Natural color view of Korolev crater from Mars Express
| |
| Location | Mare Boreum quadrangle, Mars |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 72°46′N 164°35′E / 72.77°N 164.58°E / 72.77; 164.58[1] |
| Diameter | 81.4 kilometres (50.6 mi)[1] |
| Eponym | Sergei Korolev (1907-1966), Soviet rocket engineer and designer |
Korolev is an ice-filled impact crater in the Mare Boreum quadrangleofMars, located at 73° north latitude and 165° east longitude. It is 81.4 kilometres (50.6 mi) in diameter[1] and contains about 2,200 cubic kilometres (530 cu mi) of water ice, comparable in volume to Great Bear Lakeinnorthern Canada.[2] The crater was named after Sergei Korolev (1907–1966), the head Soviet rocket engineer and designer during the Space Race in the 1950s and 1960s.[2]
Korolev crater is located on the Planum Boreum, the northern polar plain which surrounds the north polar ice cap, near the Olympia Undae dune field. The crater rim rises about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) above the surrounding plains. The crater floor lies about 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) below the rim, and is covered by a 1.8 kilometres (1.1 mi) deep central mound of permanent water ice, up to 60 kilometres (37 mi) in diameter.[2]
The ice is permanently stable because the crater acts as a natural cold trap. The thin Martian air above the crater ice is colder than air surrounding the crater; the colder local atmosphere is also heavier so it sinks to form a protective layer, insulating the ice, shielding it from melting and evaporation.[2][3] Recent research indicates that the ice deposit formed in place within the crater and was not previously part of a once-larger polar ice sheet.[4] The ice in the crater is part of the vast water resources at the poles of the planet.[3]
In the TV show For All Mankind, Korolev crater is the location of methane deposits that main character Kelly Baldwin seeks to investigate for signs of life.[5]
In the 1996 science fiction novel “Encounter with Tiber”, written by Buzz Aldrin and John Barnes, Korolev crater is used as a base by extraterrestrials from the Alpha Centauri system. Who visited approximately 9,000 years ago.
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