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12-Mile-High Martian Dust Devil Caught in Act

By Guest PostApril 6, 2012Scienceamazonis planitia, dust devil, earth, hirise camera, mars reconnaissance orbiter, martian dust devil, martian surface, meteorite impact, NASA, northern mars, northern summer solstice, plume, red planet, tucson, university of arizona

A Martian dust devil roughly 12 miles high (20 kilometers) was captured whirling its way along the Amazonis Planitia region of Northern Mars on March 14. It was imaged by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Despite its height, the plume is little more than three-quarters of a football field wide (70 yards, or 70 meters).

Dust devils occur on Earth as well as on Mars. They are spinning columns of air, made visible by the dust they pull off the ground. Unlike a tornado, a dust devil typically forms on a clear day when the ground is heated by the sun, warming the air just above the ground. As heated air near the surface rises quickly through a small pocket of cooler air above it, the air may begin to rotate, if conditions are just right. (more…)

New Views Show Old NASA Mars Landers

By Guest PostFebruary 9, 2012Scienceball aerospace, bonneville crater, canadian space agency, color image, denver, earth, hirise camera, liquid water, lockheed martin space systems, mars, mars reconnaissance orbiter, martian arctic winter, martian soil particles, martian surface, meteorite, microscope, NASA, Phoenix, spacecraft, telescopic camera, three petal lander, university of arizona

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recorded a scene on Jan. 29, 2012, that includes the first color image from orbit showing the three-petal lander of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit mission. Spirit drove off that lander platform in January 2004 and spent most of its six-year working life in a range of hills about two miles to the east.

Another recent image from HiRISE, taken on Jan. 26, 2012, shows NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander and its surroundings on far-northern Mars after that spacecraft’s second Martian arctic winter. Phoenix exceeded its planned mission life in 2008, ending its work as solar energy waned during approach of its first Mars winter. (more…)

Photo from NASA Mars Orbiter Shows Wind’s Handiwork

By Guest PostJanuary 25, 2012Scienceball aerospace, Environment, hirise camera, image, impact crater, mars reconnaissance orbiter, martian landscape, meteorite, NASA, noachis terra, planet, seasonal frosts, southern mars, university of arizona, wind

Some images of stark Martian landscapes provide visual appeal beyond their science value, including a recent scene of wind-sculpted features from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The scene shows dunes and sand ripples of various shapes and sizes inside an impact crater in the Noachis Terra region of southern Mars. Patterns of dune erosion and deposition provide insight into the sedimentary history of the area. (more…)

Meteorite Shockwaves Trigger Dust Avalanches on Mars

By Guest PostDecember 18, 2011Scienceairblast, alfred mcewen, atmosphere, basketball court, craters on mars, dark streaks, dust avalanches, dusty surface, equator, erosion, hirise camera, impact crater, jay melosh, kaylan burleigh, mars global surveyor orbiter, martian surface, meteorite, olympus mons, plate tectonic processes, red planet, shock wave, solar system, tallest mountain, university of arizona

Dust avalanches around impact craters on Mars appear to be the result of the shock wave preceding the actual impact, according to a study led by an undergraduate student at the UA.

When a meteorite careens toward the dusty surface of the Red Planet, it kicks up dust and can cause avalanching even before the rock from outer space hits the ground, a research team led by an undergraduate student at the University of Arizona has discovered.

“We expected that some of the streaks of dust that we see on slopes are caused by seismic shaking during impact,” said Kaylan Burleigh, who led the research project. “We were surprised to find that it rather looks like shockwaves in the air trigger the avalanches even before the impact.” (more…)

Mission Possible or Impossible? UA Space Systems Engineer Has the Answer

By Guest PostSeptember 2, 2011Sciencecarl hergenrother, complex factor, daniel wibben, delta v, extraterrestrial body, extraterrestrial exploration, gene giacomelli, hirise camera, interplanetary exploration, lunar greenhouse project, mdtop, mike cupples, mission design trajectory optimization program, moon express, murat kacira, NASA, osiris rex mission, red planet, roberto furfaro, space missions, space systems engineering laboratory, ssel, university of arizona

*Scientists have endless ideas for extraterrestrial exploration. Some are feasible, some not. In a two-part series, we look at how UA engineer Roberto Furfaro gives the red or green light to space missions. First, searching for Delta-V, the complex factor that makes a space mission viable.*

Our solar system is becoming a familiar backyard, thanks to the University of Arizona’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, or LPL, a world leader in interplanetary exploration.

LPL’s Phoenix Mission to Mars scooped up the first evidence of water-ice on the Red Planet, and its HiRISE camera continues to beam stunning images of the Martian landscape back to Earth. (more…)

Northern Mars Landscape Actively Changing

By Guest PostFebruary 5, 2011Sciencecandice hansen, carbon dioxide ice, high resolution imaging science experiment, hirise, hirise camera, image, landscape, mars, martian dunes, martian years, nasa orbiter, north polar cap, northern mars, sand dunes, serina diniega, texas

Sand dunes in a vast area of northern Mars long thought to be frozen in time are changing with both sudden and gradual motions, according to research using images from a NASA orbiter.

These dune fields cover an area the size of Texas in a band around the planet at the edge of Mars’ north polar cap. The new findings suggest they are among the most active landscapes on Mars. However, few changes in these dark-toned dunes had been detected before a campaign of repeated imaging by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which reached Mars five years ago next month. (more…)

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