Surface at different distances... (And yes that's a dormant geyser at the bottom of that crater.)
And I'm just going to leave this one here, because... I just can't...
(Yes - the recall autopilot did this...)
Yep, how is ice wet on these planets though? If the thin atmosphere physical properties were near the phase change point from solid to liquid, we'd see also lakes at least. That's not the case. If anything, the pressure is low enough for a direct solid -> gas phase change, as the pressure is very low. "Wet ice" look is impossible in them.
Except that features from orbit now disappear as you get closer... It's bait & switch within a bait & switch. Face it, Frontier screwed up pretty big this time and it looks like their business model for high turnover and replacing veterans with student interns has finally caught up with them.
Melts in the sun like it does on mountain tops. That’s why you do the summit push before dawn, otherwise the ice is less stable.
I'm actually really glad this didn't work out!Top right: "Development test not final"
Once again, phase change doesn't depend only on temperatue, but also on pressure. The thin atmosphere of landable planets should not permit liquid formation.
Water exists on Europa and that has little to no pressure. It's possible there is liquid trapped just underneath the surface. Which would then lead to the presence of geysers, so see my last set of pictures.Once again, phase change doesn't depend only on temperatue, but also on pressure. The thin atmosphere of landable planets should not permit liquid formation.
Source: https://i.stack.imgur.com/FG6XP.jpg
As you can see, below a certain pressure, for each chemical element or compound, there's not possible the formation of liquid. The diagram above is for water, but most elements and compounds have similar ones. The planets we land on have VERY little pressure.
Not at 57C below!
Under a thick layer of ice, which allows for pressure to build up
The surface of the ice, where water melts under the sun is not at -57C
It melts exactly because the uppermost layer of ice reaches around 0C while under the sun.The surface of the ice, where water melts under the sun is not at -57C
Hard to find images of sun reflecting on ice in Antarctica where the temperature is too cold for water. Here is ice reflecting the sunlight. It is plasticky looking.
Albedo is only part of the answer. Surface roughness plays a bigger role than how much radiation something absorbs and reflects in creating that look. On that picture you posted, the melted ice forming a thin layer of liquid water on top of ice due to the sun and Earth's pressure give it that typical "wet ice" reflection (much lower surface roughness than just natural ice or snow), which is seen on Odyssey planets. My argument is that those planets don't have enough pressure for the phase change to liquid due to the temperature increase, thus rendering that "wet ice" or "plastic" look not realistic as the solid would turn to gas when heated.
Very good point.
Thanks for posting that - absolutely shows the flattening in effect, how it's removed any significant elevation variation, and how trivial it has made flying around at low level. And that's the best you've found so far.
