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Rust in the soil creates the Red Planet’s signature color.
Size: Mars is about 4,212 miles (6,779 kilometers) in diameter.
Surface: There are lots of dry channels on Mars, and they look like Earth’s river channels. Most scientists believe water once flowed on the martian surface, but new studies suggest there still may be water in some places at and under the surface.
Mars has the largest canyon (Valles Marineris), and the highest volcano (Olympus Mons) in the solar system.
If Valles Marineris were on Earth, it would span the United States, from New York on the East Coast to California on the West Coast. The canyon is about 1,300 miles (2,100 km) long, 300 miles (500 km) wide, and about 5 miles (8 km) deep.
Olympus Mons is about three times higher than Mount Everest. It rises above the Martian surface 14 miles (22 km). This giant volcano’s base is the size of the state of Missouri.
The planet’s reddish color is caused by rust (iron oxide) in the soil.
The polar ice caps on Mars are made of frozen carbon dioxide, or dry ice, plus a seasonal coating of water ice.
Atmosphere: The martian atmosphere is very thin and made of carbon dioxide (95 percent), nitrogen (3 percent), argon and other gases (1 percent).
You can get more facts on the planets in our solar system in each of the articles linked to below:
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