Mars 101 | National Geographic

[Music] to the ancient Romans the planet Mars was symbolic of blood and war but too many people today the red planet may hold the key for a bright new future for Humanity the story of Mars began about 4.5 billion years ago when gas and dust swirled together to form the fourth planet from the Sun Mars is the second smallest planet in the solar system with a diameter just shy of the width of Africa in fact its entire surface area is similar to that of all of Earth's continents combined much like its terrestrial cousin Mars is dense and has a rocky composition at the center of the planet is a core made of iron nickel and sulphur which may have created a protective magnetic field during Mars's earlier years enveloping the core is a rocky mantle made of silicate minerals and a crust rich in iron these iron minerals react with the trace amounts of oxygen and Mars's atmosphere and rusts giving the planet its signature reddish hue while its blood-like appearance inspired the ancient Romans to named Mars after their God of War the planets rusty color could be considered symbolic of the planets prime days long past [Music] today Mars is dry desolate and cold with temperatures dropping as low as negative 225 degrees Fahrenheit but billions of years ago the planet was much warmer more geologically active and had a watery surface lake beds and river valleys snake along the face of Mars indicating that liquid water was for a time present [Music] volcanoes such as Olympus Mons the largest volcano in the solar system at three times the height of Mount Everest once erupted lava but by about fifty million years ago soon after Earth's dinosaurs died out Mars's volcanoes also went extinct water on the red planet still exists today but mostly in the form of polar ice caps because of factors such as the presence of water some scientists believe life may have existed on the Red Planet and may exist again since the 1960s space programs from around the world have launched missions to Mars and attempts to understand the planets past present and potential for sustaining life life on another planet may well be out of reach for the near future but if any planet could give us hope Mars may hold the key to the survival of humanity [Music] you [Music]

Channel: undefined

Views: 1,962,308

Rating: 4.9012609 out of 5

Keywords: national geographic, nat geo, natgeo, animals, wildlife, science, explore, discover, survival, nature, documentary, mars, life on mars, planet, space, solar system, insight, water, PLivjPDlt6ApS90YoAu-T8VIj6awyflIym, PLivjPDlt6ApRfQqtRw7JkGCLvezGeMBB2, PLivjPDlt6ApRiBHpsyXWG22G8RPNZ6jlb, PLivjPDlt6ApRpidjp1zjROOCKru-89Q1_, Mars 101, polar ice caps, red planet, potential to sustain life, gas and dust, ice caps, intrigued humankind, blood-like hue, Mars has intrigued humankind, thousands of years

Id: D8pnmwOXhoY

Length: 3min 40sec (220 seconds)

Published: Thu May 31 2018