What it's like to visit Mars on Earth

Because Chile's Atacama Desert is such a dead and desolate place, NASA has come to view it as the perfect analogue to Mars on Earth. The stark landscapes may be the next closest spot for visitors looking for a stunning Red Planet alternative.

(CNN) — Ethereal images from the Mars rover Perseverance have lit up the internet ever since NASA's latest high-tech robot landed on the Red Planet on February 18. The photos, released on NASA's website, depict a desiccated landscape of lifeless orange-brown soil with rugged, rocky hills snaking across the horizon. Though decidedly otherworldly, there's also something strikingly familiar about them. Perhaps that's because the images look a lot like a place back here on Earth -- a remote desert in Chile that NASA itself has dedicated time and money to exploring.