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PIA24035: HiRISE Catches an Avalanche on Mars
The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (Hi-RISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this avalanche plunging down a 1,640-foot-tall (500-meter-tall) cliff on May 29, 2019.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) 
 Spacecraft:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Instrument:  HiRISE 
 Product Size:  1024 x 768 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  University of Arizona 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA24035.tif (2.36 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA24035.jpg (143.1 kB)  

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (Hi-RISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this avalanche plunging down a 1,640-foot-tall (500-meter-tall) cliff on May 29, 2019. The image also reveals layers at Mars' north pole during spring. As temperatures increase and vaporize ice, the destabilized ice blocks break loose and kick up dust.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Image Addition Date:
2020-08-12