Sky's Helen-Ann Smith travelled to the Gobi Desert to see what China believes life on Mars will feel like.

Gearing up: For a project to photograph the world’s extreme deserts, I wanted to visit the giant sand dunes in China’s Inner Mongolia. The only way into the Gobi is on foot or by camel.

Evidence of this biologically rich era can be found across the planet, particularly in the Nemegt Basin of the Mongolian Gobi Desert. Today, the landscape looks barren, but about 100 million years ...