If you thought the Grand Canyon was massive, wait until you see Valles Marineris. This massive system of Martian canyons is 2,500 miles (4,000 km) long, more than ten times the length of the Grand Canyon on Earth. Valles Marineris escaped the notice of early Mars spacecraft (which flew over other parts of the planet) and was only discovered in 1971 by the global mapping mission Mariner 9. And what a sight it was to miss — Valles Marineris is roughly the length of the United States!
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