Mars
A whole world of what if.
Mars is a cold desert with rusty soil, enormous volcanoes, and evidence that liquid water once flowed across its surface. Its thin atmosphere offers little insulation.
Explore this orbit ↗
Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech. Processed mission imagery; apparent color varies with filters and processing.
Mars compared with Earth
Its equatorial diameter is 0.53 times Earth’s. Its mass is 0.11 times Earth’s, while its orbital period is 1.88 Earth years.
The reference gravity is about 3.7 m/s². These rounded values include the reference conventions used in NASA’s fact sheet; the ideal spherical gravity calculator can differ slightly.
A few good questions
How far is Mars from the Sun?
Mars has a mean orbital distance of about 228 million kilometers, or 1.52 AU. Its actual distance varies through its elliptical orbit.
How long is a year on Mars?
An orbit takes approximately 687 Earth days. The orbit simulator lets you see how distance affects the length of a year.