-
Recent Posts
Tags
Aeolis Mons Arizona State University ASU atmosphere Beautiful Mars Cape Tribulation clouds craters Curiosity dunes dust Endeavour Crater ESA European Space Agency Gale Crater High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment HiRISE Malin Space Science Systems Marathon Valley MARCI Mars Color Imager Mars Exploration Rover Mars Odyssey Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Mars Science Laboratory mass wasting MER Mount Sharp MRO MSL MSSS Murray Formation NASA Opportunity sand dunes Stimson Formation storms THEMIS THEMIS Image of the Day Thermal Emission Imaging System University of Arizona Vera Rubin Ridge volcanics weather windArchives
Links
general
mission instruments
- CRISM: Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars
- CTX: Context Camera
- HiRISE: High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment
- MARSIS: Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionosphere Sounding
- SHARAD: Shallow Radar
- THEMIS: Thermal Emission Imaging System
missions
- All Mars missions list
- Curiosity rover
- ExoMars
- Hope (al-Amal) orbiter
- InSight
- Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission (MAVEN)
- Mars Exploration Rovers (MER)
- Mars Express (MEX)
- Mars Odyssey
- Mars Orbiter Mission (MOM) / Mangalyaan
- Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
- Mars Science Laboratory (MSL)
- Perseverance Rover
- Tianwen-1 orbiter/rover
news
Tag Archives: CO2 ice
HiRISE image: Craters in an icy surface
Small impact craters usually have simple bowl shapes, but sometimes more complicated shapes can occur if the target is unusual. The crater in the center of this HiRISE image is unusual because there is a wide, flat bench, or terrace, … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged CO2 ice, craters, High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, HiRISE, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, MRO, NASA, University of Arizona
Comments Off
HiRISE image: shapes and spots on a polar sand dune
This image shows numerous dark shapes and bright spots on a sand dune in the Northern polar regions of Mars. The bright spots are carbon dioxide frost. On Mars, the main atmospheric component is carbon dioxide, which circulates seasonally between … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged CO2 ice, dunes, HiRISE, ice, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, north polar sand sea, polar sand dunes
Comments Off
Dry ice slabs carve linear grooves down Mars dunes
The “megadune” in Russell Crater features linear grooves or gullies a few meters wide, a meter or two deep, and roughly a kilometer or two long.
Posted in Reports
Tagged atmosphere, CO2 ice, dunes, grooves, gullies, HiRISE, linear gullies, Russell Crater
Comments Off
Icy jets erupt from north polar dunes in spring
Jets of gas erupting in the springtime from beneath slabs of carbon dioxide ice at the Martian south pole was a dramatic finding in 2006. It explained the mysterious “spiders” which came and went each year.
Posted in Reports
Tagged atmosphere, CO2 ice, dunes, HiRISE, LPSC 2013, north polar sand sea, sand dunes
Comments Off
Loess in the lowlands
A team of geologists led by James A. Skinner, Jr. (U.S. Geological Survey) has discovered and mapped a previously unidentified unit in the Martian northern lowlands. The unit appears to give evidence of a major climate shift long ago in … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged atmosphere, climate change, CO2 ice, CTX, loess, MOLA, north polar ice cap, northern plains, THEMIS
Comments Off
Making polar spiders in the lab
The formation of “spiders” during Martian south polar spring is one of the most spectacular natural phenomena on the Red Planet. Briefly, what happens is that every winter carbon dioxide ice forms a translucent layer above the sandy ground. Then … Continue reading
Latitude controlled Amazonian ice flows
Signs of underground ice deposited in the Amazonian period (the most recent in Martian history) are common in many places on Mars. Evidence includes tropical mountain glacier deposits, lobate debris aprons, lineated valley fill, concentric crater fill, and pedestal craters. … Continue reading
Posted in Reports
Tagged CO2 ice, concentric crater fill, CTX, glaciers, lineated valley fill, lobate debris aprons, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, mountain glaciers
Comments Off
Seasonal changes seen in south polar gullies
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
Polar gullies erode from carbon dioxide flows
Gullies on Martian slopes form by flowing water, most probably trickles of snowmelt or groundwater. But what about the gullies found in places such as the high latitudes and polar regions where temperatures never rise above the freezing point for … Continue reading
Dry ice glaciers?
Scientists examining rocky remnants in Mars’ northern polar region believe they have found evidence for a type of glacier unknown on Earth – one where the ice is made of frozen carbon dioxide rather than water. Mikhail Kreslavsky (University of … Continue reading