Why is it called Mars? You might have asked yourself this before. Well, Mars is the name of the Roman god of war. People have seen the planet as a symbol of war for thousands of years. The ancient Greeks called the planet Ares after their god of war. Chinese people called it the "fire star" for the same reason.
Scientists have been interested in the planet since long before any space tasks. Egyptian scientists first saw Mars in the sky more than 4,000 years ago. Since then, people from all over the world have studied the planet.
Over the years, scientists have continued to study the planet and learned some basic things about it.
Mars is 10 times lighter and about 6 times smaller than Earth. Earth is 93 million miles (about 150 million km) from the sun, while Mars is 142 million miles away. That means it is much colder on Mars. In fact, the average temperature on Mars is - 62℃. Scientists found water on Mars long ago, but because of the low temperatures there, it is frozen. One day on Mars is called a sol and is about 40 minutes longer than one Earth day. The Red Planet's surface gravity* is only 37% as strong as Earth's, meaning you would be able to jump nearly two times higher on Mars.
