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a fleet of robotic spacecraft is

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exploring the red planet and scientists

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are finding new ways to mine an

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ever-growing mountain of data satellites

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always orbit a planet center of mass but

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they can be pulled slightly off course

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by the gravity of massive features like

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Olympus Mons the solar system's tallest

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peak now a team of scientists at NASA's

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Goddard Space Flight Center has used

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small fluctuations in the orbital data

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of three spacecraft to map the gravity

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field of Mars in this new map low

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gravity canyons like Valles Marineris in

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blue stand out from the high gravity

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reds and whites of the Tharsis mountains

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by comparing gravity with topography the

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scientists made an improved estimate for

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the crustal thickness of mars shedding

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light on its geologic history and

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confirming earlier indications that the

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planet has a molten outer core the

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orbital data also revealed seasonal

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variations in the mass of the polar caps

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showing that up to four trillion tons of

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carbon dioxide cycle annually between

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the poles the new gravity map should

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prove useful to future missions as well

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by allowing spacecraft to enter orbit

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more precisely thus ensuring that the