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The Planetary Society Blog

By Emily Lakdawalla

Hike Mars!

Feb. 12, 2007 | 10:00 PST | 18:00 UTC

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Today brought a really fun set of image releases from the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) team. They displayed an image of the Iani Chaos region on Mars in the format of topographic map sheets, the sort you might use to plan a hiking outing (though the scale only goes down to 1:50,000, with contour intervals of 50 meters; I'd prefer having 1:25,000-scale maps and 10-meter contour intervals on hand for planning my route, but this is a good start). For some reason, seeing the Martian landscape in this familiar format helps me to imagine having my boots on the ground on Mars, walking the hummocky plains and trekking up the slopes to the knobby peaks to take a look around at the dramatic landscape.

Click to enlarge >

1:50,000-scale map sheet of Iani Chaos region, Mars
Data from a Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) image of the Iani Chaos region, Mars, has been used to create a topographic contour map sheet like those used to map Earth. Credit: Map Compilation: Technische UniversitÃ¤t Berlin, 2006; Image Data: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Just for fun, I drew in a possible hike. I imagine there'd be an access road running down the flat valley, on which you could park your Mars buggy and hop out to take a nice little 6-kilometer hike, with about 500 meters of elevation gain, to an overlook from which to view the valley and some of the dramatic topography.

Click to enlarge >

A hiking trail on Mars?
Credit: Map Compilation: Technische UniversitÃ¤t Berlin, 2006; Image Data: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Maybe someday we'll be returning snapshots like this...how much more protection will the real Mars hikers wear?

Click to enlarge >

Emily Lakdawalla on Devon Island
Credit: NASA Haughton-Mars Project 2002 / The Planetary Society

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