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This is the first image taken by NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 PDT (morning of Aug. 6 EDT). It was taken through a 'fisheye' wide-angle lens on one of the rover's front left Hazard-Avoidance cameras.
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This is one of the first images taken by NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 PDT (morning of Aug. 6 EDT). It was taken through a "fisheye" wide-angle lens on one of the rover's front Hazard-Avoidance cameras at one-quarter of full resolution. The camera is the left eye of a stereo pair positioned at the middle of the rover's front side.
The clear dust cover on the camera is still on in this view, and dust can be seen around its edge, along with three cover fasteners. The rover's shadow is visible in the foreground.
As planned, the rover's early engineering images are lower resolution. Larger color images are expected later in the week when the rover's mast, carrying high-resolution cameras, is deployed.
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This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a portion of Olympica Fossae. In this image several lava channels are visible, and it appears that lava has flowed in the larger depressions.
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Context imageThis VIS image shows a portion of Olympica Fossae. In this image several lava channels are visible, and it appears that lava has flowed in the larger depressions. The streamlined feature in the central part of the image also indicates that volcanic processes were active in this region.Orbit Number: 61654 Latitude: 24.8964 Longitude: 246.128 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-11-07 08:34Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image taken by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows the Medusae Fossae Formation, in a region dissected by channels, lies an unnamed crater that may have been filled by mud on the martian landscape.
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Released 26 May 2003Just south of the 2 km high main mass of the Medusae Fossae Formation, in a region dissected by channels, lies an unnamed crater that may have been filled by mud. A channel spills into this crater on its eastern side and may have delivered the material that now covers the floor of the crater. The subdued ridges may be wrinkle ridges in a preexisting lava flow that are now covered by a layer of sediment. The cracked surface is evidence for the subsequent deposition of mud.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -6, Longitude 206.7 East (153.3 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity extended its robotic arm on Aug. 20, 2012, for the first time on Mars and used its Navigation Camera (Navcam) to capture this view of the extended arm.
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NASA's Mars rover Curiosity extended its robotic arm on Aug. 20, 2012, for the first time on Mars and used its Navigation Camera (Navcam) to capture this view of the extended arm.The view is a mosaic of low-resolution thumbnail images returned to Earth a few hours after the activity on Mars. Higher resolution versions were to follow.The 7-foot-long (2.1-meter-long) arm maneuvers a turret of tools including a camera, a drill, a spectrometer, a scoop and mechanisms for sieving and portioning samples of powdered rock and soil.Numbers around the edge are degrees of the compass and degrees below or above horizontal.Curiosity landed on Mars two weeks ago to begin a two-year mission using 10 instruments to assess whether a carefully chosen study area inside Gale Crater has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life.JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project, including Curiosity, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the rover. The Space Division of MDA Information Systems Inc. built the robotic arm in Pasadena.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a portion of the northern flank of Pavonis Mons.
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Context imageThis VIS image shows a portion of the northern flank of Pavonis Mons. The linear features at the top of the image are concentric faults. The linear and sinuous channel-like features at the bottom of the image likely formed by collapse of the roof of lava tubes into the empty space beneath.Pavonis Mons is the central volcano of the three large Tharsis volcanoes. In order from north to south the volcanoes are Ascreaus Mons, Pavonis Mons and Arsia Mons. All three volcanoes form a line located along a tectonic bulge caused by extensional forces in the region. Along this trend there are increased tectonic features and additional lava flows that arose from the flanks of the volcanoes rather than just the summit. Like the other large volcanoes in the region, Pavonis Mons is a shield volcano. Shield volcanoes are formed by lava flows originating near or at the summit, building up layers upon layers of lava. In shield volcanoes summit calderas are typically formed where the surface collapses into the void formed by an emptied magma chamber. Pavonis Mons is the smallest of the three volcanoes with a summit of only 14km (8.7 miles) and a width of 375 km (233 miles). Like most shield volcanoes the surface has a low profile. In the case of Pavonis Mons the average slope is only 4 degrees. Pavonis means peacock in Latin, making its name peacock mountain.Orbit Number: 93942 Latitude: 3.03864 Longitude: 248.737 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2023-02-17 11:45Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a crater surrounded by thin flows in southeastern Kasei Valles on Mars. The flows might have been lava or mud. The picture was acquired in August 2005.
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29 October 2005This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a crater surrounded by thin flows in southeastern Kasei Valles. The flows might have been lava or mud. The picture was acquired in August 2005.Location near: 14.2°N, 75.1°W Image width: width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: left/lower left Season: Northern Autumn
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In the center of this electron microscope image of a small chip from a meteorite are several tiny structures that are possible microscopic fossils of primitive, bacteria-like organisms that may have lived on Mars more than 3.6 billion years ago.
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In the center of this electron microscope image of a small chip from a meteorite are several tiny structures that are possible microscopic fossils of primitive, bacteria-like organisms that may have lived on Mars more than 3.6 billion years ago. A two-year investigation by a NASA research team found organic molecules, mineral features characteristic of biological activity and possible microscopic fossils such as these inside of an ancient Martian rock that fell to Earth as a meteorite. The largest possible fossils are less than 1/100th the diameter of a human hair in size while most are ten times smaller.A NASA research team of scientists at the Johnson Space Center and at Stanford University has found evidence that strongly suggests primitive life may have existed on Mars more than 3.6 billion years ago. The NASA-funded team found the first organic molecules thought to be of Martian origin; several mineral features characteristic of biological activity; and possible microscopic fossils of primitive, bacteria-like organisms inside of an ancient Martian rock that fell to Earth as a meteorite. This array of indirect evidence of past life will be reported in the Aug. 16 issue of the journal Science, presenting the investigation to the scientific community at large to reach a future consensus that will either confirm or deny the team's conclusion.
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NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the deep, steep-walled valley in Tagus Vallis in the martian southern hemisphere of Mars. Layered rock can be seen, exposed in the upper slopes of the valley. Bright sand dunes are visible on the valley floor.
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Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images of the Valles Marineris chasm walls obtained early in the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission demonstrated that the upper martian crust--at least in the location of the Valles Marineris--is layered down to depths of several kilometers/miles. Over the past year, examination of additional MGS MOC images of other parts of Mars--including the vast, heavily cratered terrains of the red planet--also exhibit a layered crust. On Earth, geologists use the composition, texture, and sequence of layered rocks to decipher clues about the planet's history. Mars might offer a similar opportunity.Shown here is a picture of Tagus Vallis in the martian southern hemisphere. The picture on the left shows this valley in a view that is about 7 kilometers (4.4 miles) wide by 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) high. Tagus Vallis is the deep, steep-walled valley that runs almost diagonally from upper left to lower right. The white box shows the location of the magnified view of the valley walls on the right. Layered rock can be seen, exposed in the upper slopes of the valley. Bright sand dunes are visible on the valley floor (lower left) and on the upland plain (upper right).In this picture, the illumination is from the upper right. This image was obtained in April 1998 during the MGS Science Phasing Orbits imaging campaign. This result was presented at the 30th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston,Texas, March 1999.Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.
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Spirit's Shadow, Sol 153
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This cylindrical-projection mosaic was created from navigation camera images acquired by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during Spirit's sol 153, on June 8, 2004. Spirit is pointing toward the base of the "Columbia Hills."
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Nilus Mensae, a complex region of tectonic faulting and fluid flow features.
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Context imageThis VIS image covers part of Nilus Mensae. Located in the region where the northward flowing channel from Valles Marineris becomes the eastward flowing Kasei Valles, Nilus Mensae is a complex region of tectonic faulting and fluid flow features. In addition to the scoured surface, sand dunes are visible in depressions throughout the image.Orbit Number: 78517 Latitude: 21.6368 Longitude: 286.455 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-08-27 09:50Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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Nilosyrtis Mensae region of Mars containing the impact craters Antoniadi and Baldet (south to north) in the lower left corner; north toward top, as seen by NASA's Viking spacecraft.
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A color image of part of the Nilosyrtis Mensae region of Mars containing the impact craters Antoniadi and Baldet (south to north) in the lower left corner; north toward top. The scene shows heavily cratered highlands on the south separated from the relatively smooth lowland plains on the northeast corner by a belt of dissected terrain, containing flat-floored valleys, mesas, buttes, and channels. The channels are (left to right) Auqakuh and Huo Hsing Valles; Nili Fossae lie in lower right corner of image.This image is a composite of Viking medium-resolution images in black and white and low-resolution images in color. The image extends from latitude 20 degrees N. to 40 degrees N. and from longitude 280 degrees to 305 degrees. Mercator projection is used below 30 degrees N.; Lambert projection is used above 30 degrees N.The dissected terrain along the highlands/lowlands boundary consist of the flat-floored valleys (mensae) and farther north the small, rounded hills of knobby terrain. Flows on the mensa floors contain striae that run parallel to valley walls; where valleys meet, the striae merge, similar to medial moraines on glaciers. Terraces within the valley hills have been interpreted as either layer rocks or wave terraces. The knobby terrain has been interpreted as remnants of the old, densely cratered highland terrain perhaps eroded by mass wasting. Auqakuh and Huo Hsing Valles and Nili Fossae are fretted channels and linear depressions that likely formed by sapping and mass wasting along lines of structural weakness.
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NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera to capture this rocky hilltop nicknamed Rockytop on July 24, 2022, the 507th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.
