Mars

Properties:

Mass: 6.4171 x 10²³ kg

Equatorial Radius: 3396.2 km

Semi-major Axis: 227,939,200 km(1.523 AU)

Orbital Period: 224.701 days(0.616 yr)

Rotational Period: 686.97 days

Surface Gravity: 3.72 m/(s²)

Etymology: Mars(Roman God of War) <-- reddish color associated with blood <-- war

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Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and is the second smallest(after Mercury) planet in the Solar System. A nickname for Mars is the "Red Planet". The atmosphere of Mars is being slowly depleted due to solar wind interactions with the Martian ionosphere(Mars' magnetosphere disappeared approximately 4 billion years ago likely due to excessive asteroid strikes). Methane is also common in the Martian atmosphere and its heavy presence is believed by some people to indicate the presence of life. However, methane can be produced on Mars through non-biological processes so the proof isn't concrete.

The surface of Mars mainly contains basalt and under the surface, while there is no evidence of a concrete global magnetic field, the Martian crust still has magnetic elements to it. Martian soil is highly toxic and alkaline(containing mainly sodium, magnesium, potassium, and chlorine in excess) with a pH of 7.7, making it basic. Due to the low atmospheric pressure, liquid water cannot exist on Mars but there's significant evidence that at one point there was liquid water due to the structure of many Martian landscapes. As an interesting fact, Mars houses the largest volcano and highest mountain in the Solar System, known as Olympus Mons(pictured above).

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The habitality of Mars has been in question because the general consensus is that if a planet is habitable, it will have an abundance of liquid water. However, as evidenced by many investigations, Mars holds an extremely arid environment with little to no liquid water present on the surface due to the extremely low atmospheric pressure. The thin atmosphere, coupled with the lack of a strong magnetosphere, makes the planet quite susceptible to solar wind which would make life difficult on the planet. However, there are significant traces of formaldehyde(CH2O) and methane(CH4), two compounds which would break down easily in the Martian atmosphere. The presence of these two compounds could indicate the presence of life but there isn't enough evidence to truly support that.