Mars planet: Mars Orbiting the sun at

Mars Orbiting the sun at a distance of 141.6 million miles (210-million kilometres), Mars is the fourth planet from the sun. With a diameter of 4,228 miles (6,804 kilometres), Mars is the second smallest planet in the solar system after Mercury. Other than Earth, Mars is perhaps the most studied planet in the solar system, and when we begin to understand the Red Planet , it’s easy to see why. The Martian surface is an alien, yet somewhat familiar, landscape. Perhaps one of the most striking ... NASA’s real-time portal for Mars exploration, featuring the latest news, images, and discoveries from the Red Planet . Learn about Mars , the fourth planet from the Sun, and its features, history, and potential for life. Find out how Mars compares to Earth in size, distance, orbit, rotation, moons, rings, formation, structure, surface, and atmosphere. Mars Nearing Earth In 2003, the Hubble Space Telescope snapped this photo of the red planet 11 hours before its closest approach to Earth in 60,000 years. How close? It was a mere 34,648,840 miles ...