On August 7, 2012, Curiosity, a complex 900-kilogram rover equipped with the latest technology, began operating on the surface of Mars. In the future, Curiosity may become one of the most successful space missions: the scientific equipment on board is designed to study in detail the geological history of Mars and shed light on the question of life on this still mysterious planet. Despite the fact that the main work of the device will end after 668 Martian days, in total Curiosity is capable of operating for at least 14 years
Typical Martian landscape during the day
Part of the Gale Crater mosaic
Curiosity wheel track on the sand of Mars
Sand, dust and stone called Burwash. The picture was taken from a distance of 11.5 cm from the stone, the dimensions of the picture are 7.6 by 5.7 cm
Sand drift, from the slope of which Curiosity took soil samples. On the left we see a raw image of the dune, showing what it looks like on Mars, where the sky often has a reddish tint due to the large amount of dust. On the right, the image has been processed to show what the same area would look like on Earth. The size of the round stone above the center of the image is about 20 cm
“Blueberries” are small spherical inclusions in the Martian soil. The balls are about 3 mm in size, they contain a large amount of red iron ore, which is formed in the presence of water
The picture shows the bottom of the vehicle, all six wheels and the marks left by them. In the foreground are two pairs of black and white HAZCAM navigation cameras
Curiosity has just climbed the Rocknest dune to take the first soil samples of the Red Planet. The image was taken on October 3, 2012, on the 57th day of operation of the device
The MAHLI camera looks at Curiosity's wheel.
Morning on Mars
Dark gray Martian rock. The image was taken with a MAHLI camera from a distance of 27 cm. The area of the image is 16 by 12 cm, and the resolution is 105 microns per pixel. Despite its impressive clarity, scientists have been unable to resolve the granules or crystals that make up the stone.
The “Pyramid” on Mars is a rock called Jake Matijevic. The image was received on September 21, 2012.
Studying the "Pyramid" at close range. Chemical analysis of the stone showed that it is rich in alkali metals, as well as halogens - chlorine and bromine. Judging by the spectrum, this stone is a mosaic of individual grains of minerals, including pyroxene, feldspar and olivine. In general, the composition of the stone is very atypical for Martian rocks
Color image of a "pyramid" on Mars. The image has been white-balanced to reveal differences in the inclusions on the stone.
On the 55th day of stay on Mars. Curiosity's focus is on a sandy deposit called Rocknest, from the slope of which the rover took its first soil samples.
Remains of an ancient stream bed on Mars. The fact that water once flowed in this place is evidenced by many pieces of gravel and rocks that have a smooth round shape. In addition, the size of some of these pebbles suggests that they could only have been transported by a stream of water. The rock, chipped like a broken sidewalk, is of sedimentary origin
Looking back on the journey
Evening on Mars. The image was taken on day 49 of Curiosity's operation.
The Martian stone, which received the name Et-Then from scientists. The image was taken by the MAHLI camera (Mars Hand Lens Imager) on October 29, 2012, on the 82nd day of Curiosity’s stay on the Red Planet. The rock was photographed from a distance of 40 cm, the width of the image is only 25 cm. Et-Zen was discovered near the left front wheel of the device when Curiosity was preparing to take soil samples in the town of Rocknest
Rocks on Mars. Mosaic obtained by the MAHLI camera on the 76th day of Curiosity's stay on the Mysterious Planet
While man is just preparing to land on Mars, automatic stations are in full swing on the surface of the Red Planet, and artificial satellites fly in its orbit, compiling a detailed map of the surface of the fourth planet from the Sun. We present a selection of the 10 best photographs of Mars and its surface, which make the distant planet a little closer.
A photograph of the surface of Mars along with Valles Marineris, a giant system of canyons that were formed during the formation of the planet. To get one coherent image, scientists had to put together more than 100 separate images transmitted to Earth by the Viking 2 spacecraft.
The Victoria impact crater, about 800 meters in diameter, was photographed by the Opportunity rover on October 16, 2006. Sending such a high-quality image to Earth is not an easy task. It took three whole weeks to obtain all the components of this image.
The largest impact crater on Mars, with a diameter of 22 kilometers, is called Endeavor. He was photographed by the same tireless “Opportunity” on March 9, 2012.
The color of these Martian sand dunes resembles the waves on the surface of the Earth's sea. Sand dunes are formed on Mars in the same way as on Earth - under the influence of wind, moving several meters a year. The picture was taken by the Mars rover " Curiosity" November 27, 2015.
This image of a small impact crater taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows just how much ice may lie beneath the surface of Mars. A meteorite that fell on the surface of the planet was able to break through the surface layer and expose a large amount of frozen water. Perhaps billions of years ago there really were seas and oceans on the surface of Mars.
The famous “selfie” of the Curiosity rover taken on January 19, 2016 near the Gale impact crater.
This is what a sunset on Mars looks like. The picture was taken by the Spirit apparatus on May 19, 2005. The bluish tint to the sky during sunset or sunrise on Mars occurs for the same reasons why we see blue skies on Earth. Light waves of a certain length, corresponding to blue and cyan light, are scattered when they collide with gas and dust molecules, so we perceive the sky as blue. But on Mars, where the atmosphere is much less dense, this effect can be noticed when light passes through the maximum thickness of the air - that is, at dawn or sunset.
The Opportunity vehicle's wheel tracks and a dust swirl in the background. And although dust devils are a fairly common occurrence on Mars, catching one in the frame is a real success.
It seems as if this photograph was taken not 225 million kilometers from Earth by the Curiosity apparatus, but somewhere in a desert area on our planet.
Images used: NASA
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New colored photo of the surface of the planet Mars 2019 high-resolution images with descriptions from NASA's Earth, Space Telescope and Mars Curiosity rover.
If you have never seen frosty deserts, then you need to visit the Red Planet. It didn't get its name by accident. photos of Mars from the Mars rover confirm this fact. Space– an amazing place where you can find completely unusual phenomena. So, the reddish color is created by iron oxide, that is, the surface is covered with rust. There are also amazing dust storms that show quality photo of Mars from space in high definition. Well, let’s not forget that for now this is the first goal in the search for extraterrestrial life. On our website you can see new real photos of the surface of Mars from rovers, satellites and telescopes from space.
High resolution photos of Mars
First photo of Mars
July 20, 1976 marked a turning point when Viking 1 captured the first photo of the surface of Mars. Its main tasks were to create high-resolution images to analyze the structure and atmospheric composition and look for signs of life.
Arsino-Chaos on Mars
On January 4, 2015, the HiRISE camera on MRO was able to capture a photograph of the surface of the Red Planet from space. This is the territory of Arsino-Chaos, located on the far eastern region of the Valles Marineris canyon. The damaged terrain may be based on the influence of massive water channels flowing in a northern direction. The curved landscape is represented by yardans. These are sections of rock that have been sandblasted. Between them there are transverse sandy ridges - Aeolian. This is a real mystery, hidden between the dunes and ripples. The point is located at 7 degrees south. w. and 332 degrees E. w. HiRISE is one of 6 tools on MRO.
Attack on Mars
Martian Dragon Scale
This interesting surface texture is created due to the rock's contact with water. Review performed by MRO. Then the stone collapsed and came into contact with the surface again. Pink indicates Martian rock that has become clayey. There is still little information about water itself and its interaction with stone. And this is not surprising, because scientists have not yet focused on solving such questions. But understanding this will help understand the past climate situation. The latest analysis suggests that early conditions may not have been as warm and wet as we would have liked. But this is not a problem for the development of Martian life. Therefore, researchers focus on terrestrial life forms that arise in dry and frosty areas. The scale of the Mars map is 25 cm per pixel.
Martian dunes
Martian ghosts
Martian rocks
Martian tattoos
Martian Niagara Falls
Escape from Mars
Surface Martian forms
The photo of the surface of Mars was taken with the HiRISE camera of the MRO apparatus flying in Martian orbit. Similar gully reliefs appear on many craters in mid-planetary latitudes. Changes began to be noticed for the first time in 2006. Nowadays many deposits are found in ravines. This photograph reflects new sediment in the southern mid-latitude Gasa Crater. The position is brighter in enhanced color photos. The image was mined in the spring, but the stream was formed in the winter. It is believed that the activity of the ravines awakens in winter and early spring.
Arrival and movement of Martian ice
Blue on the Red Planet
Follow the (bright) stream
Snowy Martian dunes
Mars Tattoos
Textures in Deuteronilus
Orbiters and rovers exploring the Red Planet constantly replenish the collections of researchers and amateurs with numerous images - sometimes strange, almost fantastic and completely unexpected for scientists. Let's look at the most interesting points.
03/12/2013, Tue, 02:43, Moscow timeMars attracts people's attention due to its similarity to Earth: similar mass, approximately equal amounts of sunlight, signs of the presence of water, and perhaps life. Moreover, Mars is about 100 million years older than the Earth, which means that by now intelligent Martians could have achieved much more progress than earthlings. It should be noted that we already know a lot about Mars: scientists are almost sure that millions of years ago it was a water-rich planet with a comfortable climate. But there are also plenty of mysteries. Orbiters and rovers are sending back a lot of images of the Red Planet, and some of the images are causing quite a stir.
Valley of the Pyramids
In 1971, NASA's Viking 1 probe took one of the most famous images of Mars. A photograph of an area called Cydonia revealed a giant stone structure with a face resembling an Egyptian sphinx. This sensational 1.5-km sculpture was also accompanied by a “scattering” of rocks similar to the Egyptian pyramids.
