Robot explorers
NASA rovers explore Mars by driving across the surface, drilling rocks, taking pictures, and studying weather.
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Planet lesson
Mars
Rocky planet
Mars is a cold desert world with rusty dust, polar ice, volcanoes, canyons, and signs that water once flowed there.
Kid fact
Mars has the tallest volcano in the solar system.
Mars and Phobos from Hubble
Day
24.6 hours
Year
687 Earth days
Moons
2
Temperature
-63 C average
Red dust
Mars looks red because its dust contains iron minerals that have reacted with oxygen, a little like rust on metal.
Water clues
Dry river channels, minerals, and layered rocks suggest that liquid water flowed on ancient Mars long ago.
Moons and volcanoes
Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos, and Olympus Mons, the tallest volcano known in the solar system.
Look closely
Look for reddish deserts, dark volcanic rocks, polar ice, and rover tracks that show where robots have explored.
Watch and learn