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Article: Living on Other Worlds
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- Space Sciences
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CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2002 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Living on Other Worlds
Many things about Mars would remind a settler of Earth, but some things are quite different. Except for the lack of any vegetation, the sandy, rock-strewn landscape looks much like an earthly desert. Dust devils and blowing dust storms are often seen. A day on Mars is 24.6 hours, similar to Earth's day, so the
circadian rhythm
of a settler would not be upset. Mars's rotation axis is tilted at 25 degrees compared to Earth's 23.5 degrees, so Mars also has seasons. However, its year is nearly two Earth-years long because Mars is one and a half times farther from the Sun. Therefore, the seasons on Mars are much longer than Earth seasons. Martian gravity is only about ...