imagine you could vacation on Mars at
first glance Mars appears very different
from Earth but if you take a closer look
you'll discover that the Red Planet
isn't all that different from our own
our first stop the North Pole this ice
cap is bigger than Texas and is mostly
covered in water ice and solid carbon
dioxide aka dry ice heading south will
visit casi Valles
it's a vast system of chasms five times
longer and 10 times wider than the Grand
Canyon and scientists think it formed in
a similar way billions of years ago Mars
was warmer and covered with liquid water
which likely carved out valleys like
this one marvelous is another valley
close by but it looks very different
from our previous spot thanks to its
multicolored layers of clay these
deposits probably formed over millennia
as Mars shifted towards a colder drier
climate and they could provide clues to
the history of liquid water and possible
ancient life on Mars
the next stop is another place that may
have been teaming with life long ago
Becker el crater it's filled with rocks
made of sulfates similar to ones on
earth that form after water evaporates
which has led scientists to suspect that
this crater may once have been a massive
lake over a hundred 60 kilometers wide
next stop Yanni chaos now this is one
type of terrain you won't find anywhere
on earth it's a maze of rugged cliffs
and pillar-like hills called messes that
extend for 200 kilometers and since
there's nothing like it on earth
scientists aren't exactly sure how these
unique features formed its larger
neighbor Hydra DS chaos probably formed
in a similar mysterious way it stretches
350 kilometers the same distance as New
York City to Boston west of hydro DS we
find one of Mars's greatest attractions
Valles Marineris
it's the largest canyon in the solar
system running the length of New York to
Los Angeles and plunging four times as
deep as the Grand Canyon following the
canyons main channel north we reach
heebies casma it's tiny compared to
Valles Marineris but it's worth the trek
for a glimpse of the Kosmas prominent
Meza a no trip to Mars would be complete
without a visit to Olympus Mons the
tallest volcano in the solar system it
covers a region the size of Arizona is
three times as tall as Mount Everest and
can comfortably fit all the volcanoes in
Hawaii moving south will see promised a
platinum it's a plane near the South
Pole covered in a sheet of ice nearly
one and a half times as thick as the
East Antarctic Ice Sheet next we'll
swing around to rabe crater it's covered
in giant sand dunes 150 to 200 meters
high almost as tall as the Golden Gate
Bridge nearing the end of our tour is
one of the oldest regions of Mars that
dates back to at least 3.9 billion years
ago Newcomb crater scientists think this
crater formed from a powerful impact
early in Mars's history in fact you can
still see pock marks left by the crash
the last crater on our tour is formally
named gamma crater but many call it
happy face crater for obvious reasons
finally we've reached our last stop the
South Pole in 2018 scientists found
evidence of a liquid lake beneath the
ice which could be filled with saltwater
but while that's a promising discovery
we still have much to learn about this
fascinating world like whether life once
existed in those ancient lake
or if it still exists today possibly
somewhere underground but perhaps the
biggest question of all could human life
survive here maybe in the future you
won't have to imagine your Martian
vacation