Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
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EndeavourCrater-PIA11837.jpgEndeavour Crater (Natural Colors; credits: Lunexit)76 visiteThe largest crater in this mosaic of images taken by the Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is Endeavour Crater, which is approx. 22 Km (about 14 miles) in diameter.
The team operating NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity in the Meridiani Planum Region of Mars chose to drive the Rover toward Endeavour after Opportunity ascended out of smaller Victoria Crater in August 2008.
Opportunity caught its first glimpse of Endeavour's rim on March 7, 2008, during the 1820th Martian Day, or Sol, of the Rover's Mission on Mars. The Rover was about 12 Km (approx. 7 miles) from the closest point of Endeavour.MareKromium
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Esp_012065_9000_color.jpgDeimos (possible True Colors; credits: Lunar Explorer Italia)57 visitenessun commentoMareKromium
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Gale_Crater-PIA12508.jpgLayers in lower formation of Gale Crater Mound (Natural Colors; credits NASA/Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)111 visiteLayers of rock exposed in the lower portion of a tall Mound near the center of Gale Crater on Mars exhibit variations in layer thickness and range between dark and light tones. The Crater's Mound of layered material is over 4 Km (approx. 2,4 miles) high, making it more than twice as thick as the stack of rocks exposed in the Grand Canyon on Earth.
Gale Crater is approx. 152 Km (about 94 miles) in diameter.
This view of layering in the Mound's lower formation covers an area about 950 meters (3100 feet) wide. It was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on April 23, 2009.
Observations of the lower formation by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, on the same orbiter, have indicated the presence of Sulfate Salts and clay minerals in these rock layers. The changes in composition from the lower (older) to the upper (younger) layers in the Gale Crater Mound may record stages in water loss and the drying out of Mars.
This image is one product from HiRISE observation ESP_012841_1750, centered at 4,9° South Lat., 137,2° East Long.MareKromium
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Gullies-ESP_020661_1440-PCF-LXTT-IPF.jpgGullies in Gasa Crater (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga/Lunar Explorer Italia/Italian Planetary Foundation)78 visiteThe so-called "Gully Landforms" - just like the ones shown here, in this NASA - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image - can often be found in the Inner Rims (or even below, along the Inner Slopes) of many Impact Craters that are located at the Martian Mid-Latitudes. Some changes in these Gully Landforms were first seen in frames taken by the NASA - Mars Global Surveyor - Mars Orbiter Camera (MGS-MOC) in the AD 2006, and studying such activity has been a high priority for HiRISE ever since (and, in fact, many examples of New Deposits located inside Gully Landforms are now well known).
This frame shows a New Deposit inside some Gully Landforms located on the Inner Rim of Gasa Crater; a very (relatively speaking) "fresh" approx. 7-Km diameter Impact Crater that is found in the Southern Mid-Latitudes of the Red Planet (to be precise, at 35,72° South Latitude and 129.45° East Longitude). Said New Deposit appears of a distinctive gray color, with some patches of white Material too, in this Absolute Natural Color version of the NASA - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image n. ESP_020661_1440. The picture was acquired during the Southern Spring of Mars, but the Flow that formed the Deposit occurred in the preceding Winter.
As a matter of fact, the current Gully Activities appear to be concentrated in periods going from the late Winter to the early Spring of Mars, and this circumstance may be a consequence of the Sublimation of the Seasonal Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Frost (which, by the way, is well visible in several Gully "Alcoves" during Wintertime).
Mars Local Time: 15:49 (Middle Afternoon)
Coord. (centered): 35,729° North Lat. and 129,386° East Long.
Spacecraft altitude: 258,2 Km (such as about 160,3 miles)
Original image scale range: 25,8 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~ 78 cm across are resolved
Map projected scale: 25 cm/pixel
Map projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR
Emission Angle: 11,0°
Sun-Mars-Spacecraft (or Phase) Angle: 47,6°
Solar Incidence Angle: 58° (meaning that the Sun was about 32° above the Local Horizon at the time the picture was taken)
Solar Longitude: 203,7° (Northern Fall - Southern Spring)
Credits: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Additional process. and coloring: Lunar Explorer Italia
This picture (which is an Original Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter EDM enhanced color frame, identified by the serial n. ESP_020661_1440) has been additionally processed and then re-colorized in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and then looked down, towards the Surface of Mars), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.MareKromium
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Gullies-Hellas_Planitia-PIA13802.jpgGullies in Hellas Planitia (Absolute Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit) 217 visiteImages like this from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show portions of the Martian surface in unprecedented detail. This one shows many channels from 1 meter to 10 meters (approximately 3 feet to 33 feet) wide on a scarp in the Hellas impact basin. On Earth we would call these Gullies. Some larger channels on Mars that are sometimes called Gullies are big enough to be called ravines on Earth.
This view is an excerpt from a HiRISE observation taken on Jan. 14, 2011, nearly five years after the March 10, 2006, arrival of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter at Mars. North is up. The image was taken at 15:44 Local Mars Time. The observation is centered at 48,4° South Latitude, 73,5° East Longitude.MareKromium
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Gullies-Terra_Sirenum-PIA12881.jpgGullies in Terra Sirenum (credits: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)55 visiteThis observation shows part of an Unnamed Crater, located inside the much larger Newton Basin, in the Terra Sirenum Region of Mars.
This Unnamed Crater is approx. 7 Km in diameter (over 4 miles) and some 700 meters (760 yards) deep.
Numerous Gully Systems are visible on the East- and South-facing Walls of the Crater; their characteristics are astonishingly diverse.
