Mars Thread

[Düber]

After losing contact with its helicopter, NASA put the entire Mars mission on hold

Mars is only going to get colder and darker for the next 10 weeks as winter deepens.

arstechnica.com

 

[Seldom Bucket]

Mars did Have Moving Glaciers, but They Behaved Differently in the Planet's Lower Gravity​

On Earth, shifts in our climate have caused glaciers to advance and recede throughout our geological history (known as glacial and inter-glacial periods). The movement of these glaciers has carved features on the surface, including U-shaped valleys, hanging valleys, and fjords. These features are missing on Mars, leading scientists to conclude that any glaciers on its surface in the distant past were stationary. However, new research by a team of U.S. and French planetary scientists suggests that Martian glaciers did move more slowly than those on Earth.

Mars did Have Moving Glaciers, but They Behaved Differently in the Planet's Lower Gravity

New research shows that glaciers on Mars moved very slowly, which could have allowed ancient life there to survive.

www.universetoday.com

 

[Seldom Bucket]

NASA’s HiRISE Camera Recently Imaged a Martian Dust Devil. But Why Study Them?

NASA recently used its powerful High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to take a breathtaking image of a dust devil traversing Syria Planum on Mars. One unique aspect of dust devils is their shadows can be used to estimate their height, which have been estimated to reach 20 km (12 miles) into the Martian sky. Studying dust devils on Mars is a regular occurrence for the scientific community and can help scientists better understand surface processes on other planets. But with the atmospheric pressure on Mars being only a fraction of Earth’s, what processes are responsible for producing dust devils?​

NASA’s HiRISE Camera Recently Imaged a Martian Dust Devil. But Why Study Them?

NASA recently used its powerful High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to take a breathtaking image of a dust devil traversing Syria Planum on Mars. One unique aspect of dust devils is their shadows can be used to estimate their height, which...

www.universetoday.com

 

[Seldom Bucket]

 

[Seldom Bucket]

Curiosity rover discovers new evidence Mars once had 'right conditions' for life​

NASA's Curiosity rover on Mars. (Image credit: NASA)



Thanks to a combination of images from NASA's Curiosity rover, scans of sedimentary rock beneath the Gulf of Mexico on Earth and computer simulations, geologists have identified the ancient, eroded remnants of rivers in a number of craters on Mars.
A team of researchers examining data collected by NASA's Curiosity rover at Gale crater, a large impact basin on the Martian surface, discovered further evidence that rivers once flowed across the Red Planet, perhaps more widespread than was previously thought. "We're finding evidence that Mars was likely a planet of rivers," said geoscientist Benjamin Cardenas of Penn State University and lead author of the research in a statement.

Curiosity rover discovers new evidence Mars once had 'right conditions' for life

"We're finding evidence that Mars was likely a planet of rivers."

www.space.com