How far away is Mars right now?

215,385,070

kilometres · Mars's distance from Earth

About 1.4 times the distance from Earth to the Sun.
An airliner at cruising speed would take 27 years to cover it.

Right now Mars is in the morning sky, before dawn.

Right now Mars is about 215 million kilometres from Earth, and the gap changes every second. A radio message, moving at the speed of light, needs 12 minutes to cross it.

The distance swings a long way, because Earth and Mars circle the Sun at different speeds. At their closest the two planets come within 54.6 million kilometres. At their farthest they are 401 million kilometres apart. The next close approach is on 20 February 2027.

Time until Mars's next close approach to Earth

111 d 21 h 29 m 20 s

Measured

Length of a solar day on Mars (a sol)

24 h 39 m 34 s

Measured

Average surface temperature of Mars

-59 °C

Measured, with error

Number of known moons of Mars

Measured

What is Mars?

A small red world

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun, the next world out after Earth. Like Earth, it is made of rock and metal, with solid ground you could stand on.

It is smaller than our world. Earth is about 1.9 times as wide, and about 6.6 planets the size of Mars would fit inside it. Yet Mars is still about 2 times as wide as our Moon.

Its colour gave it its name. Iron minerals in the Martian dirt have rusted, so the ground looks red. Dust in the air turns the sky a hazy red too. The Romans named the planet after their god of war, because it reminded them of blood. The Egyptians called it "Her Desher", the red one.

Today Mars is a cold, dusty desert under a very thin sky. But the rocks tell us it was once wetter and warmer, with a thicker atmosphere, billions of years ago.

6,792 kmEquatorial diameter of Mars

The next close approach

Why the distance keeps changing

Earth and Mars both circle the Sun, like two runners on a track. Earth has the inside lane and the faster pace. It goes round once a year, while Mars needs about 1.9 Earth years.

So every so often Earth catches up with Mars and overtakes it. Then the two planets are on the same side of the Sun, and as close as they get. Afterwards Earth pulls ahead, until Mars lies on the far side of the Sun from us. On average, Earth laps Mars about once every 2.1 years.

At the far point, Mars can be 401 million kilometres away. At the best close approaches the gap shrinks to 54.6 million.

Not every meeting is equally close. Mars's orbit is more oval than Earth's, so it matters where on that oval Earth catches up. Near the far end, the two stay well apart even at their closest. The clock on this page counts down to the next meeting, on 20 February 2027.

111 d 21 h 29 m 20 sTime until Mars's next close approach to Earth

Right now

A hello that takes minutes

Radio waves are a kind of light, and nothing travels faster. Even so, a message to Mars is never instant. At today's distance a command needs 12 minutes to arrive, and the reply needs as long again.

That delay shapes how we work there. No one can steer a rover on Mars with a joystick. By the time a picture of a rock reaches Earth, the moment it shows is already minutes old.

So the teams plan ahead. Each day they send a rover its instructions, timed for the moment it wakes and turns its antenna towards Earth to listen. Then it works through the list on its own.

About every two years the Sun passes between the two planets. Hot gas from the Sun could garble the signals, so for about two weeks the teams send no new commands. The robots on Mars carry on with simpler plans until the line is clear.

215,385,069 kmMars's distance from Earth

One sol

A day and a year

A day on Mars feels familiar. Mars spins at almost the same pace as Earth, so from one sunrise to the next takes 24 h 39 m 34 s. Mission teams call a Martian day a sol, short for solar day.

The year is another matter. Mars lies farther from the Sun and moves more slowly along a longer path. One lap takes about 1.9 Earth years, or about 669 sols. Someone born on Mars would wait almost two Earth years for each birthday.

Mars is tilted on its axis, as Earth is, so it has seasons. Because its year is long, its seasons are long too. And because its orbit is oval, they are uneven: on Mars, northern spring is the longest season of all, and northern autumn the shortest.

24 h 39 m 34 sLength of a solar day on Mars (a sol)

Average temperature

The cold

Mars is farther from the Sun than we are, so its sunlight is weaker. Its air is thin, mostly carbon dioxide, and it holds very little warmth. So the heat of the day escapes easily into space.

Averaged over the whole planet, the surface temperature on Mars is -59 °C. Earth's average is 15 °C. Both are averages, but they show the gap: Mars sits far below freezing, Earth above it. The thin air also lets the ground cool fast after sunset, so one place can swing widely between day and night.

The cold is not the same everywhere. Near the equator at noon in summer, the ground can be mild. NASA says that if you stood there, it would feel like spring at your feet and winter at your head. At the poles in winter it is far colder still.

-59 °CAverage surface temperature of Mars

As of October 2026

The robots working there now

NASA calls Mars the only planet we know of that is inhabited entirely by robots. It is also the only planet where we have sent rovers to roam.

Two of them are working there now, both NASA's. Curiosity landed in Gale Crater on 6 August 2012, and is now climbing the slopes of Mount Sharp. Perseverance landed in Jezero Crater on 18 February 2021. The crater once held a lake, fed by rivers. The rover looks for signs of ancient life and collects cores of rock and soil.

Above them, orbiters relay their data home. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Odyssey share the work with Europe's Mars Express and Trace Gas Orbiter. Odyssey has circled Mars since 24 October 2001.

Not every robot lasts. NASA's MAVEN orbiter fell silent on 6 December 2025, and NASA declared its mission over on 3 June 2026. Each picture the others send crosses the gap at the speed of light, and arrives a few minutes late.