This stunningly impressive but slightly unnerving video shows the view which would await us if we ever orbited Mars.
For a few seconds it looks as though we are headed towards a fiery death on the dark unlit side of the red planet before we skim the surface and come hurtling out the other side.
On the approach huge martian volcanoes and the ice of the planet's south pole can be seen.
As the camera pulls away there is an exceptional full screen shot of the planet's north pole.
The video was created by the Mars Express Visual Monitoring Camera (VMC) at the European Space Agency, and comprises 600 photographs stitched together.
They were taken during a seven-hour orbit on 27th May 2010.
The Mars Express is photographing the entire surface of Mars at super-high resolution as well as examining winds, atmosphere and surface composition.