What Is Winter Like on Mars? (NASA Mars News Report Dec. 21, 2022)

Snow falls and ice and frost form on Mars, too. NASA's spacecraft on and orbiting the Red Planet reveal the similarities to and differences from how we experience winter on Earth. Mars scientist Sylvain Piqueux of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory explains how images and data collected from NASA’s Viking, Phoenix, Mars Odyssey, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter missions can help scientists better understand the processes behind a winter on Mars. On the Red Planet, where both carbon dioxide and water can take the form of ice and frost, scientists study these frosty landscapes and unusual formations to understand the climate of Mars today and in its past. Analyzing the ice on Mars will also help future human missions. For more information on NASA's Mars missions, visit mars.nasa.gov. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech