28 November: Red Planet Day

The planet Mars, fourth from the Sun, is referred to as the "Red Planet" because it appears red in colour. Red Planet Day commemorates the launch of the Spacecraft Mariner 4 on November 28, 1964. The 228 day mission of Mariner 4 brought the spacecraft within 6,118 miles of Mars on July 14, 1965.

Could the Galle Crater be proof that a) there's a god,
b) He knew we'd go look at Mars and
c) He has a sense of humour? 

1. There have been 40 missions to Mars, as of September 2014, but only 18 of them were successful.
2. The Romans and the Greeks named the planet after their gods of war, because of its blood-red appearance. Other cultures named it for its colour, too - the Egyptians named it "Her Desher," meaning "the red one," while ancient Chinese astronomers dubbed it "the fire star." It looks red because the dust and rock on its surface are rich in Iron.
3. Ancient civilizations knew about Mars, but it wasn't until 1610 that it was observed with a Telescope, by Galileo Galilei.
4. Mars has two moons, Phobos and Deimos, and they were discovered by American astronomer Asaph Hall. He nearly gave up looking for Martian moons, but his wife told him not to give up. The very next day he discovered Deimos and then Phobos six days later. He named the moons after the sons of the Greek war god Ares — Phobos means "fear," while Deimos means "rout."
5. Phobos is gradually spiralling toward Mars, drawing about 6 feet (1.8 meters) closer to the red planet each century. Within 50 million years, Phobos will either smash into Mars or break up and form a ring of debris around the planet.
6. Mars has seasons, although they last much longer than the ones on earth. It is also the only other planet to have polar ice caps.
7. Mars has the highest mountain in the solar system (Olympus Mons is roughly 17 miles (27 kilometers) high, about three times as tall as Mount Everest) and the deepest valley (Valles Marineris, named after the Mariner 9 probe that discovered it in 1971, which is as deep as 6 miles (10 km) and is about 2,500 miles (4,000 km) long, to the width of Australia. Mars is also home to the solar system's biggest dust storms which can last for months and cover the entire planet.
8. Mars is the only planet in the solar system to have carbon dioxide snow clouds.
9. Before probes actually landed on Mars, popular belief held that there had to be life there. In fact, in 1900, a prize was offered to anyone who could make contact with an extra-terrestrial being, but the rules stated that contact with a Martian wouldn't count, as that would have been too easy!
10. In astrology, Mars rules the sign of Aries and is associated with action, raw energy, desire and survival instincts.