A breathtaking seven-meter replica of Mars has been unveiled at the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich, London, on 23 November. Suspended beneath the grand 18th-century murals of the Painted Hall, the rotating model showcases high-resolution imagery from NASA’s missions. With each centimeter of the model representing 10 kilometers of the Martian surface, the artwork offers a striking contrast to the Baroque murals painted by Sir James Thornhill between 1707 and 1726.
This installation, which will remain open to the public until 20 January 2025, comes as part of a celebration of NASA’s Perseverance rover, which recently landed on Mars after a seven-month journey. The rover is set to explore the Martian surface in search of past microbial life and will collect soil and rock samples to reconstruct Mars’ surface environment from billions of years ago.
The model, created by UK artist Luke Jerram, brings attention to Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, which is located approximately 225 million kilometers from Earth. The exhibit provides an awe-inspiring visual journey of the Red Planet while also marking the collaboration between scientists at the Natural History Museum and NASA on Mars exploration.
