Now that it is March, the month named after the Roman god of war, Mars, I thought I would post a few photos from the planet named after Mars. There is a strange beauty to this place. Also, I think it is remarkable the quality of photos that we now have of Mars. As long as man has been looking up at the heavens, the planet Mars has been a source of fascination and imagination, and throughout all the ages we are the first people who can actually see what the surface of the planet looks like. Right now there one lonely robotic machine wandering around up there, exploring and taking these photos, while we hustle and bustle about on our busy world. I like to imagine what it would be like for the first humans to step on this land in some distant future, perhaps with the intentions of somehow colonizing it, a place so vast and empty and free from all the plagues of our own world.

I really do not know a whole lot about the our explorations of Mars, but I find the photos fascinating, and even beautiful in their own strange way. We can actually see what others could only imagine only a few decades ago.

From ancient mythology, to H.G Well (War of the Worlds) and Edgar Rice Burroughs (John Carter of Mars), Mars was and remains a part of our culture, and perhaps someday our future.

Here are few more photos…I like the how the sky is so different in this one.

And here we see a rocky terrain with a bare mountain the background…

And finally a Martian sunset. I think it has been digitally enhanced, but I am sure it is close to the truth of what a sunset on Mars is actually like….

And another Martian sunset, this one a bit different. Notice how small the sun appears from Mars.

So as March begins, here is toast to the planet Mars, named after the Roman god of war, and as fascinating to us as it was to the ancients.