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Mars is the 4th major planet from the sun and has a trenchant rusty red appearance and two unusual moons .

The Red Planet is a dusty , desert world within oursolar system . It has a very slight atmosphere , but the cold , lifeless ( as far as we have a go at it it ) planet is far from dull .

Graphic illustration showing the layers of Mars against the backdrop of space.

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun and is also known as the Red Planet.

Phenomenal dust storms can maturate so large they plunge the entire planet , temperatures can get so cold that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere condenses directly into Baron Snow of Leicester or Robert Frost , and marsquakes — a Mars interlingual rendition of anearthquake — on a regular basis stimulate things up .   Therefore , it is no surprise that this small crimson John Rock continue to intrigue scientists and is one of the most explored physical structure in the solar organisation , according toNASA Science .

Related : How long does it take to get to Mars ?

Befitting the Red Planet ’s bloody color , the Romans key out it after their graven image of warfare . In truth , the Romans copied the ancient Greeks , who also named the major planet after their Supreme Being of state of war , Ares .

Bird’s-eye view of Olympus Mons. The enormous volcano rises up from the barren landscape, with a large crater at the center.

Olympus Mons is the largest known volcano in the solar system. This digital mosaic image of the volcano was captured by NASA’s Viking 1 Orbiter.

Other civilizations also typically gave the satellite epithet base on its color — for example , the Egyptians named it " Her Desher , " mean " the red one , " while ancient Chinese astronomer nickname it " the fire star . "

Why is Mars called the Red Planet?

The bright rust color Mars is known for is due toiron - rich mineralsin its regolith — the loose dust and sway covering its surface . Earth ’s territory is a kind of regolith , too , albeit one loaded with organic message . grant to NASA , the Fe mineral oxidize , or rusting , causing the soil to face cherry-red .

Mars Q&A with an Expert

We demand David C. Agle culture medium relations at NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory , Pasadena , California which handle foreign mission on the Martian airfoil such as the Perseverance Rover some questions about the Red Planet .

David Agle is a writer , producer and media relations at NASA ’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory , Pasadena .

What type of planet is Mars?

Mars is a terrestrial , or rocky , planet .

Why is Mars known as the “Red Planet”?

Mars is known as the " Red Planet " because it appear faintly reddish / orange when viewed in the Nox sky . This reddish color comes from the abundance of iron minerals and dust on the Martian surface .

How is Mars different from Earth?

Mars is further from the sunshine and minor than Earth , and at least as far as we recognise , does not appear to be inhabitable by living .

What do we know about Mars' past and was it ever like our planet?

We ’ve watch a circumstances about Mars from the past 30 years of lander , rover , and orbiter missions . We have affirm the existence of preceding water on the Martian surface , that Mars was once a inhabitable major planet , and that it once had a thicker aura than it does today .

What have we learned about Mars over the past decade thanks to missions like Curiosity, InSight, and Perseverance?

Curiosity and Perseverance are examine ancient inhabitable environments exposed on the surface of Mars , and both mission have find evidence that the basic ingredients that life needs to exist were present at the airfoil or near - subsurface on Mars billions of years ago . InSight offer us an unprecedented view into the inside of Mars .

What is the biggest unanswered question about Mars?

Although we know now that Mars was a inhabitable planet in the past , the biggest unanswered question about Mars is whether it actually host life .

Mars' surface

The planet’scold , flimsy atmospheremeans liquid water in all probability can not live on the Martian surface for any appreciable length of sentence . feature film called recurring slope lineae may have spirt of brackish water flowing on the surface , but this evidence is disputed ; some scientist argue the H fleck from orbit in this realm may instead indicate briny salts . This means that although this desert planet is just half the diameter of Earth , it has the same amount of ironical body politic .

