Artist's concept of possible exploration programs. The ascent stage of a two-stage lander soars through the tenuous Martian atmosphere on the first leg of a long trek home. This Mars outpost crew has just completed a year-long tour of duty and will spend about one more year on a transfer vehicle returning to Earth. This equatorial base, located near a tributary of Valles Marineris, is in the vicinity of the Viking I landing site. This artwork was done for NASA by Pat Rawlings, of SAIC. (NASA Media Archives). Buy this as a superb wall poster, a canvas print or a framed print.