59 Interesting Facts About Mars

Last updated on January 8th, 2022

34. Galileo Galilei observed Mars in 1609 with a basic telescope.

35. NASA has plans to create an Earth Independent colony on Mars by the end of 2030.

36. Presence of Ozone on Mars was first detected in 1971. However, the concentration of Ozone on Mars is 300 thinner than on Earth, and it varies with time and location. At present, scientists have been successfully able to identify three distinct layers of Ozone on the Red Planet.

37. The amount of land surface available on Mars is almost equal to that available on the Earth.

38. The length of one day on Mars is almost identical to that of the Earth.

Duration/length of a day on different planets (Source)

39. Dust storms are quite violent on Mars. Dust storms can continue to rule the planet’s surface for months and are mostly generated when Mars comes in close proximity to the Sun.

40. One of Mars’ moons – Phobos – is expected to either crash into the planet or break up into a small ring around the planet in the next 50 million years or so.

41. Mars has all four seasons as that of Earth. However, each season on the Red Planet lasts twice as long as that on Earth.

42. The longest and the deepest canyon in the entire solar system is on Mars – “Valles Marineris”. Some keys stats about it: maximum length – 4000 km, maximum width – 200 km, and maximum depth – 7 km. Compared to Grand Canyon, it is 4 times deeper and 6 times longer.

43. Due to the close proximity of Mars to Earth and the hope of establishing life on it, Mars has been extensively studied and further investigation and exploration of the planet is going on.

44. Mars is yet to see human feet unlike the moon where some astronauts including Neil Armstrong have landed decades ago.

45. Elon Musk – one of the legendary silicon valley entrepreneur and the man behind “Tesla Motors and Space X” – wants to put man on Mars and make life multi-planetary.

46. The success rate of the missions that have been launched for the exploration of Mars is no better than 66%.

47. Unlike the Earth, on Mars sunsets are blue.

48. There is no human population on Mars as of today but there are robots inhabiting the Red Soil. And there are 7 of those.

49. Mercury, Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, and Venus can be seen with the naked eye and not any other planets.

50. NASA is the only space exploration agency that has managed to land on Mars so far.

51. Diameter: Mars is less than half the diameter of Earth.

52. According to NASA, it would roughly take 2 and a half years to make a round trip to Mars from Earth. This also includes the time that the astronauts would have to allow Mars and Earth to re-align for the return trip.

53. “Seek Signs Of Life” is the exploration strategy that NASA is currently following to find out the possibilities of life on Mars in the past or present.

54. In an attempt to find the possibility of life on Mars, scientists are typically interested in finding the evidence of water and organics – the chemical building blocks of life.

55. Mars has a system of air, water, ice, and geology; in other terms, it has an atmosphere, a hydrosphere, a cryosphere and a lithosphere. It has the essential systems that characterize our Earth.

56. Mars’ magnetic field turned off four billion years ago. And surprisingly, scientists believe that the field could turn on someday in the future, but not likely.

57. Did you know that scientists have tried to grow plants in soil that mimics Martian soil? Yes, and they have succeeded in their attempt to grow tomatoes, peas, and rye from the said soil. Now, this is going to help those wishing to spend some time on the Red Planet.

58. In 2016, scientists with the help of an exploration rover Curiosity have discovered a mineral called “tridymite” on Mars. This discovery in know questioning the earlier assumptions based on the history of the planet. This fact know makes us believe that the planet had a more violent and explosive volcanic activity in the yesterdays.

59. Worm-like aliens have been recently spotted on Mars surface by NASA JPL’s Mars orbiter. This spacecraft has been orbiting Mars for the past 11 years. Read more here.

Quick facts about Mars