Musk's announcement follows Mars buzz generated by the Phoenix lander and Curiosity rover, not to mention Matt Damon's movie The Martian. The latter prompted NASA to release this picture from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of the Acidalia Planitia region, where the film's fictional characters touched down. Below that is an approximately 30-metre diameter impact crater on the Martian surface taken from orbit in 2013. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona/Reuters)This shot from the orbiter taken in 2014 shows an area of active sand dunes called the Nili Patera. (NASA/Reuters)Opportunity rover, which landed in 2004 and remains active to this day, took this shot of a basketball-sized iron and nickel meteorite found on the Martian surface.

Source: CBC News September 28, 2016 18:56 UTC