There's something about the planet Mars that always intrigued me. I think it began when my uncle gave me these books about the universe when I was a kid. One of them showed the life span of our sun. It's expected to reach its peak and become a 'red giant' and should swallow the first three planets. Yep, the including the Earth.

The second book in the collection was all about the Mars. There were a lot of theories about Mars. One of the most talked about - which was the basis of the movie 'Mission to Mars - is that we probably are Martians. Since the planet was no longer inhabitable, our forefathers decided to look for another planet which can sustain life. They found Earth and settled here.

Another key part of the movie was the face on Mars photographed during an earlier mission.



The picture turned out to be just some weird effect by the low-tech camera used by NASA. In reality, the face was nothing more than a pile of rocks.



Just recently, NASA launched the Mars Curiosity rover into space. It landed on Mars last month. I cannot tell you how excited I was to hear about this - especially after I found out that it is live-tweeting photos taken on the surface of the planet. I've compiled the most amazing HD photos it posted to date: