Mars 3

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out, forming clouds that rise high in the atmosphere or swirl around the slopes of towering volcanoes. Local patches of early morning fog can form in valleys. At the Viking Lander 2 site, a thin layer of water frost covered the ground each winter. There is evidence that in the past a denser Martian atmosphere may have allowed water to flow on the planet. Physical features closely resembling shorelines, gorges, riverbeds and islands suggest that great rivers once marked the planet.
Mars is smaller and, because of its greater distance from the Sun, cooler than the eearth. It has seasons similar to Earth's because the tilt of its rotational axis to the plane of its orbit about the Sun is about the same as earth's. Interestingly, unlike Earth the significant elliptical shape of the Martian orbit means that the seasons on Mars are also affected by varying distance from the Sun. In the case of earth, because of its almost circular orbit, our seasons result simply from the tilt of the ...

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If the core were made out of less-dense material such as a mixture of sulfur and iron, the maximum radius would probably be less than 2000 kilometers.
The Surface
Although it is much smaller, Mars does have the same surface land area as Earth. Other than Earth, Mars posses the most highly varied and interesting known terrain in our solar system. The surface of Mars is a very hostile place; however, it is more like Earth’s surface than any other planet in our solar system. Much of the Martian surface is rough and full of craters, but expansive flat plains and smooth hills can also be found. Unlike any other planet, there is a striking difference between the northern and ...

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