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NASA's Mars Global Surveyor captured this unique view of a bright, heart-shaped mesa in the south polar region on November 26, 1999. | Happy St. Valentine's Day from the Red Planet! The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) captured this unique view of a bright, heart-shaped mesa in the south polar region on November 26, 1999. This feature is located in the Promethei Rupes region near 79.6°S, 298.3°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left. The heart is about 255 meters (279 yards) across. The presence of this mesa indicates that the darker, rough terrain that surrounds it was once covered by a layer of the bright material.Earlier in 1999, MGS MOC saw another valentine heart, but instead of a mesa, the feature was expressed as a pit. You can view that image by CLICKING HERE. | |
This mosaic of images shows the soil in front of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit after a series of short backward drives during attempts to extricate the rover from a sand trap in January and early February 2010. | Annotated VersionClick on the image for larger imageThis mosaic of images shows the soil in front of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit after a series of short backward drives during attempts to extricate the rover from a sand trap in January and early February 2010. It is presented in false color to make some differences between materials easier to see. Bright-toned soil was freshly exposed by the rover's left-front wheel during the drives and can be seen with a "sand wave" shaping that resulted from the unseen wheel's action.Spirit's panoramic camera (Pancam) took the component images during the period from the 2,163rd to 2,177th Martian days, or sols, of Spirit's mission on Mars (Feb. 2 to Feb. 16, 2010). The turret at the end of the rover's arm appears in two places because of movement during that period.Insets in the upper left and lower right corners of the frame show magnified views of the nearby inscribed rectangles within the mosaic. The patch of ground within each rectangle is about 25 centimeters (10 inches) across. The top inset and upper portion of the mosaic include targets within soil layers exposed by the action of Spirit's wheels in April 2009 and examined in detail with instruments on Spirit's arm during the five subsequent months. "Olive pit" and "Olive leaf" are two of the analyzed targets. The investigations determined that, under a thin covering of windblown sand and dust, relatively insoluble minerals are concentrated near the surface and more-soluble ferric sulfates have higher concentrations below that layer. This pattern suggests water has moved downward through the soil, dissolving and carrying the ferric sulfates.The brightness and color of the freshly disturbed soil seen in the center area of the mosaic indicates the this formerly hidden material is sulfate-rich. Before Spirit drove into this patch, the surface looked like the undisturbed ground highlighted in the lower-right inset. Flecks of red material in the surface layer resemble the appearance of the surface layer at other locations where Spirit's wheels have exposed high-sulfate, bright soils. | |
This 360-degree stereo panorama assembled from images taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exporation Rover Opportunity shows terrain surrounding the position where the rover spent its 3,000th Martian day working on Mars (July 2, 2012). | Left-eye viewRight-eye viewClick on an individual image for full resolution figures imageThis 360-degree stereo panorama assembled from images taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exporation Rover Opportunity shows terrain surrounding the position where the rover spent its 3,000th Martian day, or sol, working on Mars (July 2, 2012). The scene appears three dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left.Opportunity completed its 90-sol prime mission in April 2004. It has continued to explore the Meridiani Planum region of Mars for more than eight years of bonus extended missions. The Sol 3000 site is near the northern tip of the Cape York segment of the western rim of Endeavour Crater. Bright toned material lines the perimeter of Cape York.The component images were taken during sols 2989 through 2991. Opportunity arrived at this location on Sol 2989 (June 20, 2012) with a drive bringing the mission's total driving distance as of Sol 3000 to 21.432 miles (34,492 meters). Here it examined a rock target called "Grasberg" with its microscopic imager and alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, both before and after grinding the surface off the target with the rover's rock abrasion tool. Opportunity departed this location with an eastward drive of about 105 feet (32 meters) on Sol 3008 (July 10, 2012).The scene is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection in this image. | |
This channel-like feature is actually a large fracture that cuts through a small highlands as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a channel-like feature. This feature is actually a large fracture that cuts through a small highlands.Orbit Number: 50927 Latitude: 31.344 Longitude: 1167.122 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-06-07 08:53Please 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. | |
This artist's rendition depicts NASA's Mars 2020 rover studying rocks with its robotic arm. Mars 2020 will use powerful instruments to investigate rocks on Mars down to the microscopic scale of variations in texture and composition. | This artist's rendition depicts NASA's Mars 2020 rover studying rocks with its robotic arm. The mission will not only seek out and study an area likely to have been habitable in the distant past, but it will take the next, bold step in robotic exploration of the Red Planet by seeking signs of past microbial life itself. Mars 2020 will use powerful instruments to investigate rocks on Mars down to the microscopic scale of variations in texture and composition. It will also acquire and store samples of the most promising rocks and soils that it encounters, and set them aside on the surface of Mars. A future mission could potentially return these samples to Earth. Mars 2020 is targeted for launch in July/August 2020 aboard an Atlas V-541 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory builds and manages the Mars 2020 rover for the NASA Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters in Washington.For more information about the mission, go to https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/. Photojournal Note: Also available is the full resolution TIFF file PIA22106_full.tif. This file may be too large to view from a browser; it can be downloaded onto your desktop by right-clicking on the previous link and viewed with image viewing software. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft shows two impact craters of nearly equal size, plus their associated wind streaks. These occur in far eastern Chryse Planitia. | 1 April 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows two impact craters of nearly equal size, plus their associated wind streaks. These occur in far eastern Chryse Planitia. The wind streaks point toward the southwest (lower left), indicating that the responsible winds blew from the northeast. One of the two craters is shallower than the other, and has a suite of large, windblown ripples on its floor. The shallower crater with the ripples is probably older than the other, deeper crater.Location near: 20.6°N, 30.1°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Northern Winter | |
Craters on South Polar Layered Deposits | Click on image for larger versionThis subimage, about 2.5 km across, shows the south polar layered deposits exposed in a scarp illuminated from the lower right.This HiRISE image (PSP_002882_0940) was taken in the southern spring, when the surface was completely covered by carbon dioxide frost. Therefore, most of the brightness variations in this scene are caused by topography. The polar layered deposits are broken into blocks by fractures in two directions. Neither set of fractures is parallel to the current scarp face, suggesting that they were not formed as the scarp was eroded, but instead are due to pre-existing weaknesses in the polar layered deposits. The four craters at lower left appear to have formed at the same time by an impactor that broke up as it entered the Martian atmosphere. The presence of many craters such as these on the south polar layered deposits indicates that they are not as young as the north polar layered deposits, which have very few craters on them. Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 3 March 2007Local Mars time: 7:06 PMDegrees latitude (centered): -85.9°Degrees longitude (East): 303.4°Range to target site: 246.9 km (154.3 miles)Original image scale range: 24.7 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~74 cm across are resolvedMap-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: POLAR STEREOGRAPHICEmission angle: 6.7°Phase angle: 78.5°Solar incidence angle: 84°, with the Sun about 6° above the horizonSolar longitude: 196.9°, Northern AutumnNASA'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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows many layers exposed and eroded into the form of ridges and troughs on shallow slopes within the martian north polar cap. | A. PIA0289786.5°N, 324.0°W --- 16 December 2000 --- illuminated from lower left 10 km (6.2 mi) wide by 3 km (1.9 mi) highB. PIA0289885.7°N, 307.9°W --- 2 December 2000 --- illuminated from upper left 2 km (1.2 mi) wide by 0.9 km (0.6 mi) highC. PIA0289987.0°N, 263.8°W --- 12 December 2000 --- illuminated from upper left 10 km (6.2 mi) wide by 3 km (1.9 mi) highOn Mars, Northern Hemisphere Summer (and Southern Hemisphere Winter) began on December 16, 2000. In this December holiday season, many children across the U.S. and elsewhere are perhaps anticipating an annual visit from a generous and jolly red-suited soul from the Earth's North Pole. As the December holidays were approaching, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) was busy acquiring new views of the region around the martian north pole. The three best views obtained this month are shown here. The top (A) and bottom (C) views show many layers exposed and eroded into the form of ridges and troughs on shallow slopes within the martian north polar cap. The middle (B) view is a picture of the rugged, eroded polar ice cap surface itself. The layers are believed to have formed over tens to hundreds of thousands of years by deposition of dust and ice each cold martian winter. These surfaces today all appear to have been eroded. The brightest material in each image is frost--temperatures at this time of year indicate that the frost is composed of frozen water. In winter, temperatures can be cold enough to freeze carbon dioxide, as well. | |
During four months prior to the fourth anniversary of its landing on Mars, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity examined rocks inside an alcove called 'Duck Bay' in the western portion of Victoria Crater. | Photojournal note: This very large image (487.9 MB TIFF and 17.71 MB JPEG) may be too large for some web browsers to handle. Users may right-click on the TIFF or JPEG link in the legend above to download the file to their desktop. The image can then be viewed in an image manipulation application.During four months prior to the fourth anniversary of its landing on Mars, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity examined rocks inside an alcove called "Duck Bay" in the western portion of Victoria Crater. The main body of the crater appears in the upper right of this stereo panorama, with the far side of the crater lying about 800 meters (half a mile) away. Bracketing that part of the view are two promontories on the crater's rim at either side of Duck Bay. They are "Cape Verde," about 6 meters (20 feet) tall, on the left, and "Cabo Frio," about 15 meters (50 feet) tall, on the right. The rest of the image, other than sky and portions of the rover, is ground within Duck Bay. Opportunity's targets of study during the last quarter of 2007 were rock layers within a band exposed around the interior of the crater, about 6 meters (20 feet) from the rim. Bright rocks within the band are visible in the foreground of the panorama. The rover science team assigned informal names to three subdivisions of the band: "Steno," "Smith," and "Lyell."This view combines many images taken by Opportunity's panoramic camera (Pancam) from the 1,332nd through 1,379th Martian days, or sols, of the mission (Oct. 23 to Dec. 11, 2007). Images taken through Pancam filters centered on wavelengths of 753 nanometers, 535 nanometers and 432 nanometers were mixed to produce an approximately true-color panorama. Some visible patterns in dark and light tones are the result of combining frames that were affected by dust on the front sapphire window of the rover's camera.Opportunity landed on Jan. 25, 2004, Universal Time, (Jan. 24, Pacific Time) inside a much smaller crater about 6 kilometers (4 miles) north of Victoria Crater, to begin a surface mission designed to last 3 months and drive about 600 meters (0.4 mile). | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows an unnamed channel located in Terra Sabaea, near Hellas Planitia. | Context imageThis unnamed channel is located in Terra Sabaea, near Hellas Planitia.Orbit Number: 49920 Latitude: -26.7588 Longitude: 59.0897 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-03-16 10:25 Please 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. | |
This image acquired on March 30, 2022 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows how water ice frozen in the soil splits the ground into polygons. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionBoth water and dry ice have a major role in sculpting Mars' surface at high latitudes. Water ice frozen in the soil splits the ground into polygons. Erosion of the channels forming the boundaries of the polygons by dry ice sublimating in the spring adds plenty of twists and turns to them.Spring activity is visible as the layer of translucent dry ice coating the surface develops vents that allow gas to escape. The gas carries along fine particles of material from the surface further eroding the channels. The particles drop to the surface in dark fan-shaped deposits. Sometimes the dark particles sink into the dry ice, leaving bright marks where the fans were originally deposited. Often the vent closes, then opens again, so we see two or more fans originating from the same spot but oriented in different directions as the wind changes.The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 26.3 centimeters [10.4 inches] per pixel [with 1 x 1 binning]; objects on the order of 79 centimeters [31.1 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.This is a stereo pair with ESP_073472_0950.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. | |
This illustration schematically shows where the Shallow Radar instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter detected flood channels that had been buried by lava flows in the Elysium Planitia region of Mars. | This illustration schematically shows where the Shallow Radar instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter detected flood channels that had been buried by lava flows in the Elysium Planitia region of Mars. Marte Vallis consists of multiple perched channels formed around streamlined islands. These channels feed a deeper and wider main channel.In this illustration, the surface has been elevated, and scaled by a factor of one to 100 for clarity. The color scale represents the elevation of the buried channels relative to a Martian datum, or reference elevation. The reason the values are negative is because the elevation of the surface of Mars in this region is also a negative -- below average global elevation.SHARAD was provided by the Italian Space Agency. Its operations are led by Sapienza University of Rome, and its data are analyzed by a joint U.S.-Italian science team. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows channels called Maumee Valles. | Context imageThe channels that dissect the center of the VIS image are called Maumee Valles. The much larger Maja Valles is located at the very bottom of the image. The channels in this region are flowing from the highlands of Lunae Planum into the lowlands of Chryse Planitia. Maumee Valles is 390km (242 miles) long.Orbit Number: 94227 Latitude: 18.6849 Longitude: 304.703 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2023-03-12 23:02Please 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. | |
This annotated image depicts the ground track of NASA's Perseverance rover since it arrived on Mars on February 18, 2021. | This annotated image depicts the ground track (indicated in white) of NASA's Perseverance rover since it arrived on Mars on February 18, 2021. Perseverance made its first sample-acquisition attempt in the "Crater Floor Fractured Rough" area (labeled "CF-Fr"), right of center in the lower third of image. The "Citadelle" is located in the lower third of graphic, just left of center.The graphic was generated using terrain imaged by the HiRISE camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.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 in Washington.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 built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.For more about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020 | |
Dark slope streaks mark the rim of this unnamed crater near Schiaparelli Crater as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageDark slope streaks mark the rim of this unnamed crater near Schiaparelli Crater.Orbit Number: 47336 Latitude: 1.96837 Longitude: 17.5943 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-08-15 20:00Please 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. | |
This image of Tithonium Chasma from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows the canyon wall at the top of the frame and the cliff face of the opposite side of the canyon at the bottom of the image. | Context image This VIS image of Tithonium Chasma shows the canyon wall at the top of the frame and the cliff face of the opposite side of the canyon at the bottom of the image. Most of the floor has been covered with the deposits of large volume landslides. Near the top-right portion of the canyon wall several smaller lobate landslide deposits are visible.Tithonium Chasma has numerous large landslide deposits. The resistant material of the plateau surface forms the linear ridges of the canyon wall. Large landslides have changed the walls and floor of the canyon. A landslide is a failure of slope due to gravity. They initiate due to several reasons. A lower layer of poorly cemented/resistant material may have been eroded, undermining the wall above which then collapses; earth quake seismic waves can cause the slope to collapse; and even an impact event near the canyon wall can cause collapse. As millions of tons of material fall and slide down slope a scalloped cavity forms at the upper part where the slope failure occurred. At the material speeds downhill it will pick up more of the underlying slope, increasing the volume of material entrained into the landslide. Whereas some landslides spread across the canyon floor forming lobate deposits, very large volume slope failures will completely fill the canyon floor in a large complex region of chaotic blocks.Tithonium Chasma is at the western end of Valles Marineris. Valles Marineris is over 4000 kilometers long, wider than the United States. Tithonium Chasma is almost 810 kilometers long (499 miles), 50 kilometers wide and over 6 kilometers deep. In comparison, the Grand Canyon in Arizona is about 175 kilometers long, 30 kilometers wide, and only 2 kilometers deep. The canyons of Valles Marineris were formed by extensive fracturing and pulling apart of the crust during the uplift of the vast Tharsis plateau. Landslides have enlarged the canyon walls and created deposits on the canyon floor. Weathering of the surface and influx of dust and sand have modified the canyon floor, both creating and modifying layered materials.The Odyssey spacecraft has spent over 15 years in orbit around Mars, circling the planet more than 71,000 times. It holds the record for longest working spacecraft at Mars. THEMIS, the IR/VIS camera system, has collected data for the entire mission and provides images covering all seasons and lighting conditions. Over the years many features of interest have received repeated imaging, building up a suite of images covering the entire feature. From the deepest chasma to the tallest volcano, individual dunes inside craters and dune fields that encircle the north pole, channels carved by water and lava, and a variety of other feature, THEMIS has imaged them all. For the next several months the image of the day will focus on the Tharsis volcanoes, the various chasmata of Valles Marineris, and the major dunes fields. We hope you enjoy these images!Orbit Number: 26775 Latitude: -4.54217 Longitude: 274.121 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2007-12-27 21:24Please 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. | |
This NASA Mars Odyssey image shows a region in northern Arabia Terra where knobby or 'scabby' plains units that mantle and modify a pre-existing cratered surface dominate the unusual landscape. | (Released 25 April 2002)The ScienceThis THEMIS visible image shows a region in northern Arabia Terra near 44° N, 322° W (38° E). Knobby or "scabby" plains units that mantle and modify a pre-existing cratered surface dominate the unusual landscape in this region. Several large (5-8 km diameter) impact craters seen in the upper left of the image have been extensively modified since their initial formation. The rims of these craters can still be seen, but the ejecta deposits and the surrounding plains have been buried by a layer of material. This mantling layer has itself been modified to produce a pitted, knobby surface. Circular depressions of all sizes, presumably the remnants of impact craters, are filled with smooth deposits. In some places large regions have been covered by this smooth material; an example can be seen in the lower right portion of this image. In many cases the impact craters have been extensively modified prior to their being filled. This modification indicates an erosion process that has removed material from the walls to produce shapes that vary from circular with crisp rims, to circular with no rims, to oblong and elliptical forms, and finally to irregular shapes whose initial circular outline can barely be detected. The slope of the channel at the top of the image has an unusual deposit of material that occurs preferentially on the cold, north-facing slope. Similar deposits are seen frequently at mid-northern and southern latitudes on Mars, and have a characteristic, rounded boundary that typically occurs at approximately the same distance below the ridge crest. It has been suggested that these deposits once draped the entire surface and have since been removed from all but the cold north-facing slopes. The presence and removal of ground ice may play an important role in the formation of this layer, as well as the knobby terrain and unusual features seen in this image.The StoryThere's no way these impact craters are in their original, pristine shape. Check out their strange deformities and register the geological gross-out factor of all the "scabs" upon the land. You can still see the rims of craters in this savaged land, but an aggressive layer of material once spread out across it, burying the ejected material and all the surrounding plains. This cloaking layer didn't win the battle of dominance, however, as it too has been battered over time, producing the pitted, knobby surface seen today.Only a few smooth deposits in the area are spared from the scabby, scarred look of the long barraged (see lower right portion of the image). Circular depressions, the probable remains of impact craters, are filled with this smooth material. Some were already well eroded prior to being filled, with material removed from their walls used to sculpt the varying shapes.The dark, shadowed channel at the top of this image has an unusual deposit of material on its cold, north-facing slope. Since this material is found elsewhere on Mars, at approximately the same distance below the ridge crest, could it have draped the entire surface of Mars long ago? Why has it been lost from all but the northern slopes? Could ice in the ground play a role in forming and preserving this layer? And did it craft the knobby terrain and other strange features in this area?These are the kinds of questions geologists are asking. As this image proves, the more you discover, the more questions you have. That's what keeps exploration so exciting. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a portion of Arabia Terra. The very narrow linear ridges are indications of tectonic processes at some point in the formation of this region. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a portion of Arabia Terra. The very narrow linear ridges are indications of tectonic processes at some point in the formation of this region.Orbit Number: 62224 Latitude: 10.6429 Longitude: 1.18468 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-12-24 07:07Please 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. | |
Engineer Abel Dizon explains how drop tests are conducted for a prototype lander being designed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the Mars Sample Return campaign. | Engineer Abel Dizon explains how drop tests are conducted for a prototype lander being designed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for the planned Mars Sample Return campaign.The Sample Retrieval Lander, estimated to weigh as much as 5,016 pounds (2,275 kilograms), would be the heaviest spacecraft ever to land on the Red Planet. To study the physics involved in landing such a massive spacecraft, engineers have been testing a lander prototype that's about one-third the size it would be on Mars.Mars Sample Return will revolutionize our understanding of Mars by bringing scientifically selected samples to Earth for study using the most sophisticated instrumentation around the world. NASA's planned Mars Sample Return (MSR) campaign would fulfill one of the highest priority solar system exploration goals identified by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in the past three decadal surveys. This strategic partnership with the ESA (European Space Agency) features the first mission to return samples from another planet, including the first launch from the surface of another planet. The samples being collected by NASA's Perseverance rover during its exploration of an ancient river delta are thought to be the best opportunity to reveal the early evolution of Mars, including the potential for ancient life.For more about Mars Sample Return: https://mars.nasa.gov/msr/ | |
In this observation from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey, the morphology of these possible sedimentary fans match those found in Mojave Crater. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionIn this observation, does the morphology of these possible sedimentary fans match those found in Mojave Crater?A high resolution image can be useful to determine systematic changes in boulder size (an indication of how much energy moved the sediment) or channel characteristics (e.g. width, depth) with distance from Mojave. Is fan stratigraphy, erosional state, and crater density consistent with Mojave as a source of the sediment?Mojave Crater is special on Mars due to the evidence in and surrounding it that rain may have fallen there in Mars' past. Rain is thought to have been overwhelmingly, exceedingly rare in Mars' history, though a local rain event could have been caused by the heat of the impact that formed Mojave Crater.Note: Mojave Crater is not pictured in this observation.HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. 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 the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
The Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its laser to examine side-by-side points in a target patch of soil, leaving the marks apparent in this before-and-after comparison. | The Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its laser to examine side-by-side points in a target patch of soil, leaving the marks apparent in this before-and-after comparison.The two images were taken by ChemCam's Remote Micro-Imager from a distance of about 11.5 feet (3.5 meters). The diameter of the circular field of view is about 3.1 inches (7.9 centimeters).Researchers used ChemCam to study this soil target, named "Beechey," during the 19th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's mission (Aug. 25, 2012). The observation mode, called a five-by-one raster, is a way to investigate chemical variability at short scale on rock or soil targets. For the Beechey study, each point received 50 shots of the instrument's laser. The points on the target were studied in sequence left to right. Each shot delivers more than a million watts of power for about five one-billionths of a second. The energy from the laser excites atoms in the target into a glowing state, and the instrument records the spectra of the resulting glow to identify what chemical elements are present in the target. The holes seen here have widths of about 0.08 inch to 0.16 inch (2 to 4 millimeters), much larger than the size of the laser spot (0.017 inch or 0.43 millimeter at this distance). This demonstrates the power of the laser to evacuate dust and small unconsolidated grains. A preliminary analysis of the spectra recorded during this raster study show that the first laser shots look alike for each of the five points, but then variability is seen from shot to shot in a given point and from point to point.ChemCam was developed, built and tested by the U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory in partnership with scientists and engineers funded by France's national space agency, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and research agency, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 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. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity climbed out of 'Endurance Crater' on Dec. 12, 2004 and used its front hazard-avoidance camera to look back across the crater from the rim. | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity climbed out of "Endurance Crater" during the rover's 315th sol (Dec. 12, 2004), and used its front hazard-avoidance camera to look back across the crater from the rim. The rover spent just over six months inside the stadium-sized crater, examining in detail the tallest stack of bedrock layers ever seen up close on a foreign planet. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the trench or 'scuff' mark it dug in Gusev Crater dubbed 'Serpent.' The trench is approximately 12-14 inches) across and 16-18 inches long from top to bottom. | This mosaic image from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit panoramic camera shows the trench or "scuff" mark in the Gusev Crater location dubbed "Serpent." The trench is approximately 30-35 centimeters (12-14 inches) across and 40-45 centimeters (16-18 inches) long from top to bottom. Work using the rover's instrument deployment device, or"arm," was completed on the undisturbed surface of the drift as well as within the interior of the trench. This image is in approximate true color, based on a scaling of data from the red, green and blue (750 nanometers, 530 nanometers, and 430 nanometers) filters. | |
This is an overhead view of NASA's Mars Pathfinder's landing site in 1997. | Planimetric (overhead view) map of the landing site, to a distance of 20 meters from the spacecraft. North is at the top in this and Plates 3-5. To produce this map, images were geometrically projected onto an assumed mean surface representing the ground. Features above the ground plane (primarily rocks) therefore appear displaced radially outward; the amount of distortion increases systematically with distance. The upper surfaces of the lander and rover also appear enlarged and displaced because of their height. Primary grid (white) is based on the Landing Site Cartographic (LSC) coordinate system, defined with X eastward, Y north, and Z up, and origin located at the mean ground surface immediately beneath the deployed position of the IMP camera gimbal center. Secondary ticks (cyan) are based on the Mars local level (LL) frame, which has X north, Y east, Z down, with origin in the center of the lander baseplate. Rover positions (including APXS measurements) are commonly reported in the LL frame. Yellow grid shows polar coordinates based on the LSC system. Cartographic image processing by U.S. Geological Survey.NOTE: original caption as published in Science magazineMars 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a small portion of a broad, shallow channel system located on the plains northeast of Olympus Mons on Mars. | 1 June 2005This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a small portion of a broad, shallow channel system located on the plains northeast of Olympus Mons. Several similar valley/channel systems occur near Olympus Mons, and all of them are mysterious in terms of the nature of the fluids involved-- Was it water? Lava? Mud?Location near: 20.8°N, 125.0°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi Illumination from: lower left Season: Northern Summer | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows barchan and linear dunes that seem to have grown from the coalescence of barchans in a crater in the Noachis Terra region on Mars. | 18 June 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows barchan and linear dunes that seem to have grown from the coalescence of barchans in a crater in the Noachis Terra region. The winds responsible for these dunes blow from the lower left (southwest). The image occurs near 46.0°S, 323.6°W, and covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. | |
In a JPL lab, a replica of NASA InSight's robotic arm presses with its scoop on crushed garnet near a replica of the spacecraft's self-hammering 'mole.' | In a JPL lab, a replica of NASA InSight's robotic arm presses with its scoop on crushed garnet near a replica of the spacecraft's self-hammering "mole." Engineers believe pressing like this on Martian soil may help the mole dig by increasing friction of the surrounding soil. JPL manages InSight for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the InSight spacecraft, including its cruise stage and lander, and supports spacecraft operations for the mission.A number of European partners, including France's Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are supporting the InSight mission. CNES provided the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument to NASA, with the principal investigator at IPGP (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris). Significant contributions for SEIS came from IPGP; the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany; the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in Switzerland; Imperial College London and Oxford University in the United Kingdom; and JPL. DLR provided the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument, with significant contributions from the Space Research Center (CBK) of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Astronika in Poland. Spain's Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) supplied the temperature and wind sensors.For more information about the mission, go to https://mars.nasa.gov/insight. | |
This image taken by NASA's Mars Odyssey shows the southern flank of Alba Patera, a large, old volcano on Mars. These graben likely formed as the volcano collaped into the empty magma chamber beneath the surface. | This VIS image is on the southern flank of Alba Patera -- a large, old volcano. These graben likely formed as the volcano collaped into the empty magma chamber beneath the surface.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 31.9, Longitude 251.4 East (108.6 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a suite of dunes in one of the several north polar dune fields. The bright surfaces adjacent to some of the dunes are patches of frost | 10 October 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a suite of dunes in one of the several north polar dune fields. The bright surfaces adjacent to some of the dunes are patches of frost. These dunes spend much of the autumn, winter, and spring seasons covered with carbon dioxide frost. Only in late spring and in summer are the dark windblown sands fully exposed. Over the course of the 9+ years of the MGS mission, the MOC team has sought evidence that sand dunes may be migrating downwind over time. However, no clear examples of the movement of a whole dune have been identified. On Earth, such movement is typically detectable in air photos of the smallest active dunes over periods of a few years. Owing to the fact that the north polar dunes spend much of each martian year under a cover of frost, perhaps these move much more slowly than their frost-free, terrestrial counterparts. The sand may also be somewhat cemented by ice or minerals, likewise preventing vigorous dune migration in the present environment. This view covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and is illuminated by sunlight from the lower left. The dunes are located near 79.8°N, 127.1°W, and the picture was acquired on 11 September 2006. | |
This mosaic was acquired during the late afternoon (note the long shadows) on Sol 2, 1997 as part of the predeploy 'insurance panorama' and shows the newly deployed rover NASA's Mars Pathfinder Sojourner sitting on the Martian surface. | This 8-image mosaic was acquired during the late afternoon (near 5pm LST, note the long shadows) on Sol 2 as part of the predeploy "insurance panorama" and shows the newly deployed rover sitting on the Martian surface. This color image was generated from images acquired at 530,600, and 750 nm. The insurance panorama was designed as "insurance" against camera failure upon deployment. Had the camera failed, the losslessly-compressed, multispectral insurance panorama would have been the main source of image data from the IMP.However, the camera deployment was successful, leaving the insurance panorama to be downlinked to Earth several weeks later. Ironically enough, the insurance panorama contains some of the best quality image data because of the lossless data compression and relatively dust-free state of the camera and associated lander/rover hardware on Sol 2.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 an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The IMP was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal investigator.
