Is Mars Bigger Than Earth? Martian Planet Size Explained
Mars is a fascinating planet. It’s very close to Earth, has a solid surface, and may have once held ancient life. But just how big is the planet?
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Mars is one of the most intriguing planets in our Solar System, but how does its size compare to Earth? Regardless of how much technology advances or what new information we learn, space is constantly presenting new questions for humanity to answer. Is there another planet out there with life? Are humans ever going to live on Mars? Will we ever truly understand black matter? So long as people remain interested in space and science, there are always looming mysteries waiting to be uncovered.
In recent years, a great deal of space-related research has been devoted to Mars. Out of all the planets in the Solar System, Mars is widely regarded as one of the most interesting. Why? Not only is it one of the closest planets to Earth, but it’s also the most habitable. It has a solid and rocky surface, frozen water, and may have once been home to ancient life. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done before humans can live on or even visit Mars, but that’s not stopping researchers from finding ways to make it possible.
This heightened fascination with Mars often raises many questions about the Red Planet. One of the most frequently-asked ones is particularly interesting: Is Mars bigger than Earth? If humanity is looking for another planet to eventually live on, surely we’d seek something that’s similar in size or a bit bigger than Earth — right? As it would turn out, Mars is not bigger than Earth. In fact, it’s considerably smaller. Mars has a radius of just 2,106 miles. By comparison, Earth has a 3,958-mile radius and is about twice the overall size of Mars. As NASA explains, “If Earth were the size of a nickel, Mars would be about as big as a raspberry.”
How Mars Compares To Other Planets In The Solar System
Compared to other planets in the Solar System, Mars is one of the smallest out of all its neighbors — second only to Mercury. Mercury is substantially smaller than the already tiny footprint of Mars, measuring in with a radius of only 1,516 miles. However, that’s the only planet Mars has a size advantage over. Things are really put into perspective when sizing up Mars to Saturn and Jupiter (the two largest planets in the Solar System). With radii of 36,184 miles and 43,441 miles, respectively, Mars doesn’t hold a candle to the Solar System’s two gas giants.
Is Mars small compared to other planets? Certainly. Is that a huge knock against it? Not one bit. Mars is far from a perfect planet for future people to explore/live on, but it’s infinitely better than its larger siblings. Saturn and Jupiter undoubtedly have more room. However, their 100 percent gas compositions mean they won’t be visited by humans any time soon. The old saying goes, ‘size doesn’t matter.’ In the case of Mars, that’s absolutely true.
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