First results from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter provide provocative new evidence that there were diverse watery habitats capable of supporting life on Mars eons ago. MRO is also finding evidence of recent Martian climate changes only hundreds of years apart that could influence Earth climate studies. MRO has already found unexpectedly narrow banding in the north Martian polar cap, providing a window into periods of rapid and somewhat recent climate change on Mars. The data could help researchers address issues such as global warming on Earth, where there’s debate about whether rapid climate changes are affected by human activity, which is no factor on Mars. The spacecraft’s high-resolution cameras are starting to be focused on several thousand preplanned Martian targets to answer specific questions, in addition to seeking new targets. Some geologic features showing up in HiRISE imagery never seen before on Mars from an orbiter are: small-scale features like joints in rocks where rocks have fractured but not moved apart; evidence for water flow along some of those joints; rocks and boulders at scales smaller than ever seen before; much smaller water gullies than previously seen.
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HiRISE Images