Mars

"The chances of anything coming from Mars are a million to one he said..."

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the seventh largest planet in earth's solar system.

• Orbital radius: 227,940,000 km (1.52 AU) from Sun
• Diameter: 6,794 km
• Mass: 6.4219e23 kg
• Mean Orbital Velocity: 24.077 Kilometers/Second (53,858.715 Miles/Hour)
• Axial Tilt: 25.19 degrees
• Length of Day: 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35.244 seconds
• Length of Year: ~687 Earth Days
• Atmospheric Composition: 95.32% Carbon Dioxide, 2.7% Nitrogen, 1.6% Argon, .13% Oxygen, .08% Carbon Monoxide, and trace amounts of other gases.

Mars in Science Fiction

In the early 20th century many people believed that Mars might be habitable. This, combined with the "canals" of Mars (based on observations of astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli that were later proven to be optical illusions) led to the rise of many examples of science fiction involving sapient natives of Mars (known as Martians). This was done to the point that "Martian" became interchangable with "alien" in general parlance.

• In the classic science fiction novel The War of the Worlds, Victorian England is invaded by brainlike creatures from Mars.
• An habitable Mars (known locally as Barsoom) is the place of the events of Edgar Rice Buroughs' John Carter of Mars series of novels
• In Warhammer 40,000, Mars is the capital of the Adeptus Mechanicus and sleeping place of the C'tan known as the Void Dragon.
• In Star Trek, Mars was colonised in the late 21st century and partially terraformed through the deflection of asteroids into the polar caps. By the 24th century, Mars housed the Utopia Planitia shipyards in geo-synchronous orbit over the plains of the same name; a memorial station dedicated to Carl Sagan; and served as a perimeter in the defence of the Solar system.
• In Babylon 5, Mars is an Earth Alliance colony with a history of uprisings. Many Mars colonists resent what they consider to be unresponsive and even tyrannical government from Earth.
• In X-COM, the Cydonia region of Mars has a Sectoid base.

External Links

Mars at NinePlanets.org.