7 Interesting Facts About Mars

You probably know that Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second smallest planet in our solar system after Mercury. It is often referred to as ‘The Red Planet’ due to its red color. What else do you know about this planet? Check out these 7 interesting facts about Mars.

1. Mars total landmass

Mars is around 15% of the volume and 10% of the mass of Earth yet they have a very similar landmass. This is due to the fact that our planet is covered by 70% of water whereas Mars isn’t. In addition to this gravity on Mars is only 37% of our gravitational force, meaning if you lived on Mars you could jump 3 times higher than you can here on earth.

2. Why is Mars called Mars?

You may know that Mars is named after the Roman god of war, the ancient Greeks called Mars Ares, coincidentally their god of war. So why did both civilisations name Mars after their god of War? It is thought that this is due to the fact Mars has a bright blood-red color.

3. Mars is here on Earth

It’s true pieces of Mars have been found here on earth, all be it trace amounts of the Martian atmosphere have been found within meteorites that originated on Mars. The meteorites orbited our solar system for many millions of years before eventually entering our atmosphere and crashing to the ground! Of course, studies of these meteorites have enabled us to learn much more about Mars.