Today’s images of Mars rocks provide a window into a fascinating universe.
Not so long ago, mankind had no notion what life was like on Mars' surface. Skywatchers have been aware of the tiny orange dot's motion across the night sky for at least millennia. The little orange dot moves in enormous loops that resemble unreadable cursive writing.
But now that NASA's Perseverance rover has sensors on board, we have photographs of the Martian topography to understand how an intrepid hiker may see it. And it's lovely.
Paul Byrne, an associate professor of planetary geology at North Carolina State University, has discovered some especially stunning photographs in the collection of unprocessed rover images that NASA makes public. The agency has provided roughly 300,000 images from the mission, including this one.
The images of the Martian landscape taken by Persever...