It's 2050. The Earth is dying, and moving to Mars seems to be the only way out for humans. A team of American astronauts (宇航员) begin to search on Mars. This is what the movie Red Planet begins with. Known as the Red Planet, Mars is the favourite of writers and filmmakers.
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the next planet beyond the Earth. Mars is the only planet whose surface can be seen from the Earth. It is about half size of our planet.
The surface of Mars is more like the Earth than any other planet. But it is further from the Sun than the Earth, so temperatures on Mars are much lower. Plants and animals can not live now on Mars. But many scientists still believe that such life may have been on Mars long ago.
On 6th August, 1996, scientists discovered a piece of rock from Mars, which fell to the Earth 13, 000 years ago. 10 years later, some scientists still didn't accept that there was life on Mars. People may not be sure about life on Mars until a sample (样本) of life is brought back. Some further researches are being done in many countries. If you want to know more, please click www.spaceexploration.com.