PHOTO OF THE DAY: NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Spacecraft ‘HIRISE’ Spots Martian Crater Deposits

By  //  December 30, 2022

Orbiter blasted off from Cape Canaveral in 2005

This image taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft’s HIRISE instrument on Oct. 23, 2022, of the northern plains of Arabia Terra shows craters that contain curious deposits with mysterious shapes and distribution. (NASA image)

(NASA) – This image taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft’s HIRISE instrument on Oct. 23, 2022, of the northern plains of Arabia Terra shows craters that contain curious deposits with mysterious shapes and distribution.

For instance, the deposits are located on the south sides of the craters, but not usually in the north, and are found only in craters larger than 600 meters in diameter.

Scientists suspect that these features are formed by the sublimation of ice-rich material.

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter blasted off from Cape Canaveral in 2005, in a search for evidence that water persisted on the surface of Mars for long periods of time.

While other Mars missions have shown that water flowed across the surface in Mars’ history, it remains a mystery whether water was ever around long enough to provide a habitat for life.

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