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It’s the closest planet to Earth, but humans have yet to venture the 34.8 million miles to Mars.
Elon Musk recently predicted that humans will first set foot on the Red Planet in 2029, while NASA is a little more conservative with its estimated timeline, predicting a landing in the late 2030s or early 2040s.
Fortunately, there is now an easy way to explore Mars, from the comfort of your home here on Earth.
NASA has released a new interactive map that lets you explore Mars’ many cliffs and craters.
“I wanted something that would be accessible to everyone,” said Jay Dickson, the imaging scientist who led the project. “School kids can use this now. My mother, who just turned 78, could use this right now. The aim is to lower the barriers for people interested in exploring Mars.’
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NASA has released a new interactive map that lets you explore Mars’ many cliffs and craters
The interactive map of the Red Planet was created at Caltech using 110,000 images captured by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
These images cover almost 25 square meters of area per pixel – big enough to cover the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California when printed!
The resulting map captures a range of stunning geological features in incredible detail, including cliffs, impact craters, and dust devil tracks.
To explore the map yourself, use your mouse’s rollerball to zoom in and out, or click and drag to rotate Mars.
To explore specific features, click the name of the feature in the boxes at the bottom of the screen.
The map then automatically zooms in on that feature, be it Olympus Mons, Zunil or Eberswalde.
Laura Kerber, a Mars scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), provided feedback on the new mosaic as it took shape.
“I’ve wanted something like this for a long time,” she said.
“It’s both a beautiful art product and useful for science.”
The interactive map of the Red Planet was created at Caltech using 110,000 images captured by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
The images cover almost 25 square meters of area per pixel – large enough to cover the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California when printed
Ms. Kerber used the map to explore the Medusae Fossae on Mars – a dusty region the size of Mongolia.
While scientists remain unclear how it formed, Ms. Kerber has theorized that it could be a pile of ash from a nearby volcano.
The new map allows her to zoom in on the region and explore ancient river channels that meander through the landscape.
Other key regions highlighted on the map include Gale Crater and Jezero Crater, both of which are being surveyed by NASA’s Curiosity and Perseverance rovers for signs of ancient microbial life.
Olympus Mons – the tallest volcano in the solar system – can also be traversed.
“For 17 years, MRO [Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter] revealed Mars to us as no one had seen it before,” said the mission’s project scientist, Rich Zurek.
“This mosaic is a wonderful new way to explore some of the images we’ve collected.”
The map’s release comes shortly after NASA’s Perseverance Rover collected a sample of Martian rock to be returned to Earth that could contain signs of life.
But don’t get too excited just yet, because this particular tube won’t reach an Earth lab for about 10 years where it can be studied.
The car-sized robot drilled into the sediment of the Red Planet’s Jezero crater, marking the first sample of its new campaign.
It has been roaming Mars for nearly a year now, looking for sampling sites that could contain ancient microbes and organics.
In that time, it has completed its first of four search campaigns, targeting the crater floor and base of the Neretva Vallis Delta.