Nasa missions have found lots of evidence that mars was much wetter and warmer, with a thicker atmosphere, billions of years ago. In 1971 mariner 9 entered orbit around mars, being the first spacecraft to orbit any body other than the moon, sun or earth Following in the same year were the first uncontrolled impact (mars 2) and first successful landing (mars 3) on mars Probes have been active on mars continuously since 1997. Mars is the fourth planet in the solar system in order of distance from the sun and the seventh in size and mass It is a periodically conspicuous reddish object in the night sky
But billions of years ago, scientific evidence suggests that it had a thick atmosphere, which kept it warm enough to support flowing water on its surface. The escapade mission, which launched to space on a blue origin rocket on thursday, breaks the mold of how planetary science missions typically come together. Mars once had liquid water on its surface and could have supported life Scientists are uncovering how mars transformed into the cold, dry desert world it is today. This dynamic planet has seasons, polar ice caps, extinct volcanoes, canyons and weather. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, having surface features reminiscent both of the impact craters of the moon and the volcanoes, valleys, deserts, and polar ice caps of earth
As the fourth planet from the sun, mars is our terrestrial neighbor Though this cold and dusty world has many differences compared to earth, it also has many similarities It has seasons, dry river beds, polar ice caps and volcanoes.
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