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Mars Trivia



Questions


  1. Mars is known by what nickname due to its covering of soil, rock, and dust?
  2. Mars is named after the Roman god of what?
  3. Mars has 2 small moons. Can you name both?
  4. What was the name of the spacecraft that made the first ever successful landing on Mars on July 20, 1976?






  5. How long is a year on Mars: (a) 287 days, (b) 487 days, or (c) 687 days?
  6. Mars is home to the highest mountain in our solar system. Can you name it?
  7. 95% of Mars' atmosphere is composed of which chemical compound?
  8. Mars is what number planet from the sun?
  9. What are Martian days called?
  10. Who was the first person to observe Mars with a telescope?
  11. Which Dutch astronomer was the first person to draw a map of Mars displaying terrain and features?
  12. Is the minimum distance from Earth to Mars 3.4 million miles or 34 million miles?


Answers


  1. Red Planet (iron oxide gives the surface a red rusty colour)
  2. Roman god of war.
  3. Phobos and Deimos (of interest, Phobos has a diameter of 13.8 miles while Deimos measures 7.8 miles across. Compare that to our Moon's diameter of 2,159 miles.)
  4. Viking 1
  5. (c) 687 days
  6. Olympus Mons (a dormant volcano)
  7. Carbon dioxide
  8. 4th planet from the sun
  9. Sols (short for "solar day)
  10. Galileo Galilei (1610)
  11. Christiaan Huygens
  12. 34 million miles (note: for comparison, the Moon is an average of 238,855 miles from Earth.)