Why hottest place on Earth is being used to understand aliens

Home to many weather extremes, one national park stands above the rest for NASA scientists.

Near the California-Nevada border, Death Valley National Park is the hottest place on Earth, with summer temperatures reaching 120 degrees Fahrenheit in the shade. It is also the driest place in North America, with an average rainfall of fewer than 2 inches.

The harsh conditions and dry, largely barren landscape of Death Valley, however, have made the park an ideal place for research about another inhospitable – and alien – environment.

Mars, specifically 3 billion years ago, looked similar to the Death Valley National Park we know today, the NPS said. Because of this, scientists seeking to understand the Red Planet use the park as a testing ground for gear, equipment, and hypotheses related to Martian missions.

For example, in May 2019, NASA tested an engineering model of the Lander Vision System (LVS) that later helped guide Perseverance to a safe touchdown on Mars. NASA said the LVS was an integral part of a guidance system that steered Perseverance away from hazardous areas on the Red Planet.

In addition to testing equipment at Death Valley National Park, scientists have also studied the park’s terrain to better understand the topography of Mars. Since the park has very little vegetation, its topographical features are exposed and accessible for research.

Some of those features include river or alluvial fans. In Death Valley, old river fans formed by water flowing out of a canyon and spreading sediment in a triangular or fan-like shape as it flowed down a steep hill.

NASA scientists have compared this erosion and movement in sediment to those that formed river fans in the Gale Crater on Mars.

Other features scientists have studied in Death Valley include the Ubehebe Crater, a 600-foot-deep volcanic crater, and the aptly named Mars Hill, which has basalt boulders left over from the valley’s volcanic past. 

Both of which are geologic features that are similar to those on the Red Planet, which was once alive with volcanic activity.