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The first telescopic observation of Mars was by Galileo Galilei in 1610. Within a century, astronomers discovered distinct albedo features on the planet, including the dark patch Syrtis Major Planum and polar ice caps. They were able to determine the planet's rotation period and axial tilt.
Mars is less dense than Earth, having about 15% of Earth's volume and 11% of Earth's mass, resulting in about 38% of Earth's surface gravity. Mars is the only presently known example of a desert planet, a rocky planet with a surface akin to that of Earth's hot deserts. The red-orange appearance of the Martian surface is caused by rust. [41]
Galileo [9] [10] discovered the Galilean moons. These satellites were the first celestial objects that were confirmed to orbit an object other than the Sun or Earth. Galileo saw Io and Europa as a single point of light on 7 January 1610; they were seen as separate bodies the following night. [11] Callisto: Jupiter IV o: 8 January 1610 p: 13 ...
When Mariner 4 flew by Mars on July 15, 1965, it captured the first images of another planet from space. But the first image of Mars ever seen on TV was different than expected.
By Eric Sandler On August 20, 1975 -- 39 years ago today -- NASA launched the first of two spacecraft as a part of their new Viking program and the images they captured back in the '70s and '80s ...
Mars 3 28 May 1971 4.5 Not deployed [4] [5] 3. Mars 96: Penetrator Mars 96 16 Nov 1996 88 Failure [11] 4. Deep Space 2: Penetrator Mars Polar Lander 03 Jan 1999 2.4 Failure [14] [15] 5. Sojourner: Rover Mars Pathfinder 04 Dec 1996 11.5 Success [12] [13] 6. Mars helicopter Ingenuity: UAV Helicopter: Mars 2020 Perseverance rover: 30 Jul 2021 1.8 ...
While surveying the site of an ancient channel on Mars, the Curiosity rover ran over a rock and discovered pure sulfur on the red planet for the first time.
Mars 1962A was a Mars flyby mission, launched on October 24, 1962, and Mars 1962B an intended first Mars lander mission, launched in late December of the same year (1962). Both failed from either breaking up as they were going into Earth orbit or having the upper stage explode in orbit during the burn to put the spacecraft into trans-Mars ...