StarDate

Moon and Mars


Listen Later

Living on Mars would be both strange and familiar.

On the familiar side, a day on Mars is about the same length as a day on Earth — 24 hours and 37 minutes. Mars is tilted at the same angle that Earth is, so the planet experiences seasons in the same way. And many of its landscapes look like what you might see in the deserts of Earth, with mesas and sand dunes, along with dust devils whirling through the sky.

On the strange side, the surface gravity is only three-eighths as strong as Earth gravity. So if you weigh a hundred and fifty pounds on Earth, you’d weigh only 58 pounds on Mars. That means you’d probably need to walk much like Apollo astronauts did on the Moon, gently rocking from side to side. And if you dropped something, it would take longer to fall to the surface.

Mars has an atmosphere, as Earth does, but it’s less than one percent as thick as Earth’s. So you’d need an air supply to venture out across the surface. The thin air, and the greater distance from the Sun, make Mars much colder than Earth. Nighttime temperatures regularly plunge to 100 degrees below zero or lower, so you’d need to bundle up.

And two small moons race across the night sky — an unfamiliar sight on a somewhat familiar planet.

Mars stands close to our Moon tonight. It looks like a bright orange star to the left of the Moon in early evening, and above the Moon as they set, before dawn.

We’ll have more about Mars and the Moon tomorrow.


Script by Damond Benningfield

Support McDonald Observatory

...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

StarDateBy Billy Henry

  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6
  • 4.6

4.6

251 ratings


More shows like StarDate

View all
Science Friday by Science Friday and WNYC Studios

Science Friday

6,123 Listeners

BirdNote Daily by BirdNote

BirdNote Daily

1,190 Listeners

Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science by The Planetary Society

Planetary Radio: Space Exploration, Astronomy and Science

1,344 Listeners

Radiolab by WNYC Studios

Radiolab

43,946 Listeners

Astronomy Cast by Fraser Cain and Dr. Pamela Gay

Astronomy Cast

2,865 Listeners

The 365 Days of Astronomy by 365DaysOfAstronomy.org

The 365 Days of Astronomy

336 Listeners

Universe Today Podcast by Fraser Cain

Universe Today Podcast

540 Listeners

Ask a Spaceman! by Paul M. Sutter

Ask a Spaceman!

804 Listeners

Space Nuts: Astronomy Insights & Cosmic Discoveries by Professor Fred Watson and Andrew Dunkley

Space Nuts: Astronomy Insights & Cosmic Discoveries

221 Listeners

SpaceTime: Your Guide to Space & Astronomy by Stuart Gary

SpaceTime: Your Guide to Space & Astronomy

319 Listeners

Short Wave by NPR

Short Wave

6,259 Listeners

The Supermassive Podcast by The Royal Astronomical Society

The Supermassive Podcast

287 Listeners

NASA's Curious Universe by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

NASA's Curious Universe

851 Listeners

Why This Universe? by Dan Hooper, Shalma Wegsman

Why This Universe?

363 Listeners

Crash Course Pods: The Universe by Crash Course Pods, Complexly

Crash Course Pods: The Universe

295 Listeners