The Soviet Mars program's Mars 3 lander became the first spacecraft to attain soft landing on Mars on December 2, 1971, but lost communication twenty seconds after landing.

Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, named after the gods of fear and terror in Greek mythology.

Phoenix landed on the north polar region of Mars on May 25, 2008. Its robotic arm dug into the Martian soil and confirmed the presence of water ice on June 20, 2008.

On average, the temperature on Mars is about minus 81 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 63 degrees Celsius), but a summer day on Mars can get up to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (20 degrees Celsius) near the equator.

It has been recently suggested that Valles Marineris is a large tectonic "crack" in the Martian crust.

Schiaparelli, who observed Mars in 1877, was the first to describe, name, and lovingly illustrate mysterious straight lines along Mars' equatorial region. Schiaparelli called these canali, which was translated into English as "canals". By the early 20th century, however, improved astronomical observations revealed the "canals" to be an optical illusion.

The Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM), launched on 5 November 2013 by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), marked the first time that a nation reached Mars orbit in its first attempt.

Martian surface gravity is only 37% of the Earth's (meaning you could leap nearly three times higher on Mars).

The Mars Pathfinder's Sojourner Rover rolled onto the Martian surface on July 6, 1997. It operated successfully for 83 sols before losing communication with Earth.

For years, scientists thought that Mars had no moon. It wasn't until 1877 that American astronomer Asaph Hall discovered Deimos and Phobos hidden in the glare of the planet.