Diverse dune landscape on desert planet Mars

DLR German Aerospace Center
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Diverse dune landscape on desert planet Mars


Two impact craters with expanses of dunes, located deep in the southern highlands of the Red Planet, can be seen in these images acquired by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board the ESA Mars Express spacecraft. The HRSC was developed and is operated by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum fuer Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR).

There are no sand dunes without wind. This simple truth applies to dunes formed on Earth as much as it does to those on Mars, or even Saturn's icy moon Titan. Dunes are therefore typical indicators of wind activity. We can learn a lot about wind as a force of design on Mars, simply by analysing the form and structure of the dunes.


Full article with images: http://www.dlr.de/dlr/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-10081/151_read-24431/year-all/#/gallery/28569


DLR Mars Express special:
http://www.dlr.de/en/mars

DLR special - Ten years HRSC camera on Mars Express:
http://www.mex10.dlr.de/index-en.html

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