Monthly Archives: March 2012

Big pile in Gale Crater

Posted on March 30, 2012 by rburnham

Gale Crater, the landing site for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory rover (named Curiosity), contains a 5-kilometer (3-mile) high stack of sediments that was the reason for sending the the rover there. How did the giant mound form? Dirty snow and … Continue reading →

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Hidden valley at the north pole

Posted on March 28, 2012 by rburnham

The north polar cap of Mars has a wide, deep trough called Chasma Boreale that slices into the polar cap for 560 kilometers (350 miles). The floor of the chasma exposes a layer of sand and dust cemented with water … Continue reading →

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How old is Meridiani Planum?

Posted on March 24, 2012 by rburnham

The smooth, flat plain where Mars rover Opportunity landed in January 2004 looks spookily empty. Only a few rocks and meteorites, plus foot-high sand dunes and ripples, break the endless vista under a clear tawny sky. How long has the … Continue reading →

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Slope streaks not becoming more common; survive for decades

Posted on March 21, 2012 by rburnham

Slope streaks are dark lines that run down dusty slopes on Mars; scientists explain them as dust avalanches touched off by rockfalls or some similar trigger. (Slope streaks differ in nature and cause from a different kind of streak, dubbed … Continue reading →

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Seasonal changes seen in south polar gullies

Posted on March 20, 2012 by rburnham

Images from the HiRISE camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have captured the first visible evidence for seasonal changes in gullies on slopes in the south polar region of Mars. Giving a report (PDF) at the 43rd Lunar and Planetary … Continue reading →

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Pitted deposits in Mars craters point to subsurface ice

Posted on March 19, 2012 by rburnham

Studies of pitted deposits in crater floors appear to indicate that subsurface ice has been more widespread on Mars than previously thought. That’s the conclusion of a team of reseachers led by Livio Tornabene (University of Western Ontario), who reported … Continue reading →

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Southern polar eskers point to warmer past

Posted on March 16, 2012 by rburnham

Ice caps and glaciers on Mars today are “cold based,” meaning they are frozen solid to the ground beneath them. Scientists think the ice has been this way for most of the Amazonian period, the latest chapter in Mars’ geological … Continue reading →

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Radiation risks on manned Mars missions

Posted on March 9, 2012 by rburnham

The basic plan for an initial manned mission to Mars, including a landing, calls for a flight lasting about 430 days. While the mission would involve obvious dangers, among these — but often overlooked — are the risks posed by … Continue reading →

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Ancient volcanos suggest long activity

Posted on March 6, 2012 by rburnham

Mars is a volcanic planet and has been volcanically active from the start. The most extensive volcanism occurred during the earliest part of its geologic history, the Noachian era, the time before roughly 3.7 billion years ago. However, as a … Continue reading →

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Watch for falling rocks

Posted on March 1, 2012 by rburnham

A new investigation of Cerberus Fossae using HiRISE images shows that Mars is probably seismically active now or in the recent past. The clues are tracks left by boulders as they rolled downhill. Gerald Roberts (University of London) and colleagues … Continue reading →

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