Placeholder Image

Subtitles section Play video

  • that's unconfirmed on the surface of Mars, ready to begin speaking the sands of top life.

  • Welcome toe watch Mojo.

  • And today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 photos and videos from Mars.

  • This ancient landscape was the site of lakes and streams billions of years ago.

  • From that image, we can reconstruct what this would look like if we were able to get an oblique view as if we were in a helicopter flying around the dust up.

  • For this list, we'll be looking at the most amazing images sent back from the Red Planet.

  • We'll be including false color images and mosaics.

  • Let us know in the comments which one you could look at for hours.

  • Number 10, dune and ripples.

  • Earth has plenty of desserts.

  • In fact, they cover about a third of the Earth's land surface area.

  • But there's something extraordinary about seeing such beautiful sand dunes on another planet.

  • This false color image of a large Duinen Proctor crater was taken by the high Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, or Morrow, In 2000 and nine.

  • The color was added to show texture.

  • Mars has many such dunes, some of them very different to what we have on Earth.

  • The large ripples atop a dune in this mosaic, which combines photos from NASA's rover curiosity in the Bagnall dune field, are unique to the Red Planet.

  • NASA study of Martian dunes taught us that Mars does actually have wind because the dunes change over time.

  • Number nine Global dust storm.

  • Whereas Earth has hurricanes, Mars has ferocious dust storms that sometimes covered the entire planet.

  • The dust.

  • It's not like sand.

  • It's like talcum powder.

  • It's very, very microscopically small, nasty dust particles and if they get into your lungs to human safety issue in 2018.

  • 1 such storm prompted NASA to put its rover opportunity into hibernation.

  • But once the storm cleared, it failed to reboot.

  • It's possible that dust had covered up its solar panels.

  • The morrow, on the other hand, was able to capture a bird's eye view of the extreme weather event.

  • Thanks to its special vantage point, we have this spectacular image of Mars before and after the dust storm.

  • During the storm, the planet's surface was concealed by enormous dust clouds and dust towers, which can climbed to 50 miles high.

  • These photos are vital for understanding one of Mars's biggest hazards.

  • Number eight tracks Left Behind Opportunity roamed Mars for 15 incredible years, traveling a total distance of just over 28 miles.

  • That might not seem like a lot, but for a slow rover like opportunity traversing an alien planet, every foot was an incredible achievement.

  • This picture was taken by opportunities pan cam of the tracks the rover left in its wake in 2014 as it journeyed across the West Rim of Endeavor Crater.

  • Ah, false color version shows Mawr details that same year, opportunities.

  • Younger sibling curiosity took a similar photo as it left Dingo Gap inside Gale Crater.

  • It's extraordinary to sit here on Earth and look at these images like postcards sent back from the Red Planet.

  • And with the empty Martian landscape stretching off in the background, they're hauntingly beautiful.

  • Number seven core live crater Mars has hundreds of thousands of impact craters, and some of them are truly astonishing.

  • One of the most distinct is Coral Ev, named for Sergei Korolev, the rocket engineer who spearheaded the Soviet space program in the fifties and sixties, located in the Red Planet's northern polar plane.

  • Korolev has a diameter of 50 miles, and it's filled with brilliant white water ice.

  • This particular image was taken in 2018 by Mars Express, a Mars orbiter operated by the European Space Agency.

  • Using a digital terrain model, ESA has also created an oblique view of the crater and a breathtaking virtual fly.

  • Over.

  • With so much attention on Mars is ice and water.

  • It's no wonder these images strike a chord.

  • Number six Mt.

  • Sharp.

  • One of Mars's weirdest peaks is Mount Sharp or Ellis Manz, which rests in the heart of the gale crater.

  • For years, Mount Sharp has been something of a mystery to scientists, which is one reason Gale Crater was chosen as the landing spot for curiosity.

  • This ancient landscape was the site of lakes and streams billions of years ago.

  • They left their clues in the finally layered, clay rich rock.

  • Curiosity did not disappoint.

  • As well as finding evidence that Gale Crater was once a lake, the rover provided data that allowed researchers to estimate the density of Mount Sharp.

  • Based on this, it seems the mountain may have been formed by Martian winds.

  • This composite image of Mount Sharp was taken in 2015 as the rover looked out from the edge of the crater towards the bazaar.

