12 Real Photos of Mars' Mysterious Landscape 

By Raza Mehdi

Nov 29, 2022

An image of a so-called "floating spoon" on Mars was captured by Curiosity on August 30, 2015. The strange rock was carved over time by Martian winds and even casts a spoon-shaped shadow on the ground.

Floating spoon on Mars

Image: NASA

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity found an iron meteorite on Mars, the first meteorite of any type ever identified on another planet. The pitted, basketball-size object is mostly made of iron and nickel.

Meteorites on Mars

Image: NASA

NASA's Curiosity rover used the Navigation Camera, Navcam, on its mast to look back at its tracks after finishing a drive of 328 feet (100 meters) on the 548th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars, February 19, 2014, on Earth. A geologic feature scientist has dubbed the Jundra patterns recede into the distance.

Looking back at its track

Image: NASA

This image of Earth and the moon about 80 minutes after the Martian sunset on January 31, 2014, was taken by Curiosity. The picture shows a zoomed-in view of the two.

Seeing Earth from Mars

Image: NASA

This photo was captured by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on January 27, 2022, and shows the extent of the damage on one of Curiosity's wheels throughout the rover's ten years on the planet.

Damaged wheels of Curiosity

Image: NASA

Captured on November 16, 2021, Curiosity took two sets of composite images, one at 8:30 a.m. and the other at 4:10 p.m. local Mars time. The images were later combined to bring out the detail of the Martian landscape.

Picture Postcard From Mars

Image: NASA

The "dog door" on Mars was captured by the Curiosity rover on May 7, 2022, that stormed the internet when NASA released the image. The strange "door" is just 12 inches tall and 16 inches wide. And it is perfectly natural rather than the work of some aliens.

Not an aliens work

Image: NASA

Curiosity captured this image of Ogunquit Beach in 2017. The large ripples in the dark sand are several feet (meters) apart, while the small ripples are about 10 times closer together, according to the NASA statement.

Ripples from the past

Image: NASA

In 1999, the Mars Orbiter Camera captured this heart-shaped love formation on the surface of the red planet. The shape was the outcome of a geological collapse in the area that resulted in a 1.4 mile wide pit.

From Mars, With Love

Image: NASA

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover recorded this sequence of views of the sun setting at the close of the mission's 956th Martian day, or sol (April 15, 2015), from the rover's location in Gale Crater.

Sunset on Mars

Image: NASA

This curious rock formation on the foothill of Mount Sharp is informally called “gator-back” rocks due to its scaly appearance. This spot is intriguing as these jagged rocks can be a problem for the rover's wheels leading NASA to avoid driving over them.

Gator-back rocks

Image: NASA

This selfie by a Mars rover is made up of 81 individual images stitched together. It was taken by the Curiosity on November 20, 2021, the 3,303rd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission.

Selfie from the Red Planet

Image: NASA