Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, and the seventh largest. It’s the only planet we know of inhabited entirely by robots.

All About Mars

This composite image, from NASA Galileo and Mars Global Survey orbiters, of Earth and Mars was created to allow viewers to gain a better understanding of the relative sizes of the two planets.

Fourth Rock

Mars is 1.52 AU from the Sun. Earth = 1.

More Time

A Martian day is a little longer than Earth's; a Mars year is almost two Earth years.

U.S. flag visible on Viking lander with Martian terrain on horizon

Rocky Planet

Mars' surface has been altered by volcanoes, impacts, winds, and crustal movement.

Illustration of astronaut repelling down the side of Valles Marineris.

Bring a Spacesuit

Mars' atmosphere is mostly carbon dioxide, argon, and nitrogen.

Roundish, reddish moon with massive crater on one end.

Two Moons

Phobos and Deimos are small compared to the planet.

Rusty-red Mars with a haze of white clouds and a white north polar cap.

Many Missions

The first success was NASA's Mariner 4 flyby in 1965,

The Search for Life

Missions are determining Mars' past and future potential for life.

The Red Planet

Iron minerals in the Martian soil oxidize, or rust, causing the soil and atmosphere to look red.

Mars Overview

Mars is no place for the faint-hearted. It’s dry, rocky, and bitter cold. The fourth planet from the Sun, Mars, is one of Earth's two closest planetary neighbors (Venus is the other). Mars is one of the easiest planets to spot in the night sky – it looks like a bright red point of light.

Despite being inhospitable to humans, robotic explorers – like NASA's Perseverance rover – are serving as pathfinders to eventually get humans to the surface of the Red Planet.

Why Do We Go?

Mars is one of the most explored bodies in our solar system, and it's the only planet where we've sent rovers to explore the alien landscape. NASA missions have found lots of evidence that Mars was much wetter and warmer, with a thicker atmosphere, billions of years ago.

Explore with Us

A composite image of Earth and Mars was created to allow viewers to gain a better understanding of the relative sizes of the two planets.

Earth-Mars Comparison: This composite image, from NASA Galileo and Mars Global Survey orbiters, of Earth and Mars was created to allow viewers to gain a better understanding of the relative sizes of the two planets.

JPL

Eyes on the Solar System

Eyes on the Solar System lets you explore the planets, their moons, asteroids, comets and the spacecraft exploring them from 1950 to 2050. Ride with the Curiosity Rover as it lands on Mars or fly by Pluto with the New Horizons spacecraft all from the comfort of your home computer.

How We Explore

Mars 2020: Perseverance Rover

The Mars 2020 mission Perseverance rover is the first step of a proposed roundtrip journey to return Mars samples to Earth.

Mars Sample Return

NASA and ESA (European Space Agency) are planning ways to bring the first samples of Mars material back to Earth for detailed study.

Mars rover sitting on the red soil of mars and facing the camera for a selfie

Mars Curiosity Rover (Mars Science Laboratory)

Curiosity is investigating Mars to determine whether the Red Planet was ever habitable to microbial life.

Multimedia

Mars Resources

View the one-stop shop for all Mars iconic images, videos, and more!

Explore

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover captured this video of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter’s 54th flight on Aug. 3, 2023. After performing a preflight “wiggle check” with its rotors, the helicopter takes off, hovers at an altitude of 16 feet (5 meters), and rotates to the left, before touching back down. Credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU/MSSS

News & Features

All Mars News & Features

Article

3 min read

Comet Geyser: Perseverance’s 24th Rock Core

The partially illuminated core is visible in this image of Perseverance’s coring bit. The diameter of the core is 1.3 cm.

Article

3 min read

Sols 4157-4158: What is That??

Mars image was taken by Left Navigation Camera onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity

A Navcam image of the rover deck, showcasing the amount of dust that has gathered since Curiosity landed on Mars in 2012.

5 min read

Sols 4154-4156: Bumpy Driving up the Mountain

Article4 days ago

This image was taken by Left Navigation Camera onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4151 (2024-04-10 05:43:21 UTC).

3 min read

Sols 4152-4153: Musings on Eclipses on Mars and Earth

Article5 days ago

This image was taken by Front Hazard Avoidance Camera (Front Hazcam) onboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity on Sol 4148 (2024-04-07 05:37:30 UTC).

4 min read

Sols 4150-4151: The Little Rock That Moved…

Article1 week ago

Beyond the Moon

Humans to Mars

Like the Moon, Mars is a rich destination for scientific discovery and a driver of technologies that will enable humans to travel and explore far from Earth.

Mars remains our horizon goal for human exploration because it is one of the only other places we know in the solar system where life may have existed. What we learn about the Red Planet will tell us more about our Earth’s past and future, and may help answer whether life exists beyond our home planet.

Learn More