geology – Page 3 – planetaria

NASA’s InSight mission to Mars approved for spring 2018 launch

September 5, 2016 by Paul Scott Anderson

Artist’s conception of InSight on the surface of Mars. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

NASA’s InSight mission to Mars will now go ahead as planned, it was announced today. After a delay due to a vacuum leak last December, with a launch originally slated for last March, it was unclear whether the mission would still be given the green light for a later launch. But now NASA has approved a launch for spring 2018.

Image Gallery: Curiosity at Murray Buttes (part 2)

September 1, 2016August 25, 2016 by Paul Scott Anderson

http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/ — Sol 1431. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS/Thomas Appéré

The Curiosity rover is continuing to travel through the ancient and eroded buttes and mesas which are part of the Murray Buttes formation. Very reminiscent of the terrain in the desert regions of the American southwest. Included are a couple new panoramas, processed by Thomas Appéré. All images are available on the mission website.

Does Pluto have a subsurface ocean? New research says probably

August 1, 2016June 27, 2016 by Paul Scott Anderson

The discovery of huge faults on Pluto provides evidence for a possible liquid water ocean beneath the ice crust. Photo Credit: NASA/JHUAPL/SwRI

So-called “waterworlds” have been found to be surprisingly common in the Solar System – small icy moons which have ice crusts but oceans of liquid water below the surface. These include Jupiter’s moons Europa and Ganymede and Saturn’s moons Enceladus and Titan, and possibly others. These moons are cold and very far from the Sun, but heated inside by the gravitational pull of their giant host planets and/or radioactivity. Now there’s another Solar System body which, even more surprisingly, some scientists think has a subsurface ocean: Pluto.

Image Gallery: Delicate rock formations on Naukluft Plateau

April 3, 2016 by Paul Scott Anderson

Long, spindly and delicate rock formations created by blowing sand. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech — Long, spindly and delicate rock formations created by blowing sand. Click image for larger version. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

This image from the Curiosity rover on sol 1294 shows some very delicate rock formations on Naukluft Plateau, shaped by blowing Martian sand. The thin atmosphere and lower gravity also help in the formation of such spindly protrusions. Similar ones have also been seen before by the rover.

Image Gallery: Conical hill and sand dunes in Ganges Chasma

March 28, 2016 by Paul Scott Anderson

Conical hill and sand dunes in Ganges Chasma. Click for larger image. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Another odd but beautiful image of Mars, showing a cone-shaped hill with sand dunes wrapping around it. The formation is in the Ganges Chasma region, and the image was taken by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Mars has a lot of diverse geology, and this is another good example of that. Original images are here.

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