The notion of bringing Mars to life – transforming a cold, dry, uninhabitable desert into a living planet – is called terraforming, it has been around for almost a century. Initially just a science fiction concept, it has become a subject of serious scientific investigation.

Recent discoveries of rocks and minerals found by the Mars rovers show it must once have had warmer, habitable living conditions. Now, using photorealistic CGI visualizations, we’ll make a science fiction dream of Mars – a world of trees, rivers and blue skies – a plausible future, bringing it to life after three and a half billion years in a deep freeze.