Springtime on Mars
Vast canyons, towering volcanoes, sprawling fields of ice,
deep craters, and high clouds can all be seen in this image of the
Solar System's
fourth planet: Mars.
The orbiting robot
Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft took the
above mosaic of images as
springtime dawned in Northern Mars in 2002 May.
Sprawled across the image bottom is
Valles Marinaris,
a canyon three times the length of Earth's
Grand Canyon,
and four times as deep.
On the left are several volcanoes including
Olympus Mons,
a volcano three times higher than Earth's
Mt. Everest.
At the top is the North Polar Cap
made of thawing water and
carbon-dioxide based ice.
Swirling white clouds and
circular impact craters
are also visible around
Mars.
Two rovers
will be launched to Mars this summer and should arrive in 2004 January.