The Odyssey Gets Ready to Break a Martian Record

Layers of ice and dust dominate this view of the Udzha Crater at Mars northern polar cap.

The Ares Vallis. NASA scientists estimate that ancient floods had peak volumes many times the flow of today's Mississippi River. This

Sand dunes blow along the floor of Bunge Crater

The Noctis Labyrinthus formed when the Martian crust stretched and fractured. Subsurface ice and water got released as faults cracked, causing the ground to collapse.

A false-color mosaic focuses on the Noctis Labyrinthus where canyons meet to form a depression 13,000 feet deep.

Sand dunes shaped like blue-black flames lie next to a central hill within an unnamed 75-mile-wide crater in the eastern Arabia region of Mars.

Chasma Boreale, which goes deep into Mars' north polar icecap, features walls that rise about 4,600 feet above the floor.

When meteorites break in two before hitting the ground, the typical bowl shape of a single impact crater becomes doubled.

Dune field near the northern polar cap of Mars as photographed during the planet's summer. In this photo, the the dunes are partially buried by an impact crater about 3,300 feet wide.

Sand dunes on Mars' northern polar cap show the impact of wind, as they are sculpted into long lines. For comparison's sake, we're talking about a region around the size of Texas.

The photo records the cooler temperatures in bluer tints, while warmer features are depicted in yellows and oranges.