HiRISE (NASA)
HiRISE is a high resolution camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (NASA). We take images of the surface of Mars. Based out of UArizona in Tucson.
Joined Aug 2018
A Frosty Start to Southern Summer
In this image, the bright material that appears to be filling in cracks in the surface and these craters is seasonal frost, a byproduct of Mars’ major atmospheric component freezing onto the ground to create landscapes below -100 Celsius.
We had an opportunity this afternoon to talk about our camera and Mars to an hydrology and atmospheric space science class today. Thank you for coming to visit!
HiRISE 3D: A Low Ridge
This image shows interesting interactions between a low ridge (wrinkle ridge? flow front?) and pre-existing topography.
Full image: https://www.uahirise.org/anaglyph/ESP_084576_2095_ESP_084365_2095_RED
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
There’s No Place Like Terby!
This HiRISE image captures the side of an approximately 2-km thick mesa within Terby Crater. This mesa consists of thick sequences of layered rocks that are peeking through a smooth, dark deposit that was once more expansive. These layered rocks may have formed in a very deep and expansive lake that filled the greater Hellas basin.
HiRISE 3D: Phlegra Montes
This is a 3D image of a candidate safe landing site near ice.
Full image: https://www.uahirise.org/anaglyph/ESP_084603_2155_ESP_066483_2155_RED
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Fragmented Crater Floor Materials
This HiRISE image shows some unusual blocks within two adjoining craters near the highland-lowland boundary of Mars. The blocks could be associated with the collapse of the crater floor and their unusual shapes suggest that they have been subject to significant erosion.
HiRISE 3D: Crater!
You can never really go wrong with a 3D image of an impact crater on Mars.
Full image: https://www.uahirise.org/anaglyph/ESP_084814_1205_ESP_084392_1205_RED
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Cones and Ridges
Also visible in Context Camera data, the objective of this public target suggestion via HiWish is to determine the nature of a field of cones and two ridges that appear to flank them. This locale is in Acidalia Planitia, not far from the higher terrain of Arabia Terra in the Northern Hemisphere of Mars.
ID: ESP_075484_2225
date: 3 September 2022
altitude: 301 km
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_075484_2225
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA
Layering in the Medusae Fossae Formation
An adjacent observation shows nice fine layering within an upper section of the Medusa Fossae Formation (MFF). It looks like the layering may actually be quite continuous laterally. The MFF a large collection of soft, easily eroded deposits that extends discontinuously for more than 5,000 kilometers.
ID: ESP_075451_1735
date: 31 August 2022
altitude: 266 km
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_075451_1735
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA
HiRISE 3D: A Ridge in a Lava Flow
This ridge appears to be the contact between adjacent lava flow units. Stereo will help discern the overlapping relationships and morphology of the contact.
Full image: https://www.uahirise.org/anaglyph/ESP_084550_2075_ESP_084774_2075_RED
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
A Ridge on a Crater Floor
Also available in Context Camera data, the objective of this observation is to determine the nature of a narrow, unbranched ridge on the floor of an impact crater. It may be a dike, so it may tell us where mineral deposits may lie. This image is located in the Sinus Sabaeus region, an ancient cratered surface that has been modified by a combination of impact cratering, fluvial, wind, and possible volcanic processes.
HiRISE 3D: Layering in a Meridiani Planum Crater
The objective of this observation is to look for layering along walls of this large, geologically fresh impact crater.
Full image: https://www.uahirise.org/anaglyph/ESP_084517_1810_ESP_084161_1810_RED
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Zen Gardens on Mars
Scientists have not previously seen these patterns elsewhere on Mars. They are particularly conspicuous here because of the contrast between the bright boulders and the darker soil. Some process has evidently sorted and segregated the larger boulders from the finer soil. Exactly what that process is presents a perplexing puzzle.
Mysterious Light-Toned Deposit in Vinogradov Crater
The southeastern floor of Vinogradov is covered with several mysterious light-toned, sub-meter scale “blobs” that lack obvious layering. In some places the light-toned material appears to have filled pre-existing craters giving them a circular appearance.
This material may be related to ejecta from a nearby crater, eroded from the rim of Vinogradov or emplaced by some other process.
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_037163_1590
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
The Western Edge of Marth Crater
In the book “The Martian” by Andy Weir (2011), stranded astronaut Mark Watney is headed for the Ares 4 landing site but encounters the rim of Marth Crater just as a dust storm arrives. This HiRISE image shows the nature of this terrain.
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_042252_1930
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science
The Strangeness of Ariadnes Colles
Ariadne Chaos reveals a complex geological history which seems to deviate from other described chaotic terrains. The fact that some of the blocks are higher than an adjacent slope shows that the formation process must include elevation of the blocks. The irregular jumbles of blocks are widespread on a smooth, bulging plain, and some blocks indicate that slumping has taken place.
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_075412_1445
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science
Spring Slide
The North Polar region of Mars is capped with layers of water ice and dust, called the “polar layered deposits.” This permanent polar cap is covered in the winter with a layer of seasonal carbon dioxide ice.
Here, we can see a dark streak marking the path of that loose material, approximately 1 kilometer wide. HiRISE images often show avalanches in progress in the springtime along the edge of the polar layered deposits in this area.
Bizarre TARs
These strange features in Syria Planum are still being widely debated. They have the same general form as transverse aeolian ridges (TARs) elsewhere on Mars; windblown deposits that are common in the Martian tropics. Their height and spacing are similar to the more familiar looking TARs in other places, and they are similarly bright. Unless Nature is perverse, they were both made by the same process.
More: https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_042124_1665
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars
An ExoMars Landing Site (Oxia Planum)
HiRISE plays an important role in finding suitable landing sites for future rover missions. Scientists have narrowed down the candidate landing sites for the upcoming European ExoMars rover mission to two regions: the plains of Oxia and Mawrth Vallis. (This particular area is slightly north-east of the landing ellipse in Oxia Planum.)
Barchan Pac-Man
Here is something interesting: a barchan dune filling the upwind portion of a small impact crater in a Pac-Man-like shape. This “dune-in-a-crater” is nearly at the highest extent of the field. It’s also probably a rare configuration, and over the next few tens of thousands of years the sand will be blown out of the crater. Enjoy it while it lasts!
https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_054515_1930
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
#Mars #science #NASA
HiRISE (NASA)
HiRISE is a high resolution camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (NASA). We take images of the surface of Mars. Based out of UArizona in Tucson.
Joined Aug 2018