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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
It’s a new year on Mars, and while New Year’s means winter in Earth’s northern hemisphere, it’s the start of spring in the same region of the Red Planet. And that means ice is thawing, leading to all sorts of interesting things. JPL research scientist Serina Diniega explains. NASA/JPL-Caltech Instead of a winter wonderland, the Red Planet’s northern hemisphere goes through an active — even explosive — spring thaw.
While New Year’s Eve is around the corner here on Earth, Mars scientists are ahead of the game: The Red Planet completed a trip around the Sun on Nov. 12, 2024, prompting a few researchers to raise a toast.
But the Martian year, which is 687 Earth days, ends in a very different way in the planet’s northern hemisphere than it does in Earth’s northern hemisphere: While winter’s kicking in here, spring is starting there. That means temperatures are rising and ice is thinning, leading to frost avalanches crashing down cliffsides, carbon dioxide gas exploding from the ground, and powerful winds helping reshape the north pole.
“Springtime on Earth has lots of trickling as water ice gradually melts. But on Mars, everything happens with a bang,” said Serina Diniega, who studies planetary surfaces at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
Mars’ wispy atmosphere doesn’t allow liquids to pool on the surface, like on Earth. Instead of melting, ice sublimates, turning directly into a gas. The sudden transition in spring means a lot of violent changes as both water ice and carbon dioxide ice — dry ice, which is much more plentiful on Mars than frozen water — weaken and break.
“You get lots of cracks and explosions instead of melting,” Diniega said. “I imagine it gets really noisy.”
Using the cameras and other sensors aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), which launched in 2005, scientists study all this activity to improve their understanding of the forces shaping the dynamic Martian surface. Here’s some of what they track.
Frost Avalanches
In 2015, MRO’s High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera captured a 66-foot-wide (20-meter-wide) chunk of carbon dioxide frost in freefall. Chance observations like this are reminders of just how different Mars is from Earth, Diniega said, especially in springtime, when these surface changes are most noticeable.
Martian spring involves lots of cracking ice, which led to this 66-foot-wide (20-meter-wide) chunk of carbon dioxide frost captured in freefall by the HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2015NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona “We’re lucky we’ve had a spacecraft like MRO observing Mars for as long as it has,” Diniega said. “Watching for almost 20 years has let us catch dramatic moments like these avalanches.”
Gas Geysers
Diniega has relied on HiRISE to study another quirk of Martian springtime: gas geysers that blast out of the surface, throwing out dark fans of sand and dust. These explosive jets form due to energetic sublimation of carbon dioxide ice. As sunlight shines through the ice, its bottom layers turn to gas, building pressure until it bursts into the air, creating those dark fans of material.
As light shines through carbon dioxide ice on Mars, it heats up its bottom layers, which, rather than melting into a liquid, turn into gas. The buildup gas eventually results in explosive geysers that toss dark fans of debris on to the surface.light shines through carbon dioxide ice on Mars But to see the best examples of the newest fans, researchers will have to wait until December 2025, when spring starts in the southern hemisphere. There, the fans are bigger and more clearly defined.
Spiders
Another difference between ice-related action in the two hemispheres: Once all the ice around some northern geysers has sublimated in summer, what’s left behind in the dirt are scour marks that, from space, look like giant spider legs. Researchers recently re-created this process in a JPL lab.
Sometimes, after carbon dioxide geysers have erupted from ice-covered areas on Mars, they leave scour marks on the surface. When the ice is all gone by summer, these long scour marks look like the legs of giant spiders.NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona Powerful Winds
For Isaac Smith of Toronto’s York University, one of the most fascinating subjects in springtime is the Texas-size ice cap at Mars’ north pole. Etched into the icy dome are swirling troughs, revealing traces of the red surface below. The effect is like a swirl of milk in a café latte.
“These things are enormous,” Smith said, noting that some are a long as California. “You can find similar troughs in Antarctica but nothing at this scale.”
