Mars, or "the red planet", as it is sometimes called because of the red-brown color of its surface, is the fourth planet from the Sun and is the planet that is most closely linked to Earth among all those in our solar system. It is located 227,940,000 km from the Sun and is the last of the terrestrial planets. The name Mars, like many other planets, comes from an ancient Roman mythological figure, the God of War. Many researchers believe this was due to the blood-red color it gave off; therefore representing the bloodshed of war. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get the original essay Being the second smallest planet after Mercury, you would expect the landmass to be much smaller than Earth, but with 70% of Earth's surface water Mars and Earth are very similar. 16 of 39 missions to Mars have been successful. On July 14, 1965, the Mariner 4 successfully flew past Mars, capturing the first close-up images of the planet. (Mars Facts) Mars has a huge mass of 641,693,000,000,000 billion kg, which is only one-tenth the size of Earth, so the gravity on Mars' surface is only about 37%. from that on Earth. (Mars) Debris from Mars entered the Earth's atmosphere and landed on Earth, giving scientists information about the weather, the planet's surface, the atmosphere, the potential to support life and much more. Due to the lack of effect of the Earth's ecosystem on these Martian rocks, scientists can discover more. Mars' atmosphere is about 95% carbon dioxide and is 100 times thinner than Earth's atmosphere. At one point, Mars' atmosphere was thick enough for water to flow to the surface. NASA's latest mission to discover the Martian atmosphere is called MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution). They wonder if the vulnerability of Mars' atmosphere slowly collapsed due to light gravity, pressure from the Sun fading on the atmosphere, as well as its lack. of the global magnetic field, or a giant impact that stripped the planet of most of its atmosphere. Mars' atmosphere is not completely removed, it is strong enough to retain wind, clouds and weather. This allows Mars to hold the title of largest dust storm in the solar system, with dust also making up a large part of the Martian atmosphere. Some dust storms can last for months and can also cover the entire surface of the planet, increasing temperatures. These planet-wide dust storms would occur due to the momentum of Mars, which is extremely affected by the other planets in the solar system..