Mars Hiking Map Launches

Blinding news for anyone planning a future interplanetary walking holiday with the news that the first 'hikers maps' of Mars are now available.

The maps have been created using data from the European Space Agency's Mars Express craft and handily give contours and names of geological features - they have names? - and cover the very alluring sounding Iani Chaos region of this popular trekking destination.

The region was apparently chosen because of 'major topographical interest', which is science speak for having loads of hills and the maps have been produced at scales from 1:200,000 down to a Landranger-style 1:50,000. We'd recommend the latter for navigation on the ground and the former for larger scale route planning.

Disappointingly for those already scouring the budget airlines for flights to Iani Chaos Central Spaceport, full mapping of the entire planet will only be possible if there's further funding for the mapping project at a European level. A done deal then...

Full details at www.esa.int. We'll let you know when the maps are in the shops.