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Click here for animationNASA's Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera to capture this rocky hilltop nicknamed "Rockytop" on July 24, 2022, the 507th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.The feature is named after Rockytop in Shenandoah National Park.The animation is a video showing a pan/zoom view into the image.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.For more about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the floor of Eberswalde Crater.
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Context imageToday's VIS image show part of the floor of Eberswalde Crater. This crater is host to a large delta, a feature formed when a channel enters standing water and the velocity slows, depositing the sediment carried by the water. The complexity of the crater floor indicates many layers of materials, perhaps deposited when Eberswalde Crater was a lake. The Eberswalde Crater delta is one of the best preserved on Mars.Orbit Number: 91575 Latitude: -23.9969 Longitude: 326.583 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-08-06 13:22Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows
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MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-570, 10 December 2003This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) picture shows eroded layered bedrock outcrops in the upper walls of one of the depressions in the Tithonium Chasma trough system. Tithonium Chasma is one of the canyons of the Valles Marineris, a vast gouge that--if it occurred on Earth-would span the distance from Los Angeles, California, to New York City. The Valles Marineris canyons were not carved by running water, instead they formed mostly by the combined forces of faulting and mass movement (landslides) as gravity eroded materials from the walls. This image is located near 4.2°S, 85.1°W. The image covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and is illuminated from the lower left.
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This image is part of THEMIS art month, taken by NASA's Mars Odyssey featuring a portion of Mars' landscape looking like an elf's ear.
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Welcome to the second annual THEMIS ART MONTH. From Jan. 31 through March 4 we will be showcasing images for their aesthetic value, rather than their science content. Portions of these images resemble things in our everyday lives, from animals to letters of the alphabet. We hope you enjoy our fanciful look at Mars!Is that an elf peeking in from the right side of the image? Or...something more sinister?Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows dark sand dunes, formed by winds blowing from the southwest (lower left), in Wirtz Crater. The crater is named for Carl Wilhelm Wirtz, a German astronomer.
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10 September 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dark sand dunes, formed by winds blowing from the southwest (lower left), in Wirtz Crater. The crater is named for Carl Wilhelm Wirtz (1876-1939), a German astronomer.Location near 49.0°S, 25.5°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Autumn
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This image, acquired on December 27, 2019 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows gullies on Mars during the winter, fluidized by carbon dioxide frost.
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Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionGullies on Mars form during the winter, fluidized by carbon dioxide frost, so we monitor these sites for activity throughout the year. This mid-winter scene is almost completely frosted over the pole-facing slope within the shadow. The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 50.5 centimeters [19.9 inches] per pixel [with 2 x 2 binning]; objects on the order of 152 centimeters [59.8 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
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Dark, windblown sand covers intricate sedimentary rock layers in this image captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) from Ganges Chasma, a canyon in the Valles Marineris system.
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Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionDark, windblown sand covers intricate sedimentary rock layers in this image captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) from Ganges Chasma, a canyon in the Valles Marineris system.These features are at once familiar and unusual to those familiar with Earth's beaches and deserts. Most sand dunes on Earth are made of silica-rich sand, giving them a light color; these Martian dunes owe their dark color to the iron and magnesium-rich sand found in the region.The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 26.7 centimeters (10.5 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Lyot Crater, including a large field of sand dunes on the crater floor.
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Context imageThis VIS image shows part of Lyot Crater, including a large field of sand dunes on the crater floor. Lyot Crater is located in Vastitas Borealis, part of the northern hemisphere lowlands. This complex crater is 236 km across (146 miles). Craters that contain two rings — one inside the other — are variously called peak ring craters or double ring basins. This morphology can develop in craters larger than 100 km across. This dunes in this image are found within the inner ring of the crater.Orbit Number: 78950 Latitude: 49.8479 Longitude: 29.3102 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-10-02 01:42Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image released on July 17, 2004 from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows that eons of atmospheric dust storm activity has left its mark on the surface of Mars. Yardangs form in channel floor deposits.
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The atmosphere of Mars is a dynamic system. Water-ice clouds, fog, and hazes can make imaging the surface from space difficult. Dust storms can grow from local disturbances to global sizes, through which imaging is impossible. Seasonal temperature changes are the usual drivers in cloud and dust storm development and growth. Eons of atmospheric dust storm activity has left its mark on the surface of Mars. Dust carried aloft by the wind has settled out on every available surface; sand dunes have been created and moved by centuries of wind; and the effect of continual sand-blasting has modified many regions of Mars, creating yardangs and other unusual surface forms. The yardangs in this image are forming in channel floor deposits. The channel itself is funneling the wind to cause the erosion.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 1, Longitude 198.5 East (161.5 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a cross section of Pavonis Mons, including the central part of the smaller summit caldera.
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Context imageThis VIS image shows a cross section of Pavonis Mons, including the central part of the smaller summit caldera (circular depression). On the top side of the caldera is a complex region of fault related collapse of the wall of the caldera. Several intersecting faults are visible there. The faults would have formed areas of weakness in the caldera wall, precipitating into gravity driven down slope movement of materials. This caldera is approximately 5km (3 miles) deep, much deeper that the larger caldera that surrounds the northern and eastern sides of the small caldera. Pavonis Mons, like the other large volcanoes in the region, is a shield volcano. Shield volcanoes are formed by lava flows originating near or at the summit, building up layers upon layers of lava. In shield volcanoes summit calderas are typically formed where the surface collapses into the void formed by an emptied magma chamber.Pavonis Mons is one of the three aligned Tharsis Volcanoes. In order from north to south are Ascreaus Mons, Pavonis Mons and Arsia Mons. The three aligned volcanoes are located along a topographic rise in the Tharsis region. Along this trend there are increased tectonic features and additional lava flows that arose from the flanks of the volcanoes rather than the summit. Pavonis Mons is the smallest of the three volcanoes, rising 14 km (8 miles) above the mean Mars surface level with a width of 375 km (233 miles). Like most shield volcanoes the surface has a low profile. In the case of Pavonis Mons the average slope is only 4 degrees.Orbit Number: 86118 Latitude: 0.356409 Longitude: 247.166 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-05-14 06:19Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows Nirgal Vallis, a narrow valley system across the martian surface near 28°S latitude, north of the large basin, Argyre. The floor of the valley system is largely covered with light-toned dunes and ripples.
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Nirgal Vallis is a narrow valley system that stretches approximately 420 kilometers (260 miles) across the martian surface near 28°S latitude, north of the large basin, Argyre. The floor of the valley system is largely covered with light-toned dunes and ripples. These windblown features obscure most of the original morphology of the valley floor. This view of a small portion of Nirgal Vallis was obtained by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) during Extended Mission subphase E02 on March 29, 2001. In each short tributary valley, dunes have a somewhat different orientation compared to those in the other valleys. The dune patterns here indicate that winds are locally controlled by the shape and orientation of each valley. The dunes just left of the center of the image have small craters on them, formed by meteor impact. The craters indicate that the dunes are not fresh, modern features, but are considerably older than they might at first seem. This image covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and is illuminated from the upper left.
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This image shows a small portion of the flank of Ascraeus Mons on Mars, taken by NASA's Mars 2001 Odyssey spacecraft.
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Context image for PIA01214Ascraeus MonsThis image shows a small portion of the flank of Ascraeus Mons.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 10.7N, Longitude 258.5E. 18 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took these images that have been combined into this stereo, 180-degree view of the rover's surroundings on March 23, 2009. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.
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Left-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11962Right-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11962NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to take the images that have been combined into this stereo, 180-degree view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,856th Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's surface mission (March 23, 2009). The center of the view is toward the west-southwest.This view combines images from the left-eye and right-eye sides of the navigation camera. It appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left. The rover had driven 25.82 meters (84.7 feet) west-northwestward earlier on Sol 1856. This is the longest drive on Mars so far by a rover using only five wheels. Spirit lost the use of its right-front wheel in March 2006. Before Sol 1856, the farthest Spirit had covered in a single sol's five-wheel drive was 24.83 meters (81.5 feet), on Sol 1363 (Nov. 3, 2007).The Sol 1856 drive made progress on a route planned for taking Spirit around the western side of the low plateau called "Home Plate." A portion of the northwestern edge of Home Plate is prominent in the left quarter of this image, toward the south.This view is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Margartifier Terra near Ares Vallis.
