We usually experience Mars through still images, whether snapped by rovers on the rocky surface or taken by orbiting spacecraft from above. The European Space Agency created an epic visualization that shows what it would be like to visit the red planet and soar over a fascinating, complicated landscape. The video covers part of Noctis Labyrinthus, a collection of steep intersecting valleys that are as impressive as Earth’s most spectacular canyons.
The video released on October 11 is nearly four minutes of a slow flyover set to spacey music. Deep, steep-walled canyons and flat plateaus slide through the view. The visualization shows just how dusty and sandy the area is. Huge landslides have shaped the look of the labyrinth and fields of dunes mark the valley slopes. It gives the impression of being in a helicopter touring an alien world.
The visualization is based on imagery captured by ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft and its High Resolution Stereo Camera. Mars Express may not have the name recognition of NASA’s famous Mars missions like the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers, but it’s been a valuable source of data and images since arriving at the red planet in 2003. Besides capturing the landscape from orbit, the spacecraft has been mapping minerals and studying the planet’s atmosphere.
Noctis Labyrinthus means “Labyrinth of Night.” It reaches across 740 miles of the red planet. ESA compares that to about the length of Italy. The scenic, maze-like valleys are located at the western end of Valles Marineris, a spectacular feature known as the Grand Canyon of Mars.
ESA points out the presence of landscape features in Noctis Labyrinthus called “grabens” where parts of the planet’s crust have collapsed downward. “The intense volcanism in the nearby Tharsis region is to blame for the formation of these features; this volcanism caused large areas of martian crust to arch upwards and become stretched and tectonically stressed, leading to it thinning out, faulting and subsiding,” the agency said in a statement. Grabens can be found on Earth, too. The United States Geological Survey shared an example from Canyonlands National Park in Utah.
The Noctis Labyrinthus canyons and valleys shown in the video are up to 18.6 miles wide and 3.7 miles deep. For comparison, the Grand Canyon in Arizona is 18 miles at its widest point and 1.1 miles at its deepest. If you were to travel to Mars and view Noctis Labyrinthus in person, you would be in awe at the sheer scale of the martian canyons.
Other spacecraft have peered down at Noctis Labyrinthus. NASA’s Viking 1 orbiter captured a wide view in 1980 that shows the maze-like look of the region when seen from above. You can see how it earned its dramatic name with its overtones of Greek mythology. There’s no minotaur lurking on Mars, though.
ESA’s visualization makes Mars feel a little closer to home. The red planet might be millions of miles from Earth, but we can experience its grand landscapes and wild surface features up close and imagine what it might be like to visit there someday.
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