Published on June 22, 2017
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has circled our neighboring planet 50,000 times since its launch 11 years ago. In the process, the spacecraft has delivered some stunning and potentially important revelations: a giant volcano that went extinct at about the same time as the dinosaurs on Earth; what our planet would look like to Martians; and three possible landing sites for the Mars 2020 Rover. In short, MRO has done its job.
And yet, NASA has released yet another compelling image from the orbiting spacecraft. The picture shows a large hole that defies easy explanation.
