Mars Photo of the Day - Feb 7 2012

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Today's Image of Mars is of a candidate landing site in Horowitz Crater, as taken by the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. In August 2011 NASA released evidence that water was currently flowing in Horowitz Crater, making it a prime destination for for future manned and unmanned missions to Mars.

Scientists discovered features on Mars called Recurring Slope Linae (RSL). Repeated imaging has shown that these features appear and gradually grow during the warm season on Mars, only to fade during the cold season. It is thought that the best explanation for these recurring features is the existence of briny water just below the surface, but that is unconfirmed as of yet.

A mission to Horowitz Crater would help scientists to definitively determine whether there is liquid water just below the surface. If the evidence is substantiated then this will have huge implications for future missions to Mars that could use the water as a source of fuel, or to help sustain manned missions. 

Clicking on this image will take you to the original article by Mars Travel in which the August findings were discussed. [See the original uncaptioned HiRISE image]

 

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 20 2011

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Today we have a compilation of images from Mars taken by HiRISE. These images all show the same central structures in Horowitz Crater.  The images span over a period of close to two years and show changes in slope features. These changes are thought to be indicative of flowing water on Mars. 

The features that seem to extend down the slope are called Recurring Slope Linae (RSL). Repeated imaging has shown that these features appear and gradually grow during the warm season on Mars, only to fade during the cold season. It is thought that the best explanation for these recurring features is the existence of briny water just below the surface, but that is unconfirmed as of yet.

Mars Travel wrote an article about these findings the day they were released. [View This Article]

This series of photos was published with many others and an article in the journal Science on August 5 2011. This photo will link to the larger high resolution images, but if you want to see the HiRISE article and abstract from Science on these features, you can find them here.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

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NASA has Discovered Substantial Evidence that Water is Flowing on Mars

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"It is our first chance to see an environment on Mars that might allow for the expression of an active biological process, if there is presently life on Mars."  - Lisa Pratt at NASA news briefing on the discovery of flowing water on Mars (04 Aug 2011)


In NASA's news briefing about findings by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter they announced that they have significant evidence that liquid water is currently flowing on Mars. They used Newton Crater (below) as their focal point in the discussion and showed gullies that have gotten larger over the course of two and a half sol (Martian years) of observation. 

Newton Crater and an adjacent trough- both with gullies

Newton Crater is about 10 km in diameter and a few hundred million years old (relatively new). It is just one of seven places that have distinct evidence of flowing water.

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