NASA’s Mars Orbiter takes a stunning photo of frozen sand dunes in the northern planes

NASA has released a new image made by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that shows amazing frozen sand dunes on a 3-mile crater on the planet’s northern planes.

Photographed in February, the image reveals some details about the formation of rivers on the Red Planet, made as the ice melts as the seasons change.

Some dunes in the field appear to have separated from the main group, NASA said, and appear to be climbing the crater slope along a gully-like shape.

NASA’s Mars Orbiter captures images of Mars from 2006, sending back gigabytes of photos and revealing new details about the ancient world.

This last image was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, 196 miles above the Martian surface.

It features a “field of sand dunes” in a frost-covered crater in the high latitudes of the northern planes of the Red Planet, revealing rivers probably formed by melting ice.

The surface of the main dune field is covered by a series of dark-toned polygonal patterns. These may be the result of a seasonal freezing process, NASA said.

Several of the slopes of the steeper dunes, directed in the direction of the wind, host narrow furrows that suggest the beginning of gula formation. Possibly from melting ice.

One of the main objectives of the orbiting spacecraft is to find evidence that water once flowed on the surface of the Red Planet, as long as it did so in sufficient quantity and time for life to evolve.

The discovery of evidence of ice melting and the formation of goulash adds to the scientific understanding of the planet.

The crater floor contains a variety of textures, including those covered in lobes, along with striped patterns that indicate seasonal thawing caused by sublimating ice.

The wide movement of the downward slope of materials on the slopes of the crater opposite the Danube field resembles rivers superficially, NASA said.

Except that they are generally not defined by distinct niches, incised channels or sediment aprons, which are seen in rivers elsewhere on the planet.

This left open questions about exactly how they formed, what they are and why they appear to be different from the rivers on Mars.

Orbital futures, as well as works like Curiosity and the newcomer Perseverance rover, will help answer some of these questions.

Mars’ reconnaissance orbiter has six different instruments on board, capable of ever studying the level of the Red Planet, including the subterranean layers.

NASA hopes to keep it operational until at least 2030, as it was used to send data back from both rovers, adding that it could work even longer.

It was used to capture the landing phase of Perseverance as it headed toward the surface, as well as to reveal the rover as a “small dot” on the vast orange surface.