NASA Just Released More Than 1,000 New Images Of Mars' Surface
Samantha Cole
at 10:34 AM Aug 10 2016
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Space // 

Since its launch in 2005, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has been orbiting the red planet and snapping photos merrily as it goes.

The MRO sends back photos of Mars every month, but this month's dispatch of 1,035 photos is unique. It's especially hefty because every 26 months, the geometry of Earth and Mars offer a sweet spot for data return, director of the Planetary Image Research Laboratory, Alfred McEwen told Popular Science: During opposition — as Mars and the Sun are on opposite sides of Earth's sky, this year on May 22 — we get unobstructed communications between Mars and Earth for a few weeks.

This time, that direct line of sight between Mars and Earth coincides with Mars' equinox, when the sun shines directly on the planet's equator, splashing light from north pole to south and giving the MRO its most complete views of the red planet. For the rest of the year, either the north or south pole is in constant darkness.

The MRO's images could help map potential landing sites for future landers, notes McEwen, such as the ExoMars demonstration module in a few months, the InSight lander in two years, and the ExoMars and NASA rovers set to launch in 2020. The MRO is also keeping an eye on the active processes on the surface, including steep slope flows, migrating sand dunes, dry ice jets in the polar regions and new impact events, he says.

Here are some of the most striking and significant photos to come out of this new release. Click through each name to find more information and a higher resolution version, and see the entire collection here.

 
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
The Curiosity rover is here in Gale Crater, where scientists recently found mineral veins supporting ancient, evaporated lakes.
 
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Oxia Palus: A candidate landing site for the ExoMars rover, a joint mission between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos).
 
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Crater in Hesperia Planum, a lava plain in Mars' southern highlands.
 
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Lava flow and channels near Olympica Fossae, where volcanic processes may have once been active.
 
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Monitoring a slope near Acidalia Planitia, a region made famous by The Martian.
 
NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Light-toned rock exposures in Noctis Labyrinthus. "The white lines represent a layer of material exposed around the bases of hills and mesas," says McEwen. "One idea is that this represents a layer of volcanic ash that blanket the area sometime in the past."
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