Wadi Rum is a marvelous wilderness of sand and rock in the Kingdom of Jordan. Long ago it was the setting for some of the scenes in the film “Lawrence of Arabia.” Recently it was the setting for all of the “Martian” scenery in the film of that name.
It was rather hot when my friends and I were there several years ago, but at least we did have this advantage over Mars: we had an atmosphere!
Here is my version of “The Martian” scenery: