Valleys in a crater to the north of Sacra Sulci. Small valleys similar to these have been dated to the Hesperian and Amazonian epochs in other areas of Mars, making them some of the youngest features formed by the flow of water.
HiRISE Picture of the Day archive. [More at links]
THEMIS Image of the Day, June 4, 2019. This VIS image shows part of the surface of the south polar cap. Collected at the end of southern summer, most of the ice is frost free and different textures are readily apparent.
The dark bands are troughs. There are areas that resemble holes and other regions with tightly packed ridges.
Explore more THEMIS Images of the Day by geological subject.
Sols 2424-26, June 3, 2019, update by MSL scientist Sarah Lamm: Today we planned the weekend activities for Curiosity in Woodland Bay. Woodland Bay is a location in Glen Torridon, in the clay bearing unit. Over the next three sols, we have scheduled for this area to be assessed by APXS, MAHLI, ChemCam, Mastcam, and Navcam.
On Sol 2424, the target “Morningside” will be analyzed by APXS. Then MAHLI will image the subtle morphological textures of “Morningside.” ChemCam will also be used on targets: “Whiteadder,” “Wester Ross,” “West Wemyss,” and “Water Haven.” Mastcam images will be taken of all targets for geological context.
On Sol 2425, NavCam will take a short movie of the area in hopes of catching a dust devil. Dust devils have been spotted on Mars’ surface, but we could always use more movies and pictures of them. “West Side” and “Morningside” will have multispectral images taken by Mastcam. Mastcam will also be used to document clouds in Mars’ night sky.
Sol 2424, June 1, 2019. The rover’s Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) shot a multi-frame portrait (above, 4.6 MB) of Morningside, a layered outcrop at the Woodland Bay area where Curiosity is parked. Morningside contains multiple targets of interest.
At right is a composite of three frames (2.8 MB) from the big Morningside mosaic (yellow lines indicate location) showing small details of the outcrop’s pebbles, sand, and laminations. Click either image to enlarge it.
Sol 2424 raw images (from all cameras).
Sols 2422-23, June 3, 2019, update by MSL scientist Lauren Edgar: On Sol 2420 Curiosity drove ~61 m back to the “Woodland Bay” target, to analyze some interesting thick and thin laminations within the bedrock that we had observed previously, and to characterize compositional diversity. After the long drive over the weekend, it was nice to see some familiar rocks lying just in front of our rover wheels, confirming that the drive had gone well.
Today’s 2-sol plan is focused on contact science to characterize the grain size and stratification within these bedrock blocks, this time focused on a target named “Crakaig.” The plan starts with MAHLI and APXS observations of the bedrock block in the lower left corner in the above Navcam image. Then we’ll acquire a ChemCam observation of “Fladen,” to assess the composition of typical gray bedrock…. [More at link]
An astronaut on a mission to Mars could receive radiation doses up to 700 times higher than on our planet – a major showstopper for the safe exploration of our Solar System. A team of European experts is working with ESA to protect the health of future crews on their way to the Moon and beyond.
Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere protect us from the constant bombardment of galactic cosmic rays – energetic particles that travel at close to the speed of light and penetrate the human body.
Cosmic radiation could increase cancer risks during long duration missions. Damage to the human body extends to the brain, heart and the central nervous system and sets the stage for degenerative diseases. A higher percentage of early-onset cataracts have been reported in astronauts.
“One day in space is equivalent to the radiation received on Earth for a whole year,” explains physicist Marco Durante, who studies cosmic radiation on Earth.
Marco points out that most of the changes in the astronauts’ gene expression are believed to be a result of radiation exposure, according to the recent NASA’s Twins study. This research showed DNA damage in astronaut Scott Kelly compared to his identical twin and fellow astronaut Mark Kelly, who remained on Earth. (…)
“As it stands today, we can’t go to Mars due to radiation. It would be impossible to meet acceptable dose limits,” reminds Marco… [More at link]
Dipping layers. These aren’t dipping dots. The objective of this observation is to examine several sets of dipping layers in a depression in Ismeniae Fossae, which straddles the southern highlands/northern lowlands of Mars.
HiRISE Picture of the Day archive. [More at links]
Planetary Geomorphology Image of the Month, June 1, 2019: Giulia Magnarini (University College, London).
The availability of high resolution imagery of the surface of Mars from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter CTX and HiRISE cameras (NASA PDS) allow us to reconstruct fantastic 3D views of the martian topography using stereophotogrammetry technique.
Digital terrain models (DTMs) are obtained using the difference in two images of the same target taken from different angles. In the process, orthoimages are generated and draped over the DTM. CTX stereo-derived DTMs have 20 m/px resolution; HiRISE stereo-derived DTMs have 1-2 m/px resolution.
This technique is applied to the study of martian long runout landslides and it represents a powerful tool, as the 3D reconstruction allows detailed observations and morphometric analysis of these landforms and their morphological features (Images 1-3).
Characterized by large volumes (> 106 m3), martian long runout landslides are able to travel for tens of kilometre, moving on nearly horizontal surfaces with velocities that can exceed 100 km/h. Numerous mechanisms have been proposed to explain their remarkable mobility…. [More at link]
THEMIS Image of the Day, June 3, 2019. Today’s VIS image shows part of the South Pole. Chasma Australe crosses diagonally through the middle of the image. The layers that comprise the polar cap are visible along the sides of the chasma.
Explore more THEMIS Images of the Day by geological subject.
Still life with an impact crater. Ice fill within a crater in the north polar layered deposits (NPLD) may be a site where accumulation could be observed, helping to settle a long-term problem in Mars polar science: are the NPLD currently gaining or losing mass?
HiRISE Picture of the Day archive. [More at links]