The Red Planet is home to both the mellow mountain and the deepest , tenacious vale in the solar system . Olympus Monsis roughly 17 miles ( 27 kilometers ) high , about three time as marvellous as Mount Everest , while theValles Marinerissystem of valleys — call after the Mariner 9 investigation that discovered it in 1971 — reach as deep as 6 miles ( 10 km ) and runs eastward - west for roughly 2,500 miles ( 4,000 kilometre ) , about one - one-fifth of the distance around Mars and close to the breadth of Australia .

Scientists think the Valles Marineris formed mostly by rifting of the impertinence as it got stretch . Individual canyon within the system are as much as 60 mil ( 100 kilometre ) widely . The canyon meld in the cardinal part of the Valles Marineris in a region as much as 370 mile ( 600 km ) wide . prominent channels emerge from the ends of some canon and superimposed deposit within suggest that the canon might once have been filled with liquid weewee .

Cratered moon Phobos has a particularly large crater on the right side of the image and is brown/gray in color.

Image of Phobos captured by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Mars also has the heavy volcanoes in the solar arrangement , Olympus Mons being one of them . The monumental vent , which is about 370 miles ( 600 kilometer ) in diameter , is all-inclusive enough to cover the state of New Mexico . Olympus Mons is a shield vent , with slopes that arise bit by bit like those of Hawaiian volcanoes , and was created by eruption of lava that fall for long distance before solidifying . Mars also has many other kinds of volcanic landforms , from modest , steep - sided cones to enormous plain coat in hardened lava . Some small-scale eruptions might still occur on the planet today .

Related : Space volcanoes : Origins , variants and blast

channel , valleys and gully are found all over Mars , and suggest that liquid piddle might have flow across the major planet ’s control surface in recent fourth dimension . Some channel can be 60 miles ( 100 kilometre ) wide and 1,200 miles ( 2,000 km ) long . Water may still lie down in cracks and pore in hugger-mugger rock . A study by scientists in 2018 suggest thatsaltywaterbelow the Martian surfacecould hold a considerable amount of oxygen , which could sustain microbic life . However , the amount of oxygen depends on temperature and pressure;temperature change on Marsfrom time to sentence as the arguing of its revolution axis shift .

Deimos is not as cratered as Phobos but still contains some craters on the surface, the shallower looking craters appear lighter in color, taking on a white/gray hue compared to the darker orange larger/deeper craters.

Image of Deimos captured by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Many area of Mars are two-dimensional , low - lying plains . The lowest of the northern field are among the flattest , still place in the solar system , potentially created by water that once flowed across the Martian aerofoil . The northerly hemisphere mostly lies at a lower elevation than the southern hemisphere , suggest the incrustation may be thinner in the northward than in the south . This difference of opinion between the north and Confederate States of America might be due to a very big encroachment in short after the birth of Mars .

The number of volcanic crater on Mars varies dramatically from place to place , depending on how old the airfoil is . Much of the surface of the southern hemisphere is exceedingly honest-to-goodness , and so has many craters — include the satellite ’s large , 1,400 - mile - full ( 2,300 km ) Hellas Planitia — while that of northerly cerebral hemisphere is younger and so has few craters . Some volcanoes also have just a few craters , which paint a picture they erupted recently , with the result lava cover up any old craters . Some craters have unusual - looking deposit of debris around them resembling solidified mudflows , potentially indicate that the impactor hit hugger-mugger water system or sparkler .

In 2018 , the European Space Agency ’s Mars Express spacecraft observe what could be a slurry of water and grainsunderneath icy Planum Australe . ( Some reports depict it as a " lake , " but it ’s unclear how much regolith is inside the water . ) This body of water is say to be about 12.4 miles ( 20 kilometre ) across . Its underground location is reminiscent of similar underground lakes in Antarctica , which have been happen to host microbes . Late in the year , Mars Express alsospied a vast , icy zone in the Red Planet ’s Korolev Crater .

Simulated 3D perspective view of Mars polar cap. A sepia hue image shows smooth white ice caps and darker dust build ups below. The sky is a hazy yellow color.

Ice and dust build the Martian polar caps.

