Land of Martian springs?
Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on December 22, 2014 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). I came across this image when researching another photo taken recently of the interior of this same 56-mile-wide crater, dubbed Firsoff, and decided this decade old picture was far more interesting.
Firsoff, which had been considered a candidate landing site for Perseverance, is known for the many layers shown in this picture. It is also known for having mounds, here ranging in height from 90 to 150 feet, that some scientists believe could have once been springs of water. The layers as always are of great interest, as they provide data on past geological events. In the case of Firsoff, the layers are especially easy to see because of their alternating dark and light colors. The dark layers are thought to be basalt, suggesting these layers were laid down during a volcanic event.
On the overview map to the right, the black dots mark the picture’s location. Note that Firsoff is not the only crater in this region thought to hold inactive springs. In 2020 scientists presented research showing that Vernal Crater could have springs. Other research has identified similar possibilities in Crommelin Crater.
In other words, though this region is dead center in the dry equatorial regions of Mars, it shows evidence of the possibility that water once existed here below ground, and might even still be there. As I noted in 2020, the data here is still sparse and subject to interpretation, though it is also very intriguing.
Regardless, the layered terrain here produces some of the most beautiful terrain on Mars.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
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Click for original image.
Cool image time! The picture to the right, cropped, reduced, and sharpened to post here, was taken on December 22, 2014 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). I came across this image when researching another photo taken recently of the interior of this same 56-mile-wide crater, dubbed Firsoff, and decided this decade old picture was far more interesting.
Firsoff, which had been considered a candidate landing site for Perseverance, is known for the many layers shown in this picture. It is also known for having mounds, here ranging in height from 90 to 150 feet, that some scientists believe could have once been springs of water. The layers as always are of great interest, as they provide data on past geological events. In the case of Firsoff, the layers are especially easy to see because of their alternating dark and light colors. The dark layers are thought to be basalt, suggesting these layers were laid down during a volcanic event.
On the overview map to the right, the black dots mark the picture’s location. Note that Firsoff is not the only crater in this region thought to hold inactive springs. In 2020 scientists presented research showing that Vernal Crater could have springs. Other research has identified similar possibilities in Crommelin Crater.
In other words, though this region is dead center in the dry equatorial regions of Mars, it shows evidence of the possibility that water once existed here below ground, and might even still be there. As I noted in 2020, the data here is still sparse and subject to interpretation, though it is also very intriguing.
Regardless, the layered terrain here produces some of the most beautiful terrain on Mars.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
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