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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows hundreds of large ripples or small dunes covering the landscape in the Terra Tyrrhena region of Mars. | 29 July 2004Hundreds of large ripples or small dunes cover the landscape in the Terra Tyrrhena region of Mars in this Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image. The winds responsible for these dunes blew from the north-northwest (top/upper left). This scene is located near 8.8°S, 252.8°W, and covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the terrain from the left. | |
This view of 'Boo Boo' was produced by combining the 'Super Panorama' frames from the IMP camera from NASA's Mars Pathfinder lander. 3D glasses are necessary to identify surface detail. | This view of "Boo Boo," just past "Yogi" to the northwest, was produced by combining the "Super Panorama" frames from the IMP camera. 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.The composite color frames that make up this anaglyph were produced for both the right and left eye of the IMP. The composites consist of 7 frames in the right eye and 8 frames in the left 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. These panchromatic frames were 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.The anaglyph view was produced by combining the left with the right eye color composite frames by assigning the left eye composite view to the red color plane and the right eye composite view to the green and blue color planes (cyan), to produce a stereo anaglyph mosaic. This mosaic can be viewed in 3-D on your computer monitor or in color print form by wearing red-blue 3-D glasses.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).The left eye and right eye panoramas from which this anaglyph was created is available atPIA02405 andPIA02406.
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. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey released on Dec 3, 2003 shows an unusual mix of orange and gray hues region known as Nili Fossae in NE Syrtis Major. | Released 3 December 2003An unusual mix of orange and gray hues are on display in this approximately true colorTHEMIS VIS image. Using the pixel-averaging mode of the camera to allow for increased coverage (at lower spatial resolution), the scene spans over 190 km of the region known as Nili Fossae in NE Syrtis Major. Note how the orange hues tend to occur on upland terrain while the gray hues are mostly on the lowlands. This may be due to the action of gray, basaltic sand moving along the lowland terrain and scouring away the oxidized or weathered orange-brown surfaces.Initial image processing and calibration by THEMIS team members J. Bell, T. McConnochie, and D. Savransky at Cornell University; additional processing and final color balance by space artist Don Davis.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 21.4, Longitude 76.6 East (283.4 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. | |
This colorful image acquired on May 21, 2018 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows clays within the Eridania basin region. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionThis colorful image, acquired on May 21, 2018 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows clays within the Eridania basin region. Many scientists using orbital data have proposed that a large lake may have once existed here during the Late Noachian through Early Hesperian time periods, and then much of the water drained out to the north via Ma'adim Vallis.Understanding where and what kind of clay exists within this region using CRISM data can help scientists learn more about how long the postulated lake existed and the water chemistry within the lake. The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 55.3 centimeters (21.6 inches) per pixel (with 2 x 2 binning); objects on the order of 166 centimeters (65.4 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.This is a stereo pair with PSP_010888_1510.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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey was taken in the Tartarus region of Mars. These flows illustrate a platy lava surface. This surface type develops when the top of a lava flows cools and then is broken into pieces by continued movement of the flow. | This VIS image was taken in the Tartarus region of Mars. The lava flows covering the upper right portion of the image have a very different texture than the Arsia Mons flows. These flows illustrate a platy lava surface. This surface type develops when the top of a lava flows cools and then is broken into pieces by continued movement of the flow. Molten lava will squeeze up between the plates of cooled lava, forming the ridges seen in the image.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 5.9, Longitude 157.8 East (202.2 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows linear depressions, part of Idaeus Fossae. | Context imageThe linear depressions in this VIS image are part of Idaeus Fossae. These features are located on the margin of Tempe Terra and the lowlands of Acidalia Planitia.Orbit Number: 88025 Latitude: 36.6727 Longitude: 307.238 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-10-18 06:59Please 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows an impact crater with a rampart ejecta blanket in Arabia Terra. | Impact crater with rampart ejecta blanket in Arabia Terra.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.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 5.8, Longitude 5.5 East (354.2 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a section of the tributary channel between Aram Chaos and Ares Vallis. | Context imageThis VIS image shows a section of the tributary channel between Aram Chaos and Ares Vallis. A small landslide deposit is visible in the middle of the image.Orbit Number: 79763 Latitude: 2.95902 Longitude: 341.373 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-12-08 00:06Please 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a small portion of the floor of Candor Chasma, part of Vallis Marineris. Different layers and textures are evident in this image. | Context image for PIA09309Candor Chasma FloorThis VIS image shows a small portion of the floor of Candor Chasma, part of Vallis Marineris. Different layers and textures are seen in this image.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -6.6N, Longitude 284.9E. 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. | |
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spies a crater that lies close to Elysium, a major volcanic system on Mars. The whole region surrounding the crater was at some point covered by lava from the volcano creating vast lava plains. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionGiven enough time, impact craters on Mars tend to fill up with different materials. For instance, some craters on Mars had lakes inside them in the past. When these lakes dried out, they left behind traces of their past existence, such as sedimentary deposits (materials that were carried along with the running water into the lake inside the crater and then settled down). Some craters, especially in high latitudes, contain ice deposits that filled the crater when an earlier ice age allowed ice to extend into the crater's latitude.Here, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spies a crater that lies close to Elysium, a major volcanic system on Mars. The whole region surrounding the crater was at some point covered by lava from the volcano creating vast lava plains, and in the process, flooding impact craters in their way.When the lava eventually cooled down, it solidified and began to shrink in size. This shrinking led to formation of cracks on the surface of the lava that grew in a circular pattern matching the shape of the crater it was filling.Scientists can study these fractures and estimate how much it shrank in volume to better understand the properties of the lava (such as its temperature) during the time it filled the crater.The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 55.3 centimeters (21.8 inches) per pixel (with 2 x 2 binning); objects on the order of 166 centimeters (65.4 inches) across are resolved.] North is upThe 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows revealed layers on the side of troughs that are eroded down into the north polar cap. | Context imageMillions of years of alternating seasons have created the north polar cap. Ice is laid down during the winter and dust coats the ice in summer. The ice/dust cycle creates layers as the cap grows. The layers are revealed on the side of troughs that are eroded down into the cap.Orbit Number: 77621 Latitude: 85.4338 Longitude: 173.148 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-06-14 15:23Please 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. | |
Near the lower left corner of this view is the three-petal lander platform that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit drove off in January 2004. The lander is still bright, but with a reddish color, probably due to accumulation of Martian dust. | Near the lower left corner of this view is the three-petal lander platform that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit drove off in January 2004. The lander is still bright, but with a reddish color, probably due to accumulation of Martian dust. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recorded this view on Jan. 29, 2012, providing the first image from orbit to show Spirit's lander platform in color. The view covers an area about 2,000 feet (about 600 meters) wide, dominated by Bonneveille Crater. North is up. A bright spot on the northern edge of Bonneville Crater is a remnant of Spirit's heat shield.Spirit spent most of its six-year working life in a range of hills about two miles east of its landing site. An image of the lander platform taken by Spirit's Panoramic Camera (Pancam) after the rover had driven off is at PIA05117. The bright heat shield remnant can be seen in a panorama the same camera took of Bonneville Crater, at PIA05591.This image is one product from HiRISE observation ESP_025815_1655. Other products from the same observation can be found at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_025815_1655 . HiRISE is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson. The instrument 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. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft. | |