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Context imageThe THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of Margartifier Terra near Ares Vallis.Orbit Number: 80961 Latitude: 7.61436 Longitude: 339.521 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-03-15 15:33Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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Mars Gully: No Mineral Trace of Liquid Water
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This image of the Centauri-Hellas Montes region was taken by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) at 2107 UTC (4:07 p.m. EST) on Jan. 9, 2007, near 38.41 degrees south latitude, 96.81 degrees east longitude. CRISM's image was taken in 544 colors covering 0.36-3.92 micrometers, and shows features as small as 20 meters (66 feet) across. The region covered is slightly wider than 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) at its narrowest point.Narrow gullies found on hills and crater walls in many mid-latitude regions of Mars have been interpreted previously as cut by geologically "recent" running water, meaning water that flowed on Mars long after impact cratering, tectonic forces, volcanism or other processes created the underlying landforms. Some gullies even eroded into sand dunes, which would date their formation at thousands to millions of years ago, or less. In fact, Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images showed two of the gullies have bright deposits near their downslope ends - but those deposits were absent in images taken just a few years earlier. The bright deposits must have formed within the period 1999-2004. Has there been running water on Mars so recently? To address that question, CRISM and MRO's other instruments observed the bright gully deposits. CRISM's objective was to determine if the bright deposits contained salts left behind from water evaporating into Mars' thin air. The high-resolution imager's (HiRISE's) objective was to determine if the small-scale morphology was consistent with formation by running water. This CRISM image of a bright gully deposit was constructed by showing 2.53, 1.50, and 1.08 micrometer light in the red, green, and blue image planes. CRISM can just resolve the deposits (highlighted by arrows in the inset), which are only a few tens of meters (about 150 feet) across. The spectrum of the deposits barely differs from that of the surrounding material, and is just a little brighter. This difference could simply be explained by a slightly greater content of dust than in the surrounding soil. In contrast, older deposits elsewhere on Mars ( such as Valles Marineris) that do contain hydrated salts have distinctive spectral features near 1.9 and 3.0 microns. The gully deposits lack these features, and exhibit no evidence for water-deposited salts. Just-published HiRISE images of this and other bright gully deposits do not rule out water, but they do suggest that the bright deposits could also have formed by dust that slid downslope and accumulated in the gullies.The Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) is one of six science instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Led by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, the CRISM team includes expertise from universities, government agencies and small businesses in the United States and abroad.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows graben at the top of the image, Mangala Fossae, the rest are part of Memnonia Fossae.
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Context imageFossae are long linear depressions called a graben and are formed by extension of the crust and faulting. When large amounts of pressure or tension are applied to rocks on timescales that are fast enough that the rock cannot respond by deforming, the rock breaks along faults. In the case of a graben, two parallel faults are formed by extension of the crust and the rock in between the faults drops downward into the space created by the extension. The graben at the top of the image is Mangala Fossae, the rest are part of Memnonia Fossae. Memnonia Fossae, Mangala Fossae and Sirenum Fossae are all long graben systems that stretch from eastern Terra Sirenum into western Daedalia Planum.Orbit Number: 91373 Latitude: -21.0528 Longitude: 206.009 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-07-20 22:54Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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The ChemCam instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover fired its laser 50 times at its onboard graphite target showing spectral measurements from the first shot, which hit dust on the target, compared to spectral measurements of from the 50th shot.
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The Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover fired its laser 50 times at its onboard graphite target during the 27th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (Sept. 2, 2012). This series of graphs shows spectral measurements from the first shot, which hit dust on the target, compared to spectral measurements of from the 50th shot, which hit only the graphite target material because early shots had removed the dust.The Shot 1 spectrum reveals the composition of the dust layer covering the target, which includes, among other elements, magnesium (Mg), silicon (Si), calcium (Ca), aluminum (Al), potassium (K), oxygen (O), hydrogen (H), and carbon (C). The carbon lines are due to the coupling with the atmosphere, which is mainly carbon dioxide. Hydrogen reveals the presence of hydroxyl groups, water molecules or both. The Shot 50 spectrum is that of a carbon-pure target, with lines of carbon and oxygen only.ChemCam observes spectral characteristics of dust on every first shot at any target analyzed on Mars.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project and the mission's Curiosity rover for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed and assembled at JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows small, dark dunes in an unnamed crater complex in Arabia Terra.
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Context image for PIA10872DunesThis VIS image shows small, dark dunes in an unnamed crater complex in Arabia Terra.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 9.2N, Longitude 11.9E. 18 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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An elongated crater called 'Spirit of St. Louis,' with a rock spire in it, dominates this stereo view from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.
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An elongated crater called "Spirit of St. Louis," with a rock spire in it, dominates this stereo view from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.The scene combines views from the left eye and right eye of Opportunity's panoramic camera (Pancam) to appear three-dimensional when seen through blue-red glasses with the red lens on the left.Opportunity completed its 4,000 Martian day, or sol, of work on Mars on April 26, 2015. The rover has been exploring Mars since early 2004.This scene from late March 2015 shows a shallow crater called Spirit of St. Louis, about 110 feet (34 meters) long and about 80 feet (24 meters) wide, with a floor slightly darker than surrounding terrain. The rocky feature toward the far end of the crater is about 7 to 10 feet (2 to 3 meters) tall, rising higher than the crater's rim.The component images of this mosaic view were taken on March 29 and 30, 2015, during Sol 3973 and Sol 3974 of the mission. This version of the image is presented in approximate true color by combing exposures taken through three of the Pancam's color filters, centered on wavelengths of 753 nanometers (near-infrared), 535 nanometers (green) and 432 nanometers (violet).The view is centered toward the northeast. The rover's location and the Spirit of Saint Louis Crater are near the center of a map at http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/mission/tm-opportunity/images/MERB_Sol3998_1.jpg.The unusually shaped Spirit of St. Louis Crater lies on the outer portion of the western rim of Endeavour Crater. Endeavour spans about 14 miles (22 kilometers) in diameter, and Opportunity has been exploring its western rim for about one-third of the rover's mission, which has lasted more than 11 years. Endeavour's elevated western rim extends northward to the left from Spirit of St. Louis Crater in this scene. A glimpse to the far side of Endeavour is visible on either side of the rock spire.JPL manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. For more information about Opportunity's mission, visit http://mars.nasa.gov/mer.
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NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a small, dust-covered volcano on the plains east of Pavonis Mons on Mars. The floor of the caldera (elliptical depression at the summit of the volcano) has a few windblown ripples on it.
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MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-425, 18 July 2003This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) high resolution image, acquired 13 July 2003, shows a small, dust-covered volcano on the plains east of Pavonis Mons. The floor of the caldera--the elliptical depression at the summit of the volcano--has a few windblown ripples on it. The ripples and thick dust mantle, together with the small impact craters on its surface, indicate that the volcano erupted some time ago. There has been no activity at this volcano in geologically recent times. This image covers an area 3 km wide by 6.8 km (1.9 mi by 4.2 mi); the aspect ratio is 1 across by 1.5 down. The volcano is located near 1.6°S, 105.7°W; sunlight illuminates the scene from the left.
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This spectacular picture of the Martian landscape by NASA's Viking 1 Lander shows a dune field with features remarkably similar to many seen in the deserts of Earth.
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This spectacular picture of the Martian landscape by the Viking 1 Lander shows a dune field with features remarkably similar to many seen in the deserts of Earth. The dramatic early morning lighting - 7:30 a.m. local Mars time--reveals subtle details and shading. Taken yesterday (August 3) by the Lander s camera #1, the picture covers 100, looking northeast at left and southeast at right. Viking scientists have studied areas very much like the one in this view in Mexico and in California (Kelso, Death Valley, Yuma). The sharp dune crests indicate the most recent wind storms capable of moving sand over the dunes in the general direction from upper left to lower right. Small deposits downwind of rocks also indicate this wind direction. Large boulder at left is about eight meters (25 feet) from the spacecraft and measures about one by three meters (3 by 10 feet). The meteorology boom, which supports Viking s miniature weather station, cuts through the picture s center. The sun rose two hours earlier and is about 30 above the horizon near the center of the picture.
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NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the Acidalia/Mare Erythraeum face of Mars in mid-May 2005.
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10 May 2005This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 211° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 211° occurs in mid-May 2005. The picture shows the Acidalia/Mare Erythraeum face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.Season: Northern Autumn/Southern Spring
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The level of detail apparent in this image from Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) shows that haziness in earlier MAHLI images since landing was due to dust that had settled on the dust cover during the landing.
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The reclosable dust cover on Curiosity's Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) was opened for the first time during the 33rd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission on Mars (Sept. 8, 2012), enabling MAHLI to take this image.The level of detail apparent in the image shows that haziness in earlier MAHLI images since landing was due to dust that had settled on the dust cover during the landing.The patch of ground shown is about 34 inches (86 centimeters) across. The size of the largest pebble, near the bottom of the image, is about 3 inches (8 centimeters). Notice that the ground immediately around that pebble has less dust visible (more gravel exposed) than in other parts of the image. The presence of the pebble may have affected the wind in a way that preferentially removes dust from the surface around it.
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This cylindrical projection image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows tracks from the drive extend northward across dark-toned sand ripples and light-toned patches of exposed bedrock in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars.
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NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings just after driving 60.86 meters (200 feet) on the 1,806th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (Feb. 21, 2009). North is at the center; south at both ends.Tracks from the drive extend northward across dark-toned sand ripples and light-toned patches of exposed bedrock in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches).Engineers designed the Sol 1806 drive to be driven backwards as a strategy to redistribute lubricant in the rovers wheels. The right-front wheel had been showing signs of increased friction.The rover's position after the Sol 1806 drive was about 2 kilometer (1.2 miles) south southwest of Victoria Crater. Cumulative odometry was 14.74 kilometers (9.16 miles) since landing in January 2004, including 2.96 kilometers (1.84 miles) since climbing out of Victoria Crater on the west side of the crater on Sol 1634 (August 28, 2008). This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.
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This full-circle view from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the terrain surrounding the location called 'Troy,' where Spirit became embedded in soft soil during the spring of 2009. 3D glasses are necessary.
