* How cold is it on Mars? Grace – Virgo 02,0025 (07-17-2006)
Very!! The minimum temperature as measured by the Viking lander was -107°C, and the maximum -17.2°C. And the Viking Orbiter Infrared Thermal Mapper has shown extremes from a low of -143°C (-225°F) to a high of 27°C (81°F). To find the difference between Celsius and Fahrenheit, you would take the Celsius temperature and divide it by 5. Then, multiply that number by 9, and then add 32. So, although -17.2°C sounds pretty cold, once you do the math, it’s -1.04°F. When I was a kid, we would spend hours everyday playing outside in temperatures like that. I liked to go sledding and ice-skating, then coming home to hot cocoa (Mom made the best).
However, -107°C becomes -160.6°F. By comparison, the coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was -89.2°C, on July 21, 1983 at Vostok Research Station, in Antarctic. There, you could toss a saucepan of boiling water into the air and it would drift back down as snow. I think that would be a fun trick for a party. Don’t you?
* How big is Mars? Brent – Gemini 57, 0025 (02-27-2006)
The radius of Mars is half that of Earth, or about 3400 km. For a comparison, it’s kind of like this: If you set a small soccer ball on the table to represent Earth, a baseball next to it, to represent Mars and then a golf ball next to that to represent our moon. Try that. I think you’ll be surprised to see just what that difference looks like.
Mars is not really as big as most people might think, but since there is no water, the actual ‘land’ area is about the same.
* Why does it take so long to get to Mars if it only took three days to get to the moon? Johanna – Leo 29, 0025 (06-08-2006)