This graphic shows clouds of water on Mars.
Click on image for full size
Image from: NASA/JPL
Mars Global Surveyor Measures Water Clouds
You might think that clouds in the sky have to be made of water like those of Earth, but this is not always so. Clouds might be made of carbon dioxide or ammonia. Just take a peek at the planets Jupiter or Venus. This graph, taken by Mars Global Surveyor, shows proof that the clouds of Mars are made of water. The sequence shows the water clouds moving across the face of Mars. The Mariner 9 mission was the first to provide scientists with proof that the clouds of Mars contained water. Mars Pathfinder took images of Martian clouds from the ground level. Clouds seem mostly to be found in the middle of Mars, as the measurement shows. Clouds are also seen at the north pole. This may be because the spring season is approaching, and ice at the north polar is evaporating.
You might also be interested in:
Unlike the Earth, where clouds are found around the entire globe, on Mars, clouds seem to be plentiful only in the equatorial region, as shown in this Hubble telescope image. This may be because water
...more
These are some of the initial findings of Mars Global Surveyor. There definitely is a magnetosphere near Mars. suggests scientists must rethink theories about the evolution of Mars. Geologic features at
...more
The Mars Odyssey was launched April 7, 2001, from Florida. After a six-month, 285 million-mile journey, the Odyssey arrived at Mars on October 24, 2001. The Odyssey is in its aerobraking phase right now.
...more
The Mars 2005 mission is still in the planning stages. It is set to launch in the year 2005.
...more
The Mars Global Surveyor reached Mars in September of 1997. But it didn't make it into its final mapping orbit until February 1999. What took so long? Surveyor needed to reach a near-circular, low-altitude
...more
Mars Global Surveyor carries an instrument which measures the heights of things. This instrument is called an altimeter, or "altitude-meter". The graph to the left shows the results returned from Mars
...more
Mars Global Surveyor carries an instrument which measures the heights of things. This instrument is called an altimeter, or "altitude-meter". The picture to the left shows Mars Global Surveyor's measurement
...more
