It can look like butterscotch other common surface colors include golden, brown, tan, and greenish, depending on the minerals present. The red-orange appearance of the Martian surface is caused by iron(III) oxide, or rust. Mars is less dense than Earth, having about 15% of Earth's volume and 11% of Earth's mass, resulting in about 38% of Earth's surface gravity. Mars is approximately half the diameter of Earth, with a surface area only slightly less than the total area of Earth's dry land. Optical ground-based telescopes are typically limited to resolving features about 300 kilometres (190 mi) across when Earth and Mars are closest because of Earth's atmosphere. Its apparent magnitude reaches −2.94, which is surpassed only by Venus, the Moon and the Sun. Mars can easily be seen from Earth with the naked eye, as can its reddish coloring. Both of Mars's polar ice caps appear to be made largely of water. Liquid water on the surface of Mars cannot exist due to low atmospheric pressure, which is less than 1% of the atmospheric pressure on Earth. Astrobiology missions are planned, such as the European Space Agency's Rosalind Franklin rover. There are investigations assessing the past habitability of Mars, as well as the possibility of extant life.
Two countries have successfully deployed rovers on Mars, the United States first doing so with Sojourner in 1997 and China with Zhurong in 2021. NASA's Viking 1 lander transmitted the first images from the Martian surface in 1976. Mariner 4 detected the weak Martian radiation belt, measured at about 0.1% that of Earth, and captured the first images of another planet from deep space. Mariner 4 was the first spacecraft to visit Mars launched by NASA on 28 November 1964, it made its closest approach to the planet on 15 July 1965. Mars has been explored by several uncrewed spacecraft. The days and seasons on Mars are comparable to those of Earth as the planets have a similar rotation period and tilt of the rotational axis relative to the ecliptic plane. Mars has two small and irregularly shaped moons, Phobos and Deimos. The smooth Borealis basin in the Northern Hemisphere covers 40% of the planet and may be a giant impact feature. Olympus Mons, the largest volcano and highest known mountain on any Solar System planet, and Valles Marineris, one of the largest canyons in the Solar System, are on Mars. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, with surface features such as impact craters, valleys, dunes, and polar ice caps. The latter refers to the effect of the iron oxide prevalent on Mars's surface, which gives it a striking reddish appearance in the sky. In English, Mars carries the name of the Roman god of war and is often called the " Red Planet". Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, being larger than only Mercury.
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