Student Art Contest: Mars Reference Materials
To support budding artists in their exploration of the Red Planet for our Student Art Competition, we have created this page of reference materials that can be used for inspiration.
Participants should feel free to investigate and find their own reference materials about Mars, its literature and lore by speaking with their teachers or librarians at their schools or in their communities.
Here are quick links to the reference materials:
Video: Interpreting the Mars Landscape – with JPL’s John Callas
John Callas of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has created this video on interpreting the Martian landscape from available photography captured by previous Mars rovers. Mr.Callas was the Project Manager for the Mars Exploration Rover project from March 2006 to end of the project in September 2019, and he guided CAC artists in the creation of artwork for Mars: An Artistic Mission.
Reference Photography of Mars
Below are just a few of the publicly available images of Mars from the sites noted below. We encourage you to review the following links to discover more photos of the fourth planet from the Sun.
Links to Additional Mars Images:
NASA’s Photojournal:
This site has an extensive search function for identifying images of not only Mars, but also the entire universe. In addition to searching on “Mars,” search on the following missions for the best images of the planet’s surface:
- Mars Pathfinder (MPF)
- Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
- Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
Pancam Site:
The Pancam is a high-resolution stereo camera that took color pictures of the Martian landscape from the Mars Exploration Rovers.
- Spirit's first color panorama
- Endurance crater
- Opportunity's heat shield
- The promontories and sidewalls of Victoria crater as seen by Opportunity.
- Sunset on Mars
- "Greeley Panorama" from Opportunity's Fifth Martian Winter (False Color)
- Sunset on Mars taken by the Opportunity Rover
- Rover Tracks in Northward View Along West Rim of Endeavour, False Color
- Opportunity reached the highest point on Endeavour's rim and raised the flag on the robotic arm
- Opportunity took this image as she approached the entrance to Marathon valley
- This artist's concept depicts a sky crane lowering NASA's Curiosity rover onto the Martian surface
- Opportunity's lander and landing site
- Sunset in Mars' Gale Crater
- Martian Rocks Lining Possible Ancient Channel (Enhanced Color)
- Active Lifting During Martian Dust Storm
- "Hinners" Above Floor of "Marathon Valley" on Mars (Enhanced Color)
- Helicopter Above Perseverance on Mars
- Sharp view of Mars obtained by the NASA Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in 1997
Additional Links on Mars and Space Exploration
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Questions about the Student Art Contest
If you have any questions about this exhibition, please email programs@californiaartclub.org.