There's More to the Red Planet than Red

Image of the central pit of an impact crater in the ancient highlands.

Butterfly Ejecta around a Fresh Crater

Whatever caused the crater in this image struck Mars at an oblique (or very shallow) angle.

Sand Dunes near the North Pole

Large sand dunes near the North Pole of Mars. Patches of ice remaining at the surface appear as bright, somewhat blue, spots on slopes that offer shade from the sun.

Strange Squishy Impact Crater

Craters in the Northern lowlands near the Elysium Mons volcano. The ground seems to have been soft and "squishy" when it was hit by the meteorite. A couple of strange things: the crater appears to have collapsed into itself. Also, the material which would have been ejected from the crater seems to have largely vaporized.

Clay Diversity on Flank of Mawrth Vallis

You're looking at one of the candidate landing sites for the Mars Science Laboratory rover--named Curiosity--to be launched in 2011.

Aeolian Ripples within Slope Streak Beds

Slope streaks like these in the above image are commonly seen in dust-rich equatorial regions of Mars.

Impact Crater Teetering on the Edge of a Canyon

Several geologic features at the edge of the huge Valles Marineris system of canyons on Mars.

Flow Features in Amazonis Planitia

With its smooth surface and sparseness of sizeable craters, Amazonis Planitia is an example of the most recent period in Martian geological history. (Roughly the first several hundred million years of the planet's life.)

Exposed Light Material in Upland Region in Aureum Chaos

Researchers believe the large outflow channels which appear to emerge from Aureum Chaos were formed by the catastrophic release of ground water.

Exposures of Different Rocks in Eos Chasma

The bright rock exposures occur along the walls of a 60-kilometer diameter impact crater.

Gully Landforms in Aram Chaos

Aram Chaos, a crater near the equator of Mars, has been nearly filled with sedimentary rocks.

Polygonal Ridges

Gordii Dorsum region of Mars, a large area covered with polygonal ridges in an almost geometric pattern.

Phoenix Lander after One Mars Year

The Phoenix lander arrived on Mars 25 May 2008 at 68 degrees North latitude during the Martian summer. The image appears to show that a solar panel of the Phoenix lander has collapsed.

Megabreccia in the Central Uplift of Stokes Crater

The Stokes impact crater located in the Northern lowland plains of Mars, is about 38 miles in diameter.

Big Impact-Triggered Dust Avalanche

Star Dunes in Crater in Tyrrhena Terra

This image in the Tyrrhena Terra region features star dunes on the western edge of a small crater. Star dunes form when sand is blown by winds coming from several directions.

Geezer Gullies at Tempe Terra

Gullies in the walls of a large impact crater in Tempe Terra. The weathering processes required to produce such a smooth landscape are very slow and thus must have taken place over a long period of time.

Icy Craters on Mars

Over the past several years, scientists have discovered newly formed impact craters. This crater is one of a special group that have excavated down to buried ice. This ice gets thrown out of the crater onto the surrounding terrain.