Latest news with #HiRISE
Arabian Post
14-07-2025
- Science
- Arabian Post
Mars Highlands Reveal Vast 15,000 km Ancient River Network
High‑resolution images from orbiting spacecraft have revealed an extraordinary network of over 15,000 km of fluvial sinuous ridges—also known as inverted channels—spanning Noachis Terra in Mars's southern highlands. This vast system, identified using data from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE, CTX and MOLA instruments, indicates long‑lasting surface water activity shaped by precipitation roughly 3.7 billion years ago, reshaping scientific views of Mars's climate evolution. The ridges formed when river sediments cemented into resistant deposits, which later stood above the surrounding terrain after wind and erosion removed softer material. While previous research focused on valley networks, this study highlights inverted channels as compelling evidence of persistent, region‑wide water flow. Mapping uncovers meandering tributaries branching over hundreds of kilometres, with some avenues entering craters and breaching their rims—clear signs of river systems active long enough to carve into ancient impact landscapes. ADVERTISEMENT This finds new relevance in the Noachian‑Hesperian transition around 3.7 Ga—a geological era marked by a shift to a colder, drier Mars. The extensive fluvial systems preserved in Noachis Terra suggest sustained precipitation, rather than brief warming phases, supplied the water needed to maintain these rivers over a geologically meaningful period. The research, led by Adam Losekoot of the Open University and backed by the UK Space Agency, was unveiled at the Royal Astronomical Society's National Astronomy Meeting in Durham. Losekoot described Noachis Terra as a 'time‑capsule' recording ancient planetary processes, preserved for billions of years. These findings challenge earlier assumptions that equated Mars's early surface with a mostly cold and icy environment, punctuated by sporadic melting events. Instead, the new evidence supports a hypothesis of a warmer, wetter environment driven by substantial precipitation over extended periods. Noachis Terra had been relatively neglected by researchers focused on valley‑rich areas. The absence of traditional valley networks there previously led to underestimates of its water history. The focus on inverted channels opens fresh perspectives on how widespread surface water once was—even in terrains previously thought arid. This revived understanding of Mars's hydrological past connects with other findings that hint at subsurface water reserves. Among them, a recent international study reported a potential vast aquifer beneath Mars's south polar region. The new Noachis Terra data further supports the notion that early Mars had a robust water cycle, including precipitation and possibly rain‑fed riverine systems. Geologists also note that inverted channels have analogues on Earth, where cemented river sediments resist erosion and eventually form ridges that stand proud above eroded valleys. On Mars, such features appear most prominently in places like Miyamoto Crater and Juventae Chasma, but the scale of Noachis Terra's network is unprecedented. The implications for Mars's early environment are significant: a hydrologically active climate may have supported ecosystems or even nascent life. Though climate modelling has struggled to produce conditions that allow sustained liquid water, the physical evidence embedded in Noachis Terra's ridges demands revised scenarios. These might include episodic atmospheric thickening or greenhouse warming phases sufficient to sustain precipitation for extended times. Future research will likely probe whether similar inverted networks exist in other under‑studied highland regions and whether sediment composition points to seasonal cycles or sediment supply dynamics. Planned follow‑up with rover missions or crater‑site analysis may further evaluate if ancient lakes once sat behind these breached craters, and if mineral signatures—such as clay or sulphate layers—point to habitable or life‑friendly conditions.
