Mars
The only planet we know of inhabited entirely by robots.
TODAY
Surface Rovers (+1 Helicopter)
Spacecraft in Orbit
All About Mars
Small World
Mars is 53% smaller than Earth.
Fourth Rock
Mars is 1.52 AU from the Sun. Earth = 1.
More Time
A Martian day is a little longer than Earth's; a Mars year is almost two Earth years.
Rocky Planet
Mars' surface has been altered by volcanoes, impacts, winds, and crustal movement.
Bring a Spacesuit
Mars' atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide, argon, and nitrogen.
Two Moons
Phobos and Deimos are small compared to the planet.
Ringless
Mars has no rings.
Many Missions
The first success was NASA's Mariner 4 flyby in 1965,
The Search for Life
Missions are determining Mars' past and future potential for life.
The Red Planet
Iron minerals in the Martian soil oxidize, or rust, causing the soil and atmosphere to look red.
Planet Mars Overview
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.
Despite being inhospitable to humans, robotic explorers – like NASA's Perseverance rover – are serving as pathfinders to eventually get humans to the surface of the Red Planet.
Mars
Pop Culture
No other planet has captured our collective imagination quite like Mars.
In the late 1800s when people first observed the canal-like features on Mars' surface, many speculated that an intelligent alien species resided there. This led to numerous stories about Martians, some of whom invade Earth, like in the 1938 radio drama, "The War of the Worlds." According to an enduring urban legend, many listeners believed the story to be real news coverage of an invasion, causing widespread panic.
Countless stories since have taken place on Mars or explored the possibilities of its Martian inhabitants. Movies like "Total Recall" (1990 and 2012) take us to a terraformed Mars and a struggling colony running out of air. A Martian colony and Earth have a prickly relationship in "The Expanse" television series and novels.
And in the 2014 novel and its 2015 movie adaptation, "The Martian," botanist Mark Watney is stranded alone on the planet and struggles to survive until a rescue mission can retrieve him.
