The soil on Mars is full of iron minerals, which oxidize, or rust, according to NASA.gov, making the surface of the soil look red.
9. The length of a year on Mars is longer than a year on Earth
Mars experiences a longer year than Earth does.
A year on Mars is 669.6 sols, per NASA.gov, which is equivalent to 687 days on Earth. Each day on Mars is just slightly longer than a day on Earth.
The average day on Mars lasts 24.6 hours, very similar to that of Earth.
10. Mars has been the main character in many films
While humans have not walked on Mars in real life, they have in pop culture. There have been many popular movies based on life on Mars.
One of the most popular is “The Martian,” a 2015 movie based on the book by Andy Weir. Matt Damon plays astronaut Mark Watney in the movie, who gets stranded on the planet.
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A few other movies featuring Mars are “Total Recall,” “Mission to Mars,” “Life,” “The Space Between Us” and “Ad Astra.”
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