The Avernus region contains several different surface features. These include tectonic fractures, ridges, hills, and regions of chaos within isolated depressions termed cavi. This image was captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageThe Avernus region contains several different surface features. These include tectonic fractures, ridges, hills, and regions of chaos within isolated depressions termed cavi.Orbit Number: 45147 Latitude: -2.81935 Longitude: 173.22 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-02-17 14:11Please 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a small crater and fractures in the volcanic lava filling the floor of Bernard Crater. | Context image for PIA10835THEMIS ART #90Running stick man is just a small crater and fractures in the volcanic lava filling the floor of Bernard Crater. [Note crater 'head' is in the northern 'V' of arms]Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -22.3N, Longitude 205.8E. 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. | |
This image shows bluish-white frost seen on the Martian surface near NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. The image was taken on Oct. 7, 2008. Frost is continued to appear in images as fall, then winter approach Mars' northern plains. | This image shows bluish-white frost seen on the Martian surface near NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. The image was taken by the lander's Surface Stereo Imager on the 131st Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Oct. 7, 2008). Frost is expected to continue to appear in images as fall, then winter approach Mars' northern plains.The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows an unnamed crater north of Meridiani Planum. | Context imageToday's false color image shows an unnamed crater north of Meridiani Planum. The dark blue features are small basaltic sand dunes.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.Orbit Number: 63172 Latitude: 5.06165 Longitude: 5.91331 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-03-11 08:58Please 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows light-toned sedimentary rock outcrops on the floors of the chasms associated with the Valles Marineris system of Mars and neighboring outflow channels. | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-433, 26 July 2003Light-toned sedimentary rock outcrops are common on the floors of the chasms associated with the Valles Marineris system and neighboring outflow channels. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an outcrop of sedimentary rock in Juventae Chasma near 4.1°S, 62.0°W. The scene is illuminated by sunlight from the left. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a portion of an unnamed channel near Auqakuh Vallis. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a portion of an unnamed channel near Auqakuh Vallis.Orbit Number: 47472 Latitude: 30.6871 Longitude: 59.9988 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-08-27 00:51Please 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. | |
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter excavates ice in a twelve-meter-wide crater. | This 12-meter-wide (39-foot-wide) crater in mid-latitude northern Mars was created by an impact that occurred between July 3, 2004, and June 28, 2008, as bracketed by before-and-after images not shown here. The images shown here were taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Nov. 19, 2008, (left) and on Jan. 8, 2009. Each image is 35 meters (115 feet) across.The impact that dug the crater excavated water ice from below the surface. It is the bright material visible in this pair of images. This crater is at 46.16 degrees north latitude, 188.51 degrees east longitude.These images are subframes of full-frame images that are available online at at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_010861_2265 and http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_011494_2265. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows linear features, or tectonic graben. These graben are called Sirenum Fossae. | Context imageThe linear features in this VIS image are tectonic graben. These graben are called Sirenum Fossae. Graben 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. Several graben are visible in this THEMIS VIS image, trending from east to west. Because the faults defining the graben are formed parallel to the direction of the applied stress, we know that extensional forces were pulling the crust apart in the north/south direction. The majority of the stresses that created Sirenum Fossae are aligned in the in a north-northwest to south-southeast direction. The Sirenum Fossae graben are 2735km (1700 miles) long.Orbit Number: 89864 Latitude: -38.9631 Longitude: 182.869 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-03-18 16:46Please 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. | |
This view from NASA's Curiosity shows nodules exposed in sandstone that is part of the Stimson geological unit on Mount Sharp, Mars. The nodules can be seen to consist of grains of sand cemented together. | This view shows nodules exposed in sandstone that is part of the Stimson geological unit on Mount Sharp, Mars. The nodules can be seen to consist of grains of sand cemented together. The Mars Hands Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera at the end of the robotic arm on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took this close-up image on March 10, 2016, during the 1,277th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars. The view covers a portion of the foreground of a scene (PIA20322) recorded by Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam) the preceding day. The nodules are about the size of garbanzo beans. Researchers are using Curiosity to investigate what the composition and texture may disclose about an ancient wet environment in which fluids may have circulated through the rock and cemented these nodules together more strongly than the surrounding sandstone.MAHLI was built by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for the NASA 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/. | |
This 360-degree view is from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit beside the crater informally named 'Bonneville.' The entire mosaic reveals not only the crater rim and interior, but Spirit's tracks and a glimpse at part of the rover. | Click on the image for 'Bonneville Crater' Panorama (QTVR)This 360-degree view from a position beside the crater informally named "Bonneville" was assembled from frames taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. Half of this panorama was first released on March 15, 2004. The entire mosaic, recently completed, reveals not only the crater rim and interior, but Spirit's tracks and a glimpse at part of the rover. The images were acquired on sol 68, March 12, 2004, just one day after Spirit reached this location.The image is a false-color composite made from frames taken with the camera's L2 (750 nanometer), L5 (530 nanometer) and L6 (480 nanometer) filters. | |
Observations during the first week of March 1999 were mostly aimed at acquiring quantitative and qualitative information about the Mars Orbiter Camera onboard NASA's Mars Global Surveyor in the environment in which it was originally designed to operate. | This set of 12 images was obtained during the period of Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) focus tests and calibrations that executed in the first week of March 1999. Each picture was taken near 15.6°N latitude, which at this time was the sub-Earth point—the latitude at which Earth would be seen directly overhead if viewed from the ground. These pictures were obtained to provide a direct link between simultaneous Earth- and space-based telescope observations and the MOC. Each picture is shown at the full commanded resolution of 12 meters (39 feet) per pixel, and each covers an area 3 by 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) in size with illumination from the upper left. Typically, images that will be obtained by MOC during the Mapping Phase of the Mars Global Surveyor mission will have resolutions of 1.5 meters (5 feet) per pixel—a factor of 8 improvement over the pictures shown here.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. | |
This false-color image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey released on March 13, 2004 shows Mars' polar cap during the southern spring season; both the layered ice cap and darker 'spots' that are seen only when the sun first lights the polar surface. | 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. This image was collected June 25, 2003 during the southern spring season. This false color image shows both the layered ice cap and darker "spots" that are seen only when the sun first lights the polar surface. Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -82.3, Longitude 306 East (54 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. | |
This 3-D stereo anaglyph image was taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | This 3-D stereo anaglyph image was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit front hazard-identification camera after the rover's first post-egress drive on Mars Sunday. Engineers drove the rover approximately 3 meters (10 feet) from the Columbia Memorial Station toward the first rock target, seen in the foreground. The football-sized rock was dubbed Adirondack because of its mountain-shaped appearance. Scientists plan to use instruments at the end of the rover's robotic arm to examine the rock and understand how it formed. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a small, dust-mantled volcano on the plains east of the giant martian volcano, Pavonis Mons. | 5 August 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a small, dust-mantled volcano on the plains east of the giant martian volcano, Pavonis Mons.Location near: 1.6°S, 105.7°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Southern Spring | |
