A few fun facts about Mars!

The Dhaka Times Desk There is no end to our interest in Mars. We have no end of interest to know what Mars is like, what is there on Mars or what research has been done on Mars so far. Learn some interesting facts about Mars today.

NASA, the American space research center, is conducting various activities for the human mission to Mars. This company is working to send people to Mars within the next decade.

Recently, the vehicle to be used in the Mars mission was put on public display at the C-Air and Space Museum in New York.

Scientists say that the person who is going to be the first to set foot on the Red Planet, has already been born among us. He is now between 10 and 18 years old. So it is only natural that the younger generation has a little more interest in this red planet.

Today, learn some interesting facts about Mars - which are also surprising in another sense.

# is the largest mountain in the solar system located on Mars. This mountain is called Olympus Mons, its height is 21 km. Like Earth, Mars also has a magnetic field.

# Mars is the second and smallest planet in the solar system. In terms of radius, this planet is about half the size of Earth. However, 70 percent of the earth's surface is covered with water, so its land area is almost equal to that of the earth.

# The English name 'Mars' for Mars comes from the name of the god of war in Roman mythology. Astronomers used to call Mars the Red Planet. The two moons of Mars are Phobos and Deimos. Both names are first mentioned in Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift. However, the book Gulliver's Travels was written 151 years before the discovery of the moons of Mars.

# Mars orbits the Sun once in 687 days by Earth's reckoning. Like Earth, Mars also experiences seasonal variations. But a season on Mars lasts twice as long as on Earth.

# Martian surface gravity is about 1/3 that of Earth. That is, if someone's weight is 100 kg on Earth, it will be 38 kg on Mars. Mars can jump at least 3 times higher than Earth.

# Mars has an atmosphere similar to Earth, with mountains, valleys, deserts and polar ice! The shape of the Sun seen from Earth is half that seen from Mars.

# Martian orbit is elliptical, causing powerful sandstorms to form throughout the planet during certain periods of the year. Sometimes this storm lasts for more than a month, scientists said.