This picture shows the part of Mars near Gusev Crater. The left part of the picture is a black & white photo of the area. The right part of the picture has colors that show how high (or low) the land is. Low places are shown as green. High places are shown as orange and red. The middle part of the picture shows all of Mars. Gusev crater is near the middle of this view of Mars.
Click on image for full size
Images courtesy NASA.
A place on Mars called Gusev Crater
Gusev Crater is an impact crater on Mars that
looks as though a lake may have once filled it in the distant past. One
of the two Mars
Exploration Rovers (MER) will explore Gusev Crater beginning in January
2004.
Gusev Crater is about 145 km (90 miles) wide and covers an area roughly
the size of the state of Connecticut. It is located at 14.6° South
latitude and 175.3° East longitude, along the boundary between Mars'
southern highlands and
its lowland
northern plains. The crater is about
3,000 km (1,900 miles) southeast of the volcano Elysium Mons. Scientists
believe the Gusev Crater was formed by the impact of an asteroid three
to four billion years ago.
A valley named Ma'adim Vallis, which is connected
to the south side of the crater, looks like it may have been a river
channel that poured water into
the crater in the past, forming a large lake. If the crater was indeed
a lake, scientists expect it to contain layers
of sediments as much as 915 meters (3,000 feet) thick that flowed in with the water. There may
be other clues to a watery past within the crater, such as deposits
of minerals, such as halite and gypsum,
that form when water evaporates. Wet environments are the best places to look for life,
which is why scientists are so eager to track down places on Mars that were once wet.
The MER
robot Spirit is slated to land somewhere within an
81 km by 12 km (50 by 7 miles) oval
near the center of Gusev Crater. Once settled into its new "home", Spirit will begin its mission of
exploring for geologic evidence of the presence of water in Gusev Crater's past.
Shop Windows to the Universe Science Store!
Our
online store includes
issues of NESTA's quarterly journal, The Earth Scientist, full of classroom activities on different topics in Earth and space science, as well as
books on science education!
You might also be interested in:
Minerals are the building blocks of rocks. There are many different types of minerals. All of them are solid and all are made of atoms of elements. Minerals can grow even though they are not alive. Most
...more
What’s that on your chips? It’s a mineral called halite! Halite is salt. Take a close look at grains of salt. Don’t they look like mineral crystals? The sure way to tell of a mineral is halite is to taste
...more
This is gypsum! It often forms as a layer of the bottom of a salty sea. Sometimes it forms in sandy areas like deserts and little sand grains are trapped between the gypsum crystals. This makes the crystals
...more
Two robot rovers landed on Mars in January 2004. The first robot is named Spirit. Spirit landed inside a big crater called Gusev Crater. Gusev Crater may have been filled with water long ago. It may have
...more
The first spacecraft to take a picture of the South Pole of Mars was Mariner 7. The South Pole of Mars has craters, sand dunes, and the polar ice cap. The south pole of Mars is important because that's
...more
Isidis Planitia is the name of a place on Mars. Isidis Planitia is a very flat plain. It is inside the bottom of a very old crater. Isidis Planitia is big. It is about 1,500 km (930 miles) across. That
...more
Gusev Crater is an impact crater on Mars that looks as though a lake may have once filled it in the distant past. One of the two Mars Exploration Rovers (MER) will explore Gusev Crater beginning in January
...more
