6 ms·

Largest canyon in the solar system revealed in stunning new images

35 points by billyharris 6y ago

dmix 6y ago
Just for the record the US also created a full "3D" physical (IRL) map of mars, way back in the 1970s, meticulously stitching together individual photos that came back from very slowly from satellite feeds, then carefully laid out on a giant globe like surface which they could study the planet surface in detail. The "vast channel system" naturally piqued early NASA researchers interest and if I'm not mistaken it goes nearly all the way around the equator of Mars. This and other geographical features led to the early idea of melting water flows on mars millions of years ago creating grooves and valleys, not just from volcanic activity. So this is far from "new" news. It's just getting way more modern research with way better hardware (thanks to 12yrs of HIRISE data). I'm mostly paraphrasing this from watching an old video of the NASA funded project on YouTube where they did what HIRISE is doing with way more primitive tech and old computer terminals. Edit: I found it, "The Planet Mars (1979)": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZzY8-nxabA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZzY8-nxabA (Highly recommended watch, it shows original feeds of old badass NASA nerds working together on the lander. In one scene it shows a computer slowly getting a photo print out from the actual satellites on a terminal screen, with the team getting giddy at seeing these shots beaming directly from space).
- NaOH 6y ago
  The BBC series The Planets had an episode showing the 3d physical Mars map you describe. Jump to the 9:45 mark in this video to see it and some discussion of the canyon discussed in the article: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7szrj4 https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7szrj4
  - dmix 6y ago
    Yes I wasn’t sure my video featured the Mars globe, just the lander and some photos (didn’t have time to rewatch the whole thing). Thanks for the link. I love this era of space exploration and what they achieved with so little technology by modern standards. I wonder if that Mars “globe” still exists anywhere in a museum.
- newimagcc 6y ago
  Thanks for the link! Is that Carl Sagan (5th from left) @ 05:35? https://youtu.be/dZzY8-nxabA?t=335 https://youtu.be/dZzY8-nxabA?t=335
- theandrewbailey 6y ago
  > The "vast channel system" naturally piqued early NASA researchers interest and if I'm not mistaken it goes nearly all the way around the equator of Mars. Not quite. Google has a Mars map: https://www.google.com/mars/ https://www.google.com/mars/
burnthrow 6y ago
> the Red Planet is too hot and dry to have ever accommodated a river large enough to slash through the crust like that May want to proof-read this.
- theandrewbailey 6y ago
  I agree, something is up with that. Mars is further from the Sun than Earth, so it's colder. So cold that dry ice forms.
peter_d_sherman 6y ago
>"About 87 million miles (140 million kilometers) above the Grand Canyon, an even larger, grander abyss cuts through the gut of the Red Planet. Known as Valles Marineris , this system of deep, vast canyons runs more than 2,500 miles (4,000 km) along the Martian equator, spanning nearly a quarter of the planet's circumference. This gash in the bedrock of Mars is nearly 10 times as long as Earth's Grand Canyon and three times deeper , making it the single largest canyon in the solar system"

35 points by billyharris 6y ago

dmix 6y ago

Just for the record the US also created a full "3D" physical (IRL) map of mars, way back in the 1970s, meticulously stitching together individual photos that came back from very slowly from satellite feeds, then carefully laid out on a giant globe like surface which they could study the planet surface in detail. The "vast channel system" naturally piqued early NASA researchers interest and if I'm not mistaken it goes nearly all the way around the equator of Mars. This and other geographical features led to the early idea of melting water flows on mars millions of years ago creating grooves and valleys, not just from volcanic activity. So this is far from "new" news. It's just getting way more modern research with way better hardware (thanks to 12yrs of HIRISE data). I'm mostly paraphrasing this from watching an old video of the NASA funded project on YouTube where they did what HIRISE is doing with way more primitive tech and old computer terminals. Edit: I found it, "The Planet Mars (1979)": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZzY8-nxabA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZzY8-nxabA (Highly recommended watch, it shows original feeds of old badass NASA nerds working together on the lander. In one scene it shows a computer slowly getting a photo print out from the actual satellites on a terminal screen, with the team getting giddy at seeing these shots beaming directly from space).

NaOH 6y ago
The BBC series The Planets had an episode showing the 3d physical Mars map you describe. Jump to the 9:45 mark in this video to see it and some discussion of the canyon discussed in the article: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7szrj4 https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x7szrj4
- dmix 6y ago
  Yes I wasn’t sure my video featured the Mars globe, just the lander and some photos (didn’t have time to rewatch the whole thing). Thanks for the link. I love this era of space exploration and what they achieved with so little technology by modern standards. I wonder if that Mars “globe” still exists anywhere in a museum.
newimagcc 6y ago
Thanks for the link! Is that Carl Sagan (5th from left) @ 05:35? https://youtu.be/dZzY8-nxabA?t=335 https://youtu.be/dZzY8-nxabA?t=335
theandrewbailey 6y ago
> The "vast channel system" naturally piqued early NASA researchers interest and if I'm not mistaken it goes nearly all the way around the equator of Mars. Not quite. Google has a Mars map: https://www.google.com/mars/ https://www.google.com/mars/

burnthrow 6y ago

> the Red Planet is too hot and dry to have ever accommodated a river large enough to slash through the crust like that May want to proof-read this.

theandrewbailey 6y ago
I agree, something is up with that. Mars is further from the Sun than Earth, so it's colder. So cold that dry ice forms.

peter_d_sherman 6y ago

>"About 87 million miles (140 million kilometers) above the Grand Canyon, an even larger, grander abyss cuts through the gut of the Red Planet. Known as Valles Marineris , this system of deep, vast canyons runs more than 2,500 miles (4,000 km) along the Martian equator, spanning nearly a quarter of the planet's circumference. This gash in the bedrock of Mars is nearly 10 times as long as Earth's Grand Canyon and three times deeper , making it the single largest canyon in the solar system"