This is the fourth cache in a series dedicated to our Solar System.
Each cache page will have information about the planet it
represents. The series is sponsored by the Carolina Caching Club.
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the last of the Inner
Planets. Named after the Roman God of War because of its blood red
color, Mars orbits the Sun every 688 Earth days. This small planet
spins relatively quickly on its axis, taking a bit longer than
Earth to complete a day. A day on Mars is 24 hours and 37 minutes
long, compared to the 23 hours and 56 minutes of an Earth day.
Everything on Mars - its soil, rocks and sky - looks red or some
shade of red.
Mars' orbit is elliptical. This has a major influence on Mars'
climate. While the average temperature on Mars is about 218 K (-55
C, -67 F), Martian surface temperatures range widely from as little
as 140 K (-133 C, -207 F) at the winter pole to almost 300 K (27 C,
80 F) on the day side during summer.
Though Mars is much smaller than Earth, its surface area is
roughly the same as the land surface area of Earth.
Astronomers have been observing Mars for centuries. Early
astronomers thought that they could see canals on Mars' surface,
leading to beliefs that the planet was home to an advanced
civilization. However, recent missions to explore Mars have found
it to be a dry, dusty planet with weather that changes
seasonally.
Mars also has the largest volcano in the Solar System, a huge
valley, and channels which confirm the belief that water did once
flow freely on the planet. Life on Mars has not yet been
discovered, although strange "Martian creations" have, such as what
appears to be a "face" on the planet's surface:
The interior of Mars is known only by interpreting data about
the surface and other statistics of the planet. The most likely
scenario is a dense core, a molten rocky mantle somewhat denser
than the Earth's and a thin crust. Data from Mars Global Surveyor
indicates that Mars' crust is about 80 km thick in the southern
hemisphere but only about 35 km thick in the north.
Mars has permanent ice caps at both poles composed of water ice
and solid carbon dioxide ("dry ice"). The ice caps exhibit a
layered structure with alternating layers of ice with varying
concentrations of dark dust. In the northern summer the carbon
dioxide completely sublimates, leaving a residual layer of water
ice.
The cache is in a medium sized container - should be room to
trade items of your choice. You may be visible from trail - be on
the lookout for the many mountain bikers!
Links to the other caches in this
series:
The Sun
Mercury
Venus
Earth
Mars
Jupiter
Saturn
Uranus
Neptune
Pluto
Eris
If you're planning on searching for Mars, you may want to
consider doing the excellent "
Done My Time" cache nearby. You could easily do both on the
same hike!