dunes is covered by a dusty layer of oxidised iron. The rust is responsible for the planet’s familiar red colouring.
- Under the crust is a mantle and a core. Mars’ mantle is about 1600 kilometres thick and consists of silicate high-pressure minerals.
- The core itself only begins at a depth of about 1700 kilometres. It consists of a mixture of metallic iron, nickel and sulphur impurities.
Interesting facts about Mars
Planets are fundamentally something fascinating for us humans. Here you can learn interesting facts about the planet Mars:
- The Martian atmosphere consists of only 0.3 per cent oxygen. The nitrogen content is up to 2 to 3 per cent. Other components of the atmosphere are argon with 1 to 2 per cent and carbon dioxide with 95 per cent.
- Mars is 227.7 million kilometres from the Sun. In comparison: Earth is about 149.6 million kilometres from the Sun.
- The red planet needs an average of 686.98 days for one orbit around the sun. For the Earth, by contrast, it takes only 365.25 days.
- Mars also needs more time to rotate around its own axis. While the Earth only needs about 23 hours and 56 minutes, Mars needs about 24 hours and 37 minutes.
- Comparing Mars with Earth, it is striking that Mars is much smaller: our blue planet has a diameter of about 12,756 kilometres. Mars only has one of about 6,794 kilometres.
- Mars has two moons: the first Martian moon is called Phobos, the second Deimos. The two moons are rather small.
