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Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun: a cold, rocky world with a thin atmosphere, two small moons and a surface colored by iron-rich dust. Its day is 24.6 hours long, and evidence in its valleys, deltas and rocks shows that liquid water once shaped the planet. That past habitability is not proof that life ever existed there.
What kind of planet is Mars?
Mars is a terrestrial planet—small and rocky—and the fourth planet from the Sun. NASA gives it a radius of 2,106 miles (3,390 kilometers), about half Earth’s, and an average distance from the Sun of 142 million miles (228 million kilometers). Sunlight takes about 13 minutes to reach it. NASA Science’s Mars facts describes it as “a dusty, cold, desert world with a very thin atmosphere.”
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Mars has a core, mantle and solid crust. Its core is rich in iron, nickel and sulfur. The planet’s enormous Valles Marineris canyon system stretches about 2,400 miles (3,870 kilometers), reaches up to 370 miles (600 kilometers) wide and is roughly 5.8 miles (9.3 kilometers) deep at its deepest point—about the distance from California to New York in length, according to NASA.
Why is Mars called the Red Planet?
Iron in Martian rocks, surface material and dust has oxidized, or rusted, giving the planet its familiar reddish appearance. Windblown dust suspended in the atmosphere helps tint Mars when seen from far away. The surface is not uniformly red: landscapes also show brown, gold and tan. NASA’s Mars facts page describes these colors and the role of dust.
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How long are a day and a year on Mars?
A Martian day, called a sol, lasts 24.6 hours. A Mars year is 669.6 sols, or 687 Earth days. Mars has seasons because its axis is tilted about 25 degrees, but they are not all the same length: Mars follows a more elliptical orbit than Earth. These figures are published by NASA Science and NASA Space Place.
Does Mars have water today?
Yes, but present-day Mars is not a world of stable rivers or lakes. Water is found as ice, including beneath the surface in polar regions. NASA says the atmosphere is too thin for liquid water to persist for long on the surface.
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The evidence for a wetter past is extensive: river-valley networks, deltas, lakebeds and minerals that form in liquid water all point to ancient water activity. NASA also describes evidence of enormous floods around 3.5 billion years ago. This evidence establishes that water once shaped Mars; it does not by itself establish that life arose there. NASA’s Mars facts page summarizes the geological evidence and present conditions.
What are the weather and atmosphere like?
Mars has a thin atmosphere made mostly of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and argon. NASA gives a broad temperature range from about 70°F (20°C) to −225°F (−153°C); because the atmosphere is sparse, heat escapes readily. Winds can lift dust into storms that cover much of the planet and may take months to settle. Mars has no global magnetic field today, though strongly magnetized areas of its southern crust preserve evidence that it once had one. NASA Science provides these atmosphere, climate and magnetic-field details.
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Mars has two moons: Phobos and Deimos. Phobos is the larger and closer moon, heavily cratered and grooved. It is slowly moving toward Mars; NASA estimates that in about 50 million years it could either crash into the planet or break apart, possibly leaving debris in a ring. This is a distant projection, not an imminent event. Deimos is about half Phobos’s size, orbits farther away and appears smoother because loose material fills many of its craters. Mars has no rings today. NASA’s facts page describes the moons and Phobos’s long-term future.
Is there life on Mars?
No life has been discovered on Mars. NASA says scientists do not expect living things to be thriving there today. The search instead focuses on whether ancient Mars—when it was warmer and had more water—could have supported microbial life, and whether rocks preserve signs of it. A potentially habitable past is not the same as evidence that organisms actually lived there. NASA frames exploration around potential life, geology and climate, and preparing for human exploration in its Mars Exploration Program.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What are Mars missions doing?
NASA’s Mars program and hub pages, consulted in 2026, describe a mix of surface exploration and orbital science. Mission status can change, so the current NASA Mars hub is the better reference for live updates.
- Perseverance: NASA lists the rover as active and describes it as the first step in a sample-return effort.
- Curiosity: The rover investigates whether Mars was ever habitable to microbial life.
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: It studies the planet’s terrain and atmosphere and relays data.
NASA Space Place reports that the Ingenuity technology-demonstration helicopter completed 72 flights in just under three years before its mission ended in early 2024. It was the first aircraft to demonstrate powered, controlled flight on another world. NASA Space Place’s Mars overview provides the flight total and mission context.
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