The rule for space aesthetics has always been clear: First comes the science, then comes the art. This year, that idea was proven again with sensational images shot by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) showing the predictable — if beautiful — rusty dunes of the Martian surface, sculpted like snowdrifts from the planet’s tenuous but persistent wind. The scene is broken up, however, by strange, black, spidery blemishes scattered randomly about the surface. The dark splatters show up seasonally and are thought to be a form of carbon dioxide geysers, which erupt out of the ground as the CO2 turns from ice in the Martian winter to gas in the summer. The pictures exploded on the Internet—and people became smarter for reading the accompanying stories, reconfirming the power of the beautiful to help popularize the technical.