How Hollywood Got Mars Wrong In The Martian

Spectacular images of Mars are laying bare how much Hollywood's depiction of the Red Planet can differ from reality.

NASA and its space partners, including the University of Arizona, put out the images to take advantage of the strong public interest in Mars after The Martian hit cinemas.

The movie features astronaut Mark Watney, played by Matt Damon, who is left behind at the Ares 3 landing site during an emergency evacuation.

But the real-life photos of that location indicate Mars is not quite as Tinseltown imagines.

Images show the location of the Ares 3 landing site is far more diverse and hazardous than the flat surfaces depicted in the film, whereas the terrain between Ares 3 and Ares 4 appears to be far dustier.

Another region featured in the story called Arabia Terra is described as rocky, but it is actually relatively smooth.

NASA points out that past expeditions have avoided such dust-covered regions because of the greater temperature variation, but also because the dust hides the bedrock below.

"Exploring this site would be like trying to do field work when there is several feet of snow on the ground," NASA says.

The images have taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HIRISE), which is a joint venture between NASA, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and the University of Arizona.