Why is mars the red planet

When the solar system formed, many of the planets landed a dose of iron. Forged in the heart of long-dead stars , the heavy element swirled around in the cloud of gas and dust that gravitationally collapsed to form the sun and planets.

Whereas the bulk of Earth's iron sank to its core when the planet was young and molten, NASA scientists think Mars' smaller size and weaker gravity allowed it to remain less differentiated. It does have an iron core, but abundant iron exists in its upper layers, also. Plain-old iron looks shiny black. The element only takes on a reddish tinge when it has been exposed to oxygen, and enough oxygen at that for it to become iron III oxide, an atomic fivesome composed of two iron atoms and three oxygen atoms.

So why did so much of the iron on Mars' surface oxidize, or gang up with oxygen? In fact, the jury's still out on that one. Mars is known as the Red Planet because iron minerals in the Martian soil oxidize, or rust, causing the soil and atmosphere to look red.

In the late s when people first observed the canal-like features on Mars' surface, many speculated that an intelligent alien species resided there.

This led to numerous stories about Martians, some of whom invade Earth, like in the radio drama, "The War of the Worlds. Countless stories since have taken place on Mars or explored the possibilities of its Martian inhabitants. Movies like "Total Recall" and take us to a terraformed Mars and a struggling colony running out of air. A Martian colony and Earth have a prickly relationship in "The Expanse " television series and novels.

And in the novel and its movie adaptation, "The Martian," botanist Mark Watney is stranded alone on the planet and struggles to survive until a rescue mission can retrieve him. Mars is a cold desert world. It is half the size of Earth. Mars is sometimes called the Red Planet. It's red because of rusty iron in the ground. Like Earth, Mars has seasons, polar ice caps, volcanoes, canyons, and weather. It has a very thin atmosphere made of carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and argon.

There are signs of ancient floods on Mars, but now water mostly exists in icy dirt and thin clouds. On some Martian hillsides, there is evidence of liquid salty water in the ground. The Latest from Mars. Mars has two moons named Phobos and Deimos. This view of rover tracks on Mars is part of the free destination poster set. Kid-Friendly Mars Mars is a cold desert world.

Catch Mars mania as an exhibit visits more than a dozen towns across the U. Two microphones aboard the six-wheeled spacecraft add a new dimension to the way scientists and engineers explore the Red Planet. As time went on and we developed the telescope, Mars was always a fascination. Some even thought that there were people and cities on Mars. In the 19th century, an Italian astronomer viewed Mars with a more modern telescope, he saw ridges and valleys. This made even more people believe that there were Martians that lived on the planet.

Since Mars was red, it made people afraid. When they thought that there were Martians living so close, this made people even more fearful. They began to write books and stories about Martians coming to earth. Today, we have sent many missions to Mars and know that it has just a tiny bit of atmosphere but no life.