In the newly revealed images, the massive crater looks like a strange surface feature that is spinning. From above, it looks like a giant tree stump, with concentric rings marking its age.
The ice-rich impact crater is in a region known as Acidalia Planitia. This location is the landing site for the human Mars mission described in the science fiction novel and film “The Martian.”
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The crater rings don’t show their age, but the patterns within the craters could help researchers better understand what made up their structure and what has happened on Mars throughout its history. According to scientists one thing is known that the crater is full of deposits rich in water ice.
This condition is interesting, how the ice deposits settle there taking into account the tilt of the planet Mars, or rotational axis, and changes over time. The tilt of the planets, as we see them on Earth, causes seasonal changes, and the tilt of Mars has changed quite dramatically over time compared to the tilt of Earth.
During earlier times on Mars, the planet’s tilt, or rotational axis, would have allowed water ice deposits to form at lower latitudes than is possible today. In fact, the visible crater “rings” and cracks are most likely caused by changes in the environment over time.
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The researchers think that these features are the result of changing seasons and temperature, which causes material in the crater to expand and contract with heat and cold. The TGO mission arrived on Mars in 2016 as part of ESA’s ExoMars mission to study the planet Mars from its orbit and surface.
TGO is a joint mission of the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Russian space agency Roscosmos, to study Mars from above. Circulates the planet and collects data about its sparse atmosphere. But this orbital vantage point also allows TGO to view Mars from above, taking pictures with the Color and Stereo Surface Imaging System (CaSSIS) camera. The mission continues to provide images like this as well as data on the Martian atmosphere, geology, surface, history and more.
(wib)
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