Mars Trivia

1. For centuries, the concept of water on Mars has been speculated upon. In the twentieth century, it was established that water exists in what form on Mars?

From Quiz Mars, the Fire Star

Answer: Mixed into its frozen poles

When the ice caps of Mars were discovered, the immediate conclusion was that they were made of carbon dioxide. However, this is not entirely true. The ice caps are about 85% carbon dioxide, 14% water, and the remaining percent is of trace substances. There is also a very small amount of ionized water in Mars's thin atmosphere. Continuing space exploration may yet find those elusive signs of life.

From Quiz The A to Z of Mars Exploration

Answer: Ares

Ares is the Greek equivalent of Mars. The study of the physical features of Mars is known as 'aerography', the earthly equivalent of geography.

From Quiz Twenty Questions About Mars

Answer: fourth

In order, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. A neat, easy way to remember the order is this sentence: My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Noodles.

From Quiz A Brand New Condo...on Mars!

Answer: Much colder - average around -60 degrees C

Be prepared to bundle up in warm clothes for your new condo! Mars is the fourth planet from the sun so it is farther from that heat source than is Earth. It also has a very thin atmosphere so it cannot trap heat well. While temperature ranges can differ across the planet depending on the time of day, the average temperature is -55 degrees Celsius (-67 degrees Fahrenheit).

From Quiz Mars, the Fire Star

Answer: Slightly longer than the continental United States

At 4,000 kilometers long, Valles Marineris is one of the longest known trenches in the entire Solar System. It is divided into eleven regions. It is named after Mariner 9, the space probe that discovered the canyon, and is Latin for Mariner Valleys.

From Quiz The Martian Quiz

Answer: Frozen Carbon Dioxide

Although, there is sometimes fog of water vapor.

From Quiz The A to Z of Mars Exploration

Answer: Beagle 2

Unfortunately contact was lost with Beagle 2 soon after it separated from its mother craft Mars Express and it was never heard from again. Repeated attempts to contact Beagle 2 or spot it on the surface using high definition photography from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have not been successful. Developed on a shoestring budget it is speculated that a miscalculation resulted in the probe being destroyed on landing. Beagle 2 was named after HMS Beagle, the ship on which Charles Darwin made his epic voyage of discovery.

From Quiz Twenty Questions About Mars

Answer: Phobos and Deimos

Phobos (fear) and Deimos (terror) were named after the horses that pulled the chariot of the Greek god Ares (Roman equivalent: Mars). Miranda and Titania are satellites of Uranus. Ganymede and Callisto are satellites of Jupiter. Pallas and Vesta are asteroids.

From Quiz A Brand New Condo...on Mars!

Answer: Mainly in the form of ice

The vast majority of water on Mars is in the form of ice. This ice is found beneath the surface of the planet and is also visible on the north pole. Scientists believe, based on the landscape, that Mars supported rivers and oceans millions of years ago that have since either evaporated or been frozen by the subzero temperatures. In 2011 a high resolution camera found what appears to be liquid running down certain warmer slopes on the planet. This water would be high in salt content. Your condo would definitely not be getting its water from cool, fresh springs!

From Quiz The A to Z of Mars Exploration

Answer: Canals

Schiaparelli used the word 'canale' to describe his discovery which when translated into English became 'canals'. This implied that they were an artificial construct of some kind of intelligent Martians and caused a great sensation at the time. This was in no way Schiaparelli's intention as his best guess was that these channels were natural formations. This did not stop a world itching for something to spark its imagination and the whole Martian canal speculation became a subject of much debate. American astronomer Percival Lowell developed the theme that a civilisation on a drying planet had constructed the canals to move water to the equatorial regions to sustain their crops an observation which appeared to explain the seasonal wave of darkening which enveloped the planet during summer. Alas photography from Mariner space probes in the 1960s revealed no evidence of artificial canals and they were put down to optical illusions and the product of an overactive imagination.

From Quiz Twenty Questions About Mars

Answer: oxidation

The red color originates from minerals that contain iron oxides, which are reddish in color.

From Quiz Mars

Answer: carbon dioxide

From Quiz Mars, the Fire Star

Answer: Phobos will one day crash into Mars and Deimos will be flung out of Martian orbit

Phobos and Deimos have irregular orbits, suggesting that they were captured from the asteroid belt due to Mars's proximity. Due to this unorthodox way of attaining natural satellites, their orbits are not as stable as other moons of the Solar System. In millions of years, Phobos is expected to crash into Mars and might afterwards form a ring around the red planet. Deimos, the farther moon, is thought to have a slightly unstable hold on its orbit, and with the slightest orbital decay would be flung out of Mars's orbit.

