PIA22255: Icy Layers in Craters


Icy Layers in Craters

Caption:

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Map Projected Browse Image
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In this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Rover (MRO) we can see the edge of a mound of ice in one of these mid-latitude craters. Some of it has already been removed, so we can see layering that used to be in the crater's interior. Scientists use ice deposits like these to figure out how the climate has changed on Mars. Another upside of recognizing this ice is that future astronauts will have plenty of drinking water.

Scientists now realize that ice is very common on the Martian surface. It often fills up craters and valleys in the mid-latitudes in older climates, although when it's covered in dust it can be hard to recognize. Today the climate on Mars makes this ice unstable and some of it has evaporated away.

The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 59.6 centimeters (23.5 inches) per pixel (with 2 x 2 binning); objects on the order of 179 centimeters (70.5 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.

Background Info:

The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mars
System
Target Type Planet
Mission Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
Instrument Host Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
Host Type Orbiter
Instrument High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE)
Detector
Extra Keywords Color, Crater, Dust, Map, Water
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2018-02-20
Date in Caption
Image Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA22255
Identifier PIA22255