About Space
MARS
Mars is a dusty, cold, desert world with a very thin atmosphere. There is strong evidence Mars was—billions of years ago—wetter and warmer, with a thicker atmosphere.
This mosaic comprises about 50 red-, green-, and violet-filter Viking Orbiter images, mosaiced in an orthographic projection at a scale of 1 km/pixel. The images were acquired in 1980 during late northern summer on Mars.
On a clear day on Mars, you can see tens of thousands of rocks. Two high-resolution scans by one of Viking 2's cameras were mosaiced to create this scene looking northeast to the horizon some three kilometers (two miles) away. Image
This 8-image mosaic was acquired during the late afternoon (near 5pm LST, note the long shadows) on Sol 2 as part of the predeploy "insurance panorama" and shows the newly deployed rover sitting on the Martian surface.
This mosaic comprises about 50 red-, green-, and violet-filter Viking Orbiter images, mosaiced in an orthographic projection at a scale of 1 km/pixel. The images were acquired in 1980 during late northern summer on Mars.
THE THINGS NEED-TO-KNOW ABOUT MARS
1
SMALL PLANET
If the Sun were as tall as a typical front door, Earth would be the size of a dime, and Mars would be about as big as an aspirin tablet.
2
FOURTH ROCK
Mars orbits our Sun, a star. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun at an average distance of about 228 million km (142 million miles) or 1.52 AU.
3
LONGER DAYS
One day on Mars takes a little over 24 hours. Mars makes a complete orbit around the Sun (a year in Martian time) in 687 Earth days.
4
RUGGED TERRAIN
Mars is a rocky planet. Its solid surface has been altered by volcanoes, impacts, winds, crustal movement and chemical reactions.
5
RUSTY PLANET
Mars is known as the Red Planet because iron minerals in the Martian soil oxidize, or rust, causing the soil and atmosphere to look red.
6
TOUGH PLACE FOR LIFE
At this time, Mars' surface cannot support life as we know it. Current missions are determining Mars' past and future potential for life.