Mars in pictures

Although Mars is at least 80 million kilometres away, human ingenuity has enabled some spectacular images to be obtained.

The Pathfinder lander on Mars sent back this landscape.

The orbiting Mars Global Surveyor satellite has revealed vast canyons, cut through layers of volcanic rocks.

The Hubble Space Telescope has also set the Red Planet in its sights.

This structure found in a meteorite from Mars is still controversial but could be the remains of a bacterial lifeform on the Red Planet.

Extinct volcanoes like Olympus Mons reveal the planet's fiery past.

The "happy face" on Mars is the result of a meteorite impact.

Mars' North Pole has a cap of frozen carbon dioxide and water.

A close-up of the South Pole reveals a "swiss cheese" surface texture.