This EDM covers an area of nearly 610 x 740 meters (670 x 800 yards). North is up; illumination is from the North-West.
This EDM depicts several Gullies carved in the South-West-facing Wall of the Crater.
These troughs are extremely rectilinear, lack tributaries, and do not seem to have Terminal Fan Deposits: they terminate rather abruptly, some of them in a spatula-like shape.
Their characteristics contrast sharply with those of other Gully Systems located elsewhere in this same Crater, which are sinuous, have numerous tributaries, and show distinct Fan Deposits.MareKromium
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Gullies-_Gorgonum_Chaos-PIA13267.jpgGullies in Gorgonum Chaos (Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)55 visiteThis observation from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows part of Gorgonum Chaos, a large cluster of Chaotic Terrain found in the Southern Hemisphere.
Many Regions of Chaotic Terrain are found at the head of large Outflow Channels that were scoured by ancient floods. Gorgonum Chaos is one Region that is NOT associated with an Outflow Channel.
Chaotic Terrain can form when Subsurface Volatiles (such as water) are catastrophically released and the overlying surface collapses. It is not known whether isolated Chaotic Terrain -- such as that shown in this image -- formed in the same way that the ones near the Outflow Channels did. However, some wind-erosion activity might have played a role in their formation.
Gorgonum Chaos is an especially interesting area because Gullies thought to have been eroded by liquid water are located on its Mesas. The Gullies have a wide range of orientations and many appear to emanate from a distinct layer in the Mesas. It is not known why Gullies form on one slope rather than another, but the "Insolation" (sucgh as the amount of sunlight received), availability of water, and regional slope are possible contributing factors.MareKromium
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Hesperia_Planitia-TRA_000882_1595_RED-01.jpg"Fresh" Crater and unusual surface details in Hesperia Planitia (EDM - Extremely Enhanced and Saturated Natural Colors; credits for the additional process. and color.: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)55 visiteIl rilievo la cui albedo è tale da renderlo visibile anche in un'area ombreggiata (Sx del frame) non è risolvibile e, purtroppo, rimane inesplicabile; il rilievo posto a Dx, invece, lo risolviamo, applicando un ultra-detail mgnf, in un "boulder colonnare" (una surface feature spettacolare e molto rara, ma non necessariamente una Surface Anomaly in senso tecnico.
Semmai, ci domandiamo "da dove" possa provenire il boulder colonnare in oggetto e la nostra ipotesi è che potrebbe trattarsi di un ejecta.
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Home_Plate-PIA12205.jpgSpirit at Home Plate57 visiteIn this view from orbit, the pale circular shape in the center is a low plateau called "Home Plate", about 80 meters (about 260 feet) across. The bright dot just to the left of Home Plate at the 9 o'clock position is NASA's MER Spirit. North is toward the top.
The view is a portion of an image taken on June 13, 2009, by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. At that date, Spirit had been embedded for more than a month in a patch of soft soil called "Troy".
During the subsequent 3 months, Spirit studied the unusually layered soil at the site while engineers used test rovers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to assess possible maneuvers for getting Spirit away from Troy.
The site is at 14,6° South Latitude and 175,5° East Longitude. Home Plate is in the inner basin of the Columbia Hills range, inside Mars' Gusev Crater. Spirit has been exploring the Columbia Hills and nearby features since January 2004.MareKromium
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Juventae_Chasma-PIA12489.jpgBright Layered Deposits near Juventae Chasma (Natural Colors; credits: Dr Paolo C. Fienga - Lunexit Team)54 visiteThis view shows color variations in bright Layered Deposits on a plateau near Juventae Chasma in the Valles Marineris egion of Mars. A brown mantle covers portions of the bright deposits. The view covers an area about of 1,2 Km (three-fourths of a mile) across.
The image comes from an observation made by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on May 2, 2007.
Researchers have found that these bright Layered Deposits contain Opaline Silica and Iron Sulfates, consistent with low-temperature, acidic aqueous alteration of basaltic materials. They conclude that aqueous activity affected this plateau after formation of the nearby canyons. Although the source of water and sediment remains uncertain, the strong correlation between fluvial landforms and bright Layered Deposits in this Region argues for sustained precipitation, surface runoff, and fluvial deposition occurring during Mars' Hesperian Era on the plateaus adjacent to Valles Marineris and along portions of the canyon walls.
This image is one product from HiRISE observation PSP_003579_1755, centered at 4,7° South Lat. and 296,4 East Long.MareKromium
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Juventae_Chasma_12m-00.jpgFeatures of Juventae Chasma (1)54 visiteCaption NASA originale:"This image shows a mound of layered rock within the large depression Juventae Chasma (3,5° South Lat. and 61,9° West Long.) known from data from the Omega spectrometer on the Mars Express mission to have sulfate minerals mixed within it. The clear expression of layering in the CTX image and the potential for correlation with MRO-CRISM hyper-spectral data open the possibility of relating specific beds to specific compositions, indicating the nature of the depositional environment and subsequent alteration".
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Juventae_Chasma_12m-01.jpgFeatures of Juventae Chasma (2)53 visiteCaption NASA originale:"Among the more interesting aspects of this image are the dunes of sand that appear to be migrating over the top of the mound, and a flat-surfaced, plateau/mesa forming unit covering the North-East side of the mound but also seen within valleys to the North and along the Southern margin of the mound. This unit may be the marker of an ancient erosional surface. In this image, North is towards the top and the Sun is coming from the left".
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