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• THE LUNAR EXPLORER ARCHIVES
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A R C H I V E S

Planetary Scientists, today, know that Mars has (both on its Surface and Sub-Surface - as well as deep down, under the Crust) a lot more Water Ice than once they thought or expected to be. In fact, many so-called "Lobate Surface Features" are now known to be almost pure Water Ice, like it is for Glaciers on our Home Planet Earth. Unfortunately, though, we still do not know for sure if these Martian Water Ice Deposits actually "flow", somehow, just like it happens for the Earth's Glaciers. As a matter of fact, if we knew how fast they flow (of course, if they do it at all!), we could easierly and better understand what is going on in the Climate of Mars today, and how it has changed (and we do believe so) over time.

This EDM shows us an extremely unusual Texture oF the Ice, which is located just at the base of the Hill that was shown in yesterday's APOD (Contextual - or "CTX" - Image); such a Texture has been nicknamed, by Planetary Scientist, "Brain Terrain" (and the reason why of such a nick is really pretty obvious...). It is possible that this really strange-looking Surface Texture might be related to the flowing of the Water Ice, but, as of today, we still do not have a definite (and, of course, duly and fully substantiated) explanation for this Martian Mystery.

Mars Local Time: 14:14 (Early Afternoon)
Coord. (centered): 39,347° North Lat. and 24,704° East Long.
Spacecraft altitude: 303,0 Km (such as about 188,163 miles)
Original image scale range: 30,3 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~ 91 cm across are resolved
Map projected scale: 25 cm/pixel
Map projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR
Emission Angle: 9,6°
Phase Angle: 54,4°
Solar Incidence Angle: 46° (meaning that the Sun was about 44° above the Local Horizon at the time the picture was taken)
Solar Longitude: 11,4° (Northern Spring - Southern Fall)
Credits: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
Additional process. and coloring: Lunar Explorer Italia

This picture (which is a NASA - Original Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter False Colors and NON-Map Projected Sub-frame identified by the serial n. ESP_033165_2195-1) has been additionally processed, magnified, contrast enhanced, Gamma corrected, and then re-colorized in Absolute Natural Colors (such as the colors that a human eye would actually perceive if someone were onboard the NASA - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and then looked down, towards the Surface of Mars), by using an original technique created - and, in time, dramatically improved - by the Lunar Explorer Italia Team.