June 16, 2005
Gullied Crater Wall
Today's Mars Picture of the Day shows gullies in the southeast-facing wall of an impact crater in northwestern Acidalia Planitia. Gullies are common in southern middle-latitude craters, and much less common in cases like the one shown here, found at a northern middle latitude. Debate continues within the Mars science community as to the origin of the gullies, whether by groundwater, melting ice or snow, or an alternative fluid such as carbon dioxide. The image is from the area near 41.4°N, 44.8°W. (NASA/JPL/MSSS)
June 15, 2005
Olympica Fossae Landforms
Today's Mars Picture of the Day shows a portion of the enigmatic valley of the Olympica Fossae region. Unknown is whether water, lava, or mud, or some combination of these things, once poured through the valley system. The image is from the area near 24.2°N, 115.7°W. (NASA/JPL/MSSS)
June 14, 2005
Mars at Ls 230°
Today's Mars Picture of the Day is of the Acidalia/Mare Erythraeum face of Mars. (NASA/JPL/MSSS)
June 13, 2005
Shake-Up at NASA
Following a Washington Post article about the realignment at NASA, NASA Watch brought us a round-up of press followups. Al Diaz says his departure is being misrepresented. That prompts a wish from another member of NASA. Bill Readdy confirms that he is leaving his current position but hasn't decided whether he's retiring or continuing to work at NASA. Craig Steidle makes his resignation official.
Others will have heard by now.
And...NASA sees a return to the Moon by 2015, and have announced the team to lead the work on the Crew Exploration Vehicle.
Haute Cuisine a la Mars
The ESA has been working with chefs to develop tasty meals that could be made from plants that could be grown on Mars in greenhouses.
Dustfalls
The latest five images from the THEMIS instrument on the Mars Odyssey orbiter all concentrate on dust. We have dust avalanches in Lycus Sulci. There are dust avalanches in the Hebes Chasma. There are dust avalanches are located in a small canyon within a crater rim northeast of Naktong Vallis. We have dust avalanches within a small crater inside Tikhonravov Crater. And, dust avalanches in a crater west of the previous crater.
Windstreaked Plain
Today's Mars Picture of the Day shows a wind-streaked plain in Tharsis near the Pavonis Mons volcano. The lighter-toned surfaces show how the plain used to look, before strong winds removed much of a thin coating of dust. The light-toned tails behind several craters show that the winds blew from the southwest (lower left). The image is from the area near 10.6°N, 113.8°W. (NASA/JPL/MSSS)
June 12, 2005
Bouldery Impact
Today's Mars Picture of the Day shows an impact crater with large boulders along its rim. The crater is located in Tempe Terra. The image is from the area near 36.6°N, 88.9°W. (NASA/JPL/MSSS)
June 11, 2005
John Carter: The Website
An unofficial website for the possible movie based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' tales of John Carter of Mars. 2006? I hope!
Arabian Dunes
Today's Mars Picture of the Day shows a field of low-albedo (dark) barchan sand dunes in a crater located in western Arabia Terra. Small dunes like these are common in the craters of western Arabia Terra and they are often the source of finer, dark sediment that forms windstreaks further downwind. The steepest slopes on the dunes, their slipfaces, are pointed toward the southeast (lower right), indicating that the dominant winds in this location come from the opposite direction. The image is from the area around 6.4°N, 346.2°W. (NASA/JPL/MSSS)
June 10, 2005
Opportunity's Escape from the Dune
Following up on these two previous posts, here is the third of four transcripts of a lecture given by Joy Crisp, project scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers.
Inverted Channels
Today's Mars Picture of the Day shows a complex of overlapping, inverted channels in a fan exposed by erosion, then mantled by dust, in the Aeolis region of Mars. Aeolis exhibits an abundance of inverted channels and fan-shaped forms, largely created by a liquid such as water, and then preserved in layered, sedimentary rock that has been subsequently eroded by wind. The image is from the area near 4.6°S, 205.3°W. (NASA/JPL/MSSS)
June 09, 2005
1000 Sols
In Steve Squyres latest report (June 9, 2005) he remarks about something fairly astounding: Operations for 1000 sols on Mars have been planned and uploaded (490 for Opportunity, 510 for Spirit).
Pretty good for a couple of machines that were "only" supposed to operate for 30 sols!