Dr. Michio Kaku: Mars mission begins new era of space exploration
Professor and 'Future of Humanity' author explains significance of NASA rover touching down on the Red Planet
Mars has been and continues to be the most explored planet, other than Earth, in the solar system.
Even though it cannot sustain human life now, there have been many questions about what the future of the planet holds and what it was like in the past.
While Mars can't support human life as Earth does, the two planets enjoy similarities such as the fact that they both have valleys, mountains, seasons, volcanoes and ice caps.
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Mars' rocky surface makes it a terrestrial planet, another similarity it shares with Earth.
Here are fun facts about "the red planet" aka Mars.
Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. (Tobias Roetsch/Future Publishing via Getty Images)
- Mars is also known as "the red planet"
- Mars is the fourth planet from the sun
- Mars has cold temperatures and a thin atmosphere
- The length of a year on Mars is longer than a year on Earth
- Rovers, landers and helicopters have been used to explore the planet
- Mars is small compared to Earth
- Mars has two moons
- Mars has been the main character in many films
1. Mars is also known as ‘the red planet’
Mars is often referred to as "the red planet" because of its color.
Its reddish color comes from the rusty iron that is in the ground on its terrain.
2. Mars is the fourth planet from the sun
Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are the four planets closest to the sun.
About 142 million miles separate Mars from the sun.
3. Mars has cold temperatures and a thin atmosphere
Mars experiences very cold temperatures and a very thin atmosphere. It is mostly made up of carbon dioxide, argon and nitrogen, with just a small amount of oxygen and water vapor.
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Mars' temperatures are another factor that makes it uninhabitable.
On average, the planet sees temperatures right around minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
NASA has dedicated a lot of time and resources to exploring Mars. (STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
4. The length of a year on Mars is longer than a year on Earth
Mars experiences a longer year than Earth does. A year on Mars is equivalent to 687 days on Earth. Each day on Mars is just slightly longer than a day on Earth.
The average day on Mars lasts 24 hours and 39 minutes, very similar to that of Earth.
5. Rovers, landers and helicopters have been used to explore the planet
Countries around the world have made great efforts to explore Mars.
NASA has two rovers, Curiosity and Perseverance, that are currently being used to explore the planet.
Over the years, there have been others, including Sojourner, Spirit and Opportunity. Spirit and Opportunity were twin rovers that landed just a few weeks apart from one another in 2003.
NASA also had a lander called InSight that had been used to explore the planet and a helicopter called Ingenuity, which is still active.
Exploration has found that Mars had a warmer, wetter, thicker atmosphere billions of years ago.
More research has continued to be done to explore that idea further and look toward the potential future of the planet.
Elon Musk's company SpaceX has also been working on spacecrafts and rockets that can get people and equipment to Mars.
NASA's Perseverance Rover has done a lot of exploration on Mars, as well as the Curiosity rover. (NASA via Getty Images)
6. It's small compared to Earth
Compared to Earth, Mars is pretty small. In fact, Mars is about half the size of Earth. Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Earth and Venus are all bigger than Mars, while Mercury is smaller.
7. Mars has two moons
Phobos and Deimos are Mars' two moons. Phobos is the larger of the two.
The small number of moons is another similarity between Earth and Mars.
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The other planets in the solar system have many more, except for Venus, which has no moons.
8. Mars has been the main character in many films
While humans have not walked on Mars in real life, they have in pop culture. There have been many popular movies based on life on Mars.
Many movies have explored the idea of life on Mars, including the 2000 film "Mission to Mars." (Dream Quest Images Touchstone Pictures)
One of the most popular is "The Martian," a 2015 movie based on the book by Andy Weir. Matt Damon plays astronaut Mark Watney in the movie, who gets stranded on the planet.
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A few other movies featuring Mars are "Total Recall," "Mission to Mars," "Life," "The Space Between Us" and "Ad Astra."
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