Because of its blood-red color (which comes from iron-rich dust), this planet was named for Mars, the Roman god of war. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, situated between Earth and Jupiter. Three-quarters red, Mars also has dark blotches on it and white areas at the poles—these are white polar ice caps.
- Size: About one-half the size of Earth in diameter
- Surface: Canyons, dunes, volcanoes, and polar caps of water ice and carbon dioxide ice
- Diameter: 4,194 miles (6,794 km)
- Atmosphere: carbon dioxide (95%)
- Temperature: as low as –305°F (–187°C)
- Rotation of its axis: 24 Earth hours, 37 minutes, 23 seconds
- Rotation around the Sun: 687 Earth days
- Your weight: If you weigh 100 pounds on Earth, you would weigh 38 pounds on Mars.
- Distance from Earth: 35 million miles (56 million km) at the closest point in its orbit
- Mean Distance from Sun:141.71 million miles (227.9 million km)
- Satellites: 2
- Rings: 0
Mars, or the ‘Red Planet’ as it is sometimes known, has a dusty, rocky surface and a thin atmosphere. Its relatively calm conditions and close proximity to earth make it the most likely destination for future planet exploration by humans.
It has already been visited by a number of Mars Rovers in successful (and unsuccessful) robotic missions. These highly advanced robots gather samples and record important scientific data for scientists back on Earth to study.
Mars is nicknamed the red planet because it is covered with rust-like dust. Even the atmosphere is a pinkish red, colored by tiny particles of dust thrown up from the surface.
- Mars experiences violent dust storms which continually change its surface.
- Mars has many massive volcanoes and is home to Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in our solar system, it stands 21km high and is 600km across the base.
- Mars has a very thin atmosphere made mostly of carbon dioxide. It is not thick enough to trap the sun’s heat like Venus, so the planet is very cold. Temperatures range from -120 Degrees Celsius on winter nights to 25 Degrees Celsius in the summer.
- Mars has many channels, plains and canyons on the surface which could have been caused by water erosion in the past.
- Mars has very weak gravity which cannot hold onto the atmosphere well.
- The polar ice caps consist of frozen Co2 (dry ice) which lies over a layer of ice