NASA shares stunning images of Mars

by time news

NASA has shared stunning images of Mars, including a close-up of an ancient pond where NASA’s Curiosity rover has traversed the Red Planet for years, capturing tantalizing images.

The team behind the rover targeted a region rich in sulfur-rich mud to find evidence of water on the planet, providing information about Mars’ climate that scientists are still trying to understand.

The minerals formed when lakes and streams were a reality across Gale Crater, which is at the base of Mount Sharp, a three-mile-high mountain that Curiosity has been traveling through since 2014, The Sun reports.

Above the mountain lies the “transition zone”, where images of Curiosity revealed dry currents and sand dunes that formed over the lake sediments.

“We no longer see the lake sediments that we saw years ago low on Mount Sharp,” said Ashwin Vasavada, Curiosity project scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

“Instead we see a lot of evidence of drier climates, like dry sand dunes that sometimes have currents around them.

“This is a big change from the lakes that lasted for millions of years before that.”

The rover is detecting less mud and more sulfate as it climbs higher through the transition zone and soon, Curiosity will find the last rock sample it will take in this area.

The Sun’s report said it hopes this will provide a more detailed look at the changing mineral composition of the planet’s rocks.

Curiosity takes panorama-style photos, showing the still-mysterious landscapes of the planet.

The information gathered from these images details the complex knowledge of water on the planet. The groundwater likely ebbed and flowed at some point, according to NASA’s website.

Curiosity will celebrate 10 years on Mars in August, but nothing stands in its way from continuing its mission.

Earlier this month, the rover was forced to switch to safe mode after detecting higher-than-normal temperatures on the planet.

This shuts down all but the most important jobs so engineers can still assess the situation.

Curiosity returned to normal after a few days, but the engineers still wanted to analyze the exact cause of the problem, suspecting it was caused by the rover detecting a temperature anomaly.

Previous issues with the rover’s wheels had the team driving Curiosity snapping new photos of its wheels every 3,281 feet, or 1,000 metres.

“If we get to the point where one wheel has broken the majority of her pants, we can take a controlled break to get rid of the remaining pieces,” said Megan Lane, Curiosity’s project manager.

“Given recent trends it seems unlikely that we will need to take such action. The wheels are holding up well, providing the traction we need to continue our climb.”

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