Mars

Mars is the 4th planet from the Sun and the 3rd largest terrestial planet in the Solar System. Even though it is 226.8 million kilometers away from the Sun (77 million km from Earth) it's temperature and atmospheric pressure causes any found water to freeze and evaporate. Over a century ago, people thought that they saw dark markings on Mars which looked like canals. They thought that they were built by intelligent Martians to guide water from the North Pole to the equator. But the canals were an optical illusion and there is no life on the surface. There is no life because if any Martians were found they would struggle to evolve from the dangers of solar radiation and burn. Mars also has an atmosphere like Earth and also has clouds made of water vapour. But due to the low temperatures, the vapour freezes when falling from the clouds. Mars has two moons Phobos and Deimos which literally mean Fear and Panic. The moons are asteroids captured by the planet's gravity. Mars is aproximately half the diameter of the Earth and is less dense, having about 15% of our planets volume and 11% the mass. Its surface area is slightly less than the Earth's. Mars is more larger than Mercury and its red color is caused by rust in the planet's sands.