The Red Planet revealed gallery
The Viking 2 lander touched down on the rock-strewn plains of Utopia Planitia in 1976. The trench in the center of the image marks soil that was disturbed when the spacecraft collected a sample for analysis. The shroud that protected the sampler’s collector head rests just to its right.
“Blueberries” collect at the bottom of this bowl in Eagle Crater. The Opportunity rover discovered these bluish spheres and analyzed their composition, confirming they are made of hematite. On Earth, this mineral forms only in water.
The Curiosity rover discovered these mineral veins on the lower slopes of Mount Sharp. Scientists think the veins, which appear as a network of ridges, formed when water flowed through fractured rock and deposited minerals in the cracks.
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter discovered this fresh impact crater in May 2012, in a region that showed no such scar in July 2010. This close-up shows the 100-foot-wide (30 meters) crater and its debris field, which spreads 9 miles (15 km) from the impact site.
ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)
Olympus Mons, the solar system’s largest volcano, rises 16 miles (25 km) above the surrounding plains. In 2004, Mars Express captured this view of its summit caldera, which spans some 63 miles (102 km).
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Mars’ moon Phobos is tiny — 16 miles (26 km) across in its longest dimension — but it’s full of craters. The largest, Stickney (lower right), spans 5.6 miles (9 km). Scientists think tidal forces one day will tear Phobos apart when it ventures too close to Mars.
The Spirit rover discovered these nodules of opaline silica in Gusev Crater, near a plateau called Home Plate. On Earth, biological processes form similar structures near active geysers and hot springs.
