The “Happy Face Crater” Reveals How Mars Is Smiling at Us
While many scientists have always wondered if there is any life dwelling on Mars, we’ll hopefully find out for sure one day. But we can at least be sure that there are some peculiar structures that look as if any extraterrestrial green friends are trying to leave us a sign.
Thanks to the HiRISE camera (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) mounted on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and to Universe Today, we can see how Mars is smiling at us as it’s eagerly waiting for the first humans to land on its surface. Behold the intriguing photo of the ‘Happy Face Crater’ from the Red Planet:
Credit: NASA/JPL/U of Arizona
The crater has been through some changes over time after the first photos that were taken in 2011. There are several differences between the photo from above that was taken in 2020 and the first one. As the HiRISE team points out, different amounts of bright frost from darker red ground are causing colour variations. Some ‘blobby’ features have changed shape as a result of the Sun’s heat that was causing sublimation. Behold both images, as they were published by Universe Today:
Ross Beyer, HiRISE Co-Investigator, wrote:
Measuring these changes throughout the Martian year help scientists understand the annual deposition and removal of polar frost, and monitoring these sites over long periods helps us understand longer term climate trends on the Red Planet.
Astronomers have a long history of trying to figure out a way to get to Mars and start building a colony there. The process cannot certainly be done overnight, as such a cosmic journey can pose a serious threat to the human body. The Moon will be the first destination, as NASA wants to return humans there after half a century. The Red Planet comes next if everything goes as planned.
Tiesha loves to share her passion for everything that’s beautiful in this world. Apart from writing on her beauty blog and running her own beauty channel on Youtube, she also enjoys traveling and photography. Tiesha covers various stories on the website.
0 comments