On March 14, 2012, the HiRISE imager aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spotted a dust devil topping out at 20 km (12 miles) above the planet’s surface in the Amazonis Planitia region of Mars’ northern hemisphere. And I thought I’d seen some monsters in the western U.S.! Looks like soaring may have a future on the Red Planet.

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory created an animation based on the image that shows how the dust devil might have appeared to a nearby onlooker flying (soaring?) above the surface.

For more information, visit the JPL website.