Last Updated on March 6, 2024
December 2, 1971 remains one of the most historic dates in the astronomy calendar as this date marked the first successful Mars landing. The feat was achieved by the Soviet Union’s Mars 3 spacecraft.
As of May 2021, the United States and China had joined the Soviet Union in commissioning successful Mars expeditions.
Communications from various Mars rovers have offered us deep insights into a planet that, until about four decades ago, was relatively studied but largely unexplored. Read below for the 40 fun facts about Mars you probably didn’t know about.
1. Mars is the fourth planet away from the sun
All nine planets in terms of their outward distance from the sun are Mercury, Venus, Earth, MARS, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto.
2. Mars is 1.5 astronomical units away from the sun
The average distance from Mars to the sun is 142 million miles or 228 million kilometers. That’s equivalent to 1.5 astronomical units.
One astronomical unit (AU) refers to the distance from Earth to the sun, which is 147.11 million kilometers.
The nearest planet to the sun, Mercury, is 46.626 million kilometers away while the furthest, Pluto, is roughly 5.9 billion kilometers away.
3. Mars is nearly the same size as terrestrial Earth
Mars has a surface area of 55,742,105 square miles. That’s nearly the same as Earth’s surface area without water, which is 57,308,757 square miles.
So, if Earth didn’t have all its oceans and seas, it would be about the same size as Mars. For comparison, Earth’s surface area including water is a whopping 196,936,993 square miles.
4. Mars is the second-smallest planet
Mars is the second-smallest planet. The smallest of all nine planets is Mercury, with an average surface area of 28.88 million square miles.
5. Mars can be freezing cold
Mars has an average surface temperature of -81F (-63C). That’s 138 degrees Fahrenheit or 77 degrees Celsius chillier than Earth’s average surface temperature, which is 57F.
6. Mars derives its name from Roman mythology
All the names of the nine planets have a rather interesting etymological origin.
Mars was named after the Roman god of war due to its reddish color, which is reminiscent of blood.
7. Iron is responsible for Mars’ reddish color
Signals relayed from Mars to Earth tell of a vast landmark covered in reddish-brown soil and rocks. The redness comes from the mineral iron, which is incredibly abundant on the planet.
When exposed to the outdoors, iron oxidizes into a reddish-brown compound commonly known as rust.
8. Mars has two moons
While Earth has only one moon, Mars has two. They include Phobos and Deimos.
Deimos is the smaller of Mars’ two moons. It’s more irregularly shaped and is named after the Roman god of dread.
Phobos is larger and more circular than Deimos. The moon was named after the Greek god of fear and panic.
9. A day on Mars is slightly longer than Earth
A typical sidereal day on Mars is 24 hours, 37 minutes, and 22 seconds while a solar day is 24 hours, 39 minutes, and 35 seconds.
The sidereal day refers to the duration a planet rotates once compared to the background of the stars. On the other hand, a solar day is the duration between successive meridian transits of the sun at a specific place.
A planet’s orbital motion spells the difference between the sidereal day and the solar day.
10. Mars orbits the sun much slower than Earth
Mars orbits the sun at an average speed of 53,853 miles per hour or 24.077 km/s. That’s much slower than Earth’s orbital speed of 67,000 miles per hour or 30 km/s.
11. A year on Mars is nearly twice as Earth
Since Mars orbits the sun much slower than Earth, the planet also takes much longer to complete one revolution. A year on Mars is a whopping 687 Earth days.
12. Mars has very low atmospheric pressure
The atmospheric pressure at Mars’ ground level is a paltry 6.518 millibars or 0.095 psi.
That’s way below Earth’s atmospheric pressure, which is 14.7 psi at sea level.
13. It doesn’t rain on Mars…..
The very low atmospheric pressure on Mars makes it nearly impossible for any water to exist on the planet’s surface, atmosphere, or even around its mountain peaks.
While there has been evidence of frost on Mars’ surface, no precipitation falls.
14. …..But the situation wasn’t always like that
While it currently doesn’t rain on Mars, scientists believe that the planet experienced heavy downpour some 3.7 billion years ago.
Mars’ vast network of valleys and craters are sure proof that the Red Planet was once flourishing with water.
15. It snows on Mars
Mars experiences two types of snow, namely ice and carbon dioxide. The thin air on Mars and its incredibly low temperature converts any snow existing in water and ice to gas before it lands on the planet’s surface.
16. Mars has hills and mountains
Not only are there hills and mountains on Mars. But the Red Planet has the tallest mountain in the entire solar system.
Mt. Olympus Mons rises to a towering height of 13 miles or 21 kilometers. That’s about 2.5 times the height of Earth’s tallest mountain – Mount Everest.
17. There are valleys too
According to NASA, Mars has an extensive canyon system known as Mariner Valley or Valles Marineris.
The valley measures 2500 miles or 4000 kilometers long and 4 miles or 7 kilometers deep. It runs along the Martian equator and extends slightly east of the Tharsis region.
18. But there are no water bodies
As already mentioned, water cannot exist on Mars surface. That makes the Red Planet one vast desert landmass.
19. Mars has no forest…..
Mars has no forest or vegetation. That’s not surprising considering that the planet has no ground water.
