Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Cause of Tracks on Mars? - UPDATED

Hey Space Placers!

Quick, what is causing these tracks on Mars?

This image from the UA-operated HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows linear gullies extending almost 1.2 miles inside Russell Crater. Unlike gullies caused by water-lubricated flows on Earth and possibly on Mars, they don't have aprons of debris at the downhill end of the channel, just an empty pit – most likely left behind by dry-ice chunks. (Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UA)

Would you believe dry ice? That's what planetary scientists think is causing these intriguing marks on the Red Planet. Sand dunes here on Earth became test beds to send blocks of dry ice down gully slopes which in turn created similar looking marks. 

Of course the dry ice would eventually sublimate away and leave no traces behind. Read More About It: http://uanews.org/story/marks-on-martian-dunes-may-reveal-tracks-of-dry-ice-sleds and http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2013/11jun_snowboards/

Sky Guy in VA
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