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Left-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA12202Right-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA12202This full-circle, stereo view from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the terrain surrounding the location called "Troy," where Spirit became embedded in soft soil during the spring of 2009. The view combines a stereo pair so that it appears three dimensional when seen through red-blue glasses, with the red lens on the left.North is at the center; south at both ends. The western edge of the low plateau called Home Plate dominates the right half of the panorama. At the far right is a bright-topped mound called "Von Braun," a possible future destination for Spirit's exploration. Near the center of the panorama, in the distance, lies Husband Hill, where Spirit recorded views from the summit in 2005. The ridge on the left, near the rover tracks leading to Troy from the north, is called "Tsiolkovsky." For scale, the parallel tracks are about 1 meter (39 inches) apart. The track on the right is more evident because Spirit was driving backwards, dragging its right-front wheel, which no longer rotates.The bright soil in the center foreground is soft material in which Spirit became embedded after the wheels on that side cut through a darker top layer. The composition of different layers in the soil at the site became the subject of intense investigation by tools on Spirit's robotic arm.The Pancam team named this scene the camera's Calypso Panorama. This version is an approximate true-color, red-green-blue composite panorama generated from images taken through the Pancam's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 480-nanometer filters. This "natural color" view is the rover team's best estimate of what the scene would look like if we were there and able to see it with our own eyes. Spirit has been investigating a region within Mars' Gusev Crater for more than 67 months in what was originally planned as a three-month mission.
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The pale rock in the upper center of this image, about the size of a human forearm, includes a target called 'Esperance,' which was inspected by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.
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The pale rock in the upper center of this image, about the size of a human forearm, includes a target called "Esperance," which was inspected by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Data from the rover's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer (APXS) indicate that Esperance's composition is higher in aluminum and silica, and lower in calcium and iron, than other rocks Opportunity has examined in more than nine years on Mars. Preliminary interpretation points to clay mineral content due to intensive alteration by water.This image is a composite of three exposures taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera (Pancam) during the 3,262nd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (March 28, 2013). The component images were taken through three different Pancam filters -- centered on wavelengths of 753 nanometers (near-infrared), 535 nanometers (green) and 432 nanometers (violet). The view is presented in false color to make some differences between materials easier to see.
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This picture of a heart-shaped feature in Arabia Terra on Mars was taken on May 23, 2010, by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. A small impact crater near the tip of the heart is responsible for the formation of the bright, heart-shaped feature.
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This picture of a heart-shaped feature in Arabia Terra on Mars was taken on May 23, 2010, by the Context Camera (CTX) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. A small impact crater near the tip of the heart is responsible for the formation of the bright, heart-shaped feature. When the impact occurred, darker material on the surface was blown away, and brighter material beneath it was revealed. Some of this brighter material appears to have flowed further downslope to form the heart shape, as the small impact occurred on the ejecta blanket of a much larger impact crater. The heart-shaped feature is about 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) long and is centered at 21.9 degrees north latitude, 12.7 degrees west longitude. These pictures are subframes of the full CTX image B21_017910_2002_XI_20N012W, taken just at the start of northern summer on Mars. North is to the right, and illumination is from the upper right. The CTX image has been colorized using a look-up table based on Mars Orbiter Camera red and blue wide angle images that maps albedo to color.The Context Camera was provided by and is operated by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft and operates it in partnership with JPL.
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Much of the northern lowlands of Mars are thought to be relatively young volcanic flows with varying amounts of windblown dust cover. The lack of impact craters in this image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft indicate the young age of the surface.
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Much of the northern lowlands of Mars are thought to be relatively young volcanic flows with varying amounts of windblown dust cover. The lack of impact craters in this image indicate the young age of the surface. The lighter spots in the top portion of the image are likely small volcanic features, either small cones or perhaps small collapse pits. The appearance of the darker material abutting or flowing against the higher knobs and ridges is common in volcanic flow fields.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a small portion of the vast lava flow field of Daedalia Planum.
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Context imageThis VIS image shows a small portion of the vast lava flow field of Daedalia Planum. The flows originate at Arsia Mons, the southernmost and youngest of the three large aligned volcanoes in the Tharsis region. Arsia Mons' last eruption was tens of million years ago. The youngest volcano in the region is Olympus Mons, the largest volcano in our solar system.Orbit Number: 78993 Latitude: -22.11 Longitude: 239.279 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-10-05 14:17Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image acquired on January 10, 2021 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows a large sand dune with bright patches. Martian dunes near the poles often have bright patches in the spring, when seasonal frost is lingering.
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Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionThis image shows a large sand dune with bright patches. Martian dunes near the poles often have bright patches in the spring, when seasonal frost is lingering. However, this image is from late summer, when frost is long gone. What is going on here?A close-up look with HiRISE provides some clues. The bright patches are made up of large ridges that look like wind-blown bedforms. Additionally, the bright patches are yellowish in the infrared-red-blue image. In enhanced color, most sand on Mars is blue but dust is yellow. This suggests that the bright bedforms are either built from, or covered by, dust or material with a different composition. The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 49.9 centimeters [19.6 inches] per pixel [with 2 x 2 binning]; objects on the order of 150 centimeters [59.1 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
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This view from the base of 'Burns Cliff' in the inner wall of 'Endurance Crater' combines several frames taken by Opportunity's navigation camera during the NASA rover's 280th martian day (Nov. 6, 2004).
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This view from the base of "Burns Cliff" in the inner wall of "Endurance Crater" combines several frames taken by Opportunity's navigation camera during the NASA rover's 280th martian day (Nov. 6, 2004). It is presented in a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction. The cliff dominates the left and right portions of the image, while the central portion looks down into the crater. The "U" shape of this mosaic results from the rover's tilt of about 30 degrees on the sloped ground below the cliff. Rover wheel tracks in the left half of the image show some of the slippage the rover experienced in making its way to this point. The site from which this image was taken has been designated as Opportunity's Site 37.
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The Martian outcrop where pale rock meets darker overlying rock near the middle of this view from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover is an example of a geological contact. It was taken with the rover's Navcam on May 21, 2015.
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The Martian outcrop where pale rock meets darker overlying rock near the middle of this view is an example of a geological contact. Such contacts can reveal clues about how the environmental conditions that produced one type of rock were related to the conditions that produced the other. NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took this image with its Navigation Camera (Navcam) just after finishing an uphill drive of about 72 feet (22 meters) on the 991st Martian day, or sol of the rover's work on Mars (May 21, 2015). For more information about Curiosity, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl.
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This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a small unnamed channel in Terra Sabaea.
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Context imageThis VIS image shows a small unnamed channel in Terra Sabaea.Orbit Number: 62272 Latitude: 12.3975 Longitude: 55.8821 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-12-28 06:00Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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Olivine, Phyllosilicates, and Ancient Crater Rims
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This image of phyllosilicates and olivine in the Nili Fossae region of Mars was taken by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) at 0714UTC (3:14 a.m. EDT) on October 3, 2006 near 20.5 degrees north latitude, 78.5 degrees east longitude. The image was taken in 544 colors covering 0.36-3.92 micrometers, and shows features as small as 18 meters (60 feet) across.Nili Fossae is a group of long, narrow depressions comprised of a series of grabens or down-dropped blocks of crust surrounded by faults. It lies to the northeast of Syrtis Major (a low and broad shield volcano) and to the northwest of an impact basin, Isidis Planitia. Nili Fossae stretches some 667 kilometers (415 miles) toward Utopia Planitia, and has been partially filled by sediments and volcanic lavas.The top panel in the montage above shows the location of the CRISM image on a mosaic taken by the Mars Odyssey spacecraft_x0092_s Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS). The CRISM data covers relatively flat terrain that holds several small craters.The lower left image, in infrared false color, reveals craters that hold a ruddy-brown material on their floors. This material appears to form pyramid-shaped wedges within the craters, all seemingly _x0093_pointing_x0094_ toward the northeast which suggests they may be wind deposits. Similar ruddy-brown material is exposed on the hill at the southwestern corner of the image, probably a remnant segment of the rim of a very ancient, highly eroded crater.The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), which is also onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, has imaged similar regions elsewhere in Nili Fossae. When combined with CRISM data, the images revealed the sand dunes to be olivine-rich and commonly lying atop clay deposits (Clay at Nili Fossae).The lower right image expands our understanding of the composition of this area. CRISM data reveal olivine (an iron-magnesium containing igneous mineral) in blue. The olivine makes up the material on the hill as well as the crater floors that appears ruddy-brown in the false color image. Other lower hills, appearing non-descript gray in false color, consist of ferromagnesian phyllosilicates (red/pink). Both the olivine and the phyllosilicates, a category of mineral that includes clays, were buried by material that appears black in the lower right image, probably basaltic lava rocks. The burial of the olivine-rich hill and the phyllosilicates indicates that both formed early in Mars' history, before the lava. Later, small craters formed on the lavas penetrating them and exposing the underlying olivine, which has been eroded by winds and formed into sand dunes.CRISM is one of six science instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Led by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md., the CRISM team includes expertise from universities, government agencies and small businesses in the United States and abroad. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Mars Science Laboratory for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the orbiter.
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Spirit's Surroundings on Sol 337
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This view was assembled from images taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the rover's 337th martian day, or sol (Dec. 14, 2004). Spirit's position, catalogued as Site 100 for the mission, was on the slope of "Husband Hill." The rover had driven 6 meters (20 feet) on Sol 337 after examining a rock called "Wishstone" for several sols. That rock is just to the left of the top of the arch traced by the rover tracks in this view. Spirit experienced slippage of up to 80 percent on uphill portions of the day's drive. The view is presented here in a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of a complex channel system located in northern Arabia Terra.
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Context imageThis VIS image shows part of a complex channel system located in northern Arabia Terra. While there are many unnamed channels in region, this one is very long and substantial in width. The uniform width over much of the length of the feature, and the straightness of the channel sections may indicate these are tectonic features rather than channels caused by fluid action. The fact that this feature is not called a vallis or valles (fluid flow channels) indicates that those who have studied this feature lean towards the tectonic origin for the channels.Orbit Number: 87261 Latitude: 36.7761 Longitude: 27.9326 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-08-16 09:13Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft contains a relatively young crater and its ejecta. Layering in the ejecta is visible and relates to the shock waves from the impact. This unnamed crater is located in Arabia Terra.
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Context imageToday's VIS image contains a relatively young crater and its ejecta. Layering in the ejecta is visible and relates to the shock waves from the impact. This unnamed crater is located in Arabia Terra.Orbit Number: 45564 Latitude: 41.5547 Longitude: 4.95297 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-03-22 23:41Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a sand sheet with dune forms on the floor of an unnamed crater southeast of Proctor Crater on Mars.
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Context imageCredit: NASA/JPL/MOLAThis daytime IR image shows a sand sheet with dune forms on the floor of an unnamed crater southeast of Proctor Crater.Image information: IR instrument. Latitude -52.3N, Longitude 33.0E. 121 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Capri Mensa.
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Context imageThe THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of Capri Mensa. Elevations drop from the bottom of the image to the top. The materials that are blueish in the image are moving down slope and forming dunes.Orbit Number: 12759 Latitude: -12.8508 Longitude: 313.617 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2004-10-29 21:28Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image acquired on August 1, 2018 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows the Martian south polar cap full of pits that make it look like Swiss cheese.
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Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionThe Martian south polar cap is a layer of carbon dioxide ice, full of pits that make it look like Swiss cheese. The pits form when the Sun heats the ice and makes it sublimate (transform from a solid to a gas). Because it's at the pole, the Sun never gets very high in the sky, so steep slopes get more heat and sublimate faster, causing pits to form and grow. This is balanced by new carbon dioxide frost that forms on flatter areas. Compare this image with one we took in 2007. How many differences can you find?The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 24.7 centimeters (9.7 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 74 centimeters (29.1 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
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This meteoroid impact crater on Mars was captured using the black-and-white Context Camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).
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Figure AThis meteoroid impact crater on Mars was captured using the black-and-white Context Camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The Context Camera took this image showing the impact, which occurred Sept. 18, 2021, in a region called Tempe Terra.The meteoroid struck the side of a graben – a depression created by faults. The impact crater left behind is roughly 427 feet (130 meters) across. Figure A is an annotated version of the image pointing out the crater location and including a scale bar.NNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The Context Camera was built and is operated by Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey crosses both Ophir Chasma and Candor Chasma. Layered and eroded material covers the floors of both chasmata. Both canyons are part of Valles Marineris.
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Context imageToday's VIS image crosses both Ophir Chasma (top) and Candor Chasma (bottom). Layered and eroded material covers the floors of both chasmata. Both canyons are part of Valles Marineris. Often called the grand canyon of Mars, Valles Marineris extends over 3,000 kilometers (1864 miles) long, spans as much as 600 kilometers across, and as deep as 8 kilometers. By comparison, the Earth's Grand Canyon in Arizona, USA is 800 kilometers long, 30 kilometers across, and 1.8 kilometers deep.Orbit Number: 84551 Latitude: -4.18643 Longitude: 286.548 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-01-05 04:50Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft passes above Mars' south pole in this artist's concept illustration. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.
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NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft passes above Mars' south pole in this artist's concept illustration. This red-blue anaglyph artwork can be viewed in 3-D on your computer monitor or in color print form by wearing red-blue (cyan) 3-D glasses. The spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since October 24, 2001. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Mars Odyssey mission for the NASA Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Investigators at Arizona State University in Tempe, the University of Arizona in Tucson, and NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, operate the science instruments. The gamma-ray spectrometer was provided by the University of Arizona in collaboration with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency and Institute for Space Research, which provided the high-energy neutron detector, and the Los Alamos National Laboratories, New Mexico, which provided the neutron spectrometer. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a particularly bright-looking part of the rock Halley, on Mars. Chemical composition of the bright spots is suggestive of a calcium sulfate mineral.
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Stretching along "Low Ridge" in front of the winter haven for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit are several continuous rock layers that make up the ridge. Some of these layers form fins that stick out from the other rocks in a way that suggests that they are resistant to erosion. Spirit is currently straddling one of these fin-like layers and can reach a small bit of light-toned material that might be a broken bit of it. Informally named "Halley," this rock was broken by Spirit's wheels when the rover drove over it.Spirit's microscopic imager took this picture during the rover's 861st sol, or Martian day, of exploring Mars (June 5, 2006). The field of view is about 31 millimeters square (a square with sides of 1.2 inches). The light-toned soils in the bottom center and the top center of the image correspond to small, bright, bluish-white deposits just to the right of the rover's tracks in the lower left corner of an image from the panoramic camera (see PIA08567).The first analyses of Halley showed it to be unusual in composition, containing a lot of the minor element zinc relative to the soil around it and having much of its iron tied up in the mineral hematite. When scientists again placed the scientific instruments on Spirit's robotic arm on a particularly bright-looking part of Halley, they found that the chemical composition of the bright spots was suggestive of a calcium sulfate mineral. Bright soils that Spirit has examined earlier in the mission contain iron sulfate.This discovery raises new questions for the science team: Why is the sulfate mineralogy here different? Did Halley and the fin material form by water percolating through the layered rocks of Low Ridge? When did the chemical alteration of this rock occur? Spirit will continue to work on Halley and other light-toned materials along Low Ridge in the coming months to try to answer these questions.
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The complex channel and streamlined islands are part of Maja Valles as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft.
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Context imageThe complex channel and streamlined islands in this VIS image are part of Maja Valles.Orbit Number: 45828 Latitude: 19.1328 Longitude: 308.317 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-04-13 17:19Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey released on Sept 13, 2004 shows the martian surface of Ius Chasma. This image shows the central ridge that runs through Ius Chasma.
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The Odyssey spacecraft has taken some great pictures of Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the solar system. If this canyon were on Earth, it would stretch from New York to Los Angeles. For the next several weeks, the Image of the Day will tour some of the canyons that make up this vast system. We will start with Ius Chasma in the west, and end with Coprates Chasma to the east. For more information on Vallis Marineris, please see http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mep/science/vm.html.This image shows the central ridge that runs through Ius Chasma.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -8, Longitude 279.4 East (80.6 West). 18 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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The THEMIS camera contains 5 filters. Data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the southwestern rim of Knobel Crater.
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Context image The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of the southwestern rim of Knobel Crater. Knobel Crater is located in Terra Cimmeria.Orbit Number: 52003 Latitude: -7.25713 Longitude: 132.523 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-09-03 20:02Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image acquired on October 23, 2007 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows a 3D perspective view of a small patch of ancient Martian land in Terra Sirenum.
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Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionThis 3D perspective view is a composite of both HiRISE and data from CRISM, another instrument onboard MRO. This view covers a small patch of ancient Martian real estate in Terra Sirenum.CRISM collects spectral data that can be used as a chemical fingerprint for the upper most surface. This information suggests that this small patch of surface is covered with salts (chlorides) represented in green and water-rich clays that appear in blue.CRISM colors can be added to high-resolution images to enhance our knowledge of these materials. They also match nicely with the surface features in our HiRISE image. For example, a fissure near the center of the image may be a a clue to the origin of the salts. The fissure may be a fracture where warm salt-laden water may have welled up, erupted and ponded on the surface. These waters then evaporated leaving the salt-rich deposits behind. The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 25.4 centimeters (10 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 76 centimeters (30.0 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.This is a stereo pair with PSP_006668_1470.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Lomonosov Crater. Lomonosov Crater is 130km (81 miles) in diameter and is located in northern Acidalia Planitia.
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Context imageThe THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of Lomonosov Crater. Lomonosov Crater is 130km (81 miles) in diameter and is located in northern Acidalia Planitia.The THEMIS VIS camera is capable of capturing color images of the Martian surface using five different color filters. In this mode of operation, the spatial resolution and coverage of the image must be reduced to accommodate the additional data volume produced from using multiple filters. To make a color image, three of the five filter images (each in grayscale) are selected. Each is contrast enhanced and then converted to a red, green, or blue intensity image. These three images are then combined to produce a full color, single image. Because the THEMIS color filters don't span the full range of colors seen by the human eye, a color THEMIS image does not represent true color. Also, because each single-filter image is contrast enhanced before inclusion in the three-color image, the apparent color variation of the scene is exaggerated. Nevertheless, the color variation that does appear is representative of some change in color, however subtle, in the actual scene. Note that the long edges of THEMIS color images typically contain color artifacts that do not represent surface variation.Orbit Number: 85534 Latitude: 64.7689 Longitude: 351.857 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-03-27 04:54Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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NASA's Perseverance Mars rover took this image of flat terrain to be considered for a Mars Sample Return lander that would serve as part of the campaign to bring samples of Mars rock and sediment to Earth.
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NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used one of its navigation cameras to take this image of flat terrain in Jezero Crater. This is one possible site that NASA may consider for a Mars Sample Return lander that would collect Perseverance's samples of Mars rock and sediment in the future. The lander would serve as the launch platform for a Mars Ascent Vehicle that would blast off from Mars, delivering the samples to an orbiter as part of their journey to Earth for intensive study.Choosing an area that lacks large rocks (especially those over 7 1/2 inches, or 19 centimeters, in diameter), sand dunes, and steeply angled terrain would go a long way toward easing the path for an MSR recovery vehicle to efficiently grab tubes before heading to the lander.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.For more about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/For more about Mars Sample Return: https://mars.nasa.gov/msr/
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the rim and floor of Pal Crater.
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Context imageThe THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of the rim and floor of Pal Crater. Pal Crater is located in Promethei Terra and is 71km (44 miles) in diameter.The THEMIS VIS camera is capable of capturing color images of the Martian surface using five different color filters. In this mode of operation, the spatial resolution and coverage of the image must be reduced to accommodate the additional data volume produced from using multiple filters. To make a color image, three of the five filter images (each in grayscale) are selected. Each is contrast enhanced and then converted to a red, green, or blue intensity image. These three images are then combined to produce a full color, single image. Because the THEMIS color filters don't span the full range of colors seen by the human eye, a color THEMIS image does not represent true color. Also, because each single-filter image is contrast enhanced before inclusion in the three-color image, the apparent color variation of the scene is exaggerated. Nevertheless, the color variation that does appear is representative of some change in color, however subtle, in the actual scene. Note that the long edges of THEMIS color images typically contain color artifacts that do not represent surface variation.Orbit Number: 89879 Latitude: -31.6241 Longitude: 109.014 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-03-19 22:27Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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Closing in on 'Victoria Crater'
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Figure 1The team managing NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity had set 'Victoria Crater' as a long-term destination even before the rover climbed out of 'Endurance Crater' in December 2004. As of early September 2006, Opportunity has driven more than 7.2 kilometers (4.5 miles) since leaving Endurance and is approaching Victoria.Victoria is the large crater near the bottom of this map made from images taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. The gold line traces Opportunity's path eastward then southward from "Eagle Crater," where it landed, to Endurance Crater, where it spent six months, and nearly to Victoria. The south end of the line indicates Opportunity's location as of the rover's 930th Martian day, or sol, (Sept. 5, 2006). Victoria is about 750 meters (0.47 mile) in diameter, or about six times wider than Endurance and about 35 times wider than Eagle. The scale bar at lower right shows the length of 800 meters (0.50 mile). North is up.
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This image from the navigation camera on the mast of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows streaks of dust or sand on the vehicle's rear solar panel after a series of drives during which the rover was pointed steeply uphill.
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This image from the navigation camera on the mast of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows streaks of dust or sand on the vehicle's rear solar panel after a series of drives during which the rover was pointed steeply uphill. The image was taken on March 21, 2016, during the 4,322nd Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's work on Mars. The rover's location was on the north-facing slope of "Knudsen Ridge," which forms part of the southern edge of "Marathon Valley." During a forward, uphill drive on March 10 (Sol 4311), Opportunity's tilt reached 32 degrees, the steepest ever for any rover on Mars. While the rover was so steeply tilted, accumulated dust on its deck was affected by vibrations from wheels slipping against the ground. Tilt in the same direction continued with two downhill drives in reverse between that ascent and when this images was taken.JPL manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. For more about Opportunity's mission, see http://mars.nasa.gov/mer.
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This map of an area within the Arabia Terra region on Mars shows where hydrologic modeling predicts locations of depressions that would have been lakes (black), overlaid with a map of the preserved valleys (blue lines) that would have been streams.
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Annotated versionThis map of an area within the Arabia Terra region on Mars shows where hydrologic modeling predicts locations of depressions that would have been lakes (black), overlaid with a map of the preserved valleys (blue lines, with width exaggerated for recognition) that would have been streams.The area today holds numerous features called "fresh shallow valleys." Research findings in 2016 interpret the fresh shallow valleys as evidence for flows of liquid water that occurred several hundred million years -- up to about a billion years -- after the ancient lakes and streams previously documented on Mars.Most of the fresh shallow valleys in this northern portion of Arabia Terra terminate at the margins of model-predicted submerged basins, consistent with an interpretation of flows into lakes and out of lakes. Some valley segments connect to form longer systems, consistent with connections forged by flowing water between interspersed lakes. In the area mapped here, for example, valleys connect basin "A" to basin "B," and basin B to "Heart Lake," each lower in elevation in that chain. Detail of the valley interpreted as the northward outflow channel from basin B can be seen in the image at PIA20837. Relative topography of the region is mapped at PIA20838.The area covered by this hydrologic-model map is about 120 miles (about 190 kilometers) wide, centered near 35.91 degrees north latitude, 1 degree east longitude.
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This stereo mosaic of images from NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the terrain surrounding the rover's position on the 524th Martian day. You need 3-D glasses to view this image.
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This stereo mosaic of images from the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the terrain surrounding the rover's position on the 524th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Jan. 26, 2014). The scene appears three dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left.The images were taken right after Curiosity completed a drive of about 79 feet (24 meters). The view covers a full 360 degrees, centered toward the east, with west at both the left and right ends. The far horizon on the left is the rim of Gale Crater. Just below the darker, nearer horizon is a sand dune at a location called "Dingo Gap." The mosaic is presented as a cylindrical perspective projection.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Sacra Mensa, a large mesa located between the north and south channels of Kasei Valles.
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Context imageThis VIS image shows part of Sacra Mensa, a large mesa located between the north and south channels of Kasei Valles. The linear feature at the top of the image is one of the many graben found in the mesa and surrounding highlands. Graben are formed by the downward motion of a block of material between paired tectonic faults. Sacra Mensa rises 3 km (almost 2 miles) above Kasei Valles.Orbit Number: 79203 Latitude: 26.0793 Longitude: 294.1 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-10-22 21:34Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows an unnamed crater located in Utopia Planitia.
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Context imageThis VIS image shows an unnamed crater located in Utopia Planitia. The surface of the ejecta contains radial grooves, visible on both the thicker near crater ejecta and the outer thin ejecta layer. The formation mechanism for the grooves is still unknown but several theories exist including basal surge flows and air pressure rock entrianment.Orbit Number: 79023 Latitude: 33.0045 Longitude: 86.1051 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-10-08 01:53Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image shows a core collected from a basaltic rock during a test of the Perseverance rover's Sampling and Caching System at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California.
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This image shows a core, about 2.8 inches (71.1 millimeters) in length, collected from a basaltic rock during a test of the Perseverance rover's Sampling and Caching System at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. After a sampling test is completed, engineers carefully remove the core from its sample tube and place it in a sample tray, as they've done here, to document the result.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Atlantis Chaos. Chaos terrain is typified by regions of blocky, often steep sided, mesas interspersed with deep valleys.
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Context imageThe THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of Atlantis Chaos. Chaos terrain is typified by regions of blocky, often steep sided, mesas interspersed with deep valleys. With time and erosion the valleys widen and the mesas become smaller. The mesas in this image appear brighter than the surrounding lowlands, likely due to relatively less dust cover. Atlantis Chaos is located in Terra Sirenum.Orbit Number: 83606 Latitude: -34.6882 Longitude: 183.955 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-10-19 09:36Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image of the soil target, informally called 'Punaluu' after the black sand beaches of Hawaii, was taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's microscopic imager during the rover's 'Eagle Crater' soil survey.
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This three-centimeter by three-centimeter (1.2-inch by 1.2-inch) image of the soil target, informally called "Punaluu" after the black sand beaches of Hawaii, was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's microscopic imager during the rover's "Eagle Crater" soil survey. The largest particles are similar to those seen in the crater outcrop. There are also some smaller, more irregular rounded particles that have likely been transported by wind. The Moessbauer spectrometer's study of this target pushed some of the particles into the surrounding fine-grained sand.For mosaic of related microscopic images, see PIA05651.
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The depression crossing this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft is a lava channel called Olympica Fossae. It is located on lava plains between Alba Mons and Olympus Mons.
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Context imageThe depression crossing this VIS image is a lava channel called Olympica Fossae. It is located on lava plains between Alba Mons and Olympus Mons.Orbit Number: 60743 Latitude: 25.7077 Longitude: 247.589 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-08-24 08:06Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This color-enhanced image of the Castell Henllys region in Jezero Crater was taken by NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter during the rotorcraft's 48th flight on March 21, 2023.
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This color-enhanced image of the "Castell Henllys" region in Jezero Crater was taken by NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter during the rotorcraft's 48th flight on March 21, 2023, the 741st Martian day, or sol, of the Perseverance rover's mission. At the time the image was taken, the helicopter was at an altitude of about 40 feet (12 meters).This image and others taken during the flight provided advanced reconnaissance to Perseverance scientists and planners roughly two weeks before the rover reached this area.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which manages the project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA's Science Mission Directorate. NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley and NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity's development. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm, and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle components. Lockheed Martin Space designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Delivery System.
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It is spring in the Northern hemisphere when NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took this image. Over the winter, snow and ice (better known on Earth as dry ice) have inexorably covered the dunes.
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Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionIt is spring in the Northern hemisphere when NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took this image. Over the winter, snow and ice have inexorably covered the dunes. Unlike on Earth, this snow and ice is carbon dioxide, better known to us as dry ice.When the sun starts shining on it in the spring, the ice on the smooth surface of the dune cracks and escaping gas carries dark sand out from the dune below, often creating beautiful patterns. On the rough surface between the dunes, frost is trapped behind small sheltered ridges.
The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 32.4 centimeters (12.8 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 97 centimeters (38.2 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.
The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a string of individual dark dunes located in the Neredum Montes region of the Argyre Basin.
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Context image for PIA10051Argyre DunesThe string of individual dark dunes visible in this image are located in the Neredum Montes region of the Argyre Basin.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -39.9N, Longitude 311.9E. 17 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey released on March 12, 2004 shows Mars' north polar cap during the northern spring season. The top half of this daytime image shows the North Polar sand sea.
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Released 12 March 2004 The Odyssey spacecraft has completed a full Mars year of observations of the red planet. For the next several weeks the Image of the Day will look back over this first mars year. It will focus on four themes: 1) the poles - with the seasonal changes seen in the retreat and expansion of the caps; 2) craters - with a variety of morphologies relating to impact materials and later alteration, both infilling and exhumation; 3) channels - the clues to liquid surface flow; and 4) volcanic flow features. While some images have helped answer questions about the history of Mars, many have raised new questions that are still being investigated as Odyssey continues collecting data as it orbits Mars. Infrared images taken during the daytime exhibit both the morphological and thermophysical properties of the surface of Mars. Morphologic details are visible due to the effect of sun-facing slopes receiving more energy than antisun-facing slopes. This creates a warm (bright) slope and cool (dark) slope appearance that mimics the light and shadows of a visible wavelength image. Thermophysical properties are seen in that dust heats up more quickly than rocks. Thus dusty areas are bright and rocky areas are dark. This image was collected October 19, 2002 during the northern spring season. The top half of this daytime IR image shows the North Polar sand sea. Image information: IR instrument. Latitude 76.2, Longitude 226.8 East (133.2 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution. Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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The small channel in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft runs semi-parallel to Shalbatana Vallis in Xanthe Terra.
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Context imageThe small channel in today's VIS image runs semi-parallel to Shalbatana Vallis in Xanthe Terra.Orbit Number: 45553 Latitude: 7.73495 Longitude: 317.199 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-03-22 02:09Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This simulation shows the motions the robotic arm on NASA's Perseverance rover carried out during its first two-hour checkout on Mars. This simulation does not run in real-time.
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Click here for animationThis simulation shows the motions the robotic arm on NASA's Perseverance rover carried out during its first two-hour checkout since its Feb. 18, 2021 touchdown on Mars. This simulation does not run in real-time.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.For more about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/
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This image acquired on December 13, 2017 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows mega-ripples collecting along the flanks of the dark sand dunes near the North Polar deposits.
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Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionMega-ripples are distinct wind-driven formations that occur on the surface of Earth and Mars, often with sizes between that of smaller ripples and larger dunes. Based on their shapes and examples of fractured crests in some areas, mega-ripples are thought to be largely inactive relics of past climates. Thanks to repeat coverage by HiRISE, we can tell that some mega-ripple fields are active and migrating alongside dunes and ripples.In a down-wind perspective view we can see mega-ripples collecting along the flanks of the dark sand dunes near the North Polar deposits. A closer look illustrates the fine scale details of some active mega-ripples during the summer.Landforms across these North Polar latitudes become ice-cemented when wintertime carbon dioxide ice buries dunes. Then the ice sublimates through the northern spring until dunes and mega-ripples become "frost free" and mobile by summer. It is these summertime seasonal winds that drive the enhanced activity of migrating mega-ripples of the North Polar region.The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 32.0 centimeters [12.6 inches] per pixel [with 1 x 1 binning]; objects on the order of 96 centimeters [37.8 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.This is a stereo pair with ESP_053384_2640.The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
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Proposed MSL Site in Margaritifer Basin
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Click on image for larger versionHiRISE image (PSP_002193_1670) of proposed landing site for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) in Margaritifer Basin.Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 1 January 2007Local Mars time: 3:42 PMDegrees latitude (centered): -12.9°Degrees longitude (East): 337.9°Range to target site: 263.9 km (164.9 miles)Original image scale range: 26.4 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~79 cm across are resolvedMap-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAREmission angle: 0.5°Phase angle: 58.0°Solar incidence angle: 58°, with the Sun about 32° above the horizonSolar longitude: 166.5 °, Northern SummerNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo.
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This image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a pedestal crater superposed on the floor of the much larger Mellish Crater. When an impact crater of this type forms, material is thrown onto the adjacent terrain to form portions of the ejecta blanket.
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31 May 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a pedestal crater superposed on the floor of the much larger Mellish Crater. When an impact crater of this type forms, material is thrown onto the adjacent terrain to form portions of the ejecta blanket we see today. If the ejecta blanket is sufficiently rocky, it will protect the underlying terrain from wind erosion. Over time, much of the exposed material surrounding the ejecta blanket will be removed by wind, leaving behind the rocky ejecta and the material below it, resulting in the pedestal-like appearance seen here.Location near: 73.0°S, 22.7°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Summer
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a small section of Mangala Valles. Mangala Valles is a complex channel more than 900km long (560 miles).
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Context imageToday's VIS image shows a small section of Mangala Valles. Mangala Valles is a complex channel more than 900km long (560 miles). The channel system starts near Mangala Fossae, a large tectonic feature that intersects the volcanic plains of Daedalia Planum. Like other channels in the region, Mangala Valles flows northward, eventually emptying into southern Amazonis Planitia. Visible at the top of the image are tear-drop shaped hills within the channel. These features are called streamlined islands and the narrow "tail" points down stream.Orbit Number: 84304 Latitude: -16.0319 Longitude: 210.534 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-12-15 20:48Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the large dune form on the floor of Russell Crater.
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Context image Today's VIS image shows part of the large dune form on the floor of Russell Crater.Orbit Number: 67151 Latitude: -54.3002 Longitude: 13.0603 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2017-02-02 03:15Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows Biblis Patera on Mars. Note the large size and depth of the summit caldera in relation to the size of the entire construct.
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Context image for PIA10000Biblis PateraThis VIS image crosses Biblis Patera. Note the large size and depth of the summit caldera in relation to the size of the entire construct.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 2.1N, Longitude 235.9E. 35 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a large sand sheet with surface dune forms, located on the complex floor of Rabe Crater.
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Context imageThe large sand sheet with surface dune forms seen in this VIS image is located on the complex floor of Rabe Crater. The sand is likely derived by erosion into the deposit that fills most of the crater floor, creating a pit which hosts the dunes. This crater morphology is unique to Rabe Crater. Rabe Crater is located in Noachis Terra and is 108km in diameter (67 miles).Orbit Number: 82619 Latitude: -43.7003 Longitude: 34.8004 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-07-30 03:43Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter (MRO) shows one possible place where sand grains are being produced on Mars today. Grains of sand that make up sand dunes on Earth and Mars have a hazardous existence because of the way that they travel.
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Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThis image from NASA's Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter (MRO) shows one possible place where sand grains are being produced on Mars today. Discovered in images from the Context Camera, this region exhibits dark material that is being eroded from dark layers in the bedrock of a semicircular depression near the boundary of the Southern highlands and the Northern lowlands. Downslope lineations support the notion that these dark sediments are derived locally, and did not accumulate here by coincidence because of the winds.The grains of sand that make up sand dunes on Earth and Mars have a hazardous existence because of the way that they travel. Wind-blown sand is lifted above the surface of each planet before crashing onto the ground and bouncing in a sequence of repeated hops, a process called saltation.Sand grains can also roll along the ground as they are blown by the wind, and they are also jostled by other sand gains that are similarly flying across the surface. All of these repeated impacts tend to wear down the sand grains, smoothing them into a more spherical shape and breaking off small fragments that supply the vast dust deposits of Mars. This process (known as comminution) ultimately destroys sand grains and limits the length of time that the particles exist. The fact that we see active sand dunes on Mars today requires that sand particles must be resupplied to replace the grains that are lost over time. Where are the modern day sources of sand on Mars?
The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 26.7 centimeters (10.5 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.
The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
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This small landslide deposit is located in an unnamed crater in Margaritifer Terra in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft.
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Context imageThis small landslide deposit is located in an unnamed crater in Margaritifer Terra.Orbit Number: 51009 Latitude: -18.9654 Longitude: 344.961 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-06-14 01:07Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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The channels in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft are part of Coloe Fossae, a series of linear depressions on the northeast margin of Terra Sabaea.
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Context imageThe channels in this VIS image are part of Coloe Fossae, a series of linear depressions on the northeast margin of Terra Sabaea.Orbit Number: 54852 Latitude: 39.1441 Longitude: 55.8792 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-04-26 08:28Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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Yogi' is a meter-size rock about 5 meters northwest of NASA's Mars Pathfinder lander and was the second rock visited by the Sojourner Rover's alpha proton X-ray spectrometer (APXS) instrument. Sol 1 began on July 4, 1997.
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"Yogi" is a meter-size rock about 5 meters northwest of the Mars Pathfinder lander and was the second rock visited by the Sojourner Rover's alpha proton X-ray spectrometer (APXS) instrument. This mosaic shows super resolution techniques applied to the second APXS target rock, which was poorly illuminated in the rover's forward camera view taken before the instrument was deployed. Super resolution was applied to help to address questions about the texture of this rock and what it might tell us about its mode of origin.This mosaic of Yogi was produced by combining four "Super Pan" frames taken with the IMP camera. This composite color mosaic consists of 7 frames from the right eye, taken with different color filters that were enlarged by 500% and then co-added using Adobe Photoshop to produce, in effect, a super-resolution panchromatic frame that is sharper than an individual frame would be. This panchromatic frame was then colorized with the red, green, and blue filtered images from the same sequence. The color balance was adjusted to approximate the true color of Mars. Shadows were processed separately from the rest of the rock and combined with the rest of the scene to bring out details in the shadow of Yogi that would be too dark to view at the same time as the sunlit surfaces.Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Photojournal note: Sojourner spent 83 days of a planned seven-day mission exploring the Martian terrain, acquiring images, and taking chemical, atmospheric and other measurements. The final data transmission received from Pathfinder was at 10:23 UTC on September 27, 1997. Although mission managers tried to restore full communications during the following five months, the successful mission was terminated on March 10, 1998.
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NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the plethora of large, windblown ripples (or small dunes) among wind-sculpted sedimentary rocks in eastern Candor Chasma on Mars.
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MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-447, 9 August 2003This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the plethora of large, windblown ripples (or small dunes) among wind-sculpted sedimentary rocks in eastern Candor Chasma. Candor Chasma is one of the troughs of the Valles Marineris, a system of chasms that would stretch all the way across North America if it were on Earth. This picture is located near 7.9°S, 64.9°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the left/upper left.
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The sand dunes in this image are located on the floor of Herschel Crater on Mars as seen by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft.
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Context image for PIA11915DunesThe sand dunes in this VIS image are located on the floor of Herschel Crater.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -15.0N, Longitude 131.6E. 18 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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Gullies are commonly found in the southern mid-latitudes of Mars. In this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter they start near top of a long ridge, and descend into an impact crater that lies at the bottom of the ridge.
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Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionGullies are commonly found in the southern mid-latitudes of Mars. In this image they start near top of a long ridge, and descend into an impact crater that lies at the bottom of the ridge, moving through a rocky layer along the way. Below the layer, the surface is dark and blue in HiRISE enhanced color, suggesting that it is easily erodible sand coating the crater wall.The topography here is also interesting. There are two main features, an impact crater and a long trough called a graben, formed when the surface drops down between two faults. The eastern side of the crater is clearly cut by faulting, distorting the circular shape. On the north side, the crater rim is below the top of the graben fault. The crater could have dropped into the trough as it formed, but it is also possible that the trough partially formed before the crater and continued to widen later. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
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This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft nicely captures several influential geologic processes that have shaped the landscape of Lycus Sulci.
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Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThis image nicely captures several influential geologic processes that have shaped the landscape of Lycus Sulci.Our observation covers an area of about 7.5 by 5.4 kilometers in Lycus Sulci, located just to the northwest of Olympus Mons in the Tharsis region of Mars. "Sulci" is a Latin term meaning "furrow" or "groove." In this case, Lycus Sulci is a region comprised of a series of depressions and ridges.Like most of the Tharsis region, Lycus Sulci exhibits thick deposits of light-toned Martian dust; the slopes on ridges in this region feature abundant streaks. These streaks are long, thin dark-toned features. They appear when the superficial light-tone fine-grained materials (i.e., Martian dust) suddenly move down slope and expose the darker underlying volcanic surfaces. Repeat imaging shows that dust streaks are consistently dark when they are initially formed and become lighter over time. This is due to the steady deposition of dust from the atmosphere. Slope streaks are also visible along the slopes of ridges and shallow depressions.Two ridges here exhibit partially exposed bedrock. These outcrops are interpreted to still have abundant coatings and dust, obscuring the underlying bedrock. This interpretation is based on the lack of bluish color for volcanic bedrock from the infrared-red-blue swath of our camera, and consistent with the homogenous tannish color we see throughout the same swath. It's possible that the ridges here and throughout the Lycus Sulci region formed via volcanic and tectonic processes, which have been further sculpted by wind erosion and other mass wasting processes. For example, talus slopes, which appear as fine-grained fans or conical-shaped deposits, originate from the steepest portions of the ridges. These form when the rocks or deposits on the steepest slopes of a ridge fail under the influence of Martian gravity and their own mass, causing an avalanche of these materials, which then accumulate downslope.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows interesting patterns in regions around major troughs. Both polar caps of Mars are composed of multiple layers of ice.
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Context image for PIA08803Ice LayersBoth polar caps of Mars are composed of multiple layers of ice. These layers make interesting patterns in regions around major troughs.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -80.2N, Longitude 295.3E. 17 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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NASA's Mars Global Surveyor acquired these images of the Martian surface in the early evening of January 1, 1998. At left, a plateau and surrounding steep slopes within the Valles Marineris.
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This high resolution picture (right) of the Martian surface was obtained in the early evening of January 1, 1998 by the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC), shortly after the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft began it's 80th orbit. Seen in this view are a plateau and surrounding steep slopes within the Valles Marineris, the large system of canyons that stretches 4000 km (2500 mi) along the equator of Mars. The image covers a tiny fraction of the canyons at very high resolution: it extends only 9.8 km by 17.3 km (6.1 mi by 10.7 mi) but captures features as small as 6 m (20 ft) across. The highest terrain in the image is the relatively smooth plateau near the center. Slopes descend to the north and south (upper and lower part of image, respectively) in broad, debris-filled gullies with intervening rocky spurs. Multiple rock layers, varying from a few to a few tens of meters thick, are visible in the steep slopes on the spurs and gullies. Layered rocks on Earth form from sedimentary processes (such as those that formed the layered rocks now seen in Arizona's Grand Canyon) and volcanic processes (such as layering seen in the Waimea Canyon on the island of Kauai). Both origins are possible for the Martian layered rocks seen in this image. In either case, the total thickness of the layered rocks seen in this image implies a complex and extremely active early history for geologic processes on Mars.The left and center "context" images are Viking mosaics reproduced at scales of 230 meters/pixel and 80 meters/pixel respectively. Outlines in these two images represent the location of the higher resolution image(s).Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.
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Multiple layers of material are located in Terby Crater in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey.
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Context imageTerby Crater is targeted in today's image for the layers of material located within it.Orbit Number: 41231 Latitude: -27.1979 Longitude: 74.2559 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-04-01 05:37Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the floor of Russell Crater.
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Context imageThis VIS image shows part of the floor of Russell Crater. Dunes of different shapes and sizes are located on the floor of this 135 km (22 miles) diameter crater. Russell Crater is located in Noachis Terra.Orbit Number: 82832 Latitude: -54.338 Longitude: 11.9602 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-08-16 16:35Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
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NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the Syrtis Major face of Mars in mid-February 2006.
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21 February 2006This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 12° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 12° occurs in mid-February 2006. The picture shows the Syrtis Major face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.Season: Northern Winter/Southern Summer
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This NASA Mars Odyssey image covers a tract of plateau territory called Ophir Planum. The most obvious features in this scene are the fractures (ranging from 1 to 5 km wide) running from the upper left to lower right.
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(Released 29 April 2002)The ScienceThis THEMIS image covers a tract of plateau territory called Ophir Planum. The most obvious features in this scene are the fractures (ranging from 1 to 5 km wide) running from the upper left to lower right. Localized rifting and deep-seated tension fracturing of the crust probably formed these cracks. The wall rock displayed in the upper part of the cliffs appears to be layered. The southwest-facing wall of the largest and uppermost fracture has classic spur and gully topography. This type of topography is created by differing amounts of erosion. Also seen in this image are some scattered impact craters and some dark wind streaks in the lower right. The Ophir Planum plateau separates two separate smaller canyon systems, not visible in this image, (Candor Chasma to the north and Melas Chasma to the south) in the Valles Marineris canyon complex. The whole Valles Marineris canyon system extends some 4,000 km across the equatorial realms of Mars. For comparison, this would stretch from New York City to San Francisco.The StoryPlateaus and spurs might make you think of cowboys on the open plain."Spurs" in this context, however, are simply ridges that can be seen on the side of the southwest-facing wall of the large fracture that splits the terrain. Gullies stretch down this slope as well. Both of these features are caused by erosion, which is a mild force of change compared to whatever tension cracked the crust and ripped apart the land. The wall rock displayed in the upper part of the cliffs appears to be layered, suggesting that different kinds of rocks and minerals can be found in each banded zone.The Ophir Planum plateau separates two separate canyon systems in the Valles Marineris complex, the largest canyon in the solar system. If Valles Marineris were on Earth, it would stretch from New York City all the way to San Francisco. That will give you some idea of the geological forces that have acted upon the planet over time.Look for scattered impact craters and some dark wind streaks in the deep dark terrain (lower right) as well.
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An area of rough Martian terrain is prominent in this stereo image, taken by NASA's Mars Pathfinder on Sol 3, 1997. 3D glasses are necessary to identify surface detail. The large rock dubbed 'Wedge' is at lower right.
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An area of rough Martian terrain is prominent in this stereo image, taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) on Sol 3. 3D glasses are necessary to identify surface detail. The large rock dubbed "Wedge" is at lower right. The IMP is a stereo imaging system with color capability provided by 24 selectable filters -- twelve filters per "eye."Click below to see the left and right views individually.LeftRight
Photojournal note: Sojourner spent 83 days of a planned seven-day mission exploring the Martian terrain, acquiring images, and taking chemical, atmospheric and other measurements. The final data transmission received from Pathfinder was at 10:23 UTC on September 27, 1997. Although mission managers tried to restore full communications during the following five months, the successful mission was terminated on March 10, 1998.
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