Mars Poster – Version A
| Credit | NASA |
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Version A of the Mars installment of our solar system poster series.
The posters are best printed on 11x17 paper. Several download options are available in the column on the right.
- There are three iterations of this poster: Version A (this one), Version B and Version C.
- Download full set
About the image: A mosaic of the Valles Marineris hemisphere of Mars, created with images from NASA's Viking orbiters, projected into point perspective--a view similar to that which one would see from a spacecraft. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech
On the Back
Mars—the fourth planet from the Sun—is a dusty, cold, desert world with a very thin atmosphere.
This dynamic planet has seasons, polar ice caps, extinct volcanoes, canyons and weather.
Mars is one of the most explored bodies in our solar system, and it's the only planet where we've sent rovers to roam 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.
Mars was named by the Romans for their god of war because its reddish color was reminiscent of blood. The Egyptians called it "Her Desher," meaning "the red one."
Even today, it is frequently called the "Red Planet" because iron minerals in the Martian dirt oxidize, or rust, causing the surface to look red.
Explore Mars in depth at https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/mars