Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is about one and a half times further from the Sun and about half the size of the Earth. Mars' year is a little less than 2 Earth years. Its day is about the same as the Earth's. Mars' average temperature is a little cooler that Earth's. Sometimes known as the "Red Planet", Mars is solid. It has numerous interesting features, indicating there may have been water at some time.

Interesting Things about Mars

Mars is named after the god of war from Roman myth. The month of March is named for Mars. There are two moons and no rings circling the planet. The Viking spacecraft has visited Mars and landed on its surface.

The orbit of Mars is about 227,940,000 km from the Sun. Its radius is 3,398 km.

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Welcome to the Planets

Written by: Douglas W. Potter

Last Modified Fri Feb 28 1997