In Andy Weir’s “The Martian,” stranded astronaut Mark Watney drives from the Ares 3 landing site in Acidalia Planitia towards the Ares 4 landing site in Schiaparelli Crater via Mawrth Vallis. This image covers the entrance to Mawrth Vallis. (Have a look at the scene in 3D ).

As you can tell, driving over this terrain will be much more difficult than it was depicted in the novel or the movie.

Written by: Alfred McEwen (audio: Tre Gibbs)  (7 March 2017)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_048595_2060 .

More info and image formats at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_049017_2060

Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona