Name: Mars Surface Temperature
Creator: NASA
Published: 2024-01-01
License: https://www.nasa.gov/open/
Keywords: Mars temperature, how cold is Mars, Mars climate, Mars weather, NASA

Question 1

How cold is Mars?

Accepted Answer

Mars is extremely cold: the mean surface temperature is about -65°C (-85°F). A typical day swings from roughly -89°C at night to -31°C in the afternoon, because the thin atmosphere holds almost no heat.

Question 2

What is the temperature on Mars in Fahrenheit?

Accepted Answer

The average is about -85°F (-65°C). Across the planet temperatures range from roughly -220°F (-140°C) at the winter poles to about 68°F (+20°C) near the equator at midday in summer.

Question 3

Is there live temperature data from Mars right now?

Accepted Answer

Not publicly. NASA's InSight weather service ended with that mission in 2022, and Curiosity's public REMS weather feed stopped updating in early 2023. Perseverance's MEDA instrument does record weather at Jezero Crater, but the data is released through science archives rather than a live public feed. The figures on this page are NASA's published climate values, not a real-time reading.

Question 4

What is the temperature on Mars during the day vs night?

Accepted Answer

Mars has a huge daily swing — typically about -89°C before dawn to -31°C in the afternoon at mid-latitudes. Near the equator in summer the surface can briefly reach +20°C, while polar winter drops to -140°C.

Question 5

Why is Mars so cold?

Accepted Answer

Mars is about 1.5 times farther from the Sun than Earth, so it receives less than half the sunlight. More importantly its atmosphere is only about 610 Pa — roughly 0.6% of Earth's pressure — so there is almost nothing to trap heat. Warmth radiates straight back to space after sunset.

Question 6

What is the hottest temperature ever recorded on Mars?

Accepted Answer

About +20°C (68°F), at the surface near the equator during summer midday. It is brief and local — the air just above the ground stays far colder, and most of Mars is below freezing year-round.

How Cold Is Mars?

Is there live weather data from Mars?

Mars vs Earth Temperature