July 16, 2008

• mind blowing shit

  Incredible pictures of Mars - and they look surprisingly like some parts of Earth
  

  By
  Graham Smith
  Last updated at 7:31 PM on 15th July 2008

  Scientists have released some of the most detailed photographs of Mars ever taken.

  The
  pictures, which were snapped from a European Space Agency (ESA) probe,
  show a region of the Red Planet called the Echus Chasma.

  The
  deeply-incised area is a network of valleys that planetary geologists
  believe were created by channelling groundwater that once flowed on
  Mars' surface.

  
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  Spectacular: A view of Echus Chasma, one of the largest water source regions on Mars, showing a network of valleys

  Perhaps
  most surprising is the remarkable resemblance the region bears to the
  valleys found in the driest areas on Earth, in particular the Grand
  Canyon.

  The Echus Chasma is located just north of the Mars' equator.
  

  The
  incision is approximately 100 kilometres long and 10 kilometres wide in
  the Lunae Planum high plateau north of Valles Marineris.

  
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  Barren: Located on the eastern part of Echus Chasma is this cliff which is up to 4,000 metres high

  The photographs were taken by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board the ESA's Mars Express probe.

  ESA officials said the canyons in the photographs are approximately 62 miles long, 6.2 miles wide and 3,000 feet deep.

  There is also evidence of two impact craters, each five miles wide, and a 15-mile long magma dyke.

  
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  Echus Chasma is the source region of Kasei Valles, which extends 3,000km to the north

  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1035440/Incredible-pictures-Mars--look-surprisingly-like-parts-Earth.html

  • 12:10 am
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