Jason Davis • Nov 09, 2023

The best pictures of Mars from space

We’ve been taking pictures of Mars from space since 1965, when Mariner 4 returned the first pictures of another planet to Earth. Scientists were too anxious to wait for computers to process the first image, so they turned the incoming signal into a color-by-numbers project. Each pixel in the picture received a color value based on its brightness as seen by Mariner 4. The result was a charming combination of art and science:

Mariner 4 hand-colored first image One of the colored-in images of Mars returned to Earth in 1965 by Mariner 4.Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Dan Goods

Fortunately, space imaging technology has improved by leaps and bounds since then, providing us with exquisite images of Mars on a regular basis. Below, we’ve rounded up some of our favorite views of Mars from space. They are sorted by type for easier browsing. You can also view a collection of these images in the video below.

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The best images of Mars taken from space Spacecraft have been taking pictures of Mars from space since 1965. Here are some of our favorites.

Global views

Rosetta approaches Mars The European Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft snapped this frame-filling view of Mars as it approached for its Feb. 24, 2007 gravity assist flyby of the planet.Image: ESA / MPS / UPD / LAM / IAA / RSSD / INTA / UPM / DASP / IDA / processed by Emily Lakdawalla

Mars Orbiter Mission's first global image of Mars (processed) India's Mars Orbiter Mission captured this global view of Mars with its Mars Colour Camera on Sept. 28, 2014, from a distance of 74,500 kilometers (46,300 miles). This version of the image has been artistically processed to more closely match the expected color of Mars.Image: ISRO / processed by Ted Stryk

Mars from the Hope spacecraft This view of Mars was made by amateur image processor Jason Major using image data captured by the United Arab Emirates' Hope Mars orbiter in 2022.Image: UAESA, MBRSC, LASP, EMM-EXI, Jason Major

Northern summer global view of Mars from Mars Orbiter Mission India's Mars Orbiter Mission took this photo with its Mars Colour Camera on Jan. 22, 2016, not long after the Martian northern summer solstice. At the top of the view is the permanent northern water ice polar cap. The spacecraft was 71,000 kilometers above Mars (about 10 Mars diameters away). The image has been sharpened and color-adjusted to make clouds white.Image: ISRO / ISSDC / Emily Lakdawalla

Moons over Mars

Phobos over Mars from Mars Express The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on ESA's Mars Express' spacecraft caught Phobos over Mars' limb on March 26, 2010. The waviness of Mars in the background is a by-product of the line-scanning nature of HRSC.Image: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Phobos over Mars from MOM in natural color Mars' inner moon Phobos appears far darker than the bright clouds of Mars in this view taken by India's Mars Orbiter Mission on Oct. 14, 2014.Image: ISRO / ISSDC / Emily Lakdawalla

Deimos over Mars The United Arab Emirates Space Agency's Hope Mars Mission captured this view of Deimos over Mars during a flyby on March 10, 2023. These new observations suggest that Mars' moons may have a planetary origin rather than being captured asteroids. The image was released on April 24, 2023.Image: Emirates Mars Mission

Wide views

Mist in the Canyon A mist of water ice crystals hangs in the "Grand Canyon of Mars," Valles Marineris, as seen by ESA's Mars Express orbiter.Image: ESA / G. Neukum (Freie Universität, Berlin, Germany) / Bill Dunford

Mars’ south pole This beautiful image of Mars’ south pole was captured by ESA's Mars Express orbiter in 2015. There is evidence for liquid water beneath the icy surface.Image: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/Bill Dunford

Martian volcanoes This widefield image of Mars' Tharsis volcanic region was captured on June 29, 2014 by ESA's Mars Express orbiter. Olympus Mons is at the center. Across top-center from left to right are Ascraeus Mons, Pavonis Mons, and Arsia Mons. Noctis Labyrinthus can be seen near the horizon at top left.Image: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin / Justin Cowart

Hellas Basin from Mars Express ESA's Mars Express captured this view of the Hellas Basin on Feb. 13, 2016. This image, made from a two-color (blue/green) observation of hazes in the atmosphere, captures a large dust storm swirling inside the basin. Clouds of dust kicked up by the wind have spilled into topographic lows within the basin rim, including several large channel systems on the eastern side of the basin. These channels (Dao, Niger, Harmakhis, and Reull Valles) can be seen as light fingers reaching out of the dust cloud at top center.Image: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin / Justin Cowart

