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Mars comes closer to Earth more than any other planet save Venus at its nearest—56 million km is the closest distance between Mars and Earth, whereas the closest Venus comes to Earth is 40 million km. Mars comes closest to Earth every other year, around the time of its opposition, when Earth is sweeping between the Sun and Mars. Extra-close ...
[3] [5] Although the lander will communicate all other science data in UHF to relay orbiters, the X band can be used directly with Earth in case of some problems with relay through an orbiter. [5] In principle, after InSight lands on Mars, the lander reflects a signal sent from Earth, revealing its exact location and velocity in space. [1]
Mars Express orbiter reaches final science orbit altitude around Mars. March 17; Orbiter detects polar ice caps that contain 85% carbon dioxide (CO 2) ice and 15% water ice. [23] March 30; A press release announces that the orbiter has detected methane in the Martian atmosphere. Although the amount is small, about 10 parts in a thousand million ...
Mars Global Surveyor imaged the Earth and Moon on May 8, 2003, 13:00 UTC, very close to maximum angular elongation from the Sun and at a distance of 0.930 AU from Mars. The apparent magnitudes were given as −2.5 and +0.9. [ 8 ]
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Substituting the mass of Mars for M and the Martian sidereal day for T and solving for the semimajor axis yields a synchronous orbit radius of 20,428 km (12,693 mi) above the surface of the Mars equator. [3] [4] [5] Subtracting Mars's radius gives an orbital altitude of 17,032 km (10,583 mi). Two stable longitudes exist - 17.92°W and 167.83°E.
The SpaceX boss said the launch date is scheduled for when the next Earth-Mars transfer window opens in November 2026, which could see up to eight uncrewed Starhip missions to the Red Planet.
Mars's average distance from the Sun is roughly 230 million km (143 million mi), and its orbital period is 687 (Earth) days. The solar day (or sol ) on Mars is only slightly longer than an Earth day: 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35.244 seconds. [ 185 ]