See the 100,000th photo of Mars taken by NASA's groundbreaking Red

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[ 19659002]This shot of the dune-strewn area called Syrtis Major is the 100,000 th image recorded by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter utilizing its HiRISE cam.
(Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

A couple of months from now, a NASA spacecraft called the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter(MRO)will start its 20th year of observing the Red Planet from above. And, like many 20-year-olds in the world, MRO’s electronic camera roll is definitely loaded.

According to NASAMRO has actually simply taken its 100,000 th picture of the Martian surface area utilizing its HiRISE video camera. Put another method, that’s approximately 5,000 images a year, 417 images a month, or about 14 a day every day considering that March 2006.

The complete view of Syrtis Major (Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)Studying how the Red Planet modifications in time will assist debunk the forces that govern it, and assist expose whether it was ever a rich waterworld like Earth. Released from Florida on Aug. 12, 2005, and placed into Mars orbit on March 10, 2006, the MRO will continue its objective to picture the world as long as it’s able.Sometimes, MRO does take a break from its main objective to look off into area. In October, the satellite looked skyward to snap a shot of the interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS as it passed about 19 million miles (30 million kilometers) from the spacecraft– considerably more detailed that the comet got to Earth at its closest point on Dec. 19

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While MRO wasn’t developed to observe little, fast-moving things at such country miles, it however offered early verification that 3I/ATLAS revealed the obvious qualities of a natural comet, consisting of a little nucleus enshrouded in a brilliant coma of gas and dust.

Brandon is the area/ physics editor at Live Science. With more than 20 years of editorial experience, his writing has actually appeared in The Washington Post, Reader’s Digest, CBS.com, the Richard Dawkins Foundation site and other outlets. He holds a bachelor’s degree in innovative composing from the University of Arizona, with minors in journalism and media arts. His interests consist of great voids, asteroids and comets, and the look for extraterrestrial life.

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As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.