The ESA, European Space Agency, recently released a short 5 minute video of a fly over of the Hebes Chasma, a canyon lying along the Martian equator near the Mariner Valley. This canyon is around 8000 m deep and is thought to have had water flowing through it in the past.
The video offers a fascinating look at the Martian surface features however there is no narration nor music. So… I added a favorite Mars themed song by Jazz artist Dexter Wansel to the video. The song, “Life on Mars” is on one of the albums in my record collection. The song was part of the audience walk-in music I used to play years ago when I worked in a Planetarium in Peoria Illinois. The walk-in music preceded the showing of a Planetarium show about Mars that was narrated by Carl Sagan. While the show was a good one it had what I thought was the most annoying musical soundtrack I had ever had to listen to.
Watch the ESA produced video below. Also watch one of the early Mars fly over videos produced by NASA. This one takes you around the Mariner Valley system. That video was produced in the late 1980s and the difference in video technology and imaging capabilities is very obvious. And the soundtrack is rather familiar!
Click here to go to the ESA web site.
Click here to view the original video at the ESA web site.
Click here to go to the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter web site.
The banner graphic at the top of the page is from a colored topographic map of Mars. Click here to download the map.
Click here to read my review about ‘The Martian’, a fictional account of a survivor on Mars.
Click here to go to the Qué tal in the Current Skies web site for more observing information.
Filed under: Astronomy, Classroom, Earth and Space, ESA, Geology, Mars, NASA, Solar System Exploration, STEM, Universe Tagged: esa, hebes chasma, mariner valley, mars, Mars Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, nasa, planets, research, science
