Spacecraft reveal diversity in solar system’s landscapes
OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD LANDSCAPES The latest generation of interplanetary spacecraft have revealed diverse landscapes on (clockwise from top left) Ceres, Enceladus, Mars, comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, Pluto and Dione.
JPL-Caltech/NASA, UCLA, MPS, DLR, IDA; JPL-Caltech/NASA, Space Science Institute; JPL-Caltech/NASA, Univ. of Arizona; NavCam/Rosetta/ESA (CC BY-SA IGO 3.0); NASA, JHUAPL, SWRI; JPL-Caltech/NASA, Space Science Institute
Over the last several years, spacecraft have beamed back images from all across the solar system, revealing a complex tapestry of landscapes. Dust shapes the scenery on comet 67P, whereas ice rules on Pluto and the moons of Saturn.
At first glance, many of these terrains seem the same — mountains, craters and canyons show up everywhere. But each world adds its own geologic signature that marks the land as utterly alien.
While several of the spacecraft’s missions will end in the coming year, a fleet of new explorers ensures that our interplanetary adventures are far from over.
