9/06/2014

Mysterious Images of Mars

Morning frost

This false-color photo was taken by the Mars Phoenix Lander on Aug. 14, 2008. Soon after the photo was taken, the frost disappeared from the heat of the rising sun. Mars has a gravitational pull that is about 38 percent that of Earth's, though Earth is about 10 times more massive than Mars. There is no evidence that the planet has magnetic poles now, but there are indications that they once existed.



Barsoom

Mars maintains a bright red-orange hue because of the rust-colored, iron-rich minerals in the soil. This landscape is named from the 1913 science-fiction classic, "The Gods of Mars." Barsoom was the local name for the red planet. This photo was taken by the Mars Rover Spirit as it wintered on a small hill known as Low Ridge.


Proctor Crater

This is another snapshot from the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Taken on Feb. 9, 2009, this image shows dunes and ripples in the sand. Experts speculate that the dunes are composed of basaltic sand, which comes from volcanic rock, thus making them darker than the surrounding sand ripples.