A photograph of an area called Cydonia reveals a giant stone structure with a face resembling an Egyptian sphinx.
The publication of the pictures gave rise to an avalanche of articles, books, films and video games on the topic of hardworking Martians who were not too lazy to build a giant human face to impress future generations of earthlings. There were many theories: from the “stargate” between the Martian and Egyptian pyramids to the library of incredible knowledge left to us by our alien forefathers.
Because of all this hype, photographing the “Martian valley of the pyramids” (and no one called Cydonia anything else) became one of the main tasks for NASA’s new Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) probe. He arrived at Mars in September 1997 - after 18 years of heated debate, and the first coveted photograph was taken only on April 5, 1998. The MGS camera was 10 times more sensitive than the Viking camera, and thousands of Internet users eagerly waited for NASA to make the coveted image publicly available.
Later photographs from a different angle showed that the "face of the sphinx" is in fact an ordinary rock
As a result, no one was satisfied with the resulting picture: no face was visible on it, just an ordinary rock. However, the “contactees” continued to believe, especially since MGS photographed the valley through a thin layer of clouds, and many details were lost.
We had to wait a long time for the next photo - it was taken on April 8, 2001 on a cloudless summer day. To get the best possible photograph, we even had to change the orientation of the probe.
This is what the photo story of the “greatest mystery of Mars” looks like:
Alas, now everyone could see that the “face of the Sphinx” is in fact an ordinary rock, and the sensational photo of “Viking 1” is simply a play of light, shadow, imperfect technology and human imagination. This is how the story of the “greatest mystery of Mars” ended, but it was after it that thousands of enthusiasts around the world began to peer into photographs of the Red Planet and find unusual things in them.
Bigfoot
In November 2007, the Spirit rover at the base of a plateau called Home Plate took an image that caused a real storm of discussion. The rover's panoramic camera photographed not some "lost" artifact, such as the ruins of a million-year-old metropolis or the wreckage of a spaceship, but a real living alien. Thanks to the attentiveness of Internet users, in the lower left corner, almost at the very edge of the picture, something very reminiscent of the figure of Bigfoot was discovered, confidently walking through the desert of the Red Planet. The worst thing is that in the official annotation to the image on the NASA website, nothing was written about this undoubtedly remarkable object. Fans of conspiracy theories immediately saw this as a sign and believed that inattentive censors had missed the photo of a representative of an extraterrestrial race, the existence of which the US government had long known about.
Thanks to the attentiveness of Internet users, in the lower left corner, almost at the very edge of the picture, something very reminiscent of the figure of Bigfoot was discovered, confidently walking through the desert of the Red Planet
The figure in the photo really looks very humanoid, but there are some nuances that put an end to the fascinating version of the first contact with extraterrestrial life. First of all, the Spirit rover does not have the advanced high-resolution color camera of Curiosity. Therefore, color panoramic photographs are “assembled” from several photographs taken with a black and white camera through a pair of filters at intervals of several minutes. This fact alone leads us to the conclusion that the humanoid would have to freeze for about 10 minutes in its dynamic pose in order to appear well in the final panoramic image, consisting of a total of 154 individual photographs. In addition, an attentive observer will notice that the alien figure is located on a piece of rock, which is located a short distance from the rover. More specifically, the alien was less than five meters from Spirit.
NASA scientists are confident that the latest Martian sensation was just a play of light and shadow on a bizarrely weathered rock
This means that the Martian’s height is not at all impressive - only 6 cm. However, enthusiasts of the search for extraterrestrial civilizations can find factual material in this too: for example, the small stature of aliens could explain how they manage to hide their howling civilization from our cameras. However, NASA scientists have a different opinion and are confident that the latest Martian sensation was just a play of light and shadow on a bizarrely weathered rock.
Under the shadow of the Martian forest
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took many photographs showing objects that look like unusual vegetation with an unearthly beauty. The photo shows long dark trees with a metallic sheen, strange “hair” that looks like thickets of bushes, dark fluffy spots of “moss”.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took many photographs showing objects that look like unusual vegetation of unearthly beauty.
Scientists are unequivocally confident that this is not vegetation at all, but mainly geological formations caused by the change of seasons. In winter, frozen carbon dioxide snow falls in some regions of Mars. In the spring, it melts very quickly, turns into a gaseous state, and jets of gas throw the lower, darker layers of soil to the surface.
But be that as it may, the picture is truly amazingly beautiful and worthy of an artist’s brush no less than the living forests of the earth.
Airship hangar
In July 2010, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter photographed an unusual object that looked like a huge hangar. It is located at coordinates 13°19"50.55"N; 115°35"10.15"W next to a perfectly round crater resembling the Arecibo radio telescope dish covered with sand.
