New images reveal dynamic surface of Mars
New pictures of Mars released on Tuesday show that the surface of the Red Planet is a dynamic and ever changing one. There is also substantial evidence that Mars may be warmer than previously thought, according to US Space Agency, NASA.
These pictures were beamed courtesy NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, which has been orbiting the Red Planet since September 1997. The mission of the craft is simple- provide evidence, if any regarding the possibility of life on Mars. The Surveyor spacecraft has now spotted new gullies and a crater that appear to be recent formations on the surface of the planet.
Michael Malin, principal investigator for the Mars Orbiter Camera aboard Global Surveyor said, “The gullies are probably not the result of water action on the sand dune. What we think is going on here is that carbon dioxide snow has been incorporated into the sand dune.”
Researchers have also found a fresh crater that was probably formed sometime in the 1980s on the surface of Mars. The crater is a 65-foot (20-meter) pit that was found on the southern part of volcano Ulysses Patera. This crater was not present when NASA's Viking orbiter scanned the area in 1976. In 1999, the crater was visible, but was covered by a dark ejecta blanket.
In the six intervening years, the ejecta blanket has disappeared, to leave the gaping crater. "The significance is that Mars is experiencing climate change, or has experienced climate change, because the present atmospheric conditions are not conducive to the formation of all that frozen carbon dioxide," said Malin.
High-resolution cameras on the Global Surveyor took these photographs, which have aroused widespread interest in the scientific community. Michael Meyer, NASA's Mars Exploration Program chief scientist was elated at the discovery. He said that the new gullies and other changes in Mars' surface features revealed that the planet's surface is dynamic and not static as previously thought.
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