Mars' moons

The twomoons of Mars , Phobos and Deimos , were discovered by American astronomer Asaph Hall over the form of a week in 1877 . Hall had almost given up his search for a moon of Mars , but his married woman , Angelina , urge on him on . He light upon Deimos the next nighttime , and Phobos six day after that . He list the moons after the Logos of the Grecian war god Ares — Phobos mean " veneration , " while Deimos means " rabble . "

Both Phobos and Deimos are apparently made of carbon copy - plenteous stone flux with ice and are covered in debris and loose rocks . They are tiny next to Earth ’s moon , and are irregularly shaped , since they miss enough gravity to rip themselves into a more orbitual form . The widestPhobosgets is about 17 mile ( 27 kilometer ) , and the across-the-board Deimos gets is roughly 9 mi ( 15 km ) . ( Earth ’s moonis 2,159 miles , or 3,475 km , wide . )

Both Mars moons are pockmarked with craters from meteoroid impacts . The open of Phobos also possesses an intricate traffic pattern of grooves , which may be cracks that formed after the shock created the moon ’s largest crater — a hole about 6 miles ( 10 kilometre ) spacious , or nearly half the width of Phobos . The two Martian artificial satellite always show the same grimace to their parent planet , just as our moon does to Earth .

A black and white gif animation showing wispy clouds in Mars' sky illuminated by the sun.

NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover imaged these drifting clouds on 25 March 2025, the 2,410th Martian day, or sol, of the mission, using its black-and-white navigation cameras.

It persist uncertain how Phobos andDeimoswere born . They may be former asteroids that were captured by Mars ' gravitative twist , or they may have take shape in reach around Mars at roughly the same time the major planet come into existence . Ultraviolet lightreflected from Phobos provides firm grounds that the moon is a catch asteroid , harmonize to stargazer at the University of Padova in Italy .

Phobos is bit by bit spiraling toward Mars , drawing about 6 feet ( 1.8 meters ) nigher to the Red Planet each century . Within 50 million years , Phobos will either boom into Mars or break up and form a ring of debris around the planet .

Mars quick facts: Size, composition and structure

Mars is 4,220 miles ( 6,791 km ) in diam —   far belittled than Earth , which is 7,926 Swedish mile ( 12,756 km ) wide . The Red Planet is about10 % as massiveas our plate earth , with a gravitative pull 38 % as strong . ( A 100 - pound person here on Earth would consider just 38 pounds on Mars , but their quite a little would be the same on both planets . )

Atmospheric composition (by volume)

According to NASA , the standard pressure of Mars is 95.32 % carbon dioxide , 2.7 % nitrogen , 1.6 % argon , 0.13 % oxygen and 0.08 % carbon monoxide , with minor amounts of water , nitrogen oxide , Ne , atomic number 1 - heavy hydrogen - oxygen , krypton and xenon .

Magnetic field

Mars lose its planetary charismatic landing field about 4 billion years ago , leading to thestripping of much of its atmosphereby the solar wind . But there are region of the planet ’s crust today that can be at least 10 times more strongly magnetic than anything measure out on Earth , which suggests those area are remnants of an ancient global magnetized field .

Internal structure

NASA ’s InSight lander has been probing the Martian interior since bear on down near the planet ’s equator in November 2018 . perceptivity measures and characterizes marsquakes , and mission team members are track wobbles in Mars ' disputation over fourth dimension by precisely cut through the lander ’s position on the satellite ’s surface .

These data have revealed key insights about Mars ' internal complex body part . For instance , InSight team members recently estimated that the satellite ’s kernel is1,110 to 1,300 mi ( 1,780 to 2,080 kilometer ) wide . InSight ’s observations also suggest that Mars ' crust is14 to 45 nautical mile ( 24 and 72 km ) thick , on average , with the mantle making up the rest of the major planet ’s ( non - atmospherical ) volume .