In the glare of sunlight, an oblong object hundreds of meters long really resembles an artificial, polished structure
In the glare of sunlight, an oblong object hundreds of meters long really resembles an artificial, polished structure. However, a higher-resolution black-and-white photo shows that the "hangar" looks more like an unusual sand dune or rock covered with sand. However, those interested can see in it both the geometrically correct body of a spaceship and a large boathouse with a black shadow from the entrance.
NASA's Curiosity rover has been on Mars for almost six months and has photographed several mysterious objects, the origin of which has aroused considerable interest among non-specialists.
Along with such “little things” as a stone of an almost perfect pyramidal shape and a scattering of incomprehensible stone “peas”, two photographs stand out in which objects that look like pieces of plastic are visible.
NASA's Curiosity rover has been on Mars for almost six months and has photographed several mysterious objects, the origin of which has aroused considerable interest among non-specialists.
On the 61st day of its mission, October 7, 2012, Curiosity was taking routine photographs of the Martian surface and came across a bright object that looked like a piece of polyethylene about 1 cm in length. The rover was delayed for a day so that it could photograph the strange thing in detail.
After studying the images, scientists came to the conclusion that this is indeed a piece of plastic, but this is not an artifact of a disappeared civilization, but part of the rover itself.
The tiny object, which looks like a flattened pearl, was originally sprinkled with Martian sand
However, on December 19, in the Rocknest region, the rover was sifting through Martian sand and again came across an incomprehensible shiny object. At the same time, the tiny object, similar to a flattened pearl, was initially sprinkled with Martian sand, that is, it definitely did not fall off the rover. NASA experts confirmed that this is not part of the rover, but, most likely, a fragment of a larger rock located under the sand at greater depths. Considering that traces of a stream that had dried up long ago were discovered near the find, the appearance of a shiny pebble does not seem like something fantastic, but many saw it as an artificial object or plant.
Monolith on Phobos
Not only Mars is “marked” by mysterious objects. Its satellite, Phobos, also has something to see. We are talking about an object unofficially called a “monolith”. This object was photographed in August 1998 by the Mars Global Surveyor probe and was named because of its resemblance to an alien artifact from the science-fiction film “2001: A Space Odyssey.” We are talking about a vertically standing triangular prism 85 m high with “suspiciously” correct proportions and sharp edges. This unusual shape of the rock attracted the attention of the press and people started talking about the monolith. It’s interesting that they still talk about it, although NASA said that it is an ordinary rock - just of an unusual shape. At the same time, there is also a similar monolith on Mars (-7.2S; 267.4E), which NASA experts call an “ordinary boulder” that does not have a clear rectangular shape only because of the pixelation of the image. As you know, digital photos have square pixels, which makes the edges of all objects taken with low resolution straight. In addition, on Earth there are a lot of rocks and stones of almost regular rectangular shape. It should also be noted that in the same photograph of Phobos there are many similar rocks and protrusions, although, of course, none have such a regular triangular shape.
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There is a "monolith" on both Mars and Phobos
However, astronaut Buzz Aldrin added fuel to the fire when he said: “There is a strange object with a very unusual shape on Phobos. You should definitely visit the moons of Mars.” From the point of view of searching for traces of a developed, lost civilization, this looks logical - Mars, apparently, suffered a large-scale catastrophe, and geological processes over the course of millions should have erased any noticeable traces of intelligent life from the surface of the Red Planet. On the other hand, on the airless, dead Phobos, some artifacts could have been preserved.
One way or another, the monoliths on Phobos and Mars will keep their mysteries for now, since their thorough study is not planned in the coming years. In 2007, the Canadian Space Agency announced plans for the PRIME mission: an unmanned vehicle was supposed to land near the monolith on Phobos, but the date for this mission has not yet been set. Perhaps the secret of the monolith could have been revealed by the Russian automatic interplanetary station Phobos-Grunt, but its launch in November 2011 ended in disaster.
Is the solution close?
According to experts in the field of psychology, the vast majority of alien “artifacts” are a consequence of a special property of our brain, which “wants” to see familiar objects where they are not there. Because of this, we see someone's face in a pattern of clouds, a human figure in a tangle of trees, etc. The same applies to photographs of other planets: in a pile of stones we see the ruins of a city, in unusual stones and rocks - skeletons, buildings, skulls, etc. For example, a photo taken in November 1999 by the Mars Global Surveyor probe shows the Promethei Rupes region with a bright area shaped like a giant valentine. This “heart” has almost perfectly smooth contours, as if it was drawn by a talented artist. However, hardly anyone believes that many years ago the Martians drew a 255-meter postcard “from Mars to earthlings with love.”
This “heart” has almost perfectly smooth contours, as if it was drawn by a talented artist
Nevertheless, people will continue to make new telescopes, launch new probes, peer into space photographs and see in them exciting signs of life and alien intelligence. This is in our nature, and this, perhaps, is the meaning of our existence.
Mikhail Levkevich
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