Fresh photos from Mars. Photos of strange objects discovered by NASA on Mars. A crab monster crawls across Mars

August 6, 2012 back the Curiosity rover after an eight month journey. The device covered 567 million kilometers on its way to the Red Planet.

During this time, the Curiosity rover made discoveries that indicate the existence of favorable conditions for the life of microbes billions of years ago, did countless works with different instruments, drilled, fired a laser, photographed, sent 468,926 images to Earth.

Images from the Curiosity rover and news from the Red Planet over the past few years.

2. From a distant distance, the surface of Mars looks reddish-red due to the red dust that is contained in the atmosphere. Nearby, the color is yellowish-brown with an admixture of golden, brown, reddish-brown and even green, depending on the color of the planet's minerals. In ancient times, people easily distinguished Mars from other planets, and also associated it with war and composed all kinds of legends. The Egyptians called Mars "Har Decher", which meant "red." (Photo by JPL-Caltech | MSSS | NASA):

3. The Curiosity rover is very fond of taking selfies. How does he do it, because there is no one to remove it from the side?

The rover has four color cameras, they all differ in a different set of optics, but only one of them is suitable for. Have automatic hand dubbed MAHLI 5 degrees of freedom, which gives the camera considerable flexibility and lets the camera fly around the Martian rover from all sides. The movement of this hand-camera is controlled by a specialist from the Earth. The main task is to follow a certain sequence of movement of the automatic hand so that the camera can take a sufficient number of shots for the subsequent stitching of the panorama. The scenario for preparing each such selfie is first worked out on Earth on a special test module called Maggie. (Photo by NASA):

4. Martian sunset, April 15, 2015. At noon, the sky of Mars is yellow-orange. The reason for this difference from colors of the earth's sky - the properties of the thin, rarefied atmosphere of Mars containing suspended dust. On Mars, Rayleigh scattering of rays (which on Earth is the cause blue sky) plays an insignificant role, its effect is weak, but manifests itself in the form of a blue glow at sunrise and sunset when the light passes through a thicker layer of air. (Photo by JPL-Caltech | MSSS | Texas A&M Univ via Getty | NASA):

5. Wheels of the rover on September 9, 2012. (Photo by JPL-Caltech | Malin Space Science Systems | NASA):

6. And this is a photo on April 18, 2016. It can be seen how the workaholic's “shoe” has worn out. From August 2012 to January last year, the Curiosity rover covered 15.26 km. (Photo by JPL-Caltech MSSS | NASA):

7. We continue to watch images of the Curiosity rover. Namib Dune is an area of dark sand made up of dunes to the northwest of Mount Sharp. (Photo by JPL-Caltech | NASA):

8. Two-thirds of the surface of Mars is occupied by light areas, called continents, about a third - by dark areas, called seas. And this is the foot of Mount Sharp.

Sharpe is a Martian mountain located in Gale Crater. The height of the mountain is about 5 kilometers. On Mars, there is also the highest mountain in Solar system- the extinct volcano Olympus, 26 km high. The diameter of Olympus is about 540 km. (Photo by JPL-Caltech | MSSS | NASA):

9. Photo from the orbiter, here and the rover is visible. (Photo by JPL-Caltech | Univ. Of Arizona | NASA):

10. How did this unusual Ireson Hill on Mars form? His story has become the subject of research. Its shape and two-tone structure make it one of the most unusual hills around which an automated rover passed. It reaches a height of about 5 meters, and its base measures about 15 meters. (Photo by JPL-Caltech | MSSS | NASA0:

11. This is how the "traces" of the rover on Mars look. (Photo by JPL-Caltech | NASA):

12. The hemispheres of Mars are quite different in the nature of the surface. In the southern hemisphere, the surface is 1–2 km above average and is densely cratered. This part of Mars resembles lunar continents. In the north, most of the surface is below average, with few craters and relatively smooth plains, likely from lava flooding and erosion. (Photo by JPL-Caltech | MSSS | NASA):

13. Another masterful selfie. (Photo JPL-Caltech | MSSS | NASA):

14. In the foreground, about three kilometers from the rover, is a long ridge teeming with iron oxide. (Photo by JPL-Caltech | MSSS | NASA):

15. A look at the path that the rover has made, February 9, 2014. (Photo by JPL-Caltech | MSSS | NASA):

16. The hole drilled by the Curiosity rover. This color of the rock beneath the red surface is not immediately apparent. The rover's drill is capable of making holes 1.6 cm in diameter and 5 cm deep in the rock. Samples taken by the manipulator can also be examined with SAM and CheMin instruments located in the front of the rover hull. (Photo by JPL-Caltech | MSSS | NASA):

17. Another selfie, the freshest taken on January 23, 2018. (Photo by NASA | JPL-Caltech | MSSS):

Impact crater about three kilometers in size

The surface of Mars is a dry and barren wasteland covered with old volcanoes and craters.