From Quiz The Martian Quiz

Answer: Phoenix Mars Lander

The Phoenix Lander touched down on Mars on May 25, 2008, and the discovery of water ice was confirmed in June.

From Quiz Mars

Answer: 100-400 K

From Quiz Mars, the Fire Star

Answer: Other planets disrupt its orbit

The most signifigant factor in changing Mars's orbit is Jupiter, which has a gravity 2.5 times stronger than Earth. Another factor is Earth itself. A third object to affect Mars's orbit is Ceres, in the asteroid belt. Mars has an eccentricity of 0.09, which may not sound like much, but 1.35 million years ago, a relatively short time considering the age of Mars, its eccentricity was 0.002. It will continue increasing in eccentricity at least over the next 25,000 years.

From Quiz The A to Z of Mars Exploration

Answer: Express

Mars Express went into orbit around Mars on Christmas day 2003. Its piggyback companion Beagle 2 was lost on impact with the Martian surface. The mission was put together in a record time of three years, hence the name, using spare parts from other satellites and it was launched from Baikonur cosmodrome using a Russian Soyuz Fregat launcher. It has returned some spectacular photos including pictures of ice covered craters and has confirmed the presence of CO2 and water ice on the South Pole.

From Quiz Mars

Answer: Giovanni Schiaparelli

Percival Lowell read a translation of Schiaparelli's report, but in the translation he read canali had been converted to canals, which is totally different and suggests intelligent life. He dedicated much of his considerable family fortune on observing Mars and trying to find out what kind of life lived there, creating canals.

From Quiz Mars, the Fire Star

Answer: The "face" on Mars

In an image taken by the Viking 1 probe in 1976, there was a noticeable hill that greatly resembled a human face in the region of Cydonia. It lead to speculation that it may have been sculpted by a long dead civilization, but it later turned out to be the position of shadows; no actual indentations made the shape of a face.

From Quiz The Martian Quiz

Answer: Nergal

Nergal meant one who is great and heroic.

From Quiz The A to Z of Mars Exploration

Answer: Faster

The first fruits of the Faster Better Cheaper approach were the successful Mars Pathfinder and Mars Global Surveyor missions launched in 1996. These were the first successful missions to Mars since the Viking missions over 20 years before. Viking had cost over 2 billion dollars and spent a decade in development while Pathfinder had cost only 260 million dollars and was designed, built and launched in just three years. However this concept was bought into question when the Mars Climate Orbiter and Polar Lander were lost two years later to causes related to human error.

From Quiz Twenty Questions About Mars

Answer: Asaph Hall

Asaph Hall discovered the two small satellites in 1877 at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, DC.

From Quiz Mars

Answer: iron oxide on surface

From Quiz The A to Z of Mars Exploration

Answer: Gusev crater

Gusev crater was named after a fictional cosmonaut from the movie and novel 'Aelita' which tells the story of how Gusev and his companion instigated a revolution to overthrow an oppressive ruling race on Mars. This theme struck a chord when it was written in the Soviet Union of the 1920s. Gusev crater was chosen as a target because it had a large channel running into it and it was believed there would be evidence of rock strata laid in the bottom of a lake bed. In the event the crater bed was revealed to be overlain with basaltic deposits which would have buried any strata laid at the bottom of a lake. Spirit was retargeted to drive to the Columbia hills some 2 km distant where important new discoveries were made. Spirit and Opportunity far exceeded their original 90 day missions and were still operating more than five years later.

From Quiz Mars

Answer: 0.38

From Quiz Mars, the Fire Star

Answer: The same as the symbol for the male gender

Looking like a circle with an arrow pointing up and to the right, the astronomical symbol of Mars represents the spear and shield of Ares, Mars's Greek counterpart.

From Quiz The Martian Quiz

Answer: Horus the Red

It was also sometimes known as the backwards traveler.

From Quiz The A to Z of Mars Exploration

Answer: Hellas Basin

The Hellas Basin in the Southern Hemisphere is over 7 km deep and 2300 km in diameter. It is so low that it is the only point on the planet where water could exist as a liquid. The atmospheric pressure is 11.5 millibars nearly twice that of Martian Sea Level (MSL). MSL is defined as where the triple point of water occurs i.e. the point at which water sublimes directly from ice to vapour at 0 degrees centigrade at a pressure of 6 millibars. For comparison the mean sea level atmospheric pressure on Earth is 1000 millibars.

From Quiz Twenty Questions About Mars

Answer: Fear and panic

Phobos (fear) is 9,377 km from Mars and Deimos (panic) is 23,436 km from Mars. Both satellites are roughly potato-shaped.

From Quiz Mars

Answer: Olympus Mons

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Last Updated May 17 2026 8:36 AM

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