Just a few degrees south on the equator of Mars there is a pinch called Airy Crater. It is about 27 miles in diameter, and whatever asteroid creates it strikes a serious blow. But in Airy there is Airy-0 – a sub-crater exactly 0 degrees long.
In an Instagram post, NASA shared the view of Airy-0 – which was chosen to be the exact place that astronomers will call the main meridian, where measurements of East and West begin. Unlike the equator, the line is random. But it helps scientists determine the coordinates. Airy-0, as a sub-function of Airy, seemed the perfect place to launch it.
The crater also shows a series of ridges that are Martian sand dunes. As on Earth, these dunes are created by the winds of Mars that deposit fine particles, according to Paul Byrne, a planetary scientist at the University of Washington. This gives the inside of the crater the appearance of melon skin. You should definitely eat it, given the number of toxic perchlorates in some areas of Mars.
As for the erosion at the lower edge of the crater, Byrne suspects it’s a massive waste, something like a rock or landslide. Other craters on Mars have characteristics associated with water or dry ice, but this does not seem to be the case here. “If there was water or ice from CO2, they have long been sublimated, although I don’t know if they would have survived the impact event itself,” Brin told Inverse.
The photo was taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on October 27, 2021. The MRO has been in orbit around Mars since 2006 and is both the main set of Mars eyes from space and one of two communications repeaters for Mars missions to Earth along with the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter
Both spacecraft have been in orbit around Mars for some time, and while they continue to operate, NASA plans to eventually send a new orbiter as a failure. But the original plan to launch one in the fall of 2022 was canceled in favor of a mission that will be combined with the return of a sample of Mars, which will launch in the late 2020s. The orbits of Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution may eventually fall into orbit to serve as an intermediate communication relay.
Add Comment