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Last Thursday, the European Space Agency published an image taken by the Mars Express mission, showing a massive crater covered in what appears to be a snow tube, but in fact there is a large ice leaf.
It looks like a huge path of virgin snow that is located in the center of desertion. But the truth is that this is the snapshot held by the orbiter Mars Express of the European Space Agency (ESA) or crater Korolev.
According to the discovery, it is 82 km wide and is located in the northern lowlands of Mars, close to a large dune field, known as Olympia Undae, it's a good example of grater Martian has to keep it well.
The water sheets in the middle of the crater are 1.8km thick. This reservoir forms a glacier that contains approximately 2,200 km3 of non-polar ice on the Mars. That is always present because of a phenomenon, called a "cold snap": between the ground and the edge of the crater there is a distance of 2 km.
It's beautiful #winter wonder … onwards #Mars! This ice crater was imagined by our Mars Express spacecraft. The Korolev crater is 82 kilometers across and finds the northern lowlands of Mars.
More images: https://t.co/48Czjh80Qb pic.twitter.com/5KDQ1PJ0jt– ESA (@esa) December 20, 2018
Mars Express's mission was launched on June 2, 2003 and reached the Red Planet six months later. He came to an orbit around Mars on December 25, so this month marks 15 years since the start of this ship's science program.
Mission chief investigator, Bruce Banerdt, emphasizes the importance of this achievement, "as important as landing the InSight on Mars": "The seismometer is the highest priority tool in InSight, and we need to complete three quarters of scientific objectives. "
The data recorded by this instrument will allow to know in detail everything that happens under the planet's surface, when analyzing the seismic waves. This data flow will begin to reach the ground when the seismometer is level, and at that time Banerdt ensures that "it already has a bottle of champagne".
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