![]() Documenting this feature over a decade provides a good comparison of how much thermal erosion has occurred over the last decade. The crater is located in the south polar region of Mars, which is frozen, but changed due to thermal erosion. The cheerful-looking crater is helping scientists track climate trends on the Red Planet and thawing frost isn’t a bad sign. ![]() It is caused by the thawing of frost due to thermal erosion so that more and more of the Martian soil looks and looks like a big smile. Interestingly, in a recent photo taken on December 13, 2020, the crater is showing a wider smile. Happy face crater, Happy Face Crater on Planet Mars. The instrument is the most powerful camera ever sent to an alien planet and regularly sends back data including detailed images of Mars features ranging from ancient rivers, avalanches and craters. The crater was found using the HiRISE instrument ( High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been studying Mars since its arrival in 2006. The crater features the nicknamed the Happy Face Crater ( Happy Face Crater) by scientists. This portrait of the crater was first taken in 2011. “Measuring these changes throughout the Martian year helps scientists understand the annual deposition and removal of polar frost, and monitoring these locations over long periods of time helps us understand longer-term climate trends on the Red Planet,” wrote Ross Beyer, co-investigator from HiRISE.Ĭheck out the HiRISE website for more amazing Mars – A portrait of a crater on Planet Mars has a unique sight that looks like a happy smiling face. The HiRISE team has been documenting this “smiley function” for over a decade, which means that we now have good comparisons of surface changes right next to our eyes. However, a major advantage of a long-lived spacecraft is the ability to monitor changes in the events being observed. Photo credit: NASA / JPL / University of Arizona. An avalanche on Mars captured by the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on November 27, 2011. Some of our favorites over the years have been avalanches, dark currents that may be salty material seeping to the surface, images of our own spaceships and rovers on the Martian surface, and much more. HiRISE is the most powerful camera ever sent to another planet and offers a variety of incredibly detailed images of Martian features. ![]() The mission started in 2005, reached Mars in 2006 and has been monitoring Mars since then. MRO is one of NASA’s oldest and most durable spacecraft. This thermal erosion has made the “mouth” of the face larger, and the “nose”, which in 2011 consisted of two circular depressions, has now grown larger and fused. You will also see that some of the “blobby” functions have changed shape due to the heat from the sun causing sublimation – when a solid turns directly into a gas, bypassing the liquid phase. According to the HiRISE team, there are color deviations that can be attributed to different amounts of light frost on a darker red background. The first of these images was taken in 2011 and the other in December 2020 around the same time of year and shows some different changes. The Smiley Crater on Mars in December 2020 as seen from the HiRISE camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. These two images were taken with the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) camera on board the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and show how the Martian surface changes over time – in this case due to thermal erosion. Who has an even wider grin than ten years ago? That goofy looking crater on Mars.
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