For comparison , Earth ’s coreis about 4,400 Swedish mile ( 7,100 km ) wide — giving than Mars itself —   and its blanket is roughly 1,800 miles ( 2,900 km ) thick . Earth has two kinds of crust , continental and oceanic , whose average thicknesses are about 25 miles ( 40 km ) and 5 miles ( 8 km ) , respectively .

A graphic showing brief timeline of important Mars missions and the top of Mars appears at the bottom of the image.

Mars is one of the most explored bodies of our solar system.

Chemical composition

Mars belike has a satisfying core indite of atomic number 26 , Ni and sulfur . The drapery of Mars is probably similar to Earth ’s in that it is draw up mostly of peridotite , which is made up primarily of silicon , atomic number 8 , iron and magnesium . The crust is believably mostly made of the volcanic rock and roll basalt , which is also common in the crusts of the Earth and the moon , although some crustal rock , especially in the northerly hemisphere , may be a form of andesite , a volcanic rock music that comprise more silica than basalt does .

Mars' polar caps

Vast deposits of what appear to be exquisitely layered stacks of piddle ice and dust extend from the poles to latitude of about 80 degree in both Martian hemispheres . These were probably deposited by the atmosphere over recollective spans of time . On top of much of these layered deposit in both hemispheres are caps of water ice that stay on frozen year - pear-shaped .

extra seasonal jacket of Robert Frost seem in the wintertime . These are made of firm carbon dioxide , also known as " dry ice , " which has condense from C dioxide flatulency in the air . ( Mars ' think air is about 95 % atomic number 6 dioxide by volume . ) In the thick part of the winter , this frost can extend from the poles to latitudes as low as 45 degree , or halfway to the equator . Thedry ice layerappears to have a fluffy texture , like newly descend snow , according to a report in the Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets .

Mars' climate

Mars is much cold than Earth , in large part due to its neat distance from the sun . Theaverage temperatureis about minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit ( minus 60 point Celsius ) , although it can vary from minus 195 F ( minus 125 C ) near the poles during the wintertime to as much as 70 F ( 20 C ) at midday near the equator .

The carbon paper - dioxide - rich atmosphere of Mars is also about 100 times less slow than Earth ’s on modal , but it is nevertheless loggerheaded enough to support atmospheric condition , clouds and lead . The denseness of the atm varies seasonally , as wintertime forces carbon paper dioxide to freeze out of the Martian air . In the ancient past , the ambiance was likely significantly thick and able to corroborate water flow on the major planet ’s open . Over time , lighter molecules in the Martian ambience escaped under pressure from the solar wind , which affected the aura because Mars does not have a global magnetized theater . This unconscious process is being analyze today byNASA ’s MAVEN ( Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution ) mission .

NASA ’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter feel the first authoritative detections ofcarbon - dioxide snow cloud , attain Mars the only body in the solar scheme known to host such strange winter weather . The Red Planet also causes water supply - ice snow to fall from the clouds .

Rocket launching from pad, cloudy plumes billow from beneath the rocket as it takes off. The sky is clear and blue.

The Mars Odyssey launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida on 28 December 2024.

The dust storms on Mars are the expectant in the solar system , open of blanketing the entire Red Planet and live on for months . One hypothesis as to why detritus storms can maturate so swelled on Mars is because the airborne dust speck absorb sunlight , warming the Martian atmosphere in their vicinity . Warm pockets of air then menstruate toward colder regions , bring forth winds . impregnable confidential information lift more dust off the ground , which , in twist , heats the atmosphere , raising more farting and recoil up more junk .

These dust storms can pose serious risks to robots on the Martian surface . For deterrent example , NASA’sOpportunityMars roamer died after being engulfed in a giant 2018 tempest , which jam sunlight from reaching the robot ’s solar control board for weeks at a time .

Mars' orbit around the sun

Mars lies farther from the Dominicus than Earth does , so the Red Planet has a long class —   687 daylight compared to 365 for our home world . The two planets have similar sidereal day lengths , however ; it takes about 24 hours and 40 minutes for Mars to complete one rotation around its axis , versus 24 hours for Earth .

