Images of the 82 kilometres (51 miles) wide Korolev crater on Mars filled with 2,200 cubic kilometres (530 cubic miles) of water ice have been released by the European Space Agency.
The crater is named after Sergei Korolev, the chief designer of the Soviet space program who is best known for the launch of the world’s first artificial satellite called Sputnik.
Located in the northern lowlands of Mars, the floor of the Korelev crater lies two kilometres (1.2 miles) below the rim and is permanently filled with stable water ice due to a phenomenon called ‘cold trap’.
Because of the water ice deposited deep in the Korelev crater, air that moves over the crater sinks below as it cools down, resulting in the formation of an insulating layer of cold air.
With the images of the crater taken by the European Space Agency’s Mars Express Probe, a High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) was utilized to combine five different ‘strips’ taken from different orbits to form a single image.
Christmas Day 2018 will mark the Mars Express Probe’s 15-year anniversary since it began orbiting Mars on December 25, 2003.
