US, WASHINGTON (ORDO NEWS) — While people have problems, supported by the lack of the ability to evacuate from Earth, the NASA / JPL Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) interplanetary station continues to operate normally in Mars orbit.
NASA employees are still working remotely, and this objectively complicates the performance of familiar tasks. So far, new images of the Red Planet appear less frequently, since there is simply not enough power to parse all the data transmitted to Earth.
All images with a scale of ~ 25-52 cm / pixel.
Dark streams
Here is the slope of a relatively small impact crater that faces the equator. Every year, when spring comes to Mars, mysterious dark streams appear in this region. Strange, but this time these flows were not as pronounced as a year earlier.
It is worth noting that the appearance of dark streams in this and many other craters, scientists observe every year, when the temperature approaches -20 degrees Celsius. What is it? Specific “sand avalanches” or the release of brines (an aqueous solution with a high salt content) from the bowels to the surface?
This region is marked as “special” for the reason that it is of great scientific interest, but the landing of the apparatus there is impossible due to steep slopes and continuous sands.
Exquisite Layering
Here is the southern part of the large and very ancient crater Holden. Mars is mostly covered with sand, dust and stones, but there are areas represented by complex multilayer structures that expose the complex geological history of the planet.
NASA scientists have repeatedly suggested landing the rover there, since the samples obtained can tell a lot about the youth of the Red Planet. They will probably do so in the future.
Nirgal Vallis River Valley
Only a part of the ancient river valley, which carried a turbulent stream of water flowing into the Holden Crater, is revealed to your gaze (it was mentioned a little higher). This suggests that Holden Crater used to be a deep and very large lake.
The Nirgal Vallis Valley is covered by water phyllosilicates, which only confirms the water past of the Red Planet. Billions of years ago, this place was probably an oasis for primitive life forms.
All images were taken from a height of ~ 250-300 kilometers above the surface.
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