Stunning Mars Photos Show Evidence of Past Water
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Reuters/ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/G. Neukum
A view of Echus Chasma on Mars showing a network of light-colored, incised valleys, as seen by ESA's Mars Express orbiter.
A view of Echus Chasma on Mars showing a network of light-colored, incised valleys, as seen by ESA's Mars Express orbiter.
New images from U.S. and European spacecraft support growing evidence that Mars once was a water-rich planet capable of supporting life.
The new views reveal details of regions thought to contain water-bearing minerals and geological formations formed billions of years ago.
Stunning images captured by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera aboard the European Space Agency's Mars Express show the cliffs, valleys and plateaus of Echus Chasma, thought to have been one of the largest water-source regions on Mars.
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Echus Chasma resembles a dry riverbed 60 miles long and 6 miles wide. It cuts through the Lunae Planum high plateau north of Valles Marineris, the so-called Grand Canyon of Mars.
The images — released Tuesday but taken on Sept. 25, 2005 — show side-branching valleys roughly 6 miles long and half a mile deep.
