AT first glance, the vast area of barren red rock that makes up Beacon Valley could be the Nevada desert. It is certainly a desert - it may not have rained here for fifteen million years. But it's a lot farther from civilisation than Nevada. Beacon Valley is hidden away in the interior of Antarctica, 100 kilometres southwest of McMurdo Sound.
So why no ice and snow? The mountains that surround Beacon Valley keep the ice cap that covers the rest of Antarctica at bay, and the surrounding regions are so cold that almost all the moisture is frozen out of the air long before the winds reach Beacon Valley. The result is a strange environment that scarcely belongs on Earth.
And that's its big attraction. Scientists have been coming here because this is the nearest thing to the Martian landscape you can find on our planet. One recent visitor ...
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