HiRISE, a high-resolution camera operated by the University of Arizona that works on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) mission, has taken this picture of Mars’ red planet. It is reminiscent of the face of the bear.
The orbital photo, which was taken on December 12, 2022, actually depicts the hill as the shape of a V-shaped collapse (the nose) and two large craters (the eyes), as well as the circular fracture pattern (the head).
The circular fracture may be due to the deposit settlement over an impact crater that is buried. Is the nose volcanic or mud vent, and could deposits consist of mudflows or lava? The camera team pondered this in an announcement.
“Maybe you can just be patient and take it easy,” added the University of Arizona.
HiPOD: A Bear on Mars?
This feature looks a bit like a bear’s face. What is it really?
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NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona#Mars #science #NASA https://t.co/2WUNquTUZH pic.twitter.com/1k2ZnLcJ5o
— HiRISE: Beautiful Mars (NASA) (@HiRISE) January 25, 2023
Impact of meteorites on Mars
On December 24, NASA’s InSight spacecraft felt that the Earth was shaking peculiarly. It recorded a magnitude of 4 “marxism” that only scientists could determine was the result of the impact of a meteorite, not due to a telluric movement typical of a planet with a rock.
The scientists concluded that the quake resulted from the impact of a meteorite after they observed a large new crater. They also compared the images taken before and after using NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) probe that orbits Mars. The rare chance to observe a considerable impact alter the Martian soil The event and its effects are described in two scientific papers published today in the journal peer-reviewed by scientists Science.
A meteorite’s impact is believed to be among the biggest seen on Mars since NASA began its exploration of the universe. The strike also resulted in boulder-sized chunks of ice buried further away from the Martian Equator than any time before. This discovery has implications for NASA’s plans to send astronauts to the Red Planet.
It is believed that the meteoroid’s diameter was 5-12 meters. This isn’t enough to cause a fire in the atmosphere of Earth, but not in the atmosphere that is thin on Mars that is 11% denser than our own. The impact, which occurred in an area known as Amazonis Planitia, opened a large crater that was 150 meters wide and 21 meters in depth. The ejecta thrown by the collision traveled as far as 37 kilometers.
