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| What We Know About the Red Planet | ||||
| History | Water | Ice | Air | Canals |
| Seasons | Mountains | Rocks | SandDunes | Rift Valley |
| Moons | Dust Storms | Stats | Closest | Kid Pix |
| Lunar | Movies | Life Search | Wanted | Exploring Mars |
Cratered highlands and smooth dark lowland plains:
Mars Looks Something Like Earth's Moon
Despite its Earth-like geologic structures, most of Mars looks like the Moon. Elevated cratered plains dot the southern hemisphere, like the highlands of the Moon. The low-lying northern hemisphere has smooth plains that look similar to the dark volcanic maria of the Moon.
About 80 percent of the Martian surface reveals a history like that which ended three billion years ago on the Moon. Only in a few areas did Mars begin to undergo more of the Earth-like geologic processes which changed the lunar look of the planet's surface.
GALLARY OF ROCKS ON MARS
Learn more: Human Exploration of Mars:
There have been three stages of exploration so farFlybys:
Probes fly by Mars taking pictures Orbiters:
Spacecraft fly into orbit above MarsLanders and Rovers:
- Orbiters
- Mariner 8-9
- Viking 1-2
- Mars Observer
- Mars Climate Orbiter
- Mars Global Surveyor
- Mars Global Surveyor home
- 2001 Mars Odyssey
- 2001 Mars Odyssey home
- Mars Express
- Mars Express home
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter 2005
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter home
Landers and rovers drop to the surfaceSand dunes: Dust Storms: Air: Carbon Dioxide: Outflow Channels: Valley Networks: Rift Valley: Ice: Ice caps: Frost: Water: Artesian Water: Mars Weather: Mars Photo Galleries: Planet features: Canals: Rocks: Mountains: Dating and aging: Seasons:
