- Artificial intelligence has helped scientists to discover new craters that were previously not visible on Mars' surface.
- Scientists spend hours each day studying images captured by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), looking for changing surface phenomena like dust devils, avalanches, and shifting dunes.
- In the orbiter’s 14 years at Mars, scientists have relied on MRO data to find over 1,000 new craters. They’re usually first detected with the spacecraft’s Context Camera, which takes low-resolution images covering hundreds of miles at a time.
- Only the blast marks around an impact will stand out in these images, not the individual craters, so the next step is to take a closer look with the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, or HiRISE.