The axis of Mars , like Earth ’s , is tilted in relation to the Lord’s Day . This mean that like Earth , the amount of sunlight fall on sealed parts of the Red Planet can vary wide during the year , dedicate Mars time of year .

— Average distance from the sun:141,633,260 miles ( 227,936,640 km ) . By comparison : 1.524 times that of Earth .

NASA’s Perseverance rover to the right of the image took this selfie amidst the barren, dusty and rocky Martian landscape. Some larger rocks can be seen in the foreground and background and the sky is a hazy red color.

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover took this selfie over a rock nicknamed “Rochette,” on Sept. 10, 2021.

— Perihelion ( stuffy solar approach ): 128,400,000 miles ( 206,600,000 km ) . By comparing : 1.404 sentence that of Earth .

— Aphelion ( utmost distance from the sun ): 154,900,000 Swedish mile ( 249,200,000 klick ) . By compare : 1.638 times that of Earth .

However , the seasons that Mars experience are more extreme than Earth ’s because the Red Planet ’s elliptical , ellipse - regulate orbit around the sun is more stretch than that of any of the other major satellite . When Mars is close to the sun , its southern hemisphere is careen toward our star , make the major planet a short , affectionate summer , while the northern hemisphere experiences a curt , moth-eaten winter . When Mars is farthest from the sun , the northern hemisphere is pitch toward the sunlight , give it a long , mild summertime , while the southerly hemisphere experiences a long , cold winter .

A diagram of Mars with blue overlay on the top and bottom (mostly on the top) to show where oceans may have once been.

The inclination of the Red Planet ’s axis swings wildly over time because it ’s not stabilized by a large moon . This situation has lead to dissimilar mood on the Martian control surface throughout its history . A 2017 subject suggests that the changing lean also influenced therelease of methaneinto Mars ' atmospheric state , causing temporary warming periods that allowed weewee to flow .

Mars missions and research

The first person to observe Mars with a telescope wasGalileo Galilei , in 1610 . In the one C following , stargazer discovered the planet ’s polar ice caps . In the 19th and 20th 100 , some researchers —   most excellently , Percival Lowell — trust they see a web of long , square epithelial duct on Mars that hinted at a possible civilisation . However , these sightings proved to be mistaken interpretation of geological features .

A number of Martian rocks have fallen to Earth over the eon , leave scientist a rare chance to study pieces of Mars without having to leave our major planet . One of the most controversial discovery was Allan Hills 84001 ( ALH84001 ) — a Martian meteorite that , according to a 1996 study , likely contains lilliputian fossils and other grounds ofMars life . Other researchers hurl doubt on this surmise , but the team behind the famous 1996 study have declare fast to their interpretation , and the argumentation about ALH84001continues today .

In 2018 , a separate meteorite field of study found that organic speck — the carbon - containing building stoppage of life , although not of necessity evidence of life itself — could have form on Marsthrough barrage - like chemical reactions .

An image of Mars

automatic space vehicle set about keep Mars in the sixties , with the United States launchingMariner 4 in 1964 and Mariners 6 and 7 in 1969 . Those early missions revealed Mars to be a devoid world , without any sign of the lifetime or civilization people such as Lowell had reckon there . In 1971,Mariner 9orbited Mars , single-valued function about 80 % of the planet and discovering its volcanoes and big canyons .

The Soviet Union also launched numerous Red Planet spacecraft in the sixties and former seventies , but most of those delegation bomb . Mars 2 ( 1971 ) and Mars 3 ( 1971 ) operated successfully but were unable to map out the surface due to dust storm . NASA’sViking 1lander touched down on the control surface of Mars in 1976 , draw off the first successful landing place on the Red Planet . Its similitude , Viking 2 , landed six weeks later in a different Mars region .

