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It’s the only planet we know of inhabited entirely by robots. All About Mars Read More 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. 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. Why 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 Us Earth-Mars Comparison: This composite image, from NASA Galileo and Mars Global Survey orbiters, of Earth and Mars was created to allow viewers to gain a better understanding of the relative sizes of the two planets. JPL Mars Relay Network Unable to render the provided source See the current, past, and future communication between Mars orbiters, Mars landers and rovers, using real data from the Mars missions themselves. Land on the surface of Mars with the Perseverance and Curiosity rovers to see the orbiters fly overhead, or see the communication "wedges" visually from orbit. NASA/JPL-Caltech/VTAD How We Explore Mars 2020: Perseverance Rover The Mars 2020 mission Perseverance rover is the first step of a proposed roundtrip journey to return Mars samples to Earth. 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. Mars Curiosity Rover (Mars Science Laboratory) Curiosity is investigating Mars to determine whether the Red Planet was ever habitable to microbial life. Learn More About Our Robotic Explorers Multimedia Mars Resources View the one-stop shop for all Mars iconic images, videos, and more! Explore NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover captured this video of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s 54th flight on Aug. 3, 2023. After performing a preflight wiggle check” with its rotors, the helicopter takes off, hovers at an altitude of 16 feet (5 meters), and rotates to the left, before touching back down. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS News & Features All Mars News & Features News Release 2 min read NASA Technology Grants to Advance Moon to Mars Space Exploration Article 4 min read NASA Selects Commercial Service Studies to Enable Mars Robotic Science 6 min read NASA Scientists Gear Up for Solar Storms at Mars Article 2 weeks ago 1 min read Major Martian Milestones Article 2 weeks ago 5 min read Why is Methane Seeping on Mars? NASA Scientists Have New Ideas Article 3 weeks ago 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. Learn More Illustration of an astronaut on Mars, using a remote control drone to inspect a nearby cliff. NASA Keep Exploring Discover More Topics From NASA Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune Return to top The National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASA explores the unknown in air and space, innovates for the benefit of humanity, and inspires the world through discovery. 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