Ready for an intergalactic adventure? Take this virtual flight over Mariner Valley, Mars's version of the Grand Canyon, a geological feature as deep as Mt. Everest and as wide as the distance from New York to Los Angeles. Kind of makes Earth's biggest dry river bed seem a bit less "Grand," doesn't it?
This video, created by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, includes a mosaic image of the Mariner Valley that was compiled at Arizona State University using photos taken by the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) from NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. Click "play" below to watch (QuickTime plugin required), or right-click here to save a version formatted for your video iPod.
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Science is reinventing play, from extreme sports to gamification to ridiculous roller coasters to the playgrounds of tomorrow, and this issue is chock full of fun. Also, on a less fun note: Did global warming destroy my hometown?