Analog Explorer

Compare worlds side-by-side.

Two people at work in a dark cave, wearing high-visibility vests and hard hats. One person works on a ruggedized laptop set on a natural shelf along the cave wall. The other reaches into a nook over her head.

Planetary Analog Explorer

The Analog Explorer gallery shows field research sites on Earth side-by-side with similar environments on other worlds.

Pairs like these are called planetary analogs. Research at analog locations on Earth helps scientists to make sense of our solar system.

Use the slider bars to compare landscapes:

Lava Caves: California and the Moon
Rocky Reconnaissance: California and Mars
Basalt Landscapes: Kilauea and the Moon
Looking for Life: Turkey and Mars
Looking for Life: Utah and Mars
Shield Volcanoes: New Mexico and Venus
Icequakes: Alaska and Enceladus
Looking for Life: Arizona and Mars
Looking for Life: the Atacama Desert and Mars
Subsurface Ice: Iceland and the Moon
Land Ripples: Iceland and Mars
Learn More
Earth , In an underground cave, five researchers wearing helmets and headlamps look towards a brightly lit opening overhead. The rocky cavern is large enough for all five to stand apart.
Moon , Satellite image of the Moon’s surface. In the middle of the image, the surface is sharply interrupted by what appears to be an opening in the roof of a cave. The landscape is illuminated at a low angle, revealing a small part of what looks like a larger void below the opening.

Planetary ANalog Explorer

Lava Caves: California and the Moon

Naturally-occurring lava caves may someday shelter astronauts on the Moon and Mars from harmful radiation.

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Earth , Scientists carry gear as the navigate the slopes of a volcano.
Moon , An astronaut works near a Moon buggy on the surface of the Moon.

Planetary ANalog Explorer

Basalt Landscapes: Kilauea and the Moon

Field research in Earth’s most Moon-like places bridges the gap between past and future exploration.

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Earth , A scientist in a t-shirt and long pants with a hat hanging off her neck inspects rocks in the desert.
Mars , A spacecraft's scoop hangs above the red soil of Mars. The spacecraft's solar arrays can be seen to the left of the scoop.

Planetary ANalog Explorer

Looking for Life: Utah and Mars

Brines and salts found throughout our solar system may play a big role in habitability.

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Earth , A smiling, bundled-up researcher stands beside an array of heavy-duty containers and equipment spread across a dim, icy landscape. Behind her, another researcher works. In the background, dark mountains rise into misty, heavy clouds.
Enceladus , The limb of moon Enceladus with bright jets shooting material out into space

Planetary Analog Explorer

Icequakes: Alaska and Enceladus

The same technology that measures earthquakes can also detect the motion of subsurface oceans.

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Earth , Two scientists unload gear from the back of a truck and onto the desert floor.
Mars , A small helicopter sits on the surface of Mars near the much larger Perseverance rover.

Planetary ANalog Explorer

Looking for Life: the Atacama Desert and Mars

This portable lab examines Earth’s most barren soils.

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Earth , Grayish-white expanse of rippled land at the foot of a volcano.
Mars , Ripples and valleys on Mars

Planetary Analog Explorer

Land Ripples: Iceland and Mars

Aerial views reveal shifting ridges on these planets’ windswept surfaces.

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Earth , A dark grey, barren hillside covered in boulders of many sizes. In the background: distant blue mountain ridgelines under a clear sky.
Mars , Rover’s-eye view of an orange-brown, barren landscape covered in boulders of many sizes. In the near foreground, part of the rover is captured in its own camera’s field of view.

Planetary Analog Explorer

Rocky Reconnaissance: California and Mars

Robotic explorers test their capabilities against rugged terrestrial landscapes before leaving home.

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Earth , Satellite view of a deep blue lake surrounded by a green and brown landscape. The lake’s edge is clearly visible as a narrow band of light-colored material.
Mars , Satellite image of an ancient crater with a dry riverbed flowing into it. Inside the crater’s rim, in what looks like a former river delta, an oval-shaped outline is labeled “Mars Perseverance Landing Site, 4.8 mi x 4.1 mi, 7.7 km x 6.6 km”.

Planetary Analog Explorer

Looking for Life: Turkey and Mars

Sediments at Lake Salda’s edge hold clues about the history of Jezero Crater, an ancient Martian lakebed.

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Earth , Scientists walk across lumpy, dark brown land
Venus , Illustration of volcanoes and orange and yellow scorched ground on Venus.

Planetary ANalog Explorer

Shield Volcanoes: New Mexico and Venus

Earth’s lava landscapes help us to understand volcanic processes on other worlds.

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Earth , Rocky outcrop in a sandy, hilly area, under a blue sky with a cloud.
Mars , A rover sits on the hilly, orange Martian surface beneath a flat grey sky, surrounded by chunks of rock.

Planetary Analog Explorer

Looking for Life: Arizona and Mars

How do signs of ancient life change over time? Earth’s saltiest lakebeds can help us find out.

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Earth , Scientists maneuver gear on the dark ground near ice.
Moon , Dark, shadowy craters in the Moon

Planetary ANalog Explorer

Subsurface Ice: Iceland and the Lunar South Pole

Explorers search for buried ice on Earth using ground-penetrating radar.

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Keep Exploring

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Tendrils of hot plasma stream from the Sun.

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A montage shows the planets to scale from Mercury on the left to Neptune on the right.

Asteroids, Comets & Meteors

Closeup view of a rocky, diamond-shaped asteroid in space

Kuiper Belt

Illustration of spacecraft near a giant space rock far from the Sun.