New images from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft show an impact crater in the northern lowlands of Mars. Known as Korolev, this 51-mile (82 km) wide crater is filled with water ice all year round.
Perspective view of Korolev crater. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.
Korolev crater is located in the northern lowlands of Mars, just south of Olympia Undae, a large patch of dune-filled terrain that encircles part of the planet’s northern polar cap.
The crater is named after chief rocket engineer and spacecraft designer Sergei Korolev, dubbed the father of Soviet space technology.
Its floor is covered in a 1.1-mile (1.8 km) central mound of water ice all year round. This domed deposit forms a glacier comprising around 2,200 km3 of non-polar ice.
This ever-icy presence is due to an interesting phenomenon known as a ‘cold trap,’ which occurs as the name suggests.
“Korolev crater’s floor is deep, lying some 1.2 miles (2 km) vertically beneath its rim,” Mars Express mission members explained.
“Its very deepest parts, those containing ice, act as a natural cold trap: the air moving over the deposit of ice cools down and sinks, creating a layer of cold air that sits directly above the ice itself.”
“Behaving as a shield, this layer helps the ice remain stable and stops it from heating up and disappearing.”
“Air is a poor conductor of heat, exacerbating this effect and keeping Korolev crater permanently icy.”
This image from ESA’s Mars Express shows Korolev crater. This plan mosaic comprises five different observational strips that have been combined to form a single image, gathered over orbits 18042 (captured on April 4, 2018), 5726, 5692, 5654, and 1412. It covers a region centered at 165° E and 73° N. Image credit: ESA / DLR / FU Berlin / CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO.
Mars Express launched on June 2, 2003, and reached Mars six months later.
The spacecraft fired its main engine and entered orbit around the Red Planet on December 25, 2003, making this month the 15-year anniversary of the spacecraft’s orbit insertion and the beginning of its science program.
The new images of Korolev crater are an excellent celebration of such a milestone.
