One of humanity's most productive,?? ??? legendary satellites isn't orbiting Earth.
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has zipped around the red desert planet for a decade and a half, beaming back a plethora of detailed images of Mars' volcanoes, valleys, dried-up lakes, and beyond. The space agency recently shared a new, intriguing image from the orbiter showing a unique crater on the planet's surface.
The over half-mile-wide crater, created by a long-ago impact from an asteroid or comet, is filled with exquisite, if not psychedelic, patterns. What's happened is a very Earth-like process: Winds blowing sand and soil created a diversity of ripple-like patterning (called "aeolian ripples") on the crater floor.
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A conception of NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA As seen in the top right quadrant of this crater, ripples also likely formed atop a mesa, or flat-topped hill, perhaps similar to those in the Southwestern desert.
SEE ALSO: If a scary asteroid will actually strike Earth, here's how you'll knowWhile the orbiter is peering down on Mars from above, robotic rovers are sleuthing the Martian terrain below. NASA's most high-tech rover, the Perseverance rover, is looking for past hints of microbial life — should any have ever existed — in Mars' dried-up lakebeds and waterways.
You can view more of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's images on NASA's website.