Space Topics: Mars
The Year in Pictures: 2005
Mars Global Surveyor Peels Apart the Layers of Chasma Boreale
January. Mars Global
Surveyor is now 4 years past its primary mission
and continues to perform feats of imaging at Mars that cannot be equaled by
any other Mars orbiter. Using a tricky technique known as cPROTO imaging,
Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) can acquire images with resolutions
as high as 50 centimeters (20 inches) per pixel. This image is a mosaic
of two that were designed to study the fine structure of Chasma Boreale, a
canyon eroded into the surface under Mars' north polar cap. Close examination
of the mosaic shows that there are three distinct layers having different mechanical
properties, and that some of the layers are strong enough that they are more
likely to be made of rock than just mixed ice, sand, and dust.
Credit: NASA / JPL / Malin Space Science Systems |
A detailed
view of the lowermost set of layers reveals that its surfaces are broken by
polygonal fractures, which indicate that the layers are probably cemented together
into rock. For the full resolution and a further explanation of cPROTO
imaging, visit
the MOC website.
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