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ESA’s Mars Express shows view of the largest canyon in our solar system


The European Space Agency’s Mars Express Orbiter has captured images of portions of Mars Valles Marineris, the largest canyon system in the Solar System. Valles Marineris, like many other geological features on the red planet, dwarfs all terrestrial analogues. Specifically, Valles Marineris is 4,000 km long, 200 km wide and up to 7 km deep. Meanwhile, the Grand Canyon in North America is just under 450 km long, 16 km wide and less than 2 km deep. While the Grand Canyon was formed by the erosion of the Colorado River, the Valles Marineris was formed by tectonic plates moving away from each other.

The Mars Express captured images of the two trenches that form part of the western Valles Marineris, the 840 km long Ius Chasma and the 805 km long Tithonium Chasma. The Pictureimaged by the orbiter, highlighting how Tithonium’s top is covered by darker sand that may have come from the nearby Tharsis volcanic region.

Other observations from the Mars Express show water-bearing sulphate minerals, parallel lines, and piles of debris, suggesting a recent landslide, two 3-kilometer-high mountains surrounding the dunes around Tithonium with a surface heavily eroded surface. The sulphate minerals are particularly interesting to scientists, as they may be evidence of the fact that millions of years ago the chasma was once filled with water.

“Ius Chasma’s gnarly is equally fascinating. As the tectonic plates separate, they appear to have created jagged triangular rock formations that look like a row of shark teeth. Over time, these rocks have collapsed and eroded,” ESA says on its blog.

The Mars Express has arrived Mars in 2003 and has been in continuous service for 18 years and 6 months, is the second oldest spacecraft in orbit around a planet other than The earth. The mission has been extended until December 31, 2022, due to the valuable scientific revival and very flexible mission profile it can perform.



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