Dust Fans on the Seasonal Carbon Dioxide Polar Cap | Click on image for larger versionDuring the long dark night of Martian winter at the south pole, carbon dioxide (CO2) in its solid form (also known as "dry ice") accumulates and forms a seasonal polar cap.HiRISE is currently observing southern spring on Mars. As the sun comes up in the spring, the ice evaporates in a complex way. HiRISE image PSP_003180_0945 shows dark dust being blown across the seasonal south polar cap. The dust comes from the surface beneath the ice: it either starts at spots bare of ice, or it's possible that it's lofted from below the ice in geyser-like plumes.Local winds blow the dust from its source, forming a long fan. When the wind changes direction, a new fan is formed, pointing in the new direction (see subimage 2; full resolution, approx. 800 meters [1/2 mile] across). In this single image we can see that the wind has blown in a number of directions (see subimage 1; not full resolution, approx. 4 km [2.5 miles] across). This data will be used to study weather patterns near the south pole.Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 4 April 2007Local Mars time: 8:08 PMDegrees latitude (centered): -85.4°Degrees longitude (East): 104.1°Range to target site: 264.4 km (165.2 miles)Original image scale range: 52.9 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~159 cm across are resolvedMap-projected scale: 50 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: POLAR STEREOGRAPHICEmission angle: 22.5°Phase angle: 61.9°Solar incidence angle: 80°, with the Sun about 10° above the horizonSolar longitude: 210.8°, Northern AutumnNASA'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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows windblown sand dunes in Herschel Basin, a large impact crater in the Terra Cimmeria region of Mars. The dunes of Herschel have grooved surfaces, indicating that their sands are somewhat cemented. | 5 October 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows windblown sand dunes in Herschel Basin, a large impact crater in the Terra Cimmeria region of Mars. The dunes of Herschel have grooved surfaces, indicating that their sands are somewhat cemented. Wind has blasted and eroded the cemented sand to form the grooves. This image was acquired in August 2004 and is located near 15.6°S, 228.4°W. The image covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity entered Victoria Crater during the rover's 1,291st Martian day, or sol, (Sept. 11, 2007). | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity entered Victoria Crater during the rover's 1,291st Martian day, or sol, (Sept. 11, 2007). The rover team commanded Opportunity to drive just far enough into the crater to get all six wheels onto the inner slope, and then to back out again and assess how much the wheels slipped on the slope. The driving commands for the day included a precaution for the rover to stop driving if the wheels were slipping more than 40 percent. Slippage exceeded that amount on the last step of the drive, so Opportunity stopped with its front pair of wheels still inside the crater. The rover team planned to assess results of the drive, then start Opportunity on an extended exploration inside the crater. This wide-angle view taken by Opportunity's front hazard-identification camera at the end of the day's driving shows the wheel tracks created by the short dip into the crater. The left half of the image looks across an alcove informally named "Duck Bay" toward a promontory called "Cape Verde" clockwise around the crater wall. The right half of the image looks across the main body of the crater, which is 800 meters (half a mile) in diameter. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a portion of Noachis Terra to the northeast of Argyre Planitia. | Context imageThis VIS image shows a portion of Noachis Terra to the northeast of Argyre Planitia. In the middle of the image is an unnamed crater that is not even close to being round. Instead the crater has a rim that bulges out on the west side. The ejecta is still visible, so this is an impact crater, but the odd shape points to surface properties that affected the crater formation. In regions with large amount of tectonic features, the subsurface faults and structures can displace impact energy along the planes of the subsurface faults. In uniform subsurfaces the energy propagates uniformly as a spherical wave. Meteor Crater in northern Arizona is an earth example of such subsurface control - it is square rather than round. The oval form to the left of the crater may have been formed by an oblique impact - when a meteor hits the surface at a low angle.Orbit Number: 74623 Latitude: -33.1841 Longitude: 330.888 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-10-10 17:11Please 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a dust devil producing a track among dozens of other, preexisting streaks on a dusty, south middle-latitude plain on Mars. | 16 March 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a dust devil producing a track among dozens of other, preexisting streaks on a dusty, south middle-latitude plain on Mars. The dust devil is located just above (north/northwest of) a small, dark-floored crater.Location near: 58.7°S, 141.1°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Summer | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Huo Hsing Vallis. Huo Hsing Vallis arose in Terra Sabaea, and flowed down from the highlands into the lowland region of Nilosyrtis Mensa. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of Huo Hsing Vallis (bottom of image). Huo Hsing Vallis arose in Terra Sabaea, and flowed down from the highlands into the lowland region of Nilosyrtis Mensa (top of image).Orbit Number: 85313 Latitude: 32.6054 Longitude: 65.9722 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-03-08 23:43Please 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. | |
This image released on Sept 21, 2004 from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows Candor Chasma's northern rim on Mars. Just below the canyon wall is debris material that once formed part of the canyon wall. | 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 Candor Chasma's northern rim. Just below the canyon wall is debris material that once formed part of the canyon wall. The bottom part of the image shows eroded layered rock surfaces.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -4.9, Longitude 283.8 East (76.2 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Athabasca Valles. Several streamlined islands are visible, with tails pointing downstream. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of Athabasca Valles. Several streamlined islands are visible, with 'tails' pointing downstream. Arising from Cerberus Fossae, the formation mode of this channel is still being debated. While the channel features are similar to water flow, other features are similar to lava flows, and yet other features have an appearance of slabs of material that floated on an underlying fluid. This is just one of the complex channel formations in the Elysium Planitia region.Orbit Number: 81766 Latitude: 8.8671 Longitude: 155.76 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-05-20 22:21Please 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a small part of the extensive volcanic plains located east of Olympus Mons. | Context imageThis VIS image shows a small part of the extensive volcanic plains located east of Olympus Mons.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.Orbit Number: 60918 Latitude: 20.5787 Longitude: 239.913 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-09-07 17:55Please 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the floor of Firsoff Crater. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of the floor of Firsoff Crater. Located in Arabia Terra, Firsoff Crater, and the neighboring Crommelin Crater, contain large layered deposits on the crater floor. The north side of the smaller crater at the bottom of the image shows the layering. Wind action has modified the deposit. Firsoff Crater is 90 km in diameter (56 miles).Orbit Number: 94812 Latitude: 2.77617 Longitude: 350.268 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2023-04-30 02:58Please 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows some of the extensive lava flows that originate at Arsia Mons. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows some of the extensive lava flows that originate at Arsia Mons.Orbit Number: 49689 Latitude: -22.2848 Longitude: 239.642 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-02-25 10:09 Please 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. | |
Proposed MSL site in Meridiani Crater Lake | Click on image for larger versionThis HiRISE image (PSP_002179_1855) of proposed landing site for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) in Meridiani Crater Lake.Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 1 January 2007Local Mars time: 3:40 PMDegrees latitude (centered): 5.4°Degrees longitude (East): 358.2°Range to target site: 273.5 km (171.0 miles)Original image scale range: 27.4 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~82 cm across are resolved Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAREmission angle: 4.0°Phase angle: 50.8°Solar incidence angle: 55°, with the Sun about 35° above the horizonSolar longitude: 165.9°, 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. | |
