Spacers

Another Mars Avalanche!

In a blatant outburst of nostalgia, the HiRISE satellite in orbit around Mars revisited an old favorite that was feature on the very first Spacers post - an actual photograph of an avalanche in progress on Mars!


This time HiRISE has caught a snap of the actual debris falling. To give it a bit of perspective, the pale blue area at the bottom left is Martian ice, in this case the most likely substance is carbon dioxide, or dry ice. We are looking down the cliff almost vertically which makes it a pretty sheer face. I haven't seen the radar data but I would guestimate the height in hundreds of meters.

It was cool the first time I saw it, and it's just as cool this time. Mars is a planet we really should be exploring in person, and images like this can only serve to inspire us to try harder and make that first step.

You can check out more images from HiRISE at: http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/

SpaceHead