Solscape

Archiv für die Kategorie „Mars“

http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMINCO7BTE_index_0.html

First results from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter provide provocative new evidence that there were diverse watery habitats capable of supporting life on Mars eons ago. MRO is also finding evidence of recent Martian climate changes only hundreds of years apart that could influence Earth climate studies. MRO has already found unexpectedly narrow banding in the north Martian polar cap, providing a window into periods of rapid and somewhat recent climate change on Mars. The data could help researchers address issues such as global warming on Earth, where there’s debate about whether rapid climate changes are affected by human activity, which is no factor on Mars. The spacecraft’s high-resolution cameras are starting to be focused on several thousand preplanned Martian targets to answer specific questions, in addition to seeking new targets. Some geologic features showing up in HiRISE imagery never seen before on Mars from an orbiter are: small-scale features like joints in rocks where rocks have fractured but not moved apart; evidence for water flow along some of those joints; rocks and boulders at scales smaller than ever seen before; much smaller water gullies than previously seen.
Press Release

HiRISE Images

Now firmly in its final science mapping orbit, NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is releasing a torrent of science data back to Earth. The latest photo release shows dozens of sites visited by the spacecraft in the first week of October 2006. A breathtaking image shows gullies in an unnamed crater in the Terra Sirenum region of Mars. Scientists believe the gullies were formed during a time when liquid water flowed across the surface of the Red Planet.
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/multimedia/pia01923.html

Most of humanity’s Mars-bound fleet of spacecraft is searching the Red Planet for evidence of its watery past. New evidence gathered by ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft is helping scientists fine tune their theories. A radar instrument on the spacecraft has turned up water ice in Mars’ upper layers; a mineral mapping instrument has discovered chemicals formed in a wet environment; and its powerful camera has picked out obvious features on the surface of Mars formed by running water. Here’s a breakdown of what Mars Express has found so far:
http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMADOV74TE_index_0.html

The most powerful camera ever sent to another world has taken an amazing photo of one of NASA’s Rovers on Mars. The robotic explorer, called “Opportunity”, is pictured at the rim of a spectacular crater on the Red Planet in the aerial shot. NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) took the stunning image with its HiRISE camera on Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006, just days after it began scanning the planet. HiRISE is so powerful that it clearly reveals “Opportunity” and you can even see its tracks in the Martian sand at the edge of Victoria Crater. The crater, a 700-km wide asteroid impact site, is also revealed in great detail from the probe, flying 297 km above the surface of Mars.
“Victoria Crater” at Meridiani Planum

NASA’s Mars Rover and Orbiter Team Examines Victoria Crater

HiRISE Camera on NASA Orbiter Gets Spectacular View of Rover at Victoria Crater

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has returned the first images – the highest-resolution photos ever taken from Martian low-altitude orbit! The pictures show objects as small as 0.9 metres in size. As of October 4, eleven images have been released so far, covering a wide variety of terrain in various locations.
More information:
HiRISE Transition Phase Imaging

New Photos From NASA Orbiter’s HiRISE Camera Detail Diverse Martian Terrain

NASA’s New Mars Camera Gives Dramatic View of Planet