10/15/2003: Martian badlands

Undertoad · 10-15-2003, 01:28 PM

Okay, so maybe it isn't exactly "badlands" - but pretty close. I was struck by this image because if I hadn't read the caption I would not have guessed what this was. It's a shot of Mars, specifically the north polar ice cap, taken by the Mars Global Surveyor over 3 years ago and just recently released.

The light-toned surfaces are residual water ice that remains through the summer season. The nearly circular band of dark material surrounding the cap consists mainly of sand dunes formed and shaped by wind.

10-15-2003, 01:28 PM	#1
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	10/15/2003: Martian badlands Okay, so maybe it isn't exactly "badlands" - but pretty close. I was struck by this image because if I hadn't read the caption I would not have guessed what this was. It's a shot of Mars, specifically the north polar ice cap, taken by the Mars Global Surveyor over 3 years ago and just recently released. The light-toned surfaces are residual water ice that remains through the summer season. The nearly circular band of dark material surrounding the cap consists mainly of sand dunes formed and shaped by wind.

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