You might want to get out some goggles, if you intend to step on Mars's surface with all of its messy dust storms. Some of these storms are pretty similar to the hurricanes humans have to experience, in times of disaster. During some of its seasons, Martian winds are strong enough to push up its fine dust all the way into the atmosphere where it stays suspended for a very long time. In fact, being a terrestrial planet made up of rocks and metals, Mars has a lot of iron oxide dust that spills into the air, which gives the planet a reddish rusty appearance. Red was the color they rained on warriors favored by the gods. Therefore, it is not a coincidence that Mars is named after the roman god of war.

Blue Earth has vast waters. Can you imagine the red planet with water? It once had water when the planet was warm and wet 3.7 billion years ago. Everywhere, you see channels where water probably once flowed through. Now the planet is cold, and the water is frozen. Mars keeps what is left at the poles in ice caps. There are large amounts of water bearing minerals. There is a big polar hood over the land, created from frozen carbon dioxide clouds.

Martian water has been found recently. Why are we fascinated with water on Mars? Life on Earth started in the hydrosphere with little organisms growing in water. Naturally, people look for life in other places. H.G. Wells, a British author, wrote a book called The War of the Worlds. Later on, when Americans stood about radios, the hottest form of entertainment and technology, Orson Welles broadcast their version of the novel, which sounded like a live newscast about an invasion from Mars near New Jersey.

Don't worry there hasn't been any reports of life on Mars yet. So have no fear, when you step of our space ship. What you should expect is rugged terrain and a very thin atmosphere. Perhaps at the right moment, you can look up at the sky and see the two moons of Mars, called Phobos and Deimos. Phobos is 21 kilometers across, while Deimos is 12 kilometers across. The moons are asteroid-like objects. It has a low mean density because it probably has a really little metallic core. It has a diameter of 4,217 miles, and a rotating time of 24 hours and 37 minutes. Mars takes 687 Earth days to orbit around in an elliptical fashion. Mars's elliptical orbit plus its thin atmosphere cause temperature fluctuations from negative 207 degrees Fahrenheit to 80 degrees Fahrenheit on a really hot summer's day. There are a lot of volcanoes on Mars, which are known as the largest volcanoes in the entire solar system. They are found on the Tharsis bulge and the Elysium Plateau, located on the Northern Hemisphere. There is one volcano that reaches the height of 15.5 miles, with 370 miles across its base. Olympus Mons is a clever name for the volcano, after the huge mountain home of the roman gods.

Although, there are no plate tectonics to create folded mountain belts, there are so many faults, tall volcanoes and crustal fractures from expansion of the thick-crusted Mars. This makes the planet ideal for rock climbing.