Here’ are some cool facts to share with the kids: Mars, named after the Roman god of war, is the 4th planet from the sun (it’s 141,600,000 miles away from the sun!). It is nicknamed the red planet because it is covered with rust-like dust.   Mars experiences violent dust storms which continually change its surface and has many massive volcanoes – it is home to Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in our solar system, it stands 21km high and is 600km across the base.

For more great info on Mars, or to check out images from the Mars Rover, click here for more information

By Jenny Tananbaum.  Jenny Tananbaum is a writer, wife and mom to three. suburbanmom@njkidsonline.com