Fractured Crater on Mars
This perspective image of a fractured crater near Valles Marineris on Mars was obtained by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board the ESA Mars Express spacecraft.
The image was taken during orbit 61 in January 2004 with a resolution of 12. 5 metres per pixel. It shows part of a cratered landscape to the north of the Valles Marineris, at 0.6? S latitude and 309? E longitude, with this crater having a fractured base.
This crater has a rim diameter of 27.5 kilometres and is about 800 metres deep. It is not known yet how these fractures are generated. On Earth, polygonal fractures may occur in contracting material, which breaks at weak zones. For example, we may see this appearing in cooled lava, dried clay or frozen ground.
Original Source: ESA News Release
Recent Posts
An Otherworldly Cloud Over New Zealand
Filmmakers love New Zealand. Its landscapes evoke other worlds, which explains why so much of…
Early Black Holes Fed 40x Faster than Should Be Possible
The theory goes that black holes accrete material, often from nearby stars. However the theory…
A Spider Stellar Engine Could Move Binary Stars Halfway Across a Galaxy
Eventually, every stellar civilization will have to migrate to a different star. The habitable zone…
Scaling Propellant Production on Mars is Hard
Putting humans on Mars has been one of NASA's driving missions for years, but they…
Is an ‘Off-Year’ Leonid Outburst in the Cards For November?
There are good reasons to keep an eye on the Leonid meteors this year.
Reaction Engines Goes Into Bankruptcy, Taking the Hypersonic SABRE Engine With it
Rarely does something get developed which is a real game changer in space exploration. One…