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Canyon Country
October 23rd, 2008 | Tags: false color, Mars, Mars Recon. Orbiter | Published in pictures | 2 Comments
More canyons on Mars that look strikingly like the deserts of the Southwestern United States. You almost expect John Wayne to come riding around the corner. Except the blue color, which results from the fact that these images were taken with filters sensitive to wavelengths the eye can’t see, and show differences in the composition of the rock rather than the colors you’d see in person. Those colors would be, surprise, reddish.
The top shot shows the floor of a trough west of Juventae Chasma, and the view below cuts across tectonic fractures in the Cerberus Fossae region. Both images show an area only a few kilometers across.
Sent by: Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter | From: Mars | Released: October, 2008 | Credit: NASA/JPL/UA | Image source
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October 23rd, 2008at 2:59 pm(#)
As more of these finely detailed close-ups come out, it’s becoming increasingly obvious that getting around on Mars is not going to be a walk in the park. Rock-strewn rubble fields; high, steep cliffs; vast, and no doubt soft in spots, dune fields; craters unsoftened by the meager pressure of Mars’ weather; and grit everywhere and no doubt getting into everything.
A lonely, difficult, dangerous place to be — and I’d go in a flash if only I could book passage. I wonder if Travelocity has any deals on just yet … .
October 23rd, 2008at 9:20 pm(#)
Not all the terrain is as forbidding as you might guess judging from this site. I tend to pick the landscapes with something interesting happening in them, as opposed to flat and safe expanses. Depends on where you look, just like Earth. That’s not to underestimate the obstacles you point out, especially the dust.
Before you book that flight, understand they might not offer a return trip.