ART FROM MARS

By Deb A.

While much ado is being made of how the temperatures in North America compare to those on Mars, a small section of the population sees another reason to talk about the Red Planet.

One can be forgiven for not counting the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum amongst the world's most important artistic hubs. And yet, the images on display in the Spirit & Opportunity: Ten Years Roving Across Mars exhibition are a collection of awe-inspiring landscape photography that remind us all of the many ways in which art lies at the heart of science.

Setting Sun
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Texas A&M/Cornell

The Empty Quarter
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University

Martian Surface
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/USGS/Cathy Weitz

Waves of Sand on Mars
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University

A Bowl Full of Blueberries
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University

A Study in Shadow
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University

NASA has also grasped the artistic value inherent in the images sent back to Earth from its spacecraft. It rounded up a panel of artists, photographers, and photo editors to overlook scientific value and select images based solely on aesthetics for its Mars as Art collection. Made on Mars and processed on Earth, the impressions are hypnotically sublime.

Spirit & Opportunity: Ten Years Roving Across Mars is open at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. (U.S.A.) until 14 September 2014.