The Mars (planet) reference article from the Simple Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

Mars (planet)

Mars is the English name for the fourth planet from the Sun in our Solar System.

Mars is named after the Roman god of war because it is red and red is the colour of blood.

Mars has 2 very small moons called Phobos and Deimos.

The planet Mars is made of rock. The ground there is red because of iron oxide (rust) in the rock and dust. The planet has a very thin carbon dioxide atmosphere. The temperatures on Mars are much colder than the temperatures on Earth. There is some ice at the north and south poles of Mars, and also frozen carbon dioxide.

Mars doesn't have any water on the surface now, but most scientists think it used to have water. Scientists are trying to find out how much water there was on Mars, and when the water disappeared. Some scientists think there may be water or ice under the ground on Mars.

Because Mars is close to the Earth in the Solar System, people have wondered if there was any kind of life on Mars.

Some famous stories were written about this idea. The writers used the name "Martians" for intelligent beings from Mars. In 1989 H. G. Wells wrote The War of the Worlds, a famous novel about Martians attacking the Earth. In 1938, Orson Welles broadcast a radio version of this story in the United States, and many people thought it was really happening and were very afraid. Beginning in 1912, Edgar Rice Burroughs wrote several novels about adventures on Mars.

In June of 2004, scientists still have not discovered proof of any life on Mars, either living now or extinct.

Several space probes without people have gone to Mars to study it. Some have orbited (gone around) the planet, and some have landed on it. We have pictures of the surface of Mars that were sent back to Earth by some of these probes.

Some people are interested in sending astronauts to visit Mars. This would be a difficult project, and the astronauts would have to stay away from Earth for several years.

Things in the Solar System
Sun | Mercury | Venus | Earth | Mars | Asteroid Belt | Jupiter | Saturn | Uranus | Neptune | Pluto | Comets

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