2004 sees an international scientific assault on the planet Mars led by the British lander, Beagle 2, which touches down on Christmas Day 2003. The two US Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, will follow Beagle 2 to the surface on January 4th and 25th. Meanwhile Beagle's mothership, the European Space Agency's Mars Express, will join NASA's Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor in orbit around the red planet.

The approximate locations of the three landing sites are shown below, together with some of the most dramatic landscapes on Mars, in a selection of Planetary Visions' computer graphic views.

Planetary Visions offers high-quality texture maps and terrain models for 3D graphics use, based on the latest planetary probe missions. Global Mars coverage extends down to 250 metres for imagery and 500 metres for digital terrain. Similar views of Mars and other planets are available from our Animation Library and Image Library.