INCREDIBLE photos of eerie Martian landscapes have been released online by scientists.
Snapped by a Nasa probe orbiting the Red Planet, the pictures show some of the breathtaking scenery of Earth’s mysterious neighbour.
One snap even shows Curiosity – Nasa’s $2billion rover that has roamed the planet since 2012 – trundling across Martian soil on one of its missions.
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Credit: NASA/MOLA/USGS
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Steep slopes on Mars reveal underground ice (highlighted in blue) hidden below
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The pictures were captured by Nasa’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), which has been in orbit around the Red Planet since 2006.
The space probe is tasked with sending back detailed pictures of the Martian surface to help scientists study its geology and climate.
MRO is also assisting Nasa in finding future landing sites for Mars missions.
To take photos, MRO uses HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) – the most powerful camera ever sent to another planet.
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If it’s quiet solitude and beauty you seek, there is no better place than the surface of Mars. Mars has, long ago, earned its jis moniker as the red planet, but the HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) can transform the subtle differences of soils into a rainbow of colors.
For 10 years, HiRISE has recorded gorgeous- and scientifically valuable – images of Mars.
Its photos are so detailed that scientists can examine the planet’s features at the scale of just a few feet, including the recent crash site of Europe’s Schiaparelli Mars lander.
We combed through 2,054 of the camera’s latest pictures, released in August, September, and October, to bring you some of the best – and hopefully help you temporarily escape Earth.
