We like to fool ourselves that we know quite a bit about our neighboring planet, the one with the most chances in the entire solar system of becoming a second home for us humans. But the planet still holds numerous secrets, some of them being uncovered by hardware on the surface, others by tools we humans put in orbit around Mars.
Pareidolia. This is the official term used to describe, in a narrow sense, the human inclination to see familiar images and patterns where there are none. It’s also what’s responsible for some of us seeing Mickey Mouse in this image from Mars.
After it arrived in orbit around Mars back in 2006, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) completely changed the way we look at the neighboring planet. For the first time in history, humans now had an incredible vantage point from where to closely survery the reddish surface of the planet, hoping and dreaming of colonizing it.
Mars presently harbors no life that we know of, but it has the potential of becoming a new home for humans, in shielded habitats in the short run, or, if we manage to terraform it, out in the open for the long haul. But even dead as it is, the planet’s face is constantly changing, and thanks to the hardware now in place there, we’re capable of witnessing these changes.
Ever since it arrived in orbit around Mars back in 2006, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has been sending back incredible images of the planet, showing bits and pieces of it in great detail thanks to a wonderful instrument called the High Resolution Imaging Experiment.