Planets of the solar system

Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun – a dusty, cold, desert world with a very thin atmosphere.
Mars is also a dynamic planet with seasons. Mars is one of the most explored bodies in our solar
system. Its surface is rocky, with canyons, volcanoes, dry lake beds and craters all over it. Red dust
covers most of its surface. Mars has clouds and wind just like Earth. Sometimes the wind blows the
red dust into a dust storm. Tiny dust storms can look like tornados, and large ones can be seen
from Earth. Mars’ large storms sometimes cover the entire planet.

Mars has about one-third the gravity of Earth. A rock dropped on Mars would fall more slowly than
a rock falls on Earth because of the reduced gravity. It is, on average, more than 142 million miles
from the Sun. Mars turns on its axis more slowly than Earth does. So, a day on Mars is 24.6 hours.
Since this planet is farther from the Sun than Earth, one revolution of Mars around the Sun is a
longer trip. So, a year on Mars is 687 Earth days. Mars is about half the size of Earth. Mars is known
as the Red Planet because the iron oxide chemicals in its soil looks like rust.