Dune Sea in Mars Crater

[caption id="attachment_28815" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona"][/caption]

The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE camera recently revealed fascinating shots of a dune sea of sorts in a crater of the Hellas impact basin.  What has officials at NASA excited about the dunes is their symmetric nature.
The dunes here are linear, thought to be due to shifting wind directions. In places, each dune is remarkably similar to adjacent dunes, including a reddish (or dust-colored) band on northeast-facing slopes. Large angular boulders litter the floor between dunes.

The most extensive linear dune fields known in the solar system are on Saturn's large moon Titan. Titan has a very different environment and composition, so at meter-scale resolution they probably are very different from Martian dunes.

Link.  See more stunning images (like frosted dunes) at the HiRISE site.

Comments (4)

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One of the Uncle Johns Bathroom Readers I just got has
an almost exact story. The guy there was mere minutes away from pulling it off. He pulled the tape away that was covering a little peep hole. Delivery guy just happened to look that way and saw his eyeball. GGGGGG

Gotta give them both an award for chutzpah if nothing else. GGGG

Some people pull similar ideas on boxes that are going to be sent by air. They don't realize the cargo holds aren't pressurized. What a horrible way to go.

Finally, I read of some guy that stowed away on an airliner in the wheel well for the nose wheel. Can't remember if he lived.
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Usually wheel well travelers don't make it, but I suppose it's possible in the way maybe one out of a hundred Golden Gate jumpers makes it.

Anyway, about the box guy: it just feels good when somebody pulls a caper, even if they're bad folks. Like the people that robbed Harry Winston's. Heists!
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