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Now, here's something you do not see every day: Star Trek Starfleet logo visible from Mars.
The HiRise MRO camera team from the University of Arizona, based at the University of Arizona, presents a tweet resembling the Starfleet logo of the famous science fiction franchise.
"Enterprising viewers will make the discovery that these features look visibly like a famous logo," the team said in the press. tweet.
From now on, the Starfleet logo on the red planet represents more than just a random sand formation. This gives people a glimpse of how the geological history of Mars works. The "logo" was first a crescent-shaped sand dune that finally took shape because of the lava and finally took its final shape because of the wind of the planet.
"They are also called 'dune casts' and record the presence of dunes surrounded by lava," said Ross Beyer, a planetary scientist, in a report.
There is also more of a sand dune "Starfleet" on the photo. Looking at a wider angle, we can see that there is more of the intriguing training found around the area.
The photo was taken via NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a high-tech device that took unique photos of the red planet. This includes rock formations of the Pac-Man form and even Beaker the Muppet.
The sand motions on Mars play an important role in various studies on the red planet. By closely examining the formation of sand, scientists have an idea of factors such as Martian winds, the planet's weak atmosphere, temperature and the influence of topography on the sand dunes of Mars. These elements behave differently than those found on Earth, forming sand dunes and "sculptures" of sand that are found nowhere else on our planet.
The study of the geological composition of the planet is important because it can help scientists plan future human missions on Mars. The results of the study show that even though most planetary dust storms hit Mars, the sand of the red planet does not move as much as scientists expect.
This theory gives us a more detailed idea of how the planet's weak atmosphere (only 0.6% of the Earth's atmospheric pressure) could affect wind movement, also making it weak. The rate of movement of sand is very different depending on the location.
For example, crescent-shaped dunes travel an average of half a meter a year, 50 times slower than those found on Earth. Some areas such as the Syrtis Major Planum have been recorded as having a stronger sand motion. This explains why the different regions of Mars differ considerably from each other.
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