Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited entirely by robots.
Mission Status
NASA Spacecraft in Orbit
NASA Rovers on the Surface
Featured Topics
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 and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter — serve as pathfinders to eventually get astronauts to the surface of the Red Planet.
Mars Rock Sample Montage
These high-resolution images highlight the diversity of materials obtained during the rover’s first thee and a half years on the Red Planet.
Download the Video and Social Media ImagesWhy Do We Go?
Mars is one of the most explored bodies in our solar system, and it's the only planet where we've sent rovers to explore the alien landscape. NASA missions have found lots of evidence that Mars was much wetter and warmer, with a thicker atmosphere, billions of years ago.
Explore with UsMars Relay Network: Communications Bridge Between Mars & Earth
How We Explore
- NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mars Sample Return
NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) are planning ways to bring the first samples of Mars material back to Earth for detailed study.
- NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Mars Perseverance Rover (Mars 2020)
The Mars 2020 mission Perseverance rover is the first step of a proposed roundtrip journey to return Mars samples to Earth.
- NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS
Mars Curiosity Rover (Mars Science Laboratory)
Curiosity is investigating Mars to determine whether the Red Planet was ever habitable to microbial life.
- NASA/GSFC
MAVEN
The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission is the first mission devoted to understanding the Martian upper atmosphere.
- NASA/JPL
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter searches for evidence that water persisted on the surface of Mars for a long period of time.
- NASA/JPL-Caltech
Mars Odyssey
Mars Odyssey mission created the first global map of chemical elements and minerals that make up the Martian surface.
News & Features
Beyond the Moon
Humans to Mars
Like the Moon, Mars is a rich destination for scientific discovery and a driver of technologies that will enable humans to travel and explore far from Earth.
Mars remains our horizon goal for human exploration because it is one of the only other places we know in the solar system where life may have existed. What we learn about the Red Planet will tell us more about our Earth’s past and future, and may help answer whether life exists beyond our home planet.
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