15 Interesting Facts About Mars

1. Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is the second smallest planet in the solar system.

2. Mars is named after the Roman god of war.

3. Mars is sometimes called the “Red Planet” because of its reddish appearance.

4. Mars is home to the largest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons.

5. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are thought to be captured asteroids.

6. Mars is one of the most explored planets in the solar system.

7. The first successful Mars mission was Mariner 9 in 1971.

8. The Soviet Union’s Mars 3 was the first spacecraft to land on Mars, in 1971.

9. The United States’ Viking 1 was the first spacecraft to successfully land and operate on Mars, in 1976.

10. The Mars Pathfinder mission landed a rover, Sojourner, on Mars in 1997.

11. The Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, landed on Mars in 2004 and are still operational.

12. The Mars Phoenix Lander landed on Mars in 2008 and found evidence of water ice on the planet’s surface.

13. The Mars Science Laboratory, Curiosity, landed on Mars in 2012 and is currently exploring Gale Crater.

14. There are several ongoing missions to Mars, including NASA’s MAVEN orbiter and InSight lander, as well as ESA’s ExoMars orbiter and rover.

15. There are plans for future human missions to Mars, including NASA’s Orion spacecraft and SpaceX’s Dragon 2 spacecraft.