You will sometimes hear Mars described as about half the size of the Earth. It is true that the diameter of Mars is roughly half that of our planet but its surface area is less than a third, its volume less than a sixth, and its mass little more than a tenth that of Earth. However, if you feel short-changed planetwise by Mars, rest easy; since Mars has no oceans and seas, its actual land surface is very close to the dry land area of Earth. And that land surface contains some of the most breathtaking scenery in the solar system. Mars has the system's greatest mountain in Olympus Mons; and it has the canyon to end all canyons in the Valles Marineris, nearly ten times the length of the Grand Canyon and over three times as deep. So the seeker after grandeur will not be disappointed. Just to underline that point, we can ignore the common misconception that the horizon on Mars is much closer than it is on Earth, thereby restricting the majesty of any view. In fact, at average eye height on Mars, the horizon is still over four-fifths the distance away that it is on our own home world.
In the millennia since we started exploring our planet, we have not come to the end of its beauties and mysteries. Given the scale of Mars and its huge variety of landscape types, I see no reason to fear that martian colonists either are going to end up suffering from ennui in their quest to explore and familiarise themselves with their adopted home.
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