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Mars is less dense than Earth, having about 15% of Earth's volume and 11% of Earth's mass, resulting in about 38% of Earth's surface gravity. Mars is the only presently known example of a desert planet, a rocky planet with a surface akin to that of Earth's hot deserts.
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, nicknamed The Red Planet. Mars is a terrestrial planet with caps of water and carbon dioxide. [5] [6] It has the largest volcano in the Solar System, and some very large impact craters. [5] Mars is named after the mythological Roman god of war because it ...
There are seven orbiters surveying the planet: Mars Odyssey, Mars Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MAVEN, the Trace Gas Orbiter, the Hope Mars Mission, and the Tianwen-1 orbiter, which have contributed massive amounts of information about Mars. Thus there are nine total vehicles currently exploring Mars: 2 rovers and 7 orbiters.
The possibility of life on Mars is a subject of interest in astrobiology due to the planet 's proximity and similarities to Earth. To date, no conclusive evidence of past or present life has been found on Mars.
When the solar system settled into its current layout about 4.5 billion years ago, Mars formed when gravity pulled swirling gas and dust in to become the fourth planet from the Sun. Mars is about half the size of Earth, and like its fellow terrestrial planets, it has a central core, a rocky mantle, and a solid crust.
Mars is no place for the faint-hearted. It’s dry, rocky, and bitter cold. The fourth planet from the Sun, Mars, is one of Earth's two closest planetary neighbors (Venus is the other). Mars is one of the easiest planets to spot in the night sky — it looks like a bright red point of light.
Mars is one of the easiest planets to spot in the night sky – it looks like a bright red point of light. Despite being inhospitable to humans, robotic explorers – like NASA's new Perseverance rover – are serving as pathfinders to eventually get humans to the surface of the Red Planet.
