It's easy to believe there was water on Mars when you can see the evidence so vividly. The high-resolution camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (known as HiRISE) has finally started sending color images, and the results are startling. In the image to the left, you can see the dark basaltic sand, and patterns that may have indicated an ancient lake may have dried out there.


Other images show potential landing sites for a Mars Science Lab, alongside chasms that may have formed due to runoff from a lake. The color is enhanced beyond what the naked human eye could see. But it definitely makes you hope we get to put a science station on that part of Mars in our lifetimes.

New Images For 10 October 2007 [HiRISE]