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Fundraising Task Force
PBS "The Mars Prospect"
Image of the day: The Frost Report
The HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft spotted these changing seasonal frost patterns inside the Louth Crater on Mars. The crater, located at 70 north latitude, contains a mound covered by water frost that lasts throughout the year, unusual for this northern latitude.
Seasonal frost composed of carbon dioxide instead of water, deposited during
northern
winter, can also reach this latitude. At the time this image was acquired in
northern spring,
the carbon dioxide frost was in the process of sublimating back into the
atmosphere (i.e.,
changing directly from ice to gas).
Sand dunes near the edge of the mound (not visible here) appear clear of frost
in the
summer.
Eleventh International Mars Society Convention
Carol Stoker - Phoenix Mars Lander Imaging Team
