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Earth Mars Comparison

This composite image of Earth and Mars was created to allow viewers to gain a better understanding of the relative sizes of the two planets.

December 17, 2009

This composite image of Earth and Mars was created to allow viewers to gain a better understanding of the relative sizes of the two planets.

Credit

NASA/JPL-Caltech

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This image acquired on December 11, 2018 by NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows a surface texture of interconnected ridges and troughs, referred to as brain terrain, found throughout the mid-l...
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This image acquired on December 11, 2018 by NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows a surface texture of interconnected ridges and troughs, referred to as brain terrain, found throughout the mid-latitude regions of Mars.
The Slow Charm of Brain Terrain
This image acquired on November 30, 2018 by NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows a complex crater, where we see bedrock in several locations from different depths in the crust.
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This image acquired on November 30, 2018 by NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows a complex crater, where we see bedrock in several locations from different depths in the crust.
Exposing the Rock in Impact Craters
This image acquired on December 5, 2018 by NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows ripples in the sand which tell us which way the wind was moving and how it was diverted around these rock formati...
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This image acquired on December 5, 2018 by NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows ripples in the sand which tell us which way the wind was moving and how it was diverted around these rock formations.
Wind Flow
This image acquired on October 5, 2018 by NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows a new impact crater that formed between July and September 2018.
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PIA23019: Impact Near the South Pole
Impact Near the South Pole
This image acquired on October 28, 2018 by NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows that gullies probably formed along the bouldery layers in the upper slopes of this unnamed crater.
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PIA23020: Multi-Elevation Gullies
Multi-Elevation Gullies
This image acquired on December 3, 2018 by NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows a cross-section of a dune field. Dune shape depends on several factors, including the amount of sand present and ...
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PIA23021: A First Look at Dunes
A First Look at Dunes
MarCO-B, one of the experimental Mars Cube One (MarCO) CubeSats, took this image of Mars from about 4,700 miles (7,600 kilometers) away during its flyby of the Red Planet on Nov. 26, 2018. MarCO-B ...
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MarCO-B, one of the experimental Mars Cube One (MarCO) CubeSats, took this image of Mars from about 4,700 miles (7,600 kilometers) away during its flyby of the Red Planet on Nov. 26, 2018. MarCO-B was flying by Mars with its twin, MarCO-A, to attempt to serve as communications relays for NASA’s InSight spacecraft as it landed on Mars.
Farewell to Mars
This is the first image taken by NASA’s InSight lander on the surface of Mars. 
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This is the first image taken by NASA’s InSight lander on the surface of Mars.
InSight's First Image from Mars
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows ice-rich clouds over the summit of Arsia Mons.
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This is an image of ice-rich clouds in false color, taken by the Odyssey satellite orbiting Mars.
Ice-Rich Clouds - False Color
This image, acquired on January 2, 2014, by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows dune fields located among canyon wall slopes.
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This image, acquired on January 2, 2014, by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows dune fields located among canyon wall slopes.
Hanging Sand Dunes within Coprates Chasma
This image acquired on April 8, 2018 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows the gullied western slopes of an unnamed crater (about 10 kilometers wide) in Acidalia Planitia.
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Crater Gullies and Fractures in Acidalia Planitia
Crater Gullies and Fractures in Acidalia Planitia
This image, acquired on May 15, 2018, by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows relatively bright mounds scattered throughout darker and diverse surfaces in Chryse Planitia.
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This image shows relatively bright mounds, hundreds of meters in size, scattered throughout darker and diverse surfaces in Chryse Planitia. The largest shows a central pit, similar to the collapsed craters in some Earth volcanoes.
Pitted Cones: Possible Methane Sources?
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a crater from a double impact - two meteors hitting simultaneously. The two meteors would have started as a single object and, at some point prior to impac...
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a crater from a double impact - two meteors hitting simultaneously. The two meteors would have started as a single object and, at some point prior to impact, separated into two parts.
Doublet Crater
This image, acquired on May 13, 2018 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows sand dunes scouring what appears to be a highly-cratered, old lava flow in the Tempe Terra region, located in the N...
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This image, acquired on May 13, 2018 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows sand dunes scouring what appears to be a highly-cratered, old lava flow in the Tempe Terra region, located in the Northern Hemisphere.
This is Not the Hydrothermal Deposit You're Looking For
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows Aram Chaos, an ancient impact crater that lies within in the Southern Highlands of Mars. Uplifted blocks are composed largely of the iron-ox...
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This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows Aram Chaos, a 280-kilometer-wide impact crater in the Southern Highlands. Uplifted blocks of hematite and water-altered silicates indicate that this crater once held a lake.
Uplifted Blocks of Light-Toned Layered Deposits
This colorful image acquired on May 21, 2018 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows clays within the Eridania basin region. A large lake may have once existed here.
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This colorful image acquired on May 21, 2018 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows clays within the Eridania basin region. A large lake may have once existed here.
Clays in the Eridania Basin
Mars' north polar deposits comprise a thick stack of icy layers. Part of this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has lingering seasonal frost, which serves to accentuate those laye...
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Mars' north polar deposits comprise a thick stack of icy layers. Part of this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has lingering seasonal frost, which serves to accentuate those layers.
Lingering Frost
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows many new ice blocks compared to earlier images in 2006. One of the most actively changing areas on Mars are the steep edges of the North Pol...
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Ice block avalanche. This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows many new ice blocks compared to earlier images in 2006.
Ice Block Avalanche
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows an impact crater that triggered a slope streak. When a meteoroid hit the surface and exploded to make the crater, it destabilized the slope ...
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This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows an impact crater that triggered a slope streak. When a meteoroid hit the surface and exploded to make the crater, it destabilized the slope and initiated this avalanche.
Bang and Whoosh!
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a hill with a central crater. Such features have been interpreted as both mud volcanoes (really a sedimentary structure) and as actual volca...
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This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a hill with a central crater on the floor of Valles Marineris. It could be either a real volcano, the kind that erupts lava, or a sedimentary structure called a mud volcano.
A Volcano of Mud or Lava?
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) keeps finding new impact sites on Mars. This one occurred within the dense secondary crater field of Corinto Crater. The new crater and its ejecta have dist...
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This is an image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of a new impact site on Mars, within the dense secondary crater field of Corinto Crater.
A New Impact Crater
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows the permanent polar cap of Mars, encircled by sand dunes and looking like pulled threads. These dunes march across a fabric of pattern...
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This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows the permanent polar cap of Mars, encircled by sand dunes and looking like pulled threads.
Corduroy Dunes
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the margin of the north polar cap and the surrounding plains. The layering of the ice is easily visible due to the dust that is dep...
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This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the margin of the north polar cap and the surrounding plains. The layering of the ice is easily visible due to the dust that is deposited on the top of the ice every year, creating layering over millions of years.
Polar Layers
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows sand dunes on the slopes of Nectaris Montes within Coprates Chasma.
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This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows sand dunes on the slopes of Nectaris Montes within Coprates Chasma.
Dunes in Nectaris Montes
This color image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows bedrock layers of diverse colors and composition.
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This color image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows bedrock layers of diverse colors and composition.
Colorful Layers in Ariadnes Colles

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