Size & Distance
* Mars has a Diameter of 4,212 miles and is 142 million miles away from the Sun
* It takes 13 mins for light to travel from the Sun to Mars
* Mars is about half the size of Earth
Geology
* Dense core at its center between 1,860 and 2,600 miles in radius. It's made of iron, nickel and sulphur.
* Surrounding the core is a rocky mantle between 770 and 1,170 miles thick, and above that, a crust made of iron, magnesium, aluminum, calcium and potassium.
* This crust is between 6 and 30 miles deep.
Atmosphere / Weather
* Like Earth Mars has distinct seasons
* On Mars the seasons vary in length because of Mars' elliptical, egg-shaped orbit around the Sun.
* The red planet is actually many colours, reason Mars looks reddish is due to oxidization—or rusting—of iron in the rocks
Orbit & Rotation
* One year on Mars takes 687 Earth days
* Days called ‘Sols’ - short for for ‘solar day’
* Mars' axis of rotation is tilted 25 degrees
similarity with Earth, which has an axial tilt of 23.4 degrees.