Why is it called Mars (火星) ? Well, Mars is the name of the Roman god of war (罗马战神) . People see the planet (星球) as a symbol of war for thousands of years. It is also known as the Red Planet because of its color. It is red because it's rich in iron (铁). Chinese people called it the "fire star" for the same reason.
Scientists was interested in the planet. They first saw Mars in the sky more than 4, 000 years ago. Then, people from all over the world studied the planet. About 200 years ago, scientists started to study pieces of Mars. They broke away and drifted (漂流) through space for millions of years before they got to Earth.
Scientists have learned some things about Mars. For example, Mars is home to a 21-kilometer-tall mountain—the tallest in our solar system (太阳系) . However, Qomolangma, Earth's highest mountain, is just 9 kilometers tall. Like Earth, Mars has moons. It has two moons named Phobos and Deimos. The Red Planet also has the largest dust storms (沙尘暴) in the solar system. And they can last for months.
Earth is 10 times heavier than Mars. So The Red Planet's gravity (重力) is only 37 percent as strong as Earth's, meaning you can jump nearly two times higher on Mars. For the same reason, you are two times heavier on Earth than on Mars.