The Viking landers took the first closemouthed - up picture of the Martian surface but find no impregnable   grounds for life-time . Again , however , there has been argument : Gil Levin ,   chief investigator of the Vikings ' Labeled Release life - detection experimentation , forever maintained that the Lander sight evidence of microbial metamorphosis in the Martian shite . ( Levin died in July 2021 , at the old age of 97 . )

a chalk-like rock sample on the end of a threaded metal tube

The next two craft to successfully reach the Red Planet were Mars Pathfinder , a lander , andMars Global Surveyor , an artificial satellite , both NASA craftiness that launched in 1996 . A small automaton onboard Pathfinder namedSojourner — the first wheeled wanderer ever to explore the surface of another satellite — adventure over the planet ’s aerofoil , analyse rock music for 95 Earth daytime .

In 2001 , NASA launch theMars Odysseyorbiter , which discovered vast sum of money of water frappe beneath the Martian airfoil , mostly in the upper 3 feet ( 1 time ) . It rest uncertain whether more water system lie underneath , since the investigation can not see water any deeper .

In 2003 , Mars transcend nearer to Earth than it had anytime in the past 60,000 years . That same class , NASA launched two golf - go-cart - sized rovers , nicknamedSpiritandOpportunity , which explored dissimilar area of the Martian surface after touching down in January 2004 . Both wanderer find many signs that water once flowed on the major planet ’s Earth’s surface .

The first visible-light image of a green aurora on Mars, left, taken by NASA’s Perseverance rover. A comparison image, right, shows the night sky without the aurora but featuring the Martian moon Deimos.

Spirit and Opportunity were earlier tax with three - calendar month surface military mission , but both keep roam for far longer than that . NASA did n’t declare Spirit dead until 2011 , and chance was still going substantial until that rubble storm dispatch in mid-2018 .

In 2008 , NASA sent a lander calledPhoenixto the far northern plain of Mars . The robot confirmed the presence of urine chalk in the near subsurface , among other finds .

In 2011 , NASA ’s Mars Science Laboratory mission sent theCuriosityrover to investigate Mars ' past electric potential to host life . Not . long after land inside the Red Planet ’s Gale Crater in August 2012 , the car - sized robot determined that the country hosted a long - survive , potentially habitable lake - and - flow systemin the ancient past . Curiosity has also foundcomplex organic moleculesand documented seasonal fluctuation in methane assiduity in the standard atmosphere .

An image of the rock, showing where the leopard spots and poppy seeds are.

NASA has two other orbiters working around the planet — theMars reconnaissance mission OrbiterandMAVEN ( Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution ) , which get at Mars in 2006 and 2014 , respectively . The European Space Agency ( ESA ) also has two spacecraft orbiting the planet : Mars Expressand the Trace Gas Orbiter .

In September 2014 , India’sMars Orbiter Missionalso reached the Red Planet , making it the quaternary nation to successfully go in orbit around Mars .

In November 2018 , NASA land a stationary craft calledMars InSighton the open . As note above , InSight is investigating Mars ' internal structure and composing , primarily by measuring and characterizing marsquakes .

A view of Mars� surface with lots of dark streaks toward the center, going down vertically offscreen.

NASA launched the living - hunt , sample distribution - cachingPerseverancerover in July 2020 . tenacity , which is about the same size as Curiosity , landed on the storey of Mars ' Jezero Crater in February 2021 along with a tiny , engineering science - demonstrating whirlybird known as inventiveness .

As of September 2021,Ingenuityhad made more than a dozen flights on Mars , show that airy exploration of the major planet is practicable . Perseverance document the 4 - pound ( 1.8 kilo ) chopper ’s early flight , then commence rivet in earnest on its own science deputation . The prominent scouter has already compile several sample , part of a magnanimous memory cache that will be bring back to Earth , perhaps as soon as 2031 , by a joint NASA - ESA campaign .

