Mars Photo of the Day - 2 Sep 2012

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Today's Image of Mars shows mounds in Chryse Planitia formed by a process called diapirism, which occurs when older material of lower density than overlying layers gets dredged up to the surface. Just imagine the rock as a very viscous liquid. If you put two types of liquid together the one with the lower density will eventually float to the top. That is what happened in this image of Mars.

HiRISE images like the one below of these mounds will show us if clays or other aqueous materials are present. If they are present then scientists will be able to determine the material's age, which will tell us when water was abundant on Mars.

Clicking on this image will take you to the high resolution version from HiRISE. [See the caption from HiRISE]

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Mars Photo of the Day - 2 Jul 2012

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Imagine being able to hike on Mars! How would you plan such a trip? Where would you go?  Would you climb mountains, or explore ancient riverbeds? What marvels of Mars would you encounter? One thing's for sure, you'd probably carry a map!

But just what would a typical hiking map of an area on Mars look like? Let's look at an area where all sorts of terrain comes together, from mountains to canyons to great expanses of plains! In the map below we see Chryse Planitia, Meridiani Planum, Ares Valles, Iani Chaos, Margaritfer Terra, and Valles Marineris, all distinctly different types of terrain, but interconnected. 

We also see a future tourist destination: the 1997 landing site of Mars Pathfinder! Sites where the first rovers touched down may one day become extremely popular locations for tourists wishing to see a part of history and marvel at how far we've come! I look forward for the day when I can wait in line to see the great robotic explorers of my childhood!

Click on this image to see the original high resolution map from Mars Express.

Source: Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera

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