  • Mountain number five Dust devil It's not just dust storms you need to worry about on Mars.

  • Dust Devils, which also appear in warm areas on Earth, have been spotted on the Red Planet many times, as have the tracks they've left behind.

  • The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has snapped a striking picture of a dust devil from above.

  • From that image, we can reconstruct what this would look like if we were able to get an oblique view as if we were in a helicopter flying around.

  • The Dustin curiosity was even able to produce a time lapse from multiple images.

  • But there's something magical about this image from opportunity.

  • This black and white shot was taken by the rover from the safety of a nearby ridge and shows a distant dust devil winding its way through a valley number four Martian sunset.

  • Nasa's Rover Spirit wasn't as long lived as its twin opportunity spirits landing site is very rugged, very rocky.

  • Moving around is much more difficult.

  • A spirits landing site is at a higher latitudes so the winters are much more severe.

  • And so coaxing that vehicle through a cold, uh, dark Martian winter is a much tougher job than it is for opportunity, but it's still sent back some incredible images and information during its six year run.

  • One of the most memorable is this picture of a Martian sunset taken in 2005, showing just how much further away the sun is on Mars than it is on Earth.

  • Appearing as a bright moon sized spec in the distance spirits picture was taken from the Gusev Crater right around dinner time.

  • Certainly a great way to spend an evening.

  • Five years later, Opportunity sent back its own surreal time lapse of a Martian sunset in 2015.

  • Curiosity continued the tradition.

  • Number three curiosity selfies.

  • It's not just NASA scientists who get attached to Mars Rovers.

  • They've captured the public imagination for years, and none more so than curiosity, who in 2012 sent back the first ever selfie on an alien planet?

  • Yes, it's upside down, but that's easily forgiven.

  • Since then, it's sent back numerous more polished selfies of its adventures.

  • We might be cheating a bit by not choosing just one of them for this century, but they're all adorable.

  • According to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, it takes 86 separate images to create one panoramic selfie, which is why you never see it's robotic arm in any of the shots.

  • Number two Vallis Marineris Mars has plenty of incredible geographical features.

  • One of the most famous is Olympus Mons, the tallest planetary mountain in the solar system and one of the largest volcanoes.

  • As well as having mountains and volcanoes.

  • Mars also has a vast and complex canyon system called Vallis marineris, first discovered by Mariner nine in the 19 seventies.

  • A later mission, Viking one, was responsible in 1980 for producing a stunning mosaic image of Vallis Marineris spreading across the Martian equator.

  • Needless to say, the formation completely dwarfs Earth's own Grand Canyon.

  • Scientists continue to theorize about how exactly such a massive canyon system formed, whether from tectonic activity, liquid water, melting permafrost or a combination.

  • Before we unveil our topic, here are some honorable mentions.

  • The first image from Mars's surface, taken in 1976 by Viking one Sojourner.

  • After landing in 1997 Pathfinder took this photo of its rover.

  • Sojourner Murray Buttes Curiosity snapped this photo in 2016 on its way up Mount Sharp Brand New Crater.

  • This distinct, very recent crater was discovered by the morrow in 2012.

  • Northern Ice Cap Mars is North Pole comes toe life in this image from the Mars Global Surveyor.

  • Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.

  • You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.

  • If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.

  • Number one perseverance is landing.

  • There's a reason that Mars landings air referred to as the quote seven minutes of terror.

  • The navigation has confirmed that the parachute has deployed, and we're seeing significant acceleration in the velocity.

  • To touch down, Landers must execute a complex sequence of maneuvers.

  • Historically, about half of all Mars missions have failed, so it was with bated breath that people around the world waited for news of Nasa's Perseverance Rover on February 18th, 2021.

  • Not on Lee did perseverance or Percy touched down successfully in jet zero crater it provided us with the first ever video footage of the landing touchdown confirmed for service safely on the surface of Mars.

  • Ready to begin speaking the sands of past life.

  • We also got to hear the Red Planet For the first time, perseverance will hunt for signs of life in the crater with its robotic helicopter ingenuity on board.

  • We have a lot to look forward.

  • Thio, do you agree with our picks?

  • Check out this other recent clip from Watch Mojo and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos, Okay?

that's unconfirmed on the surface of Mars, ready to begin speaking the sands of top life.

Subtitles and vocabulary

Click the word to look it up Click the word to find further inforamtion about it