Mars' Victoria Crater Seen from New Angle

livescience ^ | 13 August 2009

[JoeProBono]

An image of the Victoria Crater in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The image was captured at more of a sideways angle than earlier images of this crater. This view is similar to what would be observed by looking out the window of an airplane flying over Mars. The camera pointing was 22 degrees east of straight down (east is at the top of the image).

[JoeProBono]

An Oblique View of Victoria Crater (ESP_013954_1780) Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

Victoria Crater was explored by Opportunity rover for more than a Mars year; HiRISE images have supported surface exploration and contributed to joint scientific studies.

HiRISE stereo data were used to measure slopes and help select safe paths for the intrepid rover. The most interesting exposures of geologic strata are in the steep walls of the crater, difficult to image from the overhead perspective of orbiting spacecraft like MRO. However, MRO can point to the sides, and did so in this case to get a better view of layers in the west-facing and sunlit slopes of the crater.

Especially prominent is a bright band near the top of the crater wall, interpreted by some MER scientists as having formed by diagenesis (chemical and physical changes in sediments after deposition). This bright band separates the bedrock from the impact ejecta deposits of Victoria Crater.

[JerseyJohn61]

Space-Astro pings

[Alex Murphy]

What a hole.

[kik5150]

[nathanbedford]

Joe, I started reading this thread because I thought it was about Victoria Carter and I was looking for the pics and all I got was a Rorschach.

[SIDENET]

Victoria Crater sounds like a porn star name.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

We now know Victoria’s secret.

[SJSAMPLE]

Can you see the American flag from there?

[spokeshave]

Spice worms on Mars

[JoeProBono]

[HuntsvilleTxVeteran]

SAK!

[Daffynition]

Stunning image!

[JoeProBono]

HAHAHAHA!!!!

Crater Cat - better than Ceiling Cat!

[JoeProBono]

[immadashell]

Trademark infringement? Reese's or Mars? lol

[Daffynition]

Can you enable your zoom on that image?

[JoeProBono]

[Daffynition]

OMG! Bigfoot has fleas!

[SunkenCiv]

Splash! Thanks JPB.

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[Fred Nerks]

http://www.thunderbolts.info/tpod/2006/arch06/061117victoriacrater.htm. Victoria Crater on Mars

Nov 17, 2006

Sharply scalloped walls, together with cleanly cut ridges and valleys on its floor, make Mars’ Victoria crater an ideal test of the electric discharge model of crater formation.

The image above was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It shows “Victoria crater,” whose features can only deepen the growing mysteries of cratering patterns on Mars. It certainly does not look anything like the effect of an impact event, but that is the interpretation given it by NASA. The NASA release, though referring to “a distinctive scalloped shape to its rim,” can only explain this remarkable configuration in terms of “erosion and downhill movement of crater wall material.”

But look at the high-resolution image here. The required debris along the base of the cliffs is simply not there. Direct observation suggests that the sharply scalloped walls are a pristine record of the original causative event....

HIGH RESOLUTION IMAGE (huge)

http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/jpeg/PIA08813.jpg