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Amazing Mars: Wind Plays Starring Role in 11,664 New Mars Images
By Robert Roy Britt
Senior Science Writer
posted: 07:00 am ET
22 April 2003
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Sci Tues for 4/22 The barren and windswept landscape of Mars comes into clearer focus with NASA's release of thousands of new photos from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft. The pictures show tornado-like "dust devils" marching across the Red Planet, storms brewing and changing with the seasons, and strangely shaped dunes that result from sand blowing monotonously in the wind. The new batch of photos, taken between February and July 2002 and released earlier this month, brings the total number of images in the online MGS gallery to more than 123,000. The craft has been orbiting Mars since Sept. 12, 1997. Its photos have fueled increased speculation about water that seems to have once flowed on Mars and might still do so today. Among the many examples of how wind sculpts Mars is a new photo of sand dunes in the Wirtz Crater. Anyone who has ever seen a horseshoe crab might notice a strong resemblance. Others might recall fish scales. Scientists say the odd shapes of the dunes were caused by wind constantly battering the landscape, blowing sand in one direction. MGS images have also been used to help determine where two NASA robots will land in 2004. "Without the new perspectives provided by Mars Global Surveyor, the critical scientific and engineering assessment of potential landing sites for the Mars Exploration Rovers would not have been possible," said James Garvin, NASA's lead scientist for Mars exploration at NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C. The orbiting spacecraft is now in an extended portion of its mission. It was joined in 2001 by NASA's Odyssey probe, which has found firm evidence water ice across much of Mars. Scientists are still searching for stronger signs of liquid water and -- the ultimate goal -- biological signatures. Meanwhile, MGS continues to plug along, making our general picture of Mars much clearer. "Indeed, there remain new discoveries to be made about the history of water, climate variability, and character of future landing sites from the continuing flow of images, spectra, and related information from the Global Surveyor," Garvin said.
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