This is the right image of a stereo pair taken by NASA's Sojourner rover in the area behind the 'Rock Garden' at the Pathfinder landing site and gives a view of the Martian surface not seen from the lander. Sol 1 began on July 4, 1997. | This is the right image of a stereo pair taken by the Sojourner rover in the area behind the "Rock Garden" at the Pathfinder landing site and gives a view of the Martian surface not seen from the lander. Of note here are several dune-like ridges in the foreground. These features are less than a meter high but several meters wide. They are thought to be created by surface winds blowing right to left (approximately northeast to southwest). These features are called dunes, because of their asymmetry, although the rover has not examined the sediment within them. Such sediment on Earth would be sand-size grains less than 1 millimeter in diameter.This image and PIA01584 (left eye) make up a stereo pair.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. | |
Bold scarps and extensional features (grabens) record multiple stages of caldera collapse at the summit of Olympus Mons. The wrinkle ridges are contractional feature. This image was captured by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft in October 2003. | Released 9 October 2003Bold scarps and extensional features (grabens) record multiple stages of caldera collapse at the summit of Olympus Mons. The wrinkle ridges are contractional features, and probably formed during the cooling of an ancient lava lake, prior to the collapse events. Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in our solar system, reaching heights of over 40 km tall from base to summit, with the base covering an area as large as the state of Arizona.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 18.5, Longitude 226.6 East (133.4 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of eastern Hebes Chasma. The floor of the chasma is covered with chaotic materials, some from landslides and other layered deposits of unknown origin. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of eastern Hebes Chasma. The floor of the chasma is covered with chaotic materials, some from landslides and other layered deposits of unknown origin. Hebes Chasma is a closed basin north of Valles Marineris. It measures 126km wide north/south (78 miles), 315 km long east/west (196 miles), and 8 km (5 miles) at its deepest point.Orbit Number: 88001 Latitude: -1.32567 Longitude: 284.971 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-10-16 07:20Please 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. | |
This polar projection image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the site within an alcove called 'Duck Bay' in the western portion of Victoria Crater taken in April, 2008. | 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 on the 1,506th through 1,510th Martian days, or sols, of Opportunity's mission on Mars (April 19-23, 2008). North is at the top.This view is presented as a polar projection with geometric seam correction.The site is within an alcove called "Duck Bay" in the western portion of Victoria Crater. Victoria Crater is about 800 meters (half a mile) wide. Opportunity had descended into the crater at the top of Duck Bay 7 months earlier. By the time the rover acquired this view, it had examined rock layers inside the rim.Opportunity was headed for a closer look at the base of a promontory called "Cape Verde," the cliff at about the 2-o'clock position of this image, before leaving Victoria. The face of Cape Verde is about 6 meters (20 feet) tall. Just clockwise from Cape Verde is the main bowl of Victoria Crater, with sand dunes at the bottom. A promontory called "Cabo Frio," at the southern side of Duck Bay, stands near the 6-o'clock position of the image. | |
This false-color image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a marked difference in the 'blueness' of the ice surfaces in the north polar region of Mars. Ice/frost will appear as bright blue in color; dust mantled ice will appear in tones of red/orange. | The theme for the weeks of 1/17 and 1/24 is the north polar region of Mars as seen in false color THEMIS images. Ice/frost will typically appear as bright blue in color; dust mantled ice will appear in tones of red/orange. This full resolution image shows a marked difference in the "blueness" of the ice surfaces. The lower (presumably older) surface is oranger and the top (presumably younger) surface is blue. This may represent the fresher ice of the upper surface which has not yet covered with as much dust as the lower surface.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 80.8, Longitude 302.1 East (57.9 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. | |
This pair of images released on June 22, 2004 by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows part of Arsia Mons on Mars during the daytime (left) and at nighttime (right). | Released 22 June 2004This pair of images shows part of Arsia Mons.Day/Night Infrared PairsThe image pairs presented focus on a single surface feature as seen in both the daytime and nighttime by the infrared THEMIS camera. The nighttime image (right) has been rotated 180 degrees to place north at the top. Infrared image interpretationDaytime: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. Nighttime:Infrared images taken during the nighttime exhibit only the thermophysical properties of the surface of Mars. The effect of sun-facing versus non-sun-facing energy dissipates quickly at night. Thermophysical effects dominate as different surfaces cool at different rates through the nighttime hours. Rocks cool slowly, and are therefore relatively bright at night (remember that rocks are dark during the day). Dust and other fine grained materials cool very quickly and are dark in nighttime infrared images.Image information: IR instrument. Latitude -19.6, Longitude 241.9 East (118.1 West). 100 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. | |
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Mastcam to take an image of this mountain, nicknamed Rafael Navarro Mountain after the astrobiologist Rafael Navarro-González, who worked on the mission until he passed away January 26, 2021. | NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Mastcam to take an image of this hill, nicknamed "Rafael Navarro Mountain" after Rafael Navarro-González, an astrobiologist who worked on the mission until he passed away January 26, 2021. He was a member of the team working with Curiosity's Sample Analysis at Mars, or SAM, instrument.Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego built and operates Mastcam. A division of Caltech, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California built the Curiosity rover and manages the Curiosity rover for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
Dark dunes caught in a crater in the southern mid-latitudes slowly climb out. Winds push the sand to the NW (upper left), burying features on the crater wall that may be gullies. This image was captured by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft in October 2003. | Released 14 October 2003Dark dunes caught in a crater in the southern mid-latitudes slowly climb out. Winds push the sand to the NW (upper left), burying features on the crater wall that may be gullies. Gullies tend to be the youngest features in their environments, but this image may show an exception to the rule: the dark dunes override the gully-like features, so these features must have formed before the dark dunes encroached on them.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -52.8, Longitude 215.6 East (144.4 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. | |
NASA's Spirit rover took this mosaic of the undisturbed soil deposit 'Whymper' on August 29, 2005, using its microscopic imager. A well-defined impression was created when the rover's Moessbauer spectrometer faceplate was gently pushed into the soil. | Annotated image of PIA04193Windblown 'Whymper'NASA's Spirit rover took this mosaic of the undisturbed soil deposit "Whymper" on martian day, or sol 588 (August 29, 2005), using its microscopic imager. A well-defined impression about 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) wide was created when the rover's Moessbauer spectrometer faceplate was gently pushed into the soil. Note that the surface of the soil has been modified into wind streaks. The ability of the soil to make fine molds of the faceplate suggests the material is a mix of sand and dust. The dust is pushed into the pores of the sand and keeps the material from collapsing. This allows for very detailed impressions of the faceplate. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows dust devil tracks, a common feature in the southern hemisphere of Mars. These streaks are located in Promethei Terra. | Context image for PIA09430Dust Devil TracksDust devil tracks are a common feature in the southern hemisphere of Mars. These streaks are located in Promethei Terra, the site of the major dust storm image several days ago.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -64.0N, Longitude 108.1E. 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. | |
This 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft image shows a portion of the eastern end of Sirenum Fossae on Mars. | Context image for PIA11892Sirenum FossaeThis VIS image shows a portion of the eastern end of Sirenum Fossae.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -32.4N, Longitude 206.2E. 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the wall of a trough in the Zephyrus Fossae region, west of the Elysium Rise on Mars. Talus covers the lower portions of the wall; many large boulders, most of which are seen as dark dots at the base of the slope. | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-364, 18 May 2003This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) picture shows the wall of a trough in the Zephyrus Fossae region, west of the Elysium Rise near 27.9°N, 217.5°W. The trough wall has cut through and exposed layered bedrock, visible near the top of the wall. Talus covers the lower portions of the wall; this debris includes many automobile- and house-sized boulder--most of which are seen as dark dots at the base of the slope. Dust has coated and mantled much of this terrain, including some of the boulders. The dark streak near the center of the picture was formed by landsliding (or avalanching) of some of the dust. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a