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PDC Test - The Planet Mars

You can earn 0.25 PDC by passing the exam following this article, which has been approved for publication by NCRA's Council of the Academy of Professional Reporters.

The questions are based on the material in the article but some may require additional research. Send your answer sheet to NCRA's Continuing Education Office, 8224 Old Courthouse Road, Vienna, VA 22182, and enclose a check for $40 (member) or $50 (non-member) to cover the processing fee.

The Planet Mars

By: Lori Cerrano
2008 July/August JCR (edited February 2012)

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun and the seventh largest of all the planets. Of the planets in our solar system, it is the one most like Earth. Mars is approximately 4.6 billion years old. Mars is farther from the sun than Earth; its average distance to the sun is 141,620,000 miles. It is much smaller than Earth, only half its radius, with a diameter of 4223 miles. Man has known about Mars since prehistoric times. In the nighttime sky, Mars is easily visible with the unaided eye.

Mars is colder than earth, -195 degrees Fahrenheit to 70 degrees near the equator. The average temperature on Mars is –67 degrees. The atmosphere above Mars is 100 times less dense than Earth. It can support weather systems that include clouds and wind. Vast dust storms engulf the planet for months, and dust devils have been detected moving across Mars’ surface. There are seasonal color changes on the planet’s surface, which were once believed to be a bloom of Martian vegetation during warmer months. The thin atmosphere consists mostly of carbon dioxide with small amounts of other gases. Oxygen is only 0.13 percent of the atmosphere. Gravity on Mars is about 40 percent of the gravity of Earth. If you weighed 100 pounds on Earth, you would only weigh 40 pounds on Mars.

The surface of Mars is dry, rocky, and covered with iron-rich dust. Much of the Martian surface is old and cratered. Mars has a canyon system deeper and longer than our Grand Canyon. Mars is home to incredibly large volcanoes -- 10 to 100 times larger than those on Earth. Olympus Mons is the largest volcano on Mars and at the height of 78,000 feet, the largest mountain in our solar system, higher than Mount Everest, Earth’s highest peak. There are permanent ice caps consisting of water ice and solid carbon dioxide (dry ice) at the north and south poles that are visible with a small telescope. Although there is no evidence of current volcanic activity, data from Mars Global Surveyor indicates Mars did have tectonic activity in the past.

Mars was named for the ancient Roman god of war. Romans associated the planet with war because its color resembles the color of blood, a bright fiery red. It owes its color to iron-rich minerals in its soil, similar to rust composed of iron and oxygen.

No human being has ever set foot on Mars although scientists have observed Mars through telescopes based on Earth and in space. Space probes have carried telescopes and other instruments to Mars. Spacecrafts have orbited Mars and have landed on the planet.

Scientists found strong evidence that water once flowed on the surface of Mars. The evidence includes channels, valleys, and gullies on the planet’s surface. A space probe discovered vast amounts of ice beneath the surface, most of it near the South Pole.

Most scientists now believe that there is no evidence that life ever survived on Mars. If there is or was life on Mars, we still haven’t found it.

Before space exploration, Mars was considered the best candidate for harboring extraterrestrial life. In 1938 Orson Welles broadcast a radio drama which was based on the science fiction classic War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells. Enough of the listeners believed Earth had been invaded by aliens so that the radio show almost caused a panic.

Mars has four seasons like our planet. Its year is almost twice as long, 686.98 Earth days. The Martian sky during sunrise and sunset is a pinkish-red in color. In the vicinity of the setting sun, it is blue. During the day the sky is a butterscotch color. Twilight lasts a long time after the sun has set and before it rises because of all the dust in Mars’ atmosphere. Mars’ solar day is close to Earth’s day, 24 hours 39 minutes and 35.244 seconds.

As a result of overpopulation on our planet, a long-term goal for the exploration and settlement of Mars in the minds of many scientists is to terraform the Red Planet, making it more like Earth and more inhabitable by humans. Current evidence points to the theory that billions of years ago, Mars was a wet and warm planet. Today Mars is a dry, desert-like world, mostly devoid of water with a thin atmosphere of mostly carbon dioxide. Mars is self-sterilizing with solar ultraviolet radiation. The dryness of soil and oxidizing nature of the soil chemistry prevent the formation of living organisms in Martian soil.

