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It has been suggested that human explorers on Mars could use lava tubes as shelters. The caves may be the only natural structures offering protection from the micrometeoroids, UV radiation, solar flares, and high energy particles that bombard the planet's surface. [95] These features may enhance preservation of biosignatures over long periods ...
The common surface features of Mars include dark slope streaks, dust devil tracks, sand dunes, Medusae Fossae Formation, fretted terrain, layers, gullies, glaciers, scalloped topography, chaos terrain, possible ancient rivers, pedestal craters, brain terrain, and ring mold craters.
Geology of Mars – Scientific study of the surface, crust, and interior of the planet Mars; Glacier – Persistent body of ice that moves downhill under its own weight; Glaciers on Mars – Extraterrestrial bodies of ice; Lobate debris apron – Geological features on Mars; Nilosyrtis Mensae – Fretted terrain in the Casius quadrangle on Mars
Named after the Roman god of war, it is often referred to as the "Red Planet" [1] [2] because the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, having surface features reminiscent both of the impact craters of the Moon and the valleys, deserts, and polar ice caps of Earth.
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 ...
The most popular model for the origin of the ice is climate change from large changes in the tilt of the planet's rotational axis. At times the tilt has even been greater than 80 degrees [ 42 ] [ 43 ] Large changes in the tilt explains many ice-rich features on Mars.
The U.S. space agency's Artemis program aims to put astronauts in the coming years on the lunar surface for the first time since 1972 in preparation for potential future human missions to Mars.
The study of surface characteristics (or surface properties and processes [1]) is a broad category of Mars science that examines the nature of the materials making up the Martian surface. The study evolved from telescopic and remote-sensing techniques developed by astronomers to study planetary surfaces.