20. …..But the planet is deceptively covered in trees
Naturally erupting dust clouds and sand dunes photographed on Mars create the illusion of trees near the planet’s North Pole. Well, these are nothing but optical illusion.
21. Mars has a horrible oxygen: carbon dioxide ratio
There’s almost no oxygen in mars. On the contrary, carbon dioxide levels are up to 96%.
22. Humans cannot live on Mars…..
The air on Mars is dangerously thinner than on Earth. The planet is also worryingly short on oxygen supply. These two factors alone make life on Mars next to impossible.
23. …..But humans could colonize the planet at some point
NASA believes that humans could live on Mars at some point. However, survival on the planet would only be possible on artificial habitats equipped with complex life-support systems that include water processing and air purification, among other things.
24. Mars has the same rock composition as Earth
Mars’ surface is predominantly covered with basalt. Basalt is the same rock that covers much of Earth’s surface.
25. There’s wind on Mars
Mars’ atmosphere may be relatively thinner than Earth’s. But it still creates wind.
In fact, Mars is associated with recurrent dust storms which can peak at over 100 kph.
26. Mars’ force of gravity is less than Earth’s
Mars has an average gravity of 3.721 m/s². That’s way less than Earth’s, which is 9.807 m/s².
In other words, objects on Mars fall to the ground about three times slower than they do on Earth.
27. Mars was discovered by Galileo Galilei
Celebrated Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei was the first human to observe Mars by a telescope in 1610. He’s widely credited for discovering the planet.
28. The first Mars drawing was done by Christiaan Huygens
Although Galileo Galilei is widely regarded as the first man to discover Mars, the record for the first drawing of the planet goes to Dutch astronomer Christiaan Huygens.
Huygens drew a weird feature on Mars’ surface, an ancient volcanic area that would later be named Syrtis Major.
29. The term ‘Martian’ is both literal and symbolic
The obvious meaning of the word ‘Martian’ is an adjective for things related to the planet Mars. Examples include Martian atmosphere, rocks, landscape, etc.
However, the term may also denote hypothetical or fictional Mars dwellers. A Martian in its figurative sense would refer to someone whose views or practices are out of tune with the majority of Earth’s inhabitants.
30. In literature, Mars is so near, yet so far
Pluto is the farthest planet from Earth while Mars is the second nearest after Venus. Interestingly, most literary publications use Mars metaphorically to denote a very distant place.
An example in a sentence would be something like ‘Unless you’ve just beamed down from Mars, you must already know that there’s a raging war between Russia and Ukraine.’
31. Mars may one day look like Saturn
Scientists project that in the coming 20 – 40 million years, powerful gravitational forces will rip Mars’ biggest moon, Phobos, resulting in a ring. Scientists further project that the ring would last for 100 million years.
32. Mars experiences all four seasons
The Red Planet may be way drier than Earth. But it experiences all four seasons. That’s because the planet’s axis is tilted away from the sun.
However, Mars doesn’t experience the four seasons in exactly the same way as Earth. Winter and summer may be just as extreme as they are in some regions on Earth. But seasons like spring on Mars aren’t marked by the same type of precipitation as on Earth.
33. Mars has no Ozone layer
The Ozone layer is humans’ biggest asset in terms of absorbing and deflating harmful radiation from the sun.
Unfortunately, Mars has no Ozone layer. Which means that even if the planet supported life, its inhabitants would still face real threats of radiation-related complications like skin cancer.
34. Like Earth, Mars has poles
Mars has both the northern and the southern pole. And these poles are ice-capped too. The northern pole is covered in ice that measures about 2 miles deep.
35. March is named after Mars
Mars has inspired the names of numerous brands, organizations, and entities. Notable of these is the third month of the year, which is named after the Red Planet.
36. Mars 1 was the first spacecraft to be sent to Mars
The Soviet Union’s Mars 1 became the first spacecraft ever to explore Mars in 1962. However, mission controllers lost contact with the spacecraft en route to the Red Planet.
37. Mars 3 was the first spacecraft to land on Mars
After a few failed attempts, the Soviet Union eventually landed on Mars courtesy of the Mars 3 spaceship. The ship touched down on Mars on December 2, 1971.
38. Getting to Mars is no mean feat…..
While the Soviet Union, the US, and China all boast successful Mars landing, getting to the planet is not a walk in the park. More than half of all missions launched have failed.
39. …..Which explains the dwindling mission launch rate
There were 23 Mars missions launched between 1960 and 1979 alone. However, this number has fallen considerably over the years to just 10 between 2000 and 2016.
Part of the reason is due to the exorbitant cost associated with Mars missions. It could also be due to the numerous reports suggesting that the planet could be inhabitable, hence not worth exploring after all.
40. Mars can occasionally be viewed from Earth
Scientists have found that Mars comes close enough to Earth once every 15 to 17 years.
During this period, the planet appears very bright in the sky and can be viewed using a telescope or with the naked eye.
Final Word
Humans may have succeeded in discovering Mars. But there’s a whole lot of information about this planet that remains mysterious.
We can only hope for more successful Mars landings in the future. These expeditions will provide an opportunity to learn about the Red Planet before possibly colonizing it at some point.