Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is commonly referred to as the Red Planet. The rocks, soil and sky have a red or pink hue. The distinct red color was observed by stargazers throughout history. It was given its name by the Romans in honor of their god of war. Other civilizations have had similar names. The ancient Egyptians named the planet Her Descher meaning the red one. Before space exploration, Mars …showed first 75 words of 788 total…

…showed last 75 words of 788 total…eccentricity 0.0934 Tilt of axis (degrees) 25.19 Orbital inclination (degrees) 1.850 Equatorial surface gravity (m/sec^2) 3.72 Equatorial escape velocity (km/sec) 5.02 Visual geometric albedo 0.15 Magnitude (Vo) -2.01 Minimum surface temperature -140°C Mean surface temperature -63°C Maximum surface temperature 20°C Atmospheric pressure (bars) 0.007 Atmospheric composition Carbon Dioxide (C02) Nitrogen (N2) Argon (Ar) Oxygen (O2) Carbon Monoxide (CO) Water (H2O) Neon (Ne) Krypton (Kr) Xenon (Xe) Ozone (O3) 95.32% 2.7% 1.6% 0.13% 0.07% 0.03% 0.00025% 0.00003% 0.000008% 0.000003%