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Korolev (Martian Crater)
Korolev is an ice-filled impact crater in the Mare Boreum quadrangle of Mars, located at 73° north latitude and 165° east longitude. It is in diameter and contains about of water ice, comparable in volume to Great Bear Lake in northern Canada. The crater was named after Sergei Korolev (1907–1966), the head Soviet rocket engineer and designer during the Space Race in the 1950s and 1960s. Korolev crater is located on the Planum Boreum, the northern polar plain which surrounds the north polar ice cap, near the Olympia Undae dune field. The crater rim rises about above the surrounding plains. The crater floor lies about below the rim, and is covered by a deep central mound of permanent water ice, up to in diameter. Ice formation The ice is permanently stable because the crater acts as a natural cold trap. The thin Martian air above the crater ice is colder than air surrounding the crater; the colder local atmosphere is also heavier so it sinks to form a protective layer, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mars Express
''Mars Express'' is a space exploration mission being conducted by the European Space Agency (ESA). The ''Mars Express'' mission is exploring the planet Mars, and is the first planetary mission attempted by the agency. "Express" originally referred to the speed and efficiency with which the spacecraft was designed and built. However, "Express" also describes the spacecraft's relatively short interplanetary voyage, a result of being launched when the orbits of Earth and Mars brought them closer than they had been in about 60,000 years. ''Mars Express'' consists of two parts, the ''Mars Express Orbiter'' and ''Beagle 2'', a lander designed to perform exobiology and geochemistry research. Although the lander failed to fully deploy after it landed on the Martian surface, the orbiter has been successfully performing scientific measurements since early 2004, namely, high-resolution imaging and mineralogical mapping of the surface, radar sounding of the subsurface structure down to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olympia Undae
Olympia Undae is a vast dune field in the north polar region of the planet Mars. It consists of a broad "sand sea" or erg that partly rings the north polar plateau (Planum Boreum) from about 120° to 240°E longitude and 78° to 83°N latitude. Stretching about across and covering an area of 470,000 km2, Olympia Undae is the largest continuous dune field on Mars. It is similar in size to the Rub' Al Khali in the Arabian Peninsula, the largest active erg on Earth. Olympia Undae lies within the informally named Borealis basin (also called the north polar basin), the largest of three topographic basins that occur in the northern lowlands of Mars. The average elevation in Olympia Undae is about 4,250 m below datum ( martian "sea" level). The 19-km-diameter crater Jojutla lies near the geographic center of Olympia Undae at 81.63°N latitude and 169.65°E longitude. This crater was named by Andres Eloy Martinez Rojas, Mexican astronomer and science writer. ''Unda'' (pl. ''undae' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
European Space Agency
, owners = , headquarters = Paris, Île-de-France, France , coordinates = , spaceport = Guiana Space Centre , seal = File:ESA emblem seal.png , seal_size = 130px , image = Views in the Main Control Room (12052189474).jpg , size = , caption = , acronym = , established = , employees = 2,200 , administrator = Director General Josef Aschbacher , budget = €7.2 billion (2022) , language = English and French (working languages) , website = , logo = European Space Agency logo.svg , logo_caption = Logo , image_caption = European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) Main Control Room The European Space Agency (ESA; french: Agence spatiale européenne , it, Agenzia Spaziale Europea, es, Agencia Espacial Europea ASE; german: Europäische Weltraumorganisation) is an intergovernmental organisation of 22 member states dedicated to the exploration of space. Established in 1975 and headquartered i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Korolev (lunar Crater)
Korolev is a large lunar impact crater of the walled plain or basin type. It is named for Soviet rocket engineer Sergei Korolev. It lies on the far side of the Moon, and the northern part of its floor crosses the lunar equator. Notable nearby craters include Galois just to the southeast, Das to the south-southeast, Doppler attached to the southern rim, and Kibal'chich to the northeast. Rays of the crater Crookes (to the southwest) cover parts of the basin. The outer rim of Korolev is heavily worn and eroded, with a multitude of small craters lying across the wide rim and the low inner wall. The interior floor is relatively flat compared to the surrounding terrain, but is pock-marked with many craters of varying sizes. The most notable of these interior craters are Korolev M in the southern part of the floor, and Korolev D next to the northeast rim. Within the interior of Korolev is the remains of a second, inner ring. This is roughly half the diameter of the outer wall, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1855 Korolev
1855 Korolev ( ''prov. designation'': ) is a stony Flora asteroid from the inner regions of the asteroid belt, approximately 7 kilometers in diameter. Discovered in 1969, it was later named after Soviet rocket engineer Sergei Korolev. Discovery ''Korolev'' was discovered by Russian astronomer Lyudmila Chernykh at the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory in Nauchnyj on 8 October 1969. On the same night, she also discovered 1856 Růžena. It was first identified as at Goethe Link Observatory in 1961, extending the body's observation arc by 8 years prior to its official discovery observation. Orbit and classification The asteroid orbits the Sun in the inner main-belt at a distance of 2.1–2.4 AU once every 3 years and 4 months (1,231 days). Its orbit has an eccentricity of 0.08 and an inclination of 3 ° with respect to the ecliptic. Naming This minor planet was named in honor of Sergei Korolev (1907–1966), a designer, integrator, organizer and strategic plan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter
260px, MOLA topographic images of the two hemispheres of Mars. This image appeared on the cover of ''Science'' magazine in May 1999. The Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) was one of five instruments on the ''Mars Global Surveyor'' (MGS) spacecraft, which operated in Mars orbit from September 1997 to November 2006. However, the MOLA instrument transmitted altimetry data only until June 2001. The MOLA instrument transmitted infrared laser pulses towards Mars at a rate of 10 times per second, and measured the time of flight to determine the range (distance) of the MGS spacecraft to the Martian surface. The range measurements resulted in precise topographic maps of Mars. The precision maps are applicable to studies in geophysics, geology and atmospheric circulation. MOLA also functioned as a passive radiometer, and measured the radiance of the surface of Mars at 1064 nanometers. Planetary laser altimetry A laser altimeter is an instrument that measures the distance from an orbiti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viking Orbiter
The ''Viking'' program consisted of a pair of identical American space probes, ''Viking 1'' and ''Viking 2'', which landed on Mars in 1976. Each spacecraft was composed of two main parts: an orbiter designed to photograph the surface of Mars from orbit, and a lander designed to study the planet from the surface. The orbiters also served as communication relays for the landers once they touched down. The Viking program grew from NASA's earlier, even more ambitious, Voyager Mars program, which was not related to the successful Voyager deep space probes of the late 1970s. ''Viking 1'' was launched on August 20, 1975, and the second craft, ''Viking 2'', was launched on September 9, 1975, both riding atop Titan IIIE rockets with Centaur upper stages. ''Viking 1'' entered Mars orbit on June 19, 1976, with ''Viking 2'' following on August 7. After orbiting Mars for more than a month and returning images used for landing site selection, the orbiters and landers detached; the lander ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Water On Mars
Almost all water on Mars today exists as ice, though it also exists in small quantities as vapor in the atmosphere. What was thought to be low-volume liquid brines in shallow Martian soil, also called recurrent slope lineae, may be grains of flowing sand and dust slipping downhill to make dark streaks.Recurring Martian Streaks: Flowing Sand, Not Water? Nasa.org 2017-11-20 The only place where water ice is visible at the surface is at the north polar ice cap. Abundant water ice is also present beneath the permanent |
Ice Sheet
In glaciology, an ice sheet, also known as a continental glacier, is a mass of glacial ice that covers surrounding terrain and is greater than . The only current ice sheets are in Antarctica and Greenland; during the Last Glacial Period at Last Glacial Maximum, the Laurentide Ice Sheet covered much of North America, the Weichselian ice sheet covered Northern Europe and the Patagonian Ice Sheet covered southern South America. Ice sheets are bigger than ice shelves or alpine glaciers. Masses of ice covering less than 50,000 km2 are termed an ice cap. An ice cap will typically feed a series of glaciers around its periphery. Although the surface is cold, the base of an ice sheet is generally warmer due to geothermal heat. In places, melting occurs and the melt-water lubricates the ice sheet so that it flows more rapidly. This process produces fast-flowing channels in the ice sheet — these are ice streams. The present-day polar ice sheets are relatively young in geol ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atmosphere Of Mars
The atmosphere of Mars is the layer of gases surrounding Mars. It is primarily composed of carbon dioxide (95%), molecular nitrogen (2.8%), and argon (2%). It also contains trace levels of water vapor, oxygen, carbon monoxide, hydrogen, and noble gases. The atmosphere of Mars is much thinner than Earth's. The average surface pressure is only about which is less than 1% of the Earth's value. The currently thin Martian atmosphere prohibits the existence of liquid water on the surface of Mars, but many studies suggest that the Martian atmosphere was much thicker in the past. The higher density during spring and fall is reduced by 25% during the winter when carbon dioxide partly freezes at the pole caps. The highest atmospheric density on Mars is equal to the density found above the Earth's surface and is ≈0.020 kg/m3. The atmosphere of Mars has been losing mass to space since the planet's core slowed down, and the leakage of gases still continues today. The atmosphere ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cold Trap (astronomy)
A cold trap is a concept in planetary sciences that describes an area cold enough to freeze (trap) volatiles. Cold-traps can exist on the surfaces of airless bodies or in the upper layers of an adiabatic atmosphere. On airless bodies, the ices trapped inside cold-traps can potentially remain there for geologic time periods, allowing us a glimpse into the primordial solar system. In adiabatic atmospheres, cold-traps prevent volatiles (such as water) from escaping the atmosphere into space. Cold-traps on airless planetary bodies The obliquity (axial tilt) of some airless planetary bodies in our solar system such as Mercury, the Moon and Ceres is very close to zero. Harold Urey first noted that depressions or craters located near the poles of these bodies will cast persistent shadows that can survive for geologic time periods (millions–billions of years). The absence of an atmosphere prevents mixing by convection, rendering these shadows extremely cold. If molecules of volatiles ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Polar Ice Cap
A polar ice cap or polar cap is a high-latitude region of a planet, dwarf planet, or natural satellite that is covered in ice. There are no requirements with respect to size or composition for a body of ice to be termed a polar ice cap, nor any geological requirement for it to be over land, but only that it must be a body of solid phase matter in the polar region. This causes the term "polar ice cap" to be something of a misnomer, as the term ice cap itself is applied more narrowly to bodies that are over land, and cover less than 50,000 km2: larger bodies are referred to as ice sheets. The composition of the ice will vary. For example, Earth's polar caps are mainly water ice, whereas Mars's polar ice caps are a mixture of solid carbon dioxide and water ice. Polar ice caps form because high-latitude regions receive less energy in the form of solar radiation from the Sun than equatorial regions, resulting in lower surface temperatures. Earth's polar caps have changed d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
