Science and Exploration

A Layered Butte Near The Martian South Pole

By Keith Cowing
Press Release
December 29, 2021
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A Layered Butte Near The Martian South Pole
A Layered Butte Near The Martian South Pole
NASA/HiRISE

Based on a Context Camera image, the rationale for this observation is to get a closer look at this layered butte.
But there are also lots of dark spots on the surface, as well as the formation of small, branching channels that we often dub “spiders” all of which are formed when the underlying carbon dioxide ice transforms directly from a solid state to a gaseous one (sublimation).

ID: ESP_065200_0995
date: 23 June 2020
altitude: 247 km

https://uahirise.org/hipod/ESP_065200_0995

SpaceRef co-founder, Explorers Club Fellow, ex-NASA, Away Teams, Journalist, Space & Astrobiology, Lapsed climber.