Mars Valentine 2026

Captioned Image Release No. MSSS-613 — 14 February 2026

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Malin Space Science Systems

Subframe of the full CTX image W05_090707_1119_XI_68S152W_251202. North is to the bottom-left of the image and illumination is from the upper right.

 

Mars Valentine 2026

 

Happy Valentine’s Day from Mars! 
This year, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Context Camera (CTX) team is celebrating with a heart-shaped feature captured in the southern highlands of Mars.

This CTX image shows a frost-covered dune field with a heart-shaped outline on the floor of an unnamed crater in the southern Terra Sirenum region. The image was acquired on December 2, 2025 (Ls = 181.5), near the beginning of southern Spring on Mars, when temperatures remain cold enough for seasonal frost to persist and extend across the southern high latitudes. The heart-shaped appearance is seasonal and fades as springtime frost disappears later in the Spring. The image has been contrast-balanced to enhance the full range of surface brightness. The feature is located at approximately 68.13° S, 152.38° W.

Over the past 27 years, Malin Space Science Systems has shared other heart-shaped Martian landforms on Valentine’s Day using images acquired by CTX and by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) aboard the Mars Global Surveyor. These previous Valentine’s Day features can be viewed at the links below:

 

 

To cite the image(s) and caption information in a paper or report:

Malin, M. C., D. A. Susko, C. Keegan, A. B. Valeh, G. T. Speth, N. O. Dominguez, and L. Posiolova (2026), Mars Valentine 2026, Malin Space Science Systems Captioned Image Release, MSSS-613, http://www.msss.com/science-images/mars-valentine-2026.php.

The image(s) and caption are value-added products. MSSS personnel processed the images and wrote the caption information. While the images are in the Public Domain, NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS requests that you credit the source of the image(s). Please give the proper credit for use of the image(s) and/or caption.
Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) built and operates the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) Curiosity rover Mast Camera (Mastcam) and Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) and Mars Descent Imager (MARDI), the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) Mars Color Imager (MARCI) and Context Camera (CTX), and the Jupiter Orbiter (JUNO) camera (Junocam). MSSS also built and operated the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC). In addition, MSSS built the Mars Odyssey (ODY) Thermal Emission Imaging Spectrometer (THEMIS) Visible (VIS) camera subsystem, which shares optics with the thermal infrared instrument and is operated at Arizona State University (ASU). MSSS also built the Mars Descent Imager (MARDI) for the Phoenix Mars Scout lander, the suite of high resolution cameras aboard the 2009 Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), and Origins-Spectral Interpretation-Resource Identification-Security-Regolith Explorer (OSIRIS-REX) mission. MSSS has also built and operated cameras for the Mars 2020 rover mission.