Mars, more than any other planet, has captured our imagination. One reason is the possibility of life on the Red Planet, now or sometime in its past. Mars is the fourth planet from the sun; it is also the next planet that will most likely be inhabited by human beings, within the next century. Mars is named after the Roman god of war. His shield and his spear form the planet's symbol (above left). Mars is the planet in our solar system with the most geological extremes. Nearly all of its water is locked up in the polar ice caps, or underground. In fact, an Ice Age seems to grip Mars at the moment. A single Martian day is about 24.6 Earth hours. A Martian year is 686.98 Earth days. Its gravity is more than a third of Earth's, and the atmospheric pressure is 1% of Earth's. It has two moons Phobos and Deimos, both small and cratered. Below are some links that lead to understanding what Mars is like.

  • VISTAS ON MARS (An indepth look at the physical features of Mars)
  • ASK THE EXPERTS (For an expert opinion on important questions)
  • POLICY AND LAW (Discussion of what we can do to Mars)
  • ANCIENT MYTHOLOGY OF MARS (A look at the mythology of the Red Planet)
  • BEAUTIFUL SPACE ART OF MARS (From the brush of Pat Rawlings)
  • MISSIONS (A look at past, present, and future missions going to Mars)
  • TERRAFORMING (Info about the process and effects of terrraforming)
  • THE BIOSPHERE PROJECTS (A look at the Biosphere projects and their scientific application to Martian colonization)
  • MODERN MYTHS OF MARS (A look at popular fictional characters and aliens)
  • THE HISTORY OF MARS (A history of the observation of Mars)
  • IMAGES (Mars as viewed by NASA missions)
  • MOVIES (Popular classic movies about Mars)
  • LINKS (A long list of Mars related links)

    • Please fill out our survey and tell us what you think about Mars and related issues.

    Acknowledgements and Works Cited

    Authors: Scott Green, Brad Olsan, and Emily Coren

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