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15 Incredible New Pictures Capture The Beauty Of Mars

The Red Planet just got cooler.

NASA has released over a thousand incredible photos of Mars taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The MRO has been in Mars' orbit since 2006 and sends back pics to earth every month.

This batch of photos capture the red planet spectacularly because Mars and the sun are on opposite sides of Earth's sky, illuminating both poles.

The images are being used to scope out potential landing sites for rovers set to land over the next few years.

In the meantime, enjoy these stunning images of craters, slopes and dunes. The full set of images can be found here.

NASA
Russell Crater Dunes on Mars.
NASA
Steep Slopes of Hebes Chasma on the surface of Mars.
NASA
Large Alluvial Fan Apron on the surface of Mars.
NASA
A dune field with bright fans on the surface of Mars.
NASA
Hale Crater Ejecta and surrounding plains on Mars.
NASA
A gully on the surface of Mars.
NASA
Craters caused by glaciers on Mars.
NASA
Channels and Crater Near Moreux and Rudaux Craters on Mars.
NASA
Image showing an odd distribution of 'spiders', land forms on Mars created by ice melting straight to gas.
NASA
Image of layered rock formations on the surface of Mars.
NASA
Possible Phyllosilicates in Ejecta of Small Crater in Tyrrhena Terra on Mars
NASA
Land forms at West End of Her Desher Vallis on Mars.
NASA
Yardangs South of Olympus Mons on Mars.
NASA
The MRO monitors the evolution of 'fans' which give clues about past climate conditions.
NASA
NASA monitor dunes on Mars to observe how its polar ice caps wax and wane.
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