Borealis Planitia - Mars Express ESA's Mars Express captured this image of the Martian north polar region. The image shows the north polar cap, a bank of stratocumulus over Borealis Planitia, and the highlands of Tempe Terra (left). The image was taken during Mars Express' 14,125th orbit of Mars on May 2, 2014.Image: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/J. Cowart, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

Viking Orbiter 1 - Valles Marineris This color image of a cloudy afternoon over the Valles Marineris canyon system was captured by NASA's Viking Orbiter 1 during its 701st orbit of Mars, on Sept. 29, 1979. The image was constructed using pairs of red and violet filter images that were taken by the spacecraft, with the green channel of this image formed by a 40/60 blend of the two images, respectively.Image: NASA / JPL / USGS / Justin Cowart

Closeups

Oblique view of Victoria crater from HiRISE The HiRISE camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this oblique view of Victoria crater on July 18, 2009. Ordinarily, MRO's instruments are pointed straight downward, but to capture this view it looked 22 degrees away from nadir, toward the east. (East is to the top in this image.) The unusually oblique view allowed HiRISE to photograph the west-facing cliffs of the scalloped capes surrounding the crater. The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity spent more than a Mars year exploring Victoria crater, from September 2006 through August 2008, partially circumnavigating it before entering it briefly to examine the steep cliffs up close. Opportunity's tracks are visible as slightly lighter-colored, reddish-toned straight lines on the left side of the image, punctuated by dots, marking the spots where Opportunity turned in place.Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona

Martian Dunescape NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this field of Martian sand dunes. The scale is approximately 25 centimeters (10 inches) per pixel.Image: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona

Recurring slope lineae in Newton Crater, Mars This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show recurring slope lineae — narrow (0.5 to 5 meters, or 1.6 to 16 feet wide), relatively dark-toned features that form on steep (25-40˚), southern-hemisphere slopes, and that appear in early spring. They grow longer in the downslope direction during spring and summer, and fade during autumn and winter.Image: NASA / JPL / UA / Emily Lakdawalla

Martian Avalanche! Caught in the act by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter: An avalanche cascades down a steep, icy scarp near the north pole of Mars, kicking up a cloud of reddish dust about 200 meters (650 feet) wide.Image: NASA /JPL / University of Arizona

Mars impact crater from MRO A new crater on Mars, which appeared sometime between September 2016 and February 2019, shows up as a dark smudge on the landscape in this high-resolution photo from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Space hardware

Color version of the 'Phoenix Descending' HiRISE image When the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE camera captured an image of Phoenix descending under its parachute, it also captured some color data, though unfortunately not on top of Phoenix. The gaps between the color strips are caused by the fact that the camera's detector is actually made up of 14 staggered sensors, and the spacecraft had to slew at an angle in order not to capture a distorted view of Phoenix. Most of the color information indicates that the landscape is the usual red of Mars, but some blue spots indicate the presence of frost inside Heimdall crater.Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona

Opportunity's landing site in color for the first time from HiRISE This is the first HiRISE image to contain the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity’s landing site in color. Captured in 2017 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the lander, parachute, and heat shield that took Opportunity safely to the surface are still where the rover left them, and this color view reveals subtle details of the disturbed ground around the hardware. The color of the hardware sets it apart from the natural rocks and sand of Meridiani Planum. The detail images at the bottom show the backshell and parachute (left) and lander inside Eagle crater (right). This observation was requested as a HiWish by The Planetary Society's own Emily Lakdawalla.Image: NASA / JPL-Caltech / University of Arizona / Emily Lakdawalla

Tianwen-1 above Mars This image was taken by a small camera that was jettisoned from China's Tianwen-1 spacecraft to photograph the spacecraft in orbit above the Martian north pole. The camera sent the images back to Tianwen-1 via WiFi, and they were then relayed back to Earth. The image gives an unprecedented view of a spacecraft in orbit around another planet. Tianwen-1 has been orbiting the red planet since February 2021 and released the Zhurong rover for its landing in May 2021.Image: CNSA/PEC

Curiosity travels across the Dingo Gap NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of Curiosity and its tracks on Feb. 10, 2014.Image: NASA / JPL / UA

Rosetta was here This amazing view was captured by the CIVA camera on Rosetta's Philae lander just four minutes before its closest approach to Mars on Feb. 25, 2007. The spacecraft was only 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) above the planet. Part of the spacecraft bus fills the view on the left side, and one of the long solar panels stretches out across the center. In the background is the globe of Mars, looking down on Cydonia mensae. The original photo was black-and-white; this version is colorized.Image: CIVA / Philae / ESA Rosetta

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