Mars Pictures From European Spacecraft Are Incredible (PHOTOS)

The European spacecraft in orbit around Mars has sent back these incredible, high-resolution images of the planet's surface. The photos remind us that Mars' past was filled with fast-flowing streams, rivers and oceans.

Pictures from AP, Reuters and AFP.

Comments

[NoSillyName]

01:48 PM on 07/20/2008

I'm gonna go re-read Velikovsky.

[Coronadoman]

08:25 PM on 07/17/2008

And we can't a decent photo of a bank robber???????????

oy...

[01202009]

05:07 PM on 07/17/2008

Is that Manhattan in the top one with Jersey on the left?

[Snerdgronk]

03:32 PM on 07/17/2008

Davi-dAF: "Wow, Its amazing how a lot of you are infusing political jokes with this story. You people not only have no idea of how to make humorous points that are even remotely funny, you people have no life at all. I know you all "think" your so smart but this only proves how really dumb you are. Pretty lame brain stuff. ..."

SG: I'm with you on this lame brain stuff ... people should use their ram brain more.

Snerd

[AmericanReflections]

02:47 PM on 07/17/2008

Fascinating photos. If what we are seeing is evidence that Mars at one time had rivers and streams, there's more than an outside life that it also had life. To what extent life flourished there can, at this point, only be speculated on, but if it evolved to what we think of as intelligent life, it would be incredibly interesting to know what happened to them. Did they die as the planet died? Were they advanced enough to have a way to vacate their dying planet and resume life elsewhere? Could they be our long ago, unknown ancestors? Did they colonize on some other far away planet and continue to develop the ability to travel through space, and could they have something to do with the objects that have been spotted (although not identified) in the skies over our own planet for hundreds of years? So many questions and possibilities could exist based on our ability to interpret these photos and continue our own space exploration. Someone said, years ago: "I sometimes think we are alone in this universe, and I sometimes think we are not. Either way, the thought is mind boggling." (Or something like that.)

[sisterdebmac]

02:43 PM on 07/17/2008

Does it bother anyone else that ESA always gets better stuff from Mars than NASA? And that they share it with the world almost immediately, while NASA has to "doctor" their photos first? And lie that the new lander could only take black & white photos when it first touched down?

[jvarga]

03:00 PM on 07/17/2008

I would be more pissed if NASA and ESA felt the need to compete with, instead of compliment, each others work. I mean it would be totally sweet if NASA spent its budget on making something to do exactly what Mars Express Probe is doing...

[Cowtippin]

02:07 PM on 07/17/2008

Please God let them find life on Mars....so all the bible thumpers will shut there pies holes. heee.hee

[mcjacksonnelson]

02:20 PM on 07/17/2008

those bible thumpers are already pre-empting the time that life is found on other plants with the "fact" that God made them too. pretty convenient.....

[freakbrother]

05:34 PM on 07/17/2008

Perhaps a higher power did put the events of universe in motion. One thing for sure, Earth will likely look like Mars if we continue to abuse our Mother Earth.

[Mattjoe]

01:31 PM on 07/17/2008

There has just been a report that several Middle East nations are already disputing territory.

[cryingeagle]

12:15 PM on 07/17/2008

Man obviously has lived there, what other organism could have so effectively destroyed the planet through global warming.

[mcjacksonnelson]

12:16 PM on 07/17/2008

Did you guys know that one of Mars' moons was made by the Martians millions of years ago?

[hypnus]

02:43 PM on 07/17/2008

That's not a moon. It's a space station!!!

[andyboy]

12:15 PM on 07/17/2008

Mars was the old Earth. We trashed it and left to come here. If you look hard there's a bas-relief of a guy on hands and knees sucking oil out of the ground with a straw.

[doug108]

11:23 AM on 07/17/2008

I don't know how to explain what I feel when I think that across the universe there are places that will never be seen by anything intelligent, yet they go on eroding, cracking, crumbling, quaking, rising, falling, living, and dying. It's lonely and stark. Yet, unbelievably beautiful.

I think it was Buzz Aldrin who described the moon as, "Magnificent desolation."

[DavidAF]

09:41 AM on 07/17/2008

Wow, Its amazing how a lot of you are infusing political jokes with this story. You people not only have no idea of how to make humorous points that are even remotely funny, you people have no life at all. I know you all "think" your so smart but this only proves how really dumb you are. Pretty lame brain stuff.

You do know Devry University can help people who are less educated, right?

[definitelyNOTmisterRIGHT]

09:58 AM on 07/17/2008

Nice grammar! You should practice your spelling before you criticize! DUH!

[Snowspot]

11:16 AM on 07/17/2008

I'm sorry but I was unaware that grammar had anything to do with facts? Care to explain? Anyway, Huffpo posters have become a joke, it's all about having a funny pun or comeback, so lame, get a life you guys ;)

[whatsthatsound]

10:39 AM on 07/17/2008

Guess I'd better stop infusing political jokes with my stories, or even in them.
Good luck with your studies at Devry!

[insanityfollows]

05:52 AM on 07/17/2008

Oh, but this is impossible! The universe is only 6000 years old and somehow we managed to walk with the dinosaurs, too.

Seriously, though. Fabulous pics. Truly exciting.

[mcjacksonnelson]

12:13 PM on 07/17/2008

God buried fossils to test our faith. He's a prankster god!

(man o man, where's bill hicks when you need him)

[Manuel]

03:46 AM on 07/17/2008

Cool pics.

Manuel