Dunes through the eyes of Mars Odyssey

Photos show that she may have been hidden by a single sandstorm, which shelters her from observation for several days. Despite the formidable conditions, Mars has been better studied by scientists than any other world in the solar system, except our own, of course.

Since the planet has almost the same slope as the Earth, and it has an atmosphere, then there are seasons. The surface temperature is about -40 degrees Celsius, but at the equator it can reach +20. There are traces of water on the surface of the planet, and features of the relief formed by water.

Scenery

Let's take a closer look at the surface of Mars, information provided by numerous orbiters, as well as rovers, allows you to fully understand what the red planet is. Ultra-crisp images show us dry, rocky terrain covered in fine red dust.

Red dust is actually iron oxide. Everything from the ground to small stones and rocks is covered in this dust.

Since Mars has neither water nor confirmed tectonic activity, its geological features remain virtually unchanged. Compared to the Earth's surface, which is undergoing constant changes associated with water erosion and tectonic activity.

Surface of Mars video

The terrain of Mars is composed of a variety of geological structures. It is home to those known throughout the solar system. That's not all. The most famous canyon in the solar system is the Mariner Valley, also on the surface of the Red Planet.

Look at the pictures from the rovers, which show a lot of details that are not visible from orbit.

If you have a desire to look at Mars online, then

Photo surface

The images below are from Curiosity, a rover that is actively exploring the red planet.

To view in full screen mode, click on the button in the upper right.

Panorama transmitted by the Curiosity rover

This panorama represents the section of Gale Crater in which Curiosity conducts its research. The high hill in the center is Mount Sharpe, to the right of it you can see the ring shaft of the crater in the haze.

To view it in full size, save the image to your computer!

These photographs of the surface of Mars are from 2014 and are in fact the most recent at the moment.

Of all the features of the landscape of Mars, perhaps the most widely publicized are the mesas of Sidonia. Early photographs of the Sedonia region showed the hill in the form of a “human face”. However, later pictures, with more high resolution, presented us with an ordinary hill.

Dimensions of the planet

Mars is a pretty small world. Its radius is half that of Earth, and it has a mass that is less than one tenth of ours.

Dunes, shot by MRO

More about Mars: the surface of the planet consists mainly of basalt covered with a thin layer of dust, iron oxide, which has the consistency of talc. Iron oxide (rust, as it is commonly called) gives the planet its characteristic red hue.

Volcanoes

In ancient times, volcanoes erupted continuously on the planet for millions of years. Due to the fact that Mars does not have plate tectonics, huge volcanic mountains have formed. Mount Olympus was similarly formed and is the largest mountain in the solar system. It is three times taller than Everest. Such volcanic activity may also partly explain the deepest valley in the solar system. The Mariner Valley is believed to have formed as a result of the decay of material between two points on the surface of Mars.

Craters

Animation showing changes around a crater in the Northern Hemisphere

There are many impact craters on Mars. Most of these craters remain intact because there is no force on the planet to destroy them. The planet lacks wind, rain, and plate tectonics that cause erosion on Earth. The atmosphere is much thinner than that of Earth, so even small meteorites can fly to the ground.

The current surface of Mars is very different from what it was billions of years ago. Orbiter data showed that there are many minerals and traces of erosion on the planet, which indicate the presence of liquid water in the past. It is possible that small oceans and long rivers once complemented the landscape. The last remnants of this water were trapped underground in the form of ice.

Total number of craters

There are hundreds of thousands of craters on Mars, 43,000 of which are more than 5 kilometers in diameter. Hundreds of them were named after scientists or famous astronomers. Craters less than 60 km across have been named after cities on Earth.

The most famous is Hellas Basin. It is 2,100 km across and up to 9 km deep. It is surrounded by emissions that stretch for 4000 km from the center.

Crater formation

Most of the craters on Mars probably appeared during the late "heavy bombardment" of our solar system, which occurred approximately 4.1 to 3.8 billion years ago. During this period, a large number of craters formed on all celestial bodies in the solar system. Evidence of this event is the study of lunar samples, which showed that most of the rocks were created during this time interval. Scientists cannot agree on the reasons for this bombing. According to the theory, the orbit of the gas giant changed and as a result, the orbits of objects in the main asteroid belt and Kuiper belt became more eccentric, reaching the orbits of the terrestrial planets.

You all probably know that in August 2012 a truly grandiose event in the space industry took place. An entire scientific laboratory has successfully landed on the surface of Mars - the 900 kg Curiosity rover.

The landing and operation of Curiosity can be considered one of the most successful missions.

Typical landscape of the red planet

The equipment allows you to regularly send new photos from Mars, as well as conduct various geological, chemical and weather studies of the red planet.