As temperatures rise, powerful winds kick up that carve deep troughs into the ice cap of Mars’ north pole. Some of these troughs are as long as California, and give the Martian north pole its trademark swirls. This image was captured by NASA’s now-inactive Mars Global Surveyor.NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Fast, warm wind has carved the spiral shapes over eons, and the troughs act as channels for springtime wind gusts that become more powerful as ice at the north pole starts to thaw. Just like the Santa Ana winds in Southern California or the Chinook winds in the Rocky Mountains, these gusts pick up speed and temperature as they ride down the troughs — what’s called an adiabatic process.
Wandering Dunes
The winds that carve the north pole’s troughs also reshape Mars’ sand dunes, causing sand to pile up on one side while removing sand from the other side. Over time, the process causes dunes to migrate, just as it does with dunes on Earth.
This past September, Smith coauthored a paper detailing how carbon dioxide frost settles on top of polar sand dunes during winter, freezing them in place. When the frost all thaws away in the spring, the dunes begin migrating again.
Surrounded by frost, these Martian dunes in Mars’ northern hemisphere were captured from above by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter using its HiRISE camera on Sept. 8, 2022. NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona Each northern spring is a little different, with variations leading to ice sublimating faster or slower, controlling the pace of all these phenomena on the surface. And these strange phenomena are just part of the seasonal changes on Mars: the southern hemisphere has its own unique activity.
More About MRO
The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
For more information, visit:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-reconnaissance-orbiter
News Media Contacts
Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-2433
andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
2024-177
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Last Updated Dec 20, 2024 Related Terms
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By NASA
Hubble Space Telescope Hubble Home Overview About Hubble The History of Hubble Hubble Timeline Why Have a Telescope in Space? Hubble by the Numbers At the Museum FAQs Impact & Benefits Hubble’s Impact & Benefits Science Impacts Cultural Impact Technology Benefits Impact on Human Spaceflight Astro Community Impacts Science Hubble Science Science Themes Science Highlights Science Behind Discoveries Hubble’s Partners in Science Universe Uncovered Explore the Night Sky Observatory Hubble Observatory Hubble Design Mission Operations Missions to Hubble Hubble vs Webb Team Hubble Team Career Aspirations Hubble Astronauts News Hubble News Hubble News Archive Social Media Media Resources Multimedia Multimedia Images Videos Sonifications Podcasts E-books Online Activities Lithographs Fact Sheets Glossary Posters Hubble on the NASA App More 35th Anniversary 2 min read
Hubble Spies a Cosmic Eye
This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the spiral galaxy NGC 2566. ESA/Hubble & NASA, D. Thilker This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the spiral galaxy NGC 2566, which sits 76 million light-years away in the constellation Puppis. A prominent bar of stars stretches across the center of this galaxy, and spiral arms emerge from each end of the bar. Because NGC 2566 appears tilted from our perspective, its disk takes on an almond shape, giving the galaxy the appearance of a cosmic eye.
As NGC 2566 appears to gaze at us, astronomers gaze right back, using Hubble to survey the galaxy’s star clusters and star-forming regions. The Hubble data are especially valuable for studying stars that are just a few million years old; these stars are bright at the ultraviolet and visible wavelengths to which Hubble is sensitive. Using these data, researchers can measure the ages of NGC 2566’s stars, which helps piece together the timeline of the galaxy’s star formation and the exchange of gas between star-forming clouds and the stars themselves.
Hubble regularly teams up with other astronomical observatories to examine objects like NGC 2566, including the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescope. Webb data complements Hubble’s by going beyond the infrared wavelengths of light Hubble can see, better defining areas of warm, glowing dust. At even longer wavelengths, the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) of 66 radio telescopes that work together can capture detailed images of the clouds of gas and dust in which stars form. Together, Hubble, Webb, and ALMA provide an overview of the formation, lives, and deaths of stars in galaxies across the universe.
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Claire Andreoli (claire.andreoli@nasa.gov)
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD
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Last Updated Dec 19, 2024 Editor Andrea Gianopoulos Location NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Related Terms
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Since its 1990 launch, the Hubble Space Telescope has changed our fundamental understanding of the universe.
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By NASA
4 min read
NASA Open Science Reveals Sounds of Space
A composite image of the Crab Nebula features X-rays from Chandra (blue and white), optical data from Hubble (purple), and infrared data from Spitzer (pink). This image is one of several that can be experienced as a sonification through Chandra’s Universe of Sound project. X-ray: NASA/CXC/SAO; Optical: NASA/STScI; Infrared: NASA-JPL-Caltech NASA has a long history of translating astronomy data into beautiful images that are beloved by the public. Through its Chandra X-ray Observatory and Universe of Learning programs, NASA brings that principle into the world of audio in a project known as “A Universe of Sound.” The team has converted openly available data from Chandra, supplemented by open data from other observatories, into dozens of “sonifications,” with more on the way.
Following the open science principle of accessibility, “A Universe of Sound” helps members of the public who are blind or low vision experience NASA data in a new sensory way. Sighted users also enjoy listening to the sonifications.
“Open science is this way to not just have data archives that are accessible and incredibly rich, but also to enhance the data outputs themselves,” said Dr. Kimberly Arcand, the visualization scientist and emerging technology lead at Chandra and member of NASA’s Universe of Learning who heads up the sonification team. “I want everybody to have the same type of access to this data that I do as a scientist. Sonification is just one of those steps.”
Data sonification of the Milky Way galactic center, made using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, Hubble Space Telescope, and Spitzer Space Telescope. While the Chandra telescope provides data in X-ray wavelengths for most of the sonifications, the team also took open data from other observatories to create a fuller picture of the universe. Types of data used to create some of the sonifications include visual and ultraviolet light from the Hubble Space Telescope, infrared and visual light from the James Webb Space Telescope, and infrared light from the now-retired Spitzer Space Telescope.
The sonification team, which includes astrophysicist Matt Russo, musician Andrew Santaguida (both of the SYSTEM Sounds project), consultant Christine Malec, and Dr. Arcand, assigned each wavelength of observation to a different musical instrument or synthesized sound to create a symphony of data. Making the separate layers publicly available was important to the team to help listeners understand the data better.
“It’s not just about accessibility. It’s also about reproducibility,” Arcand said. “We’re being very specific with providing all of the layers of sound, and then describing what those layers are doing to make it more transparent and obvious which steps were taken and what process of translation has occurred.”
For example, in a sonification of the supernova remnant Cassiopeia A, modified piano sounds represent X-ray data from Chandra, strings and brass represent infrared data from Webb and Spitzer, and small cymbals represent stars located via visual light data from Hubble.
Data sonification of the Cassiopeia A supernova remnant, made using data from NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, James Webb Space Telescope, and Hubble Space Telescope. The team brought together people of various backgrounds to make the project a success – scientists to obtain and interpret the data, audio engineers to mix the sonifications, and members of the blind and low vision community to direct the product into something that brought a greater understanding of the data.
“Another benefit to open science is it tends to open those pathways of collaboration,” Arcand said. “We invite lots of different community members into the process to make sure we’re creating something that adds value, that adds to the greater good, and that makes the investment in the data worthwhile.”
A documentary about the sonifications called “Listen to the Universe” is hosted on NASA+. Visitors can listen to all the team’s sonifications, including the separate layers from each wavelength of observation, on the Universe of Sound website.
By Lauren Leese
Web Content Strategist for the Office of the Chief Science Data Officer
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Last Updated Dec 17, 2024 Related Terms
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By European Space Agency
Step into the holidays with this picturesque ‘winter wonderland’ scene at the south pole of Mars, captured by ESA’s Mars Express.
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By NASA
5 min read
Preparations for Next Moonwalk Simulations Underway (and Underwater)
Seen at the center of this image, NASA’s retired InSight Mars lander was captured by the agency’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter using its High-Resolution Imagine Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on Oct. 23, 2024.NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona New images taken from space show how dust on and around InSight is changing over time — information that can help scientists learn more about the Red Planet.
