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Elysium Planitia

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Elysium Planitia

(i-liz -ee-ŭm) Mars' second main center of volcanic activity, located on a bulge in the Martian crust about 3 km high and 5312 km in diameter, situated on the planet's equator. It is centered on the areograohic coordinates 2° N latitude, 205° W longitude (see areography). Its principal volcano is Elysium Mons (25° N latitude, 213.1° W longitude), which is 250 km in base diameter and 15 km high. See Mars, volcanoes. In Feb, 2005, scientists examining images of Elysium Planitia taken by the European spacecraft Mars Express noted some that showed plated and rutted features over an extensive area measuring 800 by 900 km. The platelike fractures resemble ice floes seen in Earth's polar regions, leading the scientists to believe that a catastrophic event flooded the area about five million years ago forming a sea that then froze and became covered with dust and volcanic ash. They think it now survives as pack ice just below the Martian surface.
Collins Dictionary of Astronomy © Market House Books Ltd, 2006
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References in periodicals archive
The CaSSIS view shows InSight as a slightly brighter dot in the centre of the dark patch produced when the lander fired its retro rockets just before touchdown in the Elysium Planitia region of Mars, and disturbed the surface dust.
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NASA chose Elysium Planitia for InSight's landing site because it's remarkably flat.
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With InSight's landing at Elysium Planitia, NASA has successfully soft-landed a vehicle on the Red Planet eight times.
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LA CANADA FLINTRIDGE, California -- After travelling 300 million miles through the solar system, Nasa's InSight spacecraft descended through the Martian sky on Monday and touched down safely on the smooth surface of Elysium Planitia shortly before noon Pacific time.
300 million miles coming
InSight arrived on Mars's Elysium Planitia area north of its equator, described as an ideal spot for its flat, rockless surface.
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