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Breathtaking NASA Image Shows a Magical 'Sea of Dunes' on Mars
https://www.sciencealert.com ^ | 12 APRIL 2021 | JOSHUA ZITSER

Posted on 04/12/2021 10:22:46 AM PDT by Red Badger

On Thursday, NASA released a stunning photo of a sea of dunes on Mars.

It also shows wind-sculpted lines surrounding Mars' frosty northern polar cap.

The section captured in the shot represents an area that is 31 kilometers (19 miles) wide, NASA said. The sea of dunes, however, actually covers an area as large as Texas.

The photo is a false color image, meaning that the colors are representative of temperatures. Blue represents cooler climes, and the shades of yellow mark out "sun-warmed dunes," the US space agency wrote.

The photo is made of a combination of images captured by the Thermal Emission Imaging System instrument on the Mars Odyssey orbiter, NASA wrote.

Captured during the period from December 2002 to November 2004, the breathtaking images have been released to mark the 20th anniversary of Odyssey.

The Mars Odyssey orbiter is a robotic spacecraft circling Mars that uses a thermal imager to detect evidence of water and ice on the planet.

It was launched in 2001, making it the longest-working Mars spacecraft in history.


TOPICS: Arts/Photography; Astronomy; History; Science
KEYWORDS: mars; odyssey
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No worm-sign, yet, though.................
1 posted on 04/12/2021 10:22:46 AM PDT by Red Badger
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To: Red Badger

“The Sleeper Must Awaken!”


2 posted on 04/12/2021 10:23:33 AM PDT by RandallFlagg (Only a moronic, suicidal group would try a Great Purge 2021 on an armed American. We're ready!)
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To: Red Badger

Looks like a bunch of birds jammed together. A Flock of Seagulls?


3 posted on 04/12/2021 10:25:03 AM PDT by LastDayz (A blunt and brazen Texan. I will not be assimilated.)
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To: Red Badger

These pictures are from 20 years ago! Is this the best NASA can do, rehash old pictures?


4 posted on 04/12/2021 10:26:02 AM PDT by Reno89519 (Buy American, Hire American! End All Worker Visa Programs. Replace Visa Workers w/ American Wo)
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To: RandallFlagg

Biden’s naptime?...................


5 posted on 04/12/2021 10:26:55 AM PDT by Red Badger ("We've always been at war with Climate Change, Winston."..............................)
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To: LastDayz

“Looks like a bunch of birds jammed together. A Flock of Seagulls?”

Almost like a space aged love song


6 posted on 04/12/2021 10:30:06 AM PDT by dsrtsage (Complexity is merely simplicity lacking imagination)
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To: Red Badger
Mushrooms


7 posted on 04/12/2021 10:33:25 AM PDT by DannyTN
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To: Red Badger

Anyone here wanna live in that desert chip hole?


8 posted on 04/12/2021 10:44:05 AM PDT by Harpotoo (Being a socialist is a lot easier than having to WORK like the rest of US:-))
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To: DannyTN

Magic Mushrooms?....................


9 posted on 04/12/2021 10:45:45 AM PDT by Red Badger ("We've always been at war with Climate Change, Winston."..............................)
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To: Red Badger

Martian Magic Mushrooms


10 posted on 04/12/2021 10:46:50 AM PDT by DannyTN
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To: Harpotoo

If you look really close, you can see Wendy and DAnny running
Around in it...


11 posted on 04/12/2021 10:49:10 AM PDT by tm61 (Election 2012: we find it IS possible, to polish a turd.)
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To: DannyTN

I guess that’s the morel of the story..


12 posted on 04/12/2021 10:50:01 AM PDT by neverevergiveup
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To: Red Badger

Looks like a Morel Mushroom.


13 posted on 04/12/2021 10:51:49 AM PDT by Carriage Hill (A society grows great when old men plant trees, in whose shade they know they will never sit..)
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To: neverevergiveup
I guess that’s the morel of the story.

Ooohhh!

14 posted on 04/12/2021 10:51:58 AM PDT by DannyTN
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To: Red Badger
First thing that came to mind!


15 posted on 04/12/2021 10:54:16 AM PDT by HombreSecreto (The life of a repo man is always intense)
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To: carriage_hill

Morel less.................


16 posted on 04/12/2021 11:05:14 AM PDT by Red Badger ("We've always been at war with Climate Change, Winston."..............................)
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To: HombreSecreto

17 posted on 04/12/2021 11:40:24 AM PDT by BushCountry (thinks he needs a gal whose name doesn't end in ".jpg")
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To: Red Badger

I just love these puns! Why, if I was holding a pun contest I couldn’t planet any better!


18 posted on 04/12/2021 11:43:16 AM PDT by Mister Tee (The liberals "hail mary"...coronavirus)
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To: Mister Tee

I call it ‘Morel Equivalency’..............................


19 posted on 04/12/2021 11:54:58 AM PDT by Red Badger ("We've always been at war with Climate Change, Winston."..............................)
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To: Red Badger
That actually resembles the Gobi Desert from about 39 thousand feet. That's the scenery from the air for a good hour and a half of flight time Guangzhou to Urumqi. Never saw anything like it anywhere else.

PS: No Spice Worms there either.

20 posted on 04/12/2021 12:39:00 PM PDT by katana
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