With a whole-planet comparison, you’d never confuse the two worlds. But from their surfaces, telling them apart is harder than you’d think. Image credit: NASA.

Quiz: Mars or Earth?

Think you can tell the red planet from our own? Answers below!

“This is the plan. Get your ass to Mars, and go to the Hilton Hotel and flash the fake Brubaker I.D. at the front desk, that’s all there is to it.”
-Hauser, Total Recall

From a distance, Earth and Mars are nothing alike. The water-rich, life-filled world that we call home looks nothing like the frozen, desert wastelands of the red planet. But the following ten images might prove to you that telling these two worlds apart is harder than you might imagine. Can you tell the difference?

This pattern of desert rock, sand and frozen ground looks like perfect terrain for a rover’s wheels. But is it from Mars or Earth?

1.) Rugged, rocky terrain. Mars or Earth?

Are these dry, sandy valleys features of Mars or of Earth?

2.) Dry, sandy valleys. Mars or Earth?

Do the sloping, red-colored rocks and strata illuminated by the Sun occur here on Earth, or on Mars?

3.) Sloping red rock, with erosion. Mars or Earth?