Stuff like this is
pretty interesting because it provides an obvious landing target for future
missions.
The structure may
well provide a superior site for a manned base than out on open plains which
are often a bad idea on our own world.
Craters serve the same purpose, but a deep site that may even be part of
a tunnel is highly attractive for building in.
It may be also a great spot to accumulate sublimated water. It will at least be a better controlled environment.
It is also different
than anything else we are likely see.
Giant Mars Pits Revealed in Sharp Detail
Image
courtesy NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Looking like space slug hidey-holes,
huge pits gouge a bright, dusty plain near the Martianvolcano Ascraeus Mons
in a picture taken between October 1 and November 1 by NASA's Mars
Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
Released in December, the
image is among a series of new views snapped by MRO's HiRISE camera that show
intriguing geological features on Mars. Each image covers a strip of Martian
ground 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) wide and can reveal a detail about as small as
a desk—and so far no sign of Star
Wars monsters.
MRO's sister orbiter, Mars Odyssey, first noticed the two deep
pits—which are about 590 feet (180 meters) and 1,017 feet (310 meters),
respectively—a year earlier using its infrared camera, THEMIS. (Related: "Seven Great Mars Pictures From Record-Breaking
Probe.")
"When compared to the
surrounding surface, the dark interiors of the holes gave off heat at night but
were cool by day," said Alfred McEwen,
principal investigator on the HiRISE camera.
"So we then decided to
target these with MRO because this thermal information may be evidence for
these being caves—but the jury is still out on that."
The MRO has been studying
Mars since 2006, beaming back more data than all other past and current
missions to the planet combined.
—Andrew Fazekas
Published December 21, 2010
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