Mars, or “The Red Planet”, as it is sometimes called due to the red-brown color of its surface, is the fourth planet from the Sun and is the which most refers to the Earth of all those in our solar system. It is 227,940,000 km from the Sun and the last of the terrestrial planets. The name of Mars, just like many other planets, comes from an ancient Roman mythological figure, the god of war. Many researchers believe this was due to the blood-like red color it gave off; it therefore represents the bloodshed of war. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay As the second smallest planet after Mercury, you would expect the landmass to be much smaller than Earth, but with 70% of the Earth's surface water Mars and Earth are very similar. 16 of the 39 missions to Mars were successful, on 14 July 1965 Mariner 4 successfully flew to Mars capturing the first close-up images of the Planet. (Facts about Mars) Mars has a huge mass of 641,693,000,000,000 billion kg which is only one tenth the size of Earth, so the gravity on the surface of Mars is only about 37% of that on Earth. (Mars) Debris from Mars entered Earth's atmosphere and landed on Earth which provides scientists with information about the weather, the planet's surface, atmosphere, potential for hosting life, and much more. Due to the lack of effects of the Earth's ecosystem on these rocks from Mars, scientists are able to discover more. Mars' atmosphere is about 95% carbon dioxide and is 100 times thinner than Earth's atmosphere. At one point the atmosphere on Mars was thick enough to allow water to flow along the surface. NASA's latest mission to discover the Martian atmosphere is called MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution), they are discussing whether the vulnerability of the Martian atmosphere has slowly disappeared due to the light gravity, the pressure of the Sun which reduces the atmosphere, coupled with its lack of the global magnetic field, or a gigantic impact that stripped the planet of most of its atmosphere. Mars' atmosphere has not been completely eliminated, it is strong enough to hold back wind, clouds and weather. This allows Mars to hold the title of largest dust storm in the solar system, and dust makes up a major part of the Martian atmosphere. Some dust storms can last for months and can even cover the entire surface of the planet, causing temperatures to rise. These planet-wide dust storms are said to occur due to the momentum of Mars, which is extremely influenced by the other planets in the solar system.