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Probe Captures Avalanche on Mars

Posted by Zonk on from the not-a-recommended-vacation-spot dept.

mdekato writes "MSNBC reports that NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has captured an avalanche on Mars' surface as it happened. Very good still images show what must have been an awesome sight. 'The full image reveals features as small as a desk in a strip of terrain 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) wide and more than 10 times that long, at 84 degrees north latitude. Reddish layers known to be rich in water ice make up the face of a steep slope more than 2,300 feet (700 meters) tall, running the length of the image. Mars' north pole is covered by a cap of ice, and it even snows there. The scientists suspect that more ice than dust probably makes up the material that fell from the upper portion of the scarp.'"

11 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. those poor martians by jollyreaper · · Score: 4, Funny

    That's what they get for straying off the marked path.

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  2. As small as a what? by ricebowl · · Score: 5, Funny

    'The full image reveals features as small as a desk in a strip of terrain 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) wide and more than 10 times that long, at 84 degrees north latitude.

    I know that we've sent various missions to mars; rovers, probes, environmental impact among other what-have-you; but, and this, I feel is important, when did we send the office furniture?

    1. Re:As small as a what? by jaymzter · · Score: 5, Funny

      My question is, if there's an avalanche on Mars, does it make any noise? If so, what color?

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  3. In Martian News Today by Hoi+Polloi · · Score: 5, Funny

    "A skier died in an avalanche today while attempting a decent of the dangerous Xplplplt Cliffs near the North Pole. Search and rescue teams found the victim's body which suffered 8 broken limbs, damage to 2 heads, and 1 missing attenna. The victim did not appear to be wearing a teleporter as recommended for skiing in the backcountry."

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  4. Links to hi-res images by jdb2 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Here are the links at which all the images taken by the HiRISE instrument can be found from low res to high res raw data :

    http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/press/20080303a.html/
    http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_007338_2640/


    jdb2

    1. Re:Links to hi-res images by jdb2 · · Score: 5, Informative

      I'm replying to myself again as in my clumsiness I hit "Reply" instead of "Reply to this".
      Anyway, remove the slashes from the ends of the URLs. My brain was in HTML mode. :P


      jdb2

  5. The original link, with many more stunning shots by sighted · · Score: 5, Informative

    The original story from NASA contains some fascinating additional details, a beautiful picture of the Earth and the Moon taken from Mars orbit, and links to thousands of other Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter images that were also released yesterday.

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  6. Wait, what? by katterjohn · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "It's great to see something so dynamic on Mars. A lot of what we see there hasn't changed for millions of years."

    Mars has dust storms quite often, with some covering the entire planet. How would this have not changed anything during millions of years?

  7. He would have been OK, except by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 4, Funny

    he got hit my a flying desk.

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    1. Re:He would have been OK, except by Gazzonyx · · Score: 5, Funny

      I guess Balmer is stronger on Mars...

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  8. Why post a third party summation - Go Direct NASA by icebike · · Score: 5, Informative

    It always amazes me that people will post the most slimmed down third party
    summation of a detailed article that appears on a non-commercial site:

    http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/multimedia/mro20080303a.html

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