July 2020 also find out the launch of the United Arab Emirates ' first Mars mission , calledHope , and China ’s first to the full homegrown Mars travail , Tianwen 1 . The Hope orbiter arrived at Mars in February 2021 and is studying the satellite ’s atmosphere , weather and mood .

Engineers conduct a thermal vacuum test with JAXA�s MMX Mars moon sample-return spacecraft. JAXA posted this image on X on May 15, 2025.

— A abbreviated account of Mars foreign mission — NASA ’s Perseverance Mars rover delegation in photo — The search for lifetime on Mars : A photo timeline

Tianwen 1 , which lie of an orbiter and a lander - rover duo , also reached Mars orbit in February 2021 . The land component touched down a few month later , in May . The Tianwen 1 roamer , call Zhurong , shortly rolled down the landing place platform ’s wild leek and began explore the Martian aerofoil .

ESA is also working on aMars rover named Rosalind Franklin , previously known as the ExoMars rover . The rover is a multi - part European - led program to search Mars , both on the Earth’s surface and from above . The program has been delayed several time and isunlikely to launch before 2028 .

On the road to Krokodillen: One of the navigation cameras on NASA’s Perseverance captured the rover’s tracks coming from an area called “Witch Hazel Hill,” on May 13, 2025, the 1,503rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission.

Future human missions

Robots are n’t the only ones getting a ticket to Mars . A workshop group of scientists from government authority , academe and industry have determined that aNASA - direct manned mission to Marsshould be possible by the 2030s .

In late 2017 , the organisation of President Donald Trumpdirected NASA to send people back to the moonbefore going to Mars . NASA is work out on this goal via a political program calledArtemis , which direct to establish a sustainable , long - term human mien on and around the Sun Myung Moon by the former 2020s . The object lesson and skills study from this lunar effort will help pave the way for putting boots on Mars , NASA officials have said .

automatonlike missions to the Red Planet have seen much success in the preceding few decades , but it remains a considerable challenge to get hoi polloi to Mars . With current rocket engineering , it would take at least six month for people to journey to Mars . Red Planet explorers would therefore be let out for long stretches to rich - infinite radiation therapy and to microgravity , which hasdevastating event on the human body . Performing activities in the restrained gravity on Mars could prove highly difficult after many months in microgravity . enquiry into the effects of microgravity continues on the International Space Station .

On a flat, slightly rocky ground, there is a sample tube laying there. A rover�s wheel is seen toward the top right.

NASA is n’t the only entity with crewed Mars aspirations . Other Nation , including China and Russia , have also announced their goals for get off human race to the Red Planet .

And Elon Musk , the founder and CEO of SpaceX , has long stressed that he established the company back in 2002 principally to aid humanity adjudicate the Red Planet . SpaceX is currently explicate and test a fully recyclable deep - space transportation system calledStarship , which Musk believes is the breakthrough needed to get the great unwashed to Mars at long last .

Additional resources

Explore Mars in more detail with NASA’sMars Exploration Program . Read about Mars ' clime in more item with theNational Weather Service . Sendyour nameto Mars on NASA ’s next flying to the Red Planet .

Bibliography

NASA . Mars fact sheet . NASA . Retrieved July 11 , 2022 , fromwww.nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/marsfact.html

NASA . Mars . NASA . Retrieved July 11 , 2022 , fromwww.solarsystem.nasa.gov/planets/mars/overview/

NASA . NASA Mars Exploration . NASA . Retrieved July 11 , 2022 , fromhttps://mars.nasa.gov/

This infrared image of Mars, captured during a close flyby on March 1, 2025, helped NASA validate key instruments aboard the Europa Clipper probe ahead of its mission to Jupiter�s icy ocean moon Europa.

NASA . beam your name to Mars . NASA . Retrieved July 11 , 2022 , fromwww.mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/future

US Department of Commerce , N. O. A. A. The satellite Mars . National Weather Service . Retrieved July 11 , 2022 , fromwww.weather.gov/fsd/mars

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