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....
Mars was named by the ancient Romans for their god of war because its reddish color ws reminiscent of blood. Other civilizations also named the planet for this attribute–for example, 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.
Scientists don't expect to find living things currently thriving on Mars. Instead, they're looking for signs of life that existed long ago, when Mars was warmer and covered with water.
With a radius of 2,106 miles (3,390 kilometers), Mars is about half the size of Earth. If Earth were the size of a nickel, Mars would be about as big as a raspberry. Continue reading from NASA
There are several strategic, practical and scientific reasons for humans to explore Mars. Among them we know that Mars is the most accessible place in the solar system. Additionally, exploring Mars the opportunity to possibly answer origin and evolution of life questions, and could someday be a destination for survival of humankind.
In the strategic sense, exploring Mars demonstrates our political and economic leadership as a nation, improves the quality of life on Earth, helps us learn about our home planet, and expands US leadership in the peaceful, international exploration of space. Continue reading from NASA
Mars, the Red Planet (The Planetary Society)
Mars Videos and Animations (NASA)
Mars Missions: A Brief History (Space.com)
Mars 2020 Mission Perseverance Rover (NASA)
Opportunity: Longest-Running Mars Rover (Space.com)
NASA Establishes 'Moon to Mars' Office to Help Get Astronauts to Red Planet (Space.com)
Our solar system formed about 4.5 billion years ago from a dense cloud of interstellar gas and dust. The cloud collapsed, possibly due to the shockwave of a nearby exploding star, called a supernova. When this dust cloud collapsed, it formed a solar nebula—a spinning, swirling disk of material.
At the center, gravity pulled more and more material in. Eventually the pressure in the core was so great that hydrogen atoms began to combine and form helium, releasing a tremendous amount of energy. With that, our Sun was born, and it eventually amassed more than 99 percent of the available matter. Continue reading from NASA
