Riding with Robots on the High Frontier

First Frost

Sent by: Phoenix | From: Mars | Sent: August, 2008 | Credit: NASA/JPL/UA/Canvin | Image source

As the arctic sun dips lower on the horizon each night, Phoenix is now seeing the sparkle of very fine frost on the plains. The frost will grow each day for the next few months. Eventually, the entire lander will be encased in ice. This image is part of a natural-color composite by James Canvin. To the left is a close crop of an image released by NASA that has been stretched to clearly show the frost. Phoenix scientists have been busy digging new trenches as they study the alien soil.

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Gravity Wake

Sent by: Cassini | From: Saturn | Sent: August, 2008 | Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI | Image source

The shepherd moon Pan zooms through the rings in this long exposure, stirring up the icy ring particles in the wake of its gravity.

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Unfriendly Neighbor

Sent by: Venus Express | From: Venus | Released: Aug, 2008 | Credit: ESA

About the same size as the Earth, Venus is not a welcoming place: surface temperatures above 470 degrees Celsius, air pressure equivalent to 900 meters underwater, and clouds of sulphuric acid. This ultraviolet picture, which I colored to draw out highlights in the clouds, comes from a newly-released treasure trove of raw imagery from the Venus Express orbiter.

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A Mystery Comes to Light

Sent by: Cassini | From: Saturn | Sent: July, 2008 | Credit: NASA/JPL/SSI | Image source

As springtime arrives in Saturn’s northern hemisphere, a bizarre atmospheric structure begins to see the light of day. A mysterious hexagonal pattern was first seen by the Voyager spacecraft in the early 80s, then Cassini spied on it in the dark using infrared imaging (left). Now, as the north polar region emerges from winter darkness, it’s slowly creeping into the sunlight.

The complex remains nearly stationary as clouds and storms march around it, and Saturn explorers estimate that it reaches deep into the atmosphere, at least down to 75 kilometers. They say it is probably “an unusually strong pole-encircling planetary wave.” Learn more.

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Echoes in the Ice

Sent by: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter & Mars Odyssey | From: Mars | Released: Aug 14, 2008 | Credits: NASA/ESA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/University of Rome/University of Washington St. Louis/MSSS | Image source

Radar reveals details inside the mile-thick mountain of ice at the north pole of Mars. The top view shows the topography of the ice cap, which grows and shrinks each season, adding a new layer of dust and ice each time.

The middle section contains a radar view from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, with alternating bright and dark layers of dust and ice extending back into the far past of the Red Planet. Beneath the ice are additional, more opaque layers that may tell the tale of a time when Mars’ climate was different.

The bottom section is a true-color visual look at roughly the same region, taken earlier by a different spacecraft, the Mars Odyssey orbiter.

Learn more.

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