In 1965, the Mariner 4 was the first spacecraft to visit Mars. Mars 2 was the first spacecraft to land on the planet. In 2004 Mars Expedition Rovers Spirit and Opportunity landed on Mars and sent back geological data and pictures.

Mars has two tiny moons, Phobos and Deimos, that orbit very close to the Martian surface. The moons were discovered in 1877. Mars has no shielding ozone layer like Earth and has been bombarded by UV radiation. Scientists discovered recently through Mars Global Surveyor that, like Earth does today, Mars once had a magnetic field which shielded the planet from cosmic radiation.

In the 1980s, scientists recognized certain meteors probably originated on Mars. They were called SNC meteorites, an acronym for three meteorites, Shergotty, Nakhla, and Chassigny, named for the places on Earth where they were found. As of 1997, twelve such meteorites have been found.

In 1998, Mars Global Surveyor photographed a coincidental alignment of rocks and other geologic formations that happened to look like a human face on the planet’s surface. Once again this caused a stir about intelligent life on the planet.

The planet Mars has long fascinated mankind. In the late 1800s and early 1900s scientists believed, based on telescopic examination, that there was advanced civilization on Mars. Although we now know this to be false, scientists will continue to search for signs of life on the Red Planet.

References

TEST FOR THE PLANET MARS

1. How many moons does Mars have?

a. One.
b. Two
c. Three.
d. None.

2. How long has man known of the existence of Mars?

a. One hundred years.
b. Five hundred years.
c. Since prehistoric times.
d. Since the discovery of telescopes.

3. In what year did the first man walk on Mars?

a. 1952.
b. 1938.
c. 1997.
d. No man has walked on Mars.

4. How old is Mars?

a. 4.6 billion years.
b. 1 billion years.
c. 500 million years.
d. Scientists are not sure.

5. What is the Olympus Mons?

a. A volcano in Greece.
b. The largest volcano on Mars
c. First spacecraft to land on Mars.
d. Largest mountain on Earth.

6. How many seasons does Mars have?

a. Just one, winter.
b. Winter and autumn.
c. Spring and summer.
d. Four seasons.

7. If you weigh 150 pounds on Earth, how much would you weigh on Mars?

a. 150 pounds.
b. 200 pounds.
c. 90 pounds.
d. 57 pounds.

8. What is the atmosphere of Mars mostly made of?

a. Water.
b. Carbon dioxide.
c. Oxygen.
d. Carbon monoxide.

9. What color is a Martian sky?

a. Green.
b. Grey.
c. Pinkish-red.
d. Butterscotch.

10. What kind of storms occur regularly on Mars?

a. Dust storms.
b. Snow storms.
c. Hail storms.
d. Sand storms.

11. Which statement is correct?
a. As of now, no life has been found on Mars.
b. Mars is a dry, desert-like world.
c. Mars was named for the Roman god of war.
d. All of the above.

12. When were Phobos and Deimos discovered?

a. 1877.
b. 1965.
c. 2005.
d. 1998.

13. What is Chassigny?
a. the name of a meteorite found on Earth that originated from Mars.
b. one of Mars’ moons.
c. one of Mars’ craters.
d. one of Mars’ volcanos.

14. How long is a solar day on Mars?

a. 48 hours.
b. 72 hours.
c. 24 hours 39 minutes 35.244 seconds.
d. 25 hours.

15. How warm can Mars get? (All temperatures are in Fahrenheit.)

a. 200 degrees.
b. 10 degrees.
c. 70 degrees.
d. -35 degrees.

16. Which of the following was discovered under the surface of Mars?

a. Ice.
b. Lava.
c. Prehistoric bones.
d. Space ship.

17. Like Earth, Mars has an atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere.

a. True
b. False.

18. How do scientists know that water once flowed on Mars?

a. Rain puddles.
b. Lakes.
c. Beaches.
d. Channels, valleys, and gullies on the planet’s surface.

19. What is the name of the first spacecraft to land on Mars?

a. Mars 2.
b. Mariner 4.
c. Mars Pathfinder.
d. Mars Expedition Rovers Spirit and Opportunity.

20. How far is Mars from the sun?

a. 100,000 miles.
b. 10 light years.
c. 100 million miles.
d. 141,620,000 miles.

You can earn 0.25 PDC by passing the exam following this article, which has been approved for publication by NCRA's Council of the Academy of Professional Reporters.