ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter image exposes iron, magnesium and aluminum on Mars surface

Rusty in look and luxurious intimately, a brand new picture of the Mawrth Vallis area on Mars reveals a world wealthy in iron, magnesium and aluminum.

Mars is called the Crimson Planet for a motive. To the human eye, our planetary neighbor appears like a reddish dot within the evening sky. The Martian floor is wealthy in iron oxides and minerals. The identical means a motorcycle chain sitting exterior for some time will get rusty, the Martian soil and dust oxidize and switch reddish.

Cameras orbiting Mars can seize extra colours than our eyes can see. The European Color and Stereo Floor Imaging System (CaSSIS) onboard the ExoMars Hint Fuel Orbiter (TGO) reveals a putting variety of coloration.

This CaSSIS picture exposes yellow layers containing iron and magnesium-rich clays, overlain by white and blue layers wealthy in aluminum. The world is draped by a darkish, closely eroded layer.

The metallic colours of this vibrant panorama inform a narrative of mineralogical variety that began round 3.6 billion years in the past. The world is positioned south of the dichotomy boundary—a ridge that encircles Mars, marking the place the southern highlands meet the northern lowlands. Mawrth Vallis continues to intrigue scientists with its geological complexity. Liquid water did as soon as run by way of this space, which was shortlisted as one of the crucial promising touchdown websites for the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover. One other area, Oxia Planum, was chosen because the spot the place Rosalind Franklin will hunt for indicators of life.

Within the meantime, TGO retains gathering info from orbit round Mars to know its historical previous and potential habitability. TGO’s full science mission started in 2018. The spacecraft will not be solely returning spectacular pictures, but additionally offering the very best stock of the planet’s atmospheric gases and mapping the planet’s floor for water-rich places.

For six years, CaSSIS has been observing Mars in astonishing coloration, capturing options from volcanic landscapes to lively dust devils and colossal sand dunes.

Understanding the historical past of water on Mars and whether or not this as soon as allowed life to flourish is on the coronary heart of ESA’s ExoMars missions.