Being single can be lonely sometimes, just like the cold, dark vacuum of space. But even without a partner on Valentine's Day, you will always have Mars.
Under NASA, Malin Space Science Systems helped make history when their cameras, built and operated from San Diego, California, launched into space attached to the Mars Global Surveyor in 1996 and captured photos of the planet as never seen before.
And every Valentine's Day, the team releases heart-shaped finds in the depths of space -- proving once and for all, the truth is out there, and so too is love.
14 photos
1/14
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
EMPTY_CAPTION"This image of a heart-shaped mesa was taken by the CTX camera on the MRO spacecraft on October 15, 2019. The feature is approximately three kilometers wide and located at 2.4°N, 169.4°W, near the equator of Mars." Released in 2020.
2/14
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
EMPTY_CAPTION"This somewhat heart-shaped, eroded and partially-filled crater is located near the southeast wall of Columbus Crater in the Mare Sirenum region of Mars. North is toward the bottom/lower left." Released in 2019.
3/14
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
EMPTY_CAPTION"The image on the left is a scaled and color enhanced image of a heart-shaped cloud feature in Jupiter’s atmosphere taken by JunoCam on the Juno spacecraft on September 1, 2017. The picture on the right is of an approximately 4 km wide mesa landform on Mars taken by CTX on the MRO spacecraft on February 11, 2018." Released in 2018.
4/14
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
EMPTY_CAPTION"This picture was taken by the Context Camera (CTX) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft on January 10, 2017. The feature is located at 3.53°S, 71.4°W in Ophir Chasma." Released in 2017.
5/14
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
EMPTY_CAPTION"This image of a heart-shaped mesa with a crater at the center was taken by the CTX camera on the MRO spacecraft this week, on February 7, 2016. The mesa is located at 56.7°N, 111.4°W in the northern plains, where the atmospheric clarity is still a bit hazy." Released in 2016.
6/14
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
EMPTY_CAPTION"This picture of a heart-shaped pit north of Gordii Dorsum was taken by the CTX camera on the MRO spacecraft in 2009. The pit is located at 8.6°N, 144.2°W and contains many interesting features, including slope streaks on the northeast wall of the depression." Released in 2012.
7/14
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
EMPTY_CAPTION"This picture of a heart-shaped feature in Arabia Terra was taken on 23 May 2010 by the CTX camera on the MRO spacecraft. A small impact crater near the tip of the heart is responsible for the formation of the bright, heart-shaped feature. When the impact occurred, darker material on the surface was blown away, and brighter material beneath it was revealed. Some of this brighter material appears to have flowed further downslope to form the heart shape, as the small impact occurred on the ejecta blanket of a much larger impact crater." Released in 2011.
8/14
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
EMPTY_CAPTION"This picture of a heart-shaped pit was taken on 26 February 2008 by the CTX camera aboard MRO. It is approximately 2 km long and is centered at 3.7° N, 29.9° W. The pit is one of many adjacent to Hydaspis Chaos, a jumbled topographic depression thought to have formed by collapse of the surface due to—perhaps—catastrophic release of groundwater." Released in 2009.
9/14
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
EMPTY_CAPTION"This picture of a landform that somewhat resembles a Valentine’s Day heart was acquired nearly two months ago by the CTX on 23 December 2007. The heart is about 1 kilometer (0.62 miles) across." Released in 2008.
10/14
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
EMPTY_CAPTION"This somewhat heart-shaped, eroded and partially-filled crater is located near the southeast wall of Columbus Crater in the Mare Sirenum region of Mars. North is toward the bottom/lower left." Released in 2006.
11/14
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
EMPTY_CAPTION"This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a heart-shaped hill surrounded by cracked terrain within a depression in far northwestern Arabia Terra, near the Cydonia region of Mars. Happy St. Valentine's Day from the MGS MOC team!" Released in 2005.
12/14
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
EMPTY_CAPTION"Happy St. Valentine's Day from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) team! This collection of images acquired over the past 3 Mars years shows some of the heart-shaped features found on Mars by the MGS MOC." Released in 2004.
13/14
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
EMPTY_CAPTION"The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) captured this unique view of a bright, heart-shaped mesa in the south polar region on November 26, 1999. This feature is located in the Promethei Rupes region near 79.6°S, 298.3°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left. The heart is about 255 meters (279 yards) across. The presence of this mesa indicates that the darker, rough terrain that surrounds it was once covered by a layer of the bright material." Released in 2000.
14/14
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems
EMPTY_CAPTION"The heart-shaped pit is about 2.3 kilometers (1.4 miles) at its widest. The image was targeted by the MOC team in order to examine the relationship between a lava flow (margins indicated by white arrows, above right) and the graben and pits that disrupted and cut across the flow. The graben, pit, and lava flow are located on the east flank of the Alba Patera volcano in northern Tharsis." Released in 1999.
