Portal:Mars/Intro
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in our solar system. It is named after the Roman god of war Mars (Ares in Greek mythology) because of its apparent red color. This feature also earned it the nickname "The Red Planet". The prefix areo- refers to Mars in the same way geo- refers to Earth. The astronomical symbol for Mars is ♂, a circle with an arrow pointing northeast. The Chinese, Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese cultures refer to the planet as 火星, or fire star. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmosphere, having surface features such as craters, giant valleys, and volcanoes. Of all the planets in our Solar System other than Earth, Mars is the most likely to harbor liquid water, and perhaps life. Mars is currently host to several orbiting spacecraft and two rovers, and most recently, a lander searching for water in the north polar region. It has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, which are small and oddly-shaped, possibly being captured asteroids.
