At NASA presented a series of photographs with winter landscapes of Mars. The selection was made on the eve of the Christmas holidays, but how different these pictures are from winter land landscapes! Martian settlers will miss the snowy plains and snowdrifts of Earth. On Mars, none of this will happen.
Image source: NASA
Most of the snow is found closer to the poles of Mars. During the coldest months, and winters on Mars are almost twice as long as on Earth, temperatures drop to around -123°C. Under such conditions, water ice or snow does not form on the surface in the Red Planet’s highly rarefied atmosphere. Snowdrifts are blown away by dry ice particles (from atmospheric CO2). Their height can hardly exceed one meter.
Water ice is hidden under the surface of Mars. In the Martian winter, it can be seen on the slopes of craters and after landslides. For example, in craters after meteor impacts. Theoretically on such slopes it would be possible to ski even on snow from water, but in practice water evaporates very quickly in the dry atmosphere of Mars. Unless in the winter months he can lie down longer on the slopes in the shade.
Even the snowflakes falling on Mars are not similar to those on Earth. They do not have six arms, and the peculiarities of the molecular structure of carbon dioxide give them a cubic shape. Moreover, “snow” falling from the sky is also a rarity. This requires heavy cloud cover (absence of sunshine) and very low temperatures. For the snowfall show, you will have to go to the poles of Mars.
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