THEMIS Image of the Day, June 6, 2019. This VIS image shows part of the south polar cap. The dark bands are troughs.
The multiple layers of dust and ice that comprise the polar cap are visible in the trough at the top of the image.
Explore more THEMIS Images of the Day by geological subject.
There was a slight uptick in dust activity this past week on Mars. The week began with a couple of arcuate-shaped dust storms extending over the retreating seasonal north polar ice cap in Acidalia and Arcadia. Looking to the southern highlands, local-scale dust storms continued from Sirenum to Cimmeria. A dust storm spotted north of Argyre lofted dust into eastern Valles Marineris… [More at link, including video]
Sols 2427-28, June 5, 2019, update by MSL scientist Claire Newman: The main focus of today’s plan was observations of the interbedded thick and thin layers we found at Woodland Bay before we drive away again, perhaps as early as the next plan. Primarily, this involved completing our analysis of their composition (with ChemCam and APXS) and using MAHLI to distinguish grain sizes. The team found two targets – “Tobermory” on the more resistant layer and “Mons Graupius” on the more recessive and thinly laminated layer – that were both far enough away for ChemCam targeting and close enough for APXS and MAHLI. This co-targeting meant that ChemCam could ‘blow away’ dust to give MAHLI a nice clear view of the grains in the actual rock itself. Another ChemCam target, “Avon,” was added on what appeared to be a more resistant layer. In addition, MAHLI will be taking two mosaics: “Deeside” will provide an overview of the layers described above, while “Lochgilphead” will cover a section of the exposed outcrop that may have cross-bedding… [More at link]
Scientists and engineers have a new plan for getting NASA InSight’s heat probe, also known as the “mole,” digging again on Mars. Part of an instrument called the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3), the mole is a self-hammering spike designed to dig as much as 16 feet (5 meters) below the surface and record temperature.
But the mole hasn’t been able to dig deeper than about 12 inches (30 centimeters) below the Martian surface since Feb. 28, 2019. The device’s support structure blocks the lander’s cameras from viewing the mole, so the team plans to use InSight’s robotic arm to lift the structure out of the way. Depending on what they see, the team might use InSight’s robotic arm to help the mole further later this summer. [More at link]
Sol 2427, June 5, 2019. The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) is continuing its survey of the Woodland Bay area and the Morningside outcrop in particular. The layers in Morningside appear to have cyclic patterns which, if real, likely reflect the history of the lake that once filled parts of Gale Crater.
Click either image to enlarge it. The image above is 17 MB in size, that below is 2 MB. For posts on Woodland Bay, click here.
Sol 2427 raw images (from all cameras).
A song of dune and ice. This image shows rare dunes superposed on elements of the polar cap near Olympia Undae, which is a vast dune field in the north polar region of Mars.
HiRISE Picture of the Day archive. [More at links]
In the summer of 2018, a dust storm blanketed the entire planet Mars. From the surface, the Sun would have looked like tiny orb in a murky brown sky. Dust carpeted the solar panels of NASA’s intrepid Opportunity rover, which would not recover after it lost power. Orbiting spacecraft and the Curiosity rover monitored the storm from their respective vantage points, but none of these robotic explorers had a view wide enough to see the entire planet at once.
When NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, launching in 2021, reaches its destination a million miles from Earth, it will be able to see the whole disk of Mars every two years. If a global dust storm envelops the Red Planet at a time when Webb could see it, the powerful space telescope could gather information about the storm, adding to data from spacecraft on or close to the planet’s surface.
Reporting Martian weather is just one way in which Webb, designed to gaze into deep space and unlock cosmic mysteries, can join forces with other NASA spacecraft to explore Mars. Webb can view Mars in the infrared, a kind of light invisible to human eyes that is especially useful for dissecting certain chemicals in planetary atmospheres. While Webb will primarily look for chemical fingerprints in distant worlds orbiting other stars, exoplanets, it can also use these skills for nearby Mars… [More at link]
THEMIS Image of the Day, June 5, 2019. Today’s VIS image shows part of the south polar cap. This image was taken at the end of southern summer.
The dark line running down the image is one of numerous troughs that cut into the martian polar caps, both north and south.
Explore more THEMIS Images of the Day by geological subject.
Sol 2426, June 3, 2019. With Curiosity parked at Morningside, the front Hazcam took a scene-setting image showing the layered outcrop (center) and its surroundings, with Vera Rubin Ridge in the background at right. Click the image to enlarge it.
(Another Morningside view, a composite made by the MAHLI camera, is here.)
