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Some of the meteorites found on Earth are actually pieces of the planet Mars. As of September 1998, thirteen "Martian meteorites" have been found. The temperature on Mars can be very, very cold. On its warmest day, Mars can still be a very cold place. At the top and bottom of the planet are poles just like on Earth. During the Martian winter, ice caps can be seen at the poles.

Space probes have landed on Mars. These probes were sent on a fact-finding mission by the United States. They performed experiments on the Martian dirt and atmosphere. The dirt was found to contain clay which was rich in iron. The iron is what gives Mars its red colour.

Mars has many craters which were formed by meteorites or asteroids hitting it. Mars also has some of the tallest volcanoes and some of the deepest valleys in our solar system. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos which have unusual shapes. Scientists think these potato-shaped moons were once asteroids captured by Mars' gravitational pull.