They glimpsed Earth outside their windows. “It’s a beautiful, beautiful view,” Frank Borman said to Mission Control. That Christmas Eve broadcast ended 1968 on a hopeful note, bringing a reminder of the all encompassing curiosity stitched into the fabric of all humans. Sink into the far side by celebrating our #Apollo50 Anniversary here: https://go.nasa.gov/2EGQJJX
The stunning Korolev crater in the northern lowlands of Mars is filled with ice all year round owing to a trapped layer of cold Martian air that keeps the water frozen.
The 50-mile-wide crater contains 530 cubic miles of water ice, as much as Great Bear Lake in northern Canada, and in the centre of the crater the ice is more than a mile thick.
Images beamed back from the red planet show that the lip around the impact crater rises high above the surrounding plain. When thin Martian air then passes over the crater, it becomes trapped and cools to form an insulating layer that prevents the ice from melting.
HUGE skating rink?
The European Space Agency has shared an incredible composite image showing a 50-mile wide crater on Mars that is filled with water ice all year long.
Budding future colonists hoping for a white Christmas on Mars will be somewhat disappointed as the ESA has confirmed that sitting in the Korolev crater is, in fact, a thick block of water ice, not snow. The enormous, 82-kilometer-wide, 2-kilometer-deep “ice trap” could still be good for ice skating though.
Winter solstice, the shortest day of 2018, is Friday, December 21.
The solstice this year will be extra special because it will be followed the next day by a full moon known as the Cold Moon, and you might be able to see a meteor shower to boot.
First, CNN meteorologists Dave Hennen, Judson Jones and Brandon Miller help us understand the science behind the solstice.
19, marking the first time a science instrument has ever been placed onto the surface of another planet. The lander is set to study the interior of Mars and listen for marsquakes. Details: https://go.nasa.gov/2EDHdXt
