Because Mars is so hot right now , with two rovers vying forbest selfie(plus , you know , some flat coat - breach science ) and a chopper about to make thefirst flight on Mars , NASA has released an awesomenew imageof sand dune on the Red Planet that are , er , blue .
Of of course , the moxie on Mars is not in reality blue . The off-key - color image is representative of temperatures on the surface of Mars . The cooler areas are recorded as naughty and the warmer features are yellow - orange . The icon shows the grit sand dune surrounding the northerly polar crownwork , where temperatures can reach -153 ° C ( -243 ° F ) in wintertime when this was taken . The darker , sun - kissed dunes show their somewhat warmer temperatures in prosperous yellow .
The range is made up of pic snap by the Thermal Emission Imaging System instrument on the Mars Odyssey satellite taken between December 2002 and November 2004 . In fact , the image is released as part of the20th anniversarycelebrating Mars Oddysey as the sometime spacecraft still working at Mars .
This wind - sculpted sea of sand dune surrounding Mars ’s northerly polar hood address an area the size of Texas , which as the US ’s second - enceinte land cover 695,662 km squared ( 268,597 miles square ) . This double covers an field 30 kilometers ( 19 mile ) wide .
Launched on April 7 , 2001 , the craft – named for Arthur C. Clarke’s2001 : A Space Odyssey – was sent to represent the makeup of Mars ’s surface . For years , the mostcomplete global maps of Marswe had were made using Mars Oddysey datum .
Of course , it ’s done much more than that , discovering the Red Planet’stroves of water ice , mapping the surfacefor safer future landings , consider Mars ’s moons , and act as a " prospicient - aloofness call kernel " for Mars rovers , post their data back home . It ’s thanks to Mars Oddysey that Earth got images of Mars so quickly when the Spirit and chance rovers get in in 2004 .
Perseverance and Ingenuity may bejaw - droppingat showinghow far we ’ve comein exploring another world , but it ’s well to know a 20 - year - old mission still go warm has the power to take our breathing spell away too .
