The Mars Express spacecraft that has been exploring the red planet since 2003 has recently sent some winter wonderland photos, as shared by the European Space Agency.
A beautiful #winter wonderland... on #Mars! This ice-filled crater was imaged by our Mars Express spacecraft. Korolev crater is 82 kilometres across and found in the northern lowlands of Mars.
— ESA (@esa) December 20, 2018
More images: https://t.co/48Czjh80Qb pic.twitter.com/5KDQ1PJ0jt
Named the Korolev crater, this icy landmark is fifty miles wide and it's located in the northern lowlands of Mars, south of Olympia Unidae, a series of sand dunes that circles Mars's polar ice cap. It's characterized by its giant mound of ice, which is nearly six feet thick all year round.
For those of you asking - yes it is water ice.
— ESA (@esa) December 21, 2018
Mars Express first detected water on #Mars in 2004, see our release at the time https://t.co/oAY2Qj0U5N. More recently, the spacecraft detected liquid water under the planet’s south pole, see: https://t.co/JnglOBBt3o https://t.co/J0h3ZfYpXF
It looks out of this world!