Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun — a cold, dusty desert world with a thin atmosphere and surface features reminiscent of both the impact craters of the Moon and the valleys, deserts and polar ice caps of Earth.
Home to Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano in the solar system, and Valles Marineris, a canyon system stretching over 4,000 kilometers across the Martian equator.
A thin atmosphere composed of 95% carbon dioxide, with traces of nitrogen and argon. Surface pressure is less than 1% of Earth's — too thin for liquid water to persist on the surface.
Cold and arid. Average temperatures hover around -63°C, with global dust storms that can engulf the entire planet for months at a time. Polar ice caps grow and recede with the Martian seasons.
The most explored body in the solar system besides Earth, with active rovers, orbiters and landers continuously expanding our understanding of its geological and astrobiological history.
Mars has two small, irregularly-shaped moons — Phobos and Deimos — believed to be captured asteroids. Phobos orbits so close that it rises in the west and sets in the east, twice each Martian day.
Ancient riverbeds, dry lake floors and mineralogical traces of standing water tell a story of a Mars that was once warmer, wetter and potentially habitable. Whether life ever took hold there remains one of the great open questions of science.
Mars is the next horizon — the closest world humans might one day call a second home. Every rover track and orbital scan brings us a step closer to understanding whether we were ever, or will ever be, alone.
From the towering shoulders of Olympus Mons to the carved depths of Valles Marineris, Mars stands as both a museum of planetary history and a doorway to humanity's interplanetary future.