Boston Globe
19-05-2025
- Science
- Boston Globe
Brown University researchers are developing a new way to study what's under the surface of Mars
Related : Advertisement 'But we show that the size of the ejecta blanket around a crater is sensitive to subsurface properties as well. That gives us a new observable on the surface to help constrain materials present underground.' Get Rhode Map A weekday briefing from veteran Rhode Island reporters, focused on the things that matter most in the Ocean State. Enter Email Sign Up Scientists have long studied craters for indicators of what may be below the surface of a planet. Craters can be affected by the 'strength of the subsurface, how porous it is and a host of other factors,' Brown officials said. For this latest research, however, Aleksandra Sokolowska, a UKRI fellow at Imperial College London who performed the study while a postdoctoral researcher at Brown, looked to glean more information from crater ejecta in particular, relying on computer simulations that capture the 'physics of planetary impacts' co-developed by a co-author of the study, Gareth Collins, a professor at Imperial College London. Advertisement The simulations allowed Sokolowska to vary the characteristics of subsurface material – from solid bedrock to glacial deposits and sediments such those typically found in a buried lake bed – and to observe how each could impact how far ejected debris lands when craters are formed, according to university officials. In addition to the simulation, the researchers analyzed two fresh impact craters on Mars, which, based on other data, they knew were located over solid bedrock and some subsurface ice, officials said. 'Consistent with model predictions, the crater on the icy subsurface had a much smaller ejecta blanket than the one on bedrock,' Brown officials said. 'The findings help confirm that differences in ejecta radius are detectable and reflect known subsurface properties.' According to researchers, the new method could be helpful in ongoing and upcoming spacecraft missions, including in February 2026, when the European Space Agency's Hera spacecraft is set to arrive at Dimorphos 'an asteroid that NASA hit with a projectile several years ago to test the possibility of deflecting asteroids that could be headed for Earth.' Hera will work to learn more about the asteroid's interior. Sokolowska said she is now working to turn 'this proof-of concept work into a tool.' 'The differences in ejecta radius can be quite large, and we predict that they could be measured from orbit with the HiRISE camera onboard Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter,' Sokolowska said. 'Once the method is thoroughly tested, it could become a promising new tool for investigating subsurface properties.' Christopher Gavin can be reached at
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
New NASA Image Depicts Mars Rover's Lonely Journey From Above
A recent snapshot from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) offers a brand-new look at the Curiosity rover's Martian journey. Published Thursday, the image depicts Curiosity's snail-like tracks on the Red Planet's dusty terrain. The rover itself appears as a tiny dot at the bottom of the tracks, revealing just how long and lonely its trek really is. The MRO's HiRISE (High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera captured the image on Feb. 28, 2025—Curiosity's 4,466th sol. At the time, Curiosity was making its way from the Gediz Vallis channel to the foothills of lower Mount Sharp, where a complex network of ridges might inform Mars' watery history. The rover is still making that journey, but it wasn't quite as far along by then, stunted by its 0.1 mile-per-hour maximum speed. Because Curiosity was still in the earlier half of its latest road trip—which began in November 2024 and is expected to end toward the middle of this year—MRO's snapshot includes only 1,050 feet of tracks. These were made over 11 drives, which occur between Curiosity's stops to take pictures, assess its surroundings, study Martian geology, and transmit data. "By comparing the time HiRISE took the image to the rover's commands for the day, we can see it was nearly done with a 69-foot drive," said Doug Ellison, chief of the Curiosity planning team. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona The tracks seen above are "likely to last for months before being erased by wind," according to JPL. That wind will not only erode the tracks themselves but fill them in with Mars' ultra-fine dust, eventually obscuring Curiosity's footprints as it has obscured JPL's retired InSight lander over time. By the time the tracks vanish, Curiosity will have reached Mount Sharp's boxwork: a "weblike pattern of ridges" first captured by the MRO in 2006. On Earth, boxwork forms when groundwater squeezes through underground rock fractures, depositing minerals that erode over eons into a sponge-like shape. Though scientists know by now that Mars definitely possessed water at one point, the jury is still out on how that water sculpted the Martian landscape—and whether it once supported life. With the Red Planet's boxwork having crystallized in a warm, wet subsurface environment, researchers are eager to discover whether microbes could have survived where only an eerie geological landmark remains.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA satellite spies Curiosity chugging along on Mars
