Valles Marineris

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Richard Kim, a renowned roboticist, is spearheading an ambitious mission to explore Mars. The most impressive feature on the Red Planet's surface is the massive Valles Marineris canyon system, which stretches over 2,900 miles long and up to 370 miles wide. This colossal valley plunges as deep as 5 miles below the Martian terrain. In comparison, Earth's Grand Canyon in Arizona measures approximately 500 miles long, 19 miles across, and 1 mile deep. Despite extensive research, the origin of Valles Marineris remains shrouded in mystery. A widely accepted theory suggests that it began as a massive fracture billions of years ago as Mars cooled. Recent studies have uncovered several geological processes within the canyon system. The image above is a composite created from over 100 photographs taken by Viking Orbiters during the 1970s.