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.

Phobos, gouged and nearly shattered by a giant impact crater and beaten by thousands of meteorite impacts, is on a collision course with Mars. Phobos is the larger of Mars' two moons and is 17 x 14 x 11 miles (27 by 22 by 18 kilometers) in diameter.

Of the terrestrial (rocky) planets of the inner solar system, neither Mercury nor Venus have any moons at all, Earth has one and Mars has its two small moons. In the outer solar system, the gas giants Jupiter and Saturn and the ice giants Uranus and Neptune have dozens of moons.

Jan 9, 2025 · NASA’s real-time science encyclopedia of deep space exploration. Our scientists and far-ranging robots explore the wild frontiers of our solar system.

Mars is one of the most explored bodies in our solar system, and it's the only planet where we've sent rovers to roam the alien landscape. NASA currently has two rovers (Curiosity and Perseverance), one lander , and one helicopter exploring the surface of Mars.

Jan 9, 2025 · This paper discusses the opportunity to search for and exploit lava tubes on the surfaces of the Moon and Mars as a means of enabling ambitious planetary science missions. [FINAL VERSION]

Jan 9, 2025 · Start your virtual exploration of the Red Planet with interactive games that put you in the driver's seat. Mars Funzone is the destination for Red Planet-related games, amazing facts, activities and special events related to the exploration of Mars.

Jun 9, 2021 · Naturally-occuring lava caves may someday shelter astronauts on the Moon and Mars from harmful radiation. (Images not to scale.)

Nov 8, 2011 · Russia's Phobos-Grunt mission would have studies Mars’ moon, Phobos, as well as return soil samples to Earth in order to determine the origin and evolution of this moon. In addition to its own mission, Phobos-Grunt also carried China's first interplanetary mission to …

Feb 18, 2022 · It also causes tides, creating a rhythm that has guided humans for thousands of years, and life in Earth's oceans for much longer. The Moon was likely formed after a Mars-sized body collided with Earth several billion years ago.