Detailed images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter help map enigmatic wind fans on the planet

NASA scientists have identified hundreds of thousands of wind "fans" on Mars with the help of images captured by the agency's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) and citizen scientists.

"We have taken about 75,000 images over all of Mars with our MRO HiRISE camera. We used citizen scientists, and 80,000 volunteers to map these fans and map their directions and sizes," said NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Deputy Project Scientist Leslie Tamppari.

The HiRISE camera onboard the MRO is the most powerful camera ever sent to another planet. Designed to study active surface processes and landscape evolution, it is one of six instruments onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

In addition to understanding the climate of Mars today and in the past, these wind data can also help scientists study why some dust storms grow to become global and others don't, according to the agency.

More FAN-tastic science from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the 80,000 citizen scientists who helped map enigmatic wind "fans" near the south pole of Mars. Details and downloads: https://t.co/VJHU6VfEVo #CitizenScience pic.twitter.com/OGRX4E14m0

— NASA Mars (@NASAMars) June 23, 2022

For the unversed, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been studying the Martian atmosphere and terrain from orbit since 2006. The mission has sent back thousands of stunning images of the Martian surface to help scientists learn more about the Red Planet.

MRO is led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.