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) caught a glimpse of the agency’s retired InSight lander recently, documenting the accumulation of dust on the spacecraft’s solar panels. In the new image taken Oct. 23 by MRO’s High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, InSight’s solar panels have acquired the same reddish-brown hue as the rest of the planet.
After touching down in November 2018, the lander was the first to detect the Red Planet’s marsquakes, revealing details of the crust, mantle, and core in the process. Over the four years that the spacecraft collected science, engineers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which led the mission, used images from InSight’s cameras and MRO’s HiRISE to estimate how much dust was settling on the stationary lander’s solar panels, since dust affected its ability to generate power.
NASA retired InSight in December 2022, after the lander ran out of power and stopped communicating with Earth during its extended mission. But engineers continued listening for radio signals from the lander in case wind cleared enough dust from the spacecraft’s solar panels for its batteries to recharge. Having detected no changes over the past two years, NASA will stop listening for InSight at the end of this year.
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NASA’s InSight Mars lander acquires the same reddish-brown hue as the rest of the planet in a set of images from 2018 to 2024 that were captured by the agency’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter using its High-Resolution Imagine Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera.NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona Scientists requested the recent HiRISE image as a farewell to InSight, as well as to monitor how its landing site has changed over time.
“Even though we’re no longer hearing from InSight, it’s still teaching us about Mars,” said science team member Ingrid Daubar of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. “By monitoring how much dust collects on the surface — and how much gets vacuumed away by wind and dust devils — we learn more about the wind, dust cycle, and other processes that shape the planet.”
Dust Devils and Craters
Dust is a driving force across Mars, shaping both the atmosphere and landscape. Studying it helps scientists understand the planet and engineers prepare for future missions (solar-powered and otherwise), since dust can get into sensitive mechanical parts.
When InSight was still active, scientists matched MRO images of dust devil tracks winding across the landscape with data from the lander’s wind sensors, finding these whirling weather phenomena subside in the winter and pick up again in the summer.
The imagery also helped with the study of meteoroid impacts on the Martian surface. The more craters a region has, the older the surface there is. (This isn’t the case with Earth’s surface, which is constantly recycled as tectonic plates slide over one another.) The marks around these craters fade with time. Understanding how fast dust covers them helps to ascertain a crater’s age.
Another way to estimate how quickly craters fade has been studying the ring of blast marks left by InSight’s retrorocket thrusters during landing. Much more prominent in 2018, those dark marks are now returning to the red-brown color of the surrounding terrain.
HiRISE has captured many other spacecraft images, including those of NASA’s Perseverance and Curiosity rovers, which are still exploring Mars, as well as inactive missions, like the Spirit and Opportunity rovers and the Phoenix lander.
“It feels a little bittersweet to look at InSight now. It was a successful mission that produced lots of great science. Of course, it would have been nice if it kept going forever, but we knew that wouldn’t happen,” Daubar said.
More About MRO and InSight
The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. A division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, JPL manages the MRO project and managed InSight for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
The InSight mission was part of NASA’s Discovery Program, managed by the agency’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the InSight spacecraft, including its cruise stage and lander, and supported spacecraft operations for the mission.
A number of European partners, including France’s Centre National d’Études Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), supported the InSight mission. CNES provided the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument to NASA, with the principal investigator at IPGP (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris). Significant contributions for SEIS came from IPGP; the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany; the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in Switzerland; Imperial College London and Oxford University in the United Kingdom; and JPL. DLR provided the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument, with significant contributions from the Space Research Center (CBK) of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Astronika in Poland. Spain’s Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) supplied the temperature and wind sensors.
For more about the missions:
https://science.nasa.gov/mission/insight
science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-reconnaissance-orbiter
News Media Contacts
Andrew Good
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.
818-393-2433
andrew.c.good@jpl.nasa.gov
Karen Fox / Molly Wasser
NASA Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
karen.c.fox@nasa.gov / molly.l.wasser@nasa.gov
2024-175
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Last Updated Dec 16, 2024 Related Terms
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