Mars's answer to the Grand Canyon: NASA probe snaps spectacular images of the Red Planet's Valles Marineris – the largest canyon in the Solar System
- The chasm, called Valles Marineris, is more than 2,500 miles long, ten times longer than the Grand Canyon
- It runs almost a quarter of the circumference of Mars and is three times as deep as Earth's Grand Canyon
- Its origins are mysterious and NASA is studying the chasm with its HiSENSE camera on-board the orbiting Mars Reconnaissance OrbiterIncredible images of the Solar System's largest canyon, located on Mars, have been published by NASA.
The gargantuan equatorial chasm, called Valles Marineris, is more than 2,500 miles long and travels along approximately a quarter of the planet's circumference.
As well as being almost ten times longer than Earth's Grand Canyon it is also three times deeper than the Arizona wonder.
Incredible images of the Solar System's largest canyon, located on Mars and called Valles Marineris, have been published by NASA (pictured)
Images of the canyon (pictured) were taken by NASA's HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) mission. The project is the most powerful camera ever sent to a different planet and on-board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Images of the canyon were taken by NASA's HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) mission.
The project is the most powerful camera ever sent to a different planet and is on-board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter which has been orbiting the red planet since 2006.
It was built by experts at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory at a cost of $40million and weighs 143 pounds (65kg).
A photo of the canyon was published by HiRISE recently as astronomers try to find out how the landmark formed.
Valles Marineris is more than 2,500 miles long and travels approximately a quarter of the planet's circumference. As well as being almost ten times longer than Earth's Grand Canyon it is also three times deeper than the Arizona wonder
Mars's answer to the Grand Canyon is far from the only enormous natural feature on the planet, which is also home to the Solar System's biggest volcano, Olympus Mons, which resides in a nearby formation dubbed the Tharsis bulge.
Mystery surrounds how both features formed, but the ESA's leading theory is that the mountain and the canyon are intrinsically linked.
The theory states it is possible that during Mars's formative years and first billion years of existence magma swelled under Mars's crust and produced the bulge.
This may have drove the erection of Olympus Mons as well as the vast trough Valles Marineris which was a result of the planet's crust collapsing after being ripped apart by surging magma.
Humanity has never set foot on Mars but has sent various landers and rovers to learn more about our neighbouring world.
SpaceX, NASA and other space agencies are hoping to send humans to the planet by the end of the decade, with hopes of a martian colony beng established to act as an eventual stepping-stone for deep-space missions.
Mars's answer to the Grand Canyon is far from the only enormous natural feature on the planet, which is also home to the Solar System's biggest volcano, Olympus Mons (artist's impression pictured), which resides in a nearby formation dubbed the Tharsis bulge. Mystery surrounds how both features formed but the ESA's leading theory is that the mountain and the canyon are intrinsically linked
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