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Today, Mars is believed to be largely tectonically inactive. However, observational evidence and its interpretation suggests that this was not the case further back in Mars's geological history. At the scale of the whole planet, two large scale physiographic features are apparent on the surface. The first is that the northern hemisphere of the ...
Generalised geological map of Mars [1] Mars as seen by the Hubble Space Telescope. The geology of Mars is the scientific study of the surface, crust, and interior of the planet Mars. It emphasizes the composition, structure, history, and physical processes that shape the planet. It is analogous to the field of terrestrial geology.
Mars is much less tectonically active than Earth, and marsquakes are unlikely to have provided seismic waves of the required magnitude. [10] Most sizable craters on Mars date to the Late Heavy Bombardment , 4.1 to 3.8 billion years ago (the Noachian period), and are older than the landslide deposits in Valles Marineris.
Three of the four solar terrestrial planets (Venus, Earth, and Mars) have substantial atmospheres; all have impact craters and tectonic surface features such as rift valleys and volcanoes. The term inner planet should not be confused with inferior planet , which refers to any planet that is closer to the Sun than the observer's planet is, but ...
Scientists have wanted to find out which of these processes created grey hematite on Mars since 1998, when Mars Global Surveyor spotted large concentrations of the mineral near the planet's equator (seen in the right picture). This discovery provided the first mineral evidence that Mars' history may have included water.
Mars-1 was the first spacecraft launched to Mars in 1962, [265] but communication was lost while en route to Mars. With Mars-2 and Mars-3 in 1971–1972, information was obtained on the nature of the surface rocks and altitude profiles of the surface density of the soil, its thermal conductivity, and thermal anomalies detected on the surface of ...
The orientation of Mars's axis is such that its north celestial pole is in Cygnus at R.A. 21 h 10 m 42 s Decl. +52° 53.0′ (or more precisely, 317.67669 +52.88378), near the 6th-magnitude star BD +52 2880 (also known as HR 8106, HD 201834, or SAO 33185), which in turn is at R.A. 21 h 10 m 15.6 s Decl. +53° 33′ 48″.
An artist's conception shows a terraformed Mars in four stages of development.. Terraforming or terraformation ("Earth-shaping") is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body to be similar to the environment of Earth to make it habitable for humans to live on.