Cat Scratch 'Trenches Of Mars' Over Nili Fossae Region

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Nili Fossae region of Mars is comprised of "parallel trenches hundreds of metres deep and several hundred kilometres long," according to ESA. Mar Express orbiter data has been used to create this flyover.   Credit: Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin & NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO

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00:00Welcome aboard ESA's Mars Express. Today, we're flying over Nile Fossé, an enticing

00:08patch of Mars that is full of clues about the Red Planet's eventful past.

00:14This crater, coming up on our left, is Hargraves Impact Crater. Like the impact craters we

00:20find on Earth, Hargraves was created when a space rock smashed into Mars' surface,

00:27flinging out ancient material over the surrounding land.

00:31Right now, we're flying over the Nile Fossé trenches. Like scratches from a giant cat,

00:37these scars are hundreds of metres deep and hundreds of kilometres long. The trenches

00:44were created when Mars was hit by yet another space rock 4 billion years ago, creating one

00:50of Mars' biggest craters, located just off screen to our right.

00:56As the surface settled following the impact, some land cracked and fell away, forming the

01:01trenches of Nile Fossé.

01:04One of the reasons scientists have focused on Nile Fossé in recent years is that it

01:09is packed with many different minerals. These minerals are made in the presence of water,

01:15indicating that this region was not always the dry and dusty landscape that we see below

01:20us now.

01:23Because of what it could tell us about Mars' ancient and water-rich past, Nile Fossé was

01:28considered as a possible landing site for NASA's Curiosity rover, before the mission

01:34was ultimately sent to Gale Crater in 2012.

01:39Another NASA rover, Perseverance, later landed in the nearby Jezero Crater.

01:51Thank you for joining us on a tour of Nile Fossé. See you next time on board Mars Express.

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