All About the Planet Mars

• Roughly every two years, Earth and Mars are at their closest proximity. This is the ideal time for astronauts to make their journey to the Red Planet.
• One full rotation of Earth is called a day. One full rotation of Mars is called a Sol, which occurs approximately once every 24.6 Earth hours.
•  The highest point on Mars is Olympic Mons, an extinct volcano about 21 km high and 600 km across.
• Mars has the largest canyon in the solar system. If it were on Earth, its length would be approximately the distance from Toronto to Calgary.
• The Moon is the Earth’s only natural satellite. Mars has two satellites called Diemos and Phobos.
• Dust storms are one of the biggest challenges astronauts will face on Mars. They can cover almost the entire planet for months at a time.
• The first man-made object landed on Mars in May 1971 when the USSR’s Mars 2 orbiter crashed onto the planet. Nine days later, its sister spacecraft Mars 3 landed and sent signals back to Earth for approximately 20 seconds.
• There are currently two Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, traveling over the surface of the planet. The rovers were sent in 2003 and are still actively sending information back to Earth.
• Mars is known as the Red Planet. Although much of Mars’ surface is composed of basalt – a hard black volcanic rock – it is the iron oxide found on Mars that gives the planet its red colour
• Mars is named after the Roman god of War.

An Astronaut's Life in Space

• Time - The European Space Agency (ESA) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) both have plans to go to Mars. The length of the trip will depend on the position of the planets, taking anywhere from 200 to 300 days from launch to landing on Mars. In order to have enough time to conduct experiments, a Mars mission would take close to 3 years.
• Gravity - During weightlessness, the fluids in the body to rise to the head, which feels like a constant head cold. This is a feeling astronauts will have to get accustomed to on their journey to the Red Planet.
• Exercise - During space travel, astronauts are required to exercise two hours per day to avoid the bone and muscle deterioration that occurs in microgravity. Without this exercise, astronauts would not be able to walk or stand up upon returning to Earth.
• Toilets - A space toilet is typically composed of a toilet bowl and a urine funnel. Astronauts position themselves on the toilet seat using leg-restraints and thigh-bars. The toilet works like a vacuum cleaner with fans that suck air and waste into the commode. Each astronaut has a personal urinal funnel, which has to be attached to the hose's adapter. Fans suck air and urine through the funnel and hose into the wastewater tank.
• Food - To ensure astronauts have adequate nutrition during a long Mars mission, it has been suggested that they grow and eat their own food. Spirulina - a type of algae - is one of the nutritious plants that have the ability to grow in space. Iron in food is also a major concern. Astronauts have fewer red blood cells while in space. Most of the iron absorbed from food goes into new red blood cells, so if astronauts consume too much iron (over 10 milligrams per day), it could cause health problems.
• Sleep - Sleeping can be a problem when you are weightless. Astronauts must strap themselves down when they sleep to avoid bumping into things.
• Communication - When astronauts need to phone home from the space station, they use the Softphone via a laptop computer. The system uses Internet Protocol (IP) information packets to route the signals. Once connected, astronauts can use the computer keypad to dial the number and speak through a headset with a microphone. However once on Mars, the distance will create a time lag of up to twenty minutes for a message to go one way.

FACING MARS at the Ontario Science Centre

• FACING MARS contains 28 exhibits spanning approximately 6000 sq. ft. of exhibition space.
• The Ontario Science Centre team evaluated over 100 different displays and experiences for this exhibition. All of the final exhibits were “road tested” by Science Centre enthusiasts.
• FACING MARS will be the first traveling exhibition made and developed entirely by the Ontario Science Centre’s team of experts, since the popular exhibition Strange Matter in 2002. It will begin touring North America in 2009.

About the Phoenix Lander

• The Phoenix Lander is a robotic spacecraft on an international exploration mission to the red planet.
• Phoenix has traveled 422 million miles over nearly 10 months. It left the Earth on august 4, 2007 at 5:26am (EDT) and landed on Mars on May 25, 2008 around 8pm.
• Phoenix is equipped with an 8-foot-long robotic arm capable of digging trenches in the soil to expose the ice, believed to be buried inches to a foot deep.
• The lander will analyze dirt and ice samples for traces of organic compounds, the chemical building blocks of life.
• It will also study whether the ice ever melted at some point in Mars' history when the planet was warmer unlike the current harsh, cold environment.