mars facts mars thumbnail 2x1Mars is one of the most-visited yet mysterious planets in the solar system.Samantha Lee/Business Insider

  • NASA’s InSight Mars lander will try to land around 3 p.m. ET on Monday, November 26.
  • The robotic probe could be the first Mars mission to measure the “vital signs” of the world and decode its internal structure.
  • From skyscrape-size tsunamis to eerie blue sunsets, here are some surprising facts you may not know about the red planet.

NASA is about to land InSight: a new $830-million Mars lander that will probe the red planet’s secrets like never before.

InSight lifted off in May and is expected to land on Monday, but it’s just one of dozens of robotic and satellite missions that humanity has rocketed to Mars over the decades.

Read more: Watch live video coverage of NASA’s InSight probe landing on Mars

These spacecraft have beamed back dazzling photos, inspired sci-fi films like “The Martian“, and even helped give Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, the idea to colonize the red planet with the Big Falcon Rocket.

While scientists readily admit they have much to learn about Mars, including the planet’s internal structure (a mystery InSight will try to solve), what we have found out so far is incredible.

Here are 13 fascinating facts about Mars and our robotic exploration of the red planet.