LOOK! NASA TAKES A STUNNING VIEW OF MARS' "PRIME MERIDIAN"

 

The wind-carved ridges provide another fascinating sight.

 

The Airy Crater is a pockmark located just a few degrees south of Mars' equator. It has a diameter of around 27 miles, and whatever asteroid formed it delivered a powerful punch. Within Airy, however, is Airy-0, a sub-crater located exactly at 0 degrees Longitude.

 

NASA published the view of Airy-0 on Instagram, which was considered to be the exact location where astronomers would name the prime meridian, where East and West measurements begin. The line, unlike an equator, is drawn at random. However, it aids scientists in determining coordinates. As a subfeature of Airy, Airy-0 felt like the ideal place to put it.

 

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A number of ridges, which are Martian sand dunes, can also be seen in the crater. According to Paul Byrne, a planetary scientist at Washington University, these dunes are generated by Mars' winds depositing small particles, just as they are on Earth. The interior of the crater now resembles the skin of a melon. Given the high levels of hazardous perchlorates in some places of Mars, you should definitely eat it.

 

Byrne believes the erosion near the crater's bottom rim is caused by mass wasting, similar to a rock or landslide. Other craters on Mars exhibit features that are thought to be related to water or dry ice, but this does not appear to be the case here. "If there were any water or CO2 ices there, they've long ago sublimated," Bryne tells. "I'm not sure if they'd survive the impact formation event itself."

 

On October 27, 2021, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took this photo. MRO has been orbiting Mars since 2006, serving as the primary set of eyes on the planet from space as well as one of two communications relayers for ground-based Mars missions, alongside the 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter.

 

Both spacecraft have been orbiting Mars for a long time, and while they are still operational, NASA intends to send a new orbiter as a backup. However, an early plan to launch one in the fall of 2022 has been shelved in favour of a mission that will launch in the late 2020s and will be linked with a Mars sample return. The Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution orbiter may also be dropped from orbit in the future to function as a communications relay.