NASA's Mars Curiosity rover has traveled over 21.33 miles since it first landed on the Red Planet in 2012. That might not seem like very far, but it's an impressive trek considering the vehicle only averages about 98 feet per hour and mission engineers must remotely steer it from over 140 million miles away. Curiosity's most recent journey began on February 2, when it started inching away from the Gediz Vallis channel towards a region with honeycomb-like boxwork formations potentially created billions of years ago by groundwater. On February 28—Curiosity's 4,466th Martian day—another NASA mission orbiting far overhead managed to snap what is believed to be the first image of the rover actively driving across the Red Planet. Taken by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the black-and-white picture shows the desolate planetscape interrupted by a small, dark speck trailed by a weaving line of tire tracks. According to NASA, the path stretches back roughly 1,050 feet to chart Curiosity's estimated 11 drives while en route to the boxwork formations. Curiosity was preparing to ascend a steep slope at the time of the latest satellite photo, which NASA says it has since scaled. 'By comparing the time HiRISE took the image to the rover's commands for the day, we can see it was nearly done with a 69-foot drive,' said Doug Ellison, Curiosity's planning team chief at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in California. HiRISE is one of six observational instruments on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that are used to document the planet's surface in high detail. The camera primarily produces black-and-white images with a colorized strip running down the middle to ensure optimal spatial resolution. It previously spotted Curiosity in color in 2023. NASA's rover is making the most of the ground it's covering on Mars. Earlier this month, researchers announced that sediment samples collected by Curiosity and analyzed in its onboard mini-lab contained a key ingredient required for life to once exist on the planet. In March, another study confirmed the rover had detected the largest-ever organic molecules inside what is likely a dried lakebed. Curiosity's mission team expects it to reach its next intended destination within the next month, depending on conditions on Mars. Once it arrives, Curiosity's most recent tracks will remain embedded in the terrain for a few months–until Martian winds erase them completely.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
NASA's Mars orbiter captures 1st photo of Curiosity and its winding tracks: Take a look
Though it has been scouring the Martian surface for more than a decade, NASA's Curiosity rover has never been imaged from above within the planet's atmosphere – until now. Far from being camera shy, Curiosity has been the subject of countless selfies and images taken from space. But for the first time, a NASA spacecraft recently captured a photo of the robotic rover from the vantage of Mars' own orbit. The U.S. space agency released the image April 24, which the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter snapped earlier this year. At the time, Curiosity was in the middle of a slow trek across the surface during its ongoing hunt for microbial life. The reconnaissance orbiter, which has been circling Mars from above since 2006, caught a glimpse of Curiosity on Feb. 28, along with the tracks the rover was leaving behind as it ascended a steep slope. The image, captured with the orbiter's HiRISE camera (High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment,) shows Curiosity as a dark speck with its tracks trailing behind it. The tracks, spanning about 1,050 feet, are likely to linger for months before wind erases them, according to NASA. The tracks lead to the base of a steep slope that the rover has since ascended on the way to its new destination: a region with potential boxwork formations, possibly made by groundwater billions of years ago. Curiosity is one of two rovers managed from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California that has spent years exploring the Mars surface for signs that the planet was once habitable. Scientists believe the geology of Mars may hold valuable clues about past ancient life, and so the robotic vehicles, controlled remotely from Earth, have slowly navigated the rocky terrain to scoop up and collect intriguing samples. The Curiosity rover began its voyage to Mars in November 2011 during a launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The rover landed in August 2012 in the Gale Crater on the boundary between Mars' cratered southern highlands and its smooth, northern plains. While exploring the crater, believed to have formed 3.7 billion years ago, Curiosity has collected 42 powderized rock samples with the drill on the end of its robotic arm. The Curiosity rover's primary destination is Mount Sharp, which rises from the floor of the crater. Perseverance then launched from the same location in July 2020, landing in February 2021 in the Jezero Crater, which scientists believe formed 3.9 billion years ago from a massive impact. The rover recently summitted the steep Jezero crater to begin the next leg of its journey exploring the crater's rim. Eric Lagatta is the Space Connect reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at elagatta@ This article originally appeared on Florida Today: NASA reveals 1st photo of Curiosity rover seen from Mars' orbit
