Last updated at 15:10 04 April 2008

These stunning pictures reveal for the first time the planet Mars's stunning mountain landscape.

The 3D photographs were taken by a high resolution stereo camera on board the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter and beamed 43million miles to Earth.

They show Hebes Chasma, an enclosed trough, almost five miles deep, in the Grand Canyon of the Red Planet.

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A taste of Mars: The pictures show the planet's spectacular mountain range, the Hebes Chasma, with its five-mile deep canyon

Insight: Scientists say they will use the photographs to try and prove that water once existed on the planet, which is 43million miles from Earth

By imaging the landcape at three different wavelengths, the camera gives an insight into how the moutain range would look if you were standing on Mars.

But the photos are not just for show - they have also provided scientists with invaluable data about the planet's surface and may prove that water once existed in the canyon.

In addition, they will enable researchers to make a detailed examination of the altimetry of the Mars's surface, and to calculate the slope of its valleys.

Some observers have also been quick to point out that its rough, brown-coloured terrain

bares a close remsemblance to the planet's chocolate namesake, the Mars bar.

Mars attacks: Three photographs - all at different wavelengths - were taken to create an accurate representation of how the canyon looks in 3D