SPRING ON MARS: SNOWY DUNES ON NORTHERN HEMISPHERE
Below is a photograph that was taken in the Northern hemisphere in the spring at 13.21 Mars time and it was captured by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera that is located on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter from NASA.
Over the winter ice and snow have covered the dunes on Mars, but the snow and ice on Mars are not like that of Earth as it is known as dry ice.
SUN REVEALS ICE AND SNOW ON SMALL RIDGES
Once the sun begins to shine when spring comes around, the ice, begins to crack on the smooth surface and dark sand is carried out by the gas that escapes, and this creates patterns that are stunning. On the surface between the dunes, the surface is rough, and frost gets trapped behind some of the small ridges that are sheltered.
The manager of the Science Mission Directorate in Washington is the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and they manage the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The HiRISE camera is from Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation, and it is operated by the University of Arizona.
THE NASA MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of NASA was launched on 12 August 2005, and the aim of the technology was for it to search for any evidence that there was water on the surface of the Red Planet for any long period of time. Missions to Mars that had occurred before the launch of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter revealed that water had flowed over the surface of Mars throughout history; however, it has remained unknown whether the water had been around for a period of time that was long enough to Mars to have been habitable.
The cameras of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are able to survey spots very close up, and one of the cameras is said to be the biggest that has ever flown on a planetary mission. On other orbiters of Mars, cameras have only been able to identify objects around the size of a school bus. However, the new camera can see something that is about the size of an average dinner table.
Thanks to the high-resolution camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter these superb images of snowy dunes on Mars have been captured.
Image Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
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