Mars

Mars, Earth's outer neighbor, is the fourth planet from the Sun. Mars' bright appearance and reddish color stand out in the night sky. Impressive surface features such as enormous volcanoes and valleys are frequently obscured by huge dust storms.

Visit another planet: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Dwarf Planets
The uniquely red <a href="/mars/interior/Martian_global_geology.html&edu=elem&dev=">global surface</a> of Mars is marked by many interesting features - some like those on the <a href="/earth/earth.html&edu=elem&dev=">Earth</a> and others strangely different. The reddish color is caused by rust (iron oxide) in the <a href="/mars/exploring/martian_soils.html&edu=elem&dev=">soil</a>. Some of these features are; <a href="/mars/interior/mars_volcanoes.html&edu=elem&dev=">volcanoes</a>, canyon systems, <a href="/mars/interior/Martian_running_water.html&edu=elem&dev=">river beds</a>, <a href="/mars/interior/Mars_cratered_terrain.html&edu=elem&dev=">cratered terrain</a>, and <a href="/mars/interior/Martian_dunefields.html&edu=elem&dev=">dune fields</a>. This image shows a global mosaic of 102 Viking 1 Orbiter images of Mars taken in February, 1980.<p><small><em>Image courtesy of NASA.</em></small></p>

Explore Mars

Interior and Surface of Mars

The uniquely red global surface of Mars is marked by many interesting features - some like ...Read more

Atmosphere of Mars

The atmosphere of Mars is much thinner than that of Earth, with a surface pressure averaging ...Read more

Moons of Mars

Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos. The red planet does not have any rings. ...Read more

The Poles of Mars

The North and South Poles on Mars are similar to the polar regions on Earth in many ways. They ...Read more

Planetary Facts

All of the relevant information about Mars collected on one page, including details about size, orbit ...Read more

Myth and Culture

Mars was the son of Jupiter and Juno, and was the Roman god of war. Mars was the lover of Venus ...Read more

Missions to Mars

In the past few decades, the Russian and American space agencies have sent many spacecraft ...Read more

Images and Multimedia

Access wonderful captioned photos and illustrations that will inspire and excite you. ...Read more

Mars Links

These are links to other great web sites about Mars. But beware: you don't want to get caught ...Read more

More about Mars

Historical Events

Full Earth and Space Science    History Calendar (Members only)

Teacher Opportunities

Full Teacher Events Calendar (Educator Members only)

Did you know?

Did you know that lunar eclipses are produced by the Earth casting its shadow on the Moon?

Do you know what caused the "Year Without a Summer"?

 

Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day

Do you know what this word or phrase means?

Sand boil
xSand boil : A sand boil is sand and water that come out onto the ground surface during an earthquake as a result of liquefaction at shallow depth.

Click on the word to find out!

Research Highlights

Scientists Find Signs of “Snowball Earth” Amidst Early Animal Evolution

Geologists have found evidence that sea ice extended to the equator 716.5 million years ago, bringing new precision to a "snowball Earth" event long suspected to have taken place around that time. Funded...Read more


Windows to the Universe, a project of the National Earth Science Teachers Association, is sponsored in part is sponsored in part through grants from federal agencies (NASA and NOAA), and partnerships with affiliated organizations, including the American Geophysical Union, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the Earth System Information Partnership, the American Meteorological Society, the National Center for Science Education, and TERC. The American Geophysical Union and the American Geosciences Institute are Windows to the Universe Founding Partners. NESTA welcomes new Institutional Affiliates in support of our ongoing programs, as well as collaborations on new projects. Contact NESTA for more information. NASA ESIP NCSE HHMI AGU AGI AMS NOAA