Today, you will not surprise anyone with a new photo of Mars from the Curiosity rover from Gale Crater, but during those 668 Martian days that it should surf the planet's surface, we will surely hear more than once about many new and interesting discoveries.

He sends all the photos we see from Gale Crater.

This place was not chosen by chance for landing. If nothing happens, the rover can theoretically work for 14 years on the surface of the planet.

The main goals of scientists are to study the geological history of the planet, as well as to search for possible life or its traces in the past.

The rover is equipped with many cameras and even navigation cameras. All pictures are obtained in black and white, while you can take pictures through various light filters. By combining the photos obtained through the filters, they can be made colored, however, they will slightly differ from the color that we would see with our own eyes.

In the meantime, the rover drills the surface and shoots a laser at the stones, we offer you a look at the most interesting images. Happy viewing.

Rover wheel trail

People love mysterious space stories. And in the top of cosmic curiosity are traditionally mysterious objects on Mars. There, rock formations turn into faces, shadows - into UFO landing sites, and pieces from the rover - into Donald Trump's head.

6. "The fish of my dreams."

There is a fish rock on Mars, but no fish there. Curiosity caught this "catch" in the lens of its camera, and ufologists and supporters of the theory of the existence of the Martians were delighted. But this is just a play of stone shapes and lighting. NASA says this about possible fossilized bones and animals on Mars: "Mars probably never had enough oxygen in the atmosphere for complex organisms."

7. Whirlwind.

A strange vortex appears in this Martian landscape captured by another NASA rover, Opportunity, in 2016. This is actually a real dusty vortex, just like on Earth. Only Martian dust eddies can be up to 50 times wider and up to 10 times higher than those on Earth.

8. Donut.

It was not, and then it appeared. The donut-like object appeared rather unexpectedly in a series of before and after images of Opportunity. Some people thought it was an alien formation, but NASA announced that the sudden appearance of the "donut" was due to the fact that Opportunity knocked out a stone while driving over it. In general, there is no fast food on Mars.

9. Waffle.

Donut is not the only "food" formation on the red planet. Images from Mars orbit in late 2014 showed a strange waffle-shaped island. The 1.2-mile waffle is located in the lava flow area. This is not evidence of giant waffles on Mars, but it looks a lot like a lava formation.

10. Sequin.

If something glitters somewhere, it already attracts attention. If something glitters on Mars, these are mysterious signals. In 2012, Curiosity spotted a bright, shiny object in the faded Martian soil. To understand the scale: the entire image covers an area of only 4 centimeters across. NASA scientists have confirmed that this luster is just some kind of quartz or something.

11. Spoon.

See the spoon in the center of the image? A long handle stretched out over the landscape casting a shadow below? Is this proof that some giant chef is using this tool to make the donuts and waffles mentioned above? Unfortunately no. Mars does not have the same strong gravity as on Earth, so such fragile rocky formations can exist for a long time without collapsing under their own weight.

12. Metal construction.

Seekers of the Unusual on Mars have edited the image taken by Curiosity in early 2013 to emphasize the object, which looks like a piece of metal. The likely explanation is far less impressive than a metal racing ship or an iron monster. The object is likely part of a meteorite or the result of a play of light.

13. Bright light on the horizon of Mars.

Curiosity posted this curious photograph in 2014 that showed light on the horizon of Mars. The image excited UFO fans who speculated that it could be evidence of alien activity.

NASA, as usual with scientists, disappointed them, explaining that all the pictures with the mysterious "beacon" were taken with one camera. Other lenses did not reflect this point. Perhaps a cosmic particle hit the camera matrix, as a result of which part of the sensor was "blinded", and a white spot appeared in the images.

14. Mini meteorite.

In October 2016, Curiosity discovered a small iron meteorite that was initially thought to be a strange rock. The stone looks small, palm-sized, but a close-up reveals its bizarre surface. The researchers called it the "stone egg" and were wrong.

A micro-imaging camera (ChemCam: Remote Micro-Imager), which the rover is equipped with, was pointed at the egg. And they determined the approximate composition. According to scientists from the University of Arizona (Arizona State Universitу), the egg consists of an alloy of nickel and iron.

15. A strange deep pit.

NASA has not given a definitive answer about this strange circular pit captured by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2017. But, most likely, this is a crater formed due to the impact of a meteorite. The pit is located in the region of the planet's south pole. At the end of summer, due to the short daylight hours, the pit stands out sharply from the surrounding landscape due to the play of light and shadow.

16. A female statue?

The Spirit rover captured this image in 2007, showing a view of rock formations on the surface of Mars. One of them stood out. It looked like Bigfoot. And the female sex.

17. Another woman on Mars.

As you already understood, there is no shortage of women on Mars. That is, there are at least two of them. This image from Curiosity excited alien theorists in early 2015. The small object inside the red circle looks like a figurine of a lady in a dress. All it takes to see it is a developed imagination.

