LIKE A giant clam shell lying on a sandy beach, Nasa presents a memorable photograph of the Victoria crater.
The image was captured by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on the agency’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter flying above the Red Planet. Victoria, punched between 10 million and 100 million years ago into the surface of the Meridiani Planum region of the planet, is far from a clam shell however.
It measures about 730m across and is 60m deep. The giant scar came in for particular scrutiny by the Nasa surface rover, Opportunity. It spent months exploring the crater’s rim, traversing Victoria’s top-right quadrant.