Q 01/05

What gives Mars its distinctive reddish appearance?

A) Copper deposits in its crust

B) Sulfur dioxide clouds

C) Iron oxide (rust) on its surface

D) Red sandstone formations

Answer · why

C) Iron oxide (rust) on its surface

Iron oxide (rust) on its surface tints the fine dust that blankets Mars, and winds lift so much of it that even the daytime sky looks hazy and butters...

Q 02/05

What is the name of the tallest volcano on Mars, and the tallest known volcano in the solar system?

A) Olympus Mons

B) Mount Elysium

C) Arsia Mons

D) Alba Mons

Answer · why

A) Olympus Mons

Olympus Mons stands more than twice the height of Everest; a big reason is that Mars has no drifting plates, so lava kept piling up over a single hots...

Q 03/05

What do mission teams call a Martian day, which runs about 40 minutes longer than a day on Earth?

A) A sol

B) A lunation

C) A saros

D) An epoch

Answer · why

A) A sol

A sol lasts 24 hours 39 minutes 35 seconds, so teams working on Mars time start their shifts about 40 minutes later each Earth day and slowly drift ar...

Q 04/05

Which canyon system on Mars is long enough to stretch from California to New York?

A) Valles Marineris

B) Noctis Labyrinthus

C) Kasei Valles

D) Mawrth Vallis

Answer · why

A) Valles Marineris

Valles Marineris runs roughly 4,000 km and is thought to have begun as a giant crack in the crust, pulled open as the neighbouring Tharsis volcanic re...

Q 05/05

Mars's mean surface air pressure is roughly what fraction of Earth's sea-level pressure?

A) About 0.6%

B) About 6%

C) About 30%

D) About 90%

Answer · why

A) About 0.6%

About 0.6% of Earth's sea-level pressure is all the thin Martian air manages, close to the triple point of water, so liquid water on the surface would...