The dry and mountainous terrain west of Jezero Crater
Click for original image.
Since my earlier update today about Perseverance and Ingenuity mentioned the very diverse and strange geology known to exist west of Jezero Crater and where the rover is eventually headed, I thought it worthwhile to post another cool image of that terrain.
The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced and sharpened to post here, was taken on May 22, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Labeled a “terrain sample” image, the location was likely chosen by the camera team in order to fill a gap in the camera’s schedule so that they can maintain its proper temperature. Having a gap that put the spacecraft over this region to the west of Jezero was however a great opportunity to get another look at this rocky, mountainous, and very parched terrain, located in Mars’ very dry equatorial regions.
On the overview map to the right the black dots mark Perseverance’s present location inside Jezero Crater. The white dots mark the location of this particular unnamed 1.6-mile-wide crater, which if you notice has, like Jezero, a gap on its rim, this time on its eastern side. The different colors hint at a varied geology, though the differences could also simply suggest the presence of dust (orange) and coarser rocks and boulders (green).
The crater itself is tilted, descending steadily almost a thousand feet from its high point on the western rim across its floor to that eastern gap. Some past geological upheaval had lifted it up on its western side, so that some unknown material inside the crater was forced against the eastern rim, eventual breaking through.
At present there is no near surface ice present, but that material could have been ice in the far past, when the tilt of Mars was different and this region was wetter.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Click for original image.
Since my earlier update today about Perseverance and Ingenuity mentioned the very diverse and strange geology known to exist west of Jezero Crater and where the rover is eventually headed, I thought it worthwhile to post another cool image of that terrain.
The picture to the right, rotated, cropped, reduced and sharpened to post here, was taken on May 22, 2023 by the high resolution camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Labeled a “terrain sample” image, the location was likely chosen by the camera team in order to fill a gap in the camera’s schedule so that they can maintain its proper temperature. Having a gap that put the spacecraft over this region to the west of Jezero was however a great opportunity to get another look at this rocky, mountainous, and very parched terrain, located in Mars’ very dry equatorial regions.
On the overview map to the right the black dots mark Perseverance’s present location inside Jezero Crater. The white dots mark the location of this particular unnamed 1.6-mile-wide crater, which if you notice has, like Jezero, a gap on its rim, this time on its eastern side. The different colors hint at a varied geology, though the differences could also simply suggest the presence of dust (orange) and coarser rocks and boulders (green).
The crater itself is tilted, descending steadily almost a thousand feet from its high point on the western rim across its floor to that eastern gap. Some past geological upheaval had lifted it up on its western side, so that some unknown material inside the crater was forced against the eastern rim, eventual breaking through.
At present there is no near surface ice present, but that material could have been ice in the far past, when the tilt of Mars was different and this region was wetter.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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