18. The monster crab crawls across Mars.

Again Curiosity snapshot from July 2015. He was not noticed for a long time until a tiny fragment of the image was enlarged in one Facebook group. And what looked like a strange crab-like monster lurking in the shadows appeared. He is also very similar to Cthulhu. In any case, those who saw Cthulhu say so. And these will not lie once again.

Of course, the crab on Mars is just a play of light and shadow on stone. But it's so boring ...

19. The face of an ancient god.

Left is a cropped image from the Opportunity rover. On the right is a neo-Assyrian goddess statue from the British Museum. Noticed the similarities? And some UFO fans do too. As with all the mysteries of Mars that look like objects from Earth, this is a combination of human imagination and the play of light, and not a greeting from an extraterrestrial civilization with a penchant for stone carving.

20. Kissing face.

As you already know, there are many women on Mars. Therefore, this man looks not accidental, stretching out his lips in a kind of kiss. This stone was found in a photo from Curiosity by fans of the theory of habitable Mars at the end of 2016.

21. How to find a "face" on Mars.

In a short time and with a minimum of effort, anyone can find rock formations similar to human or alien faces on Mars. Here are two "faces" with their features. This image is from Curiosity, which captured this landscape in late 2016.

All it takes is imagination to harness the power of pareidolia, a phenomenon that makes people see faces and shapes in inanimate objects.

On August 7, 2012, Curiosity, a complex 900-kilogram rover equipped with software, began to operate on the surface of Mars. last word technology. In the future, Curiosity may become one of the most successful space missions: scientific equipment on board is designed to study in detail the geological history of Mars and shed light on the question of life on this still mysterious planet.Despite the fact that the main work of the apparatus will end after 668 Martian days, in general Curiosity is able to operate at least 14 years old

Normal Martian landscape by day

Part of the Gale Crater mosaic

Curiosity wheel trail on the sand of Mars

Sand, dust and stone called Burwash. The picture was taken from a distance of 11.5 cm from the stone, the size of the picture is 7.6 by 5.7 cm

Sandy sediment from the slope of which Curiosity took soil samples. On the left, we see a raw image of a dune showing what it looks like on Mars, where the sky is often reddish due to a lot of dust. On the right, the image has been processed to show what the same area would look like on Earth. The size of the rounded stone above the center of the image is about 20 cm

"Blueberries" are small spherical inclusions in the Martian soil. The size of the balls is about 3 mm, they contain a large amount of red iron ore, which is formed in the presence of water

The picture shows the bottom of the vehicle, all six wheels and the tracks left by them. In the foreground - two pairs of black and white HAZCAM navigation cameras

Curiosity has just climbed the Rocknest Dune to take the first samples of the Red Planet's soil. The picture was taken on October 3, 2012, on the 57th day of operation of the device

MAHLI's camera looks at the Curiosity wheel.

Morning on Mars

Dark gray Martian rock. The image was taken with a MAHLI camera from a distance of 27 cm. The image area is 16 by 12 cm, and the resolution is 105 microns per pixel. Despite its impressive clarity, scientists have not been able to resolve the granules or crystals that make up the stone.

The "pyramid" on Mars is a stone called Jake Matijevic. The picture was taken on September 21, 2012.

Studying the "Pyramid" up close. Chemical analysis of the stone showed that it is rich in alkali metals, as well as in halogens - chlorine and bromine. Judging by the spectrum, this stone is a mosaic of individual grains of minerals, including pyroxene, feldspar and olivine. In general, the composition of the stone is very atypical for Martian stones.

Color image of the "pyramid" on Mars. The image has changed the white balance to reveal the differences in the blotches on the stone.

On the 55th day of stay on Mars. The focus of Curiosity is a sandy sediment called Rocknest, from the slope of which the rover took the first soil samples.

Remains of an ancient stream bed on Mars. The fact that water once flowed in this place is evidenced by many pieces of gravel and rocks, which have a smooth rounded shape. In addition, the size of some of these pebbles suggests that they could only have been carried by the flow of water. Rock chipped like a broken sidewalk is of sedimentary origin

Looking back at the path traveled

Evening on Mars. The picture was taken on the 49th day of Curiosity's operation.

Martian stone, received from scientists the name Et-Zen (Et-Then). The image was taken by the MAHLI camera (Mars Hand Lens Imager) on October 29, 2012, on the 82nd day of Curiosity's stay on the Red Planet. The rock was photographed from a distance of 40 cm, the width of the image is only 25 cm.At-Zen was found near the left front wheel of the device when Curiosity was preparing to take soil samples in the Rocknest site

Rocks on Mars. Mosaic taken by the MAHLI camera on the 76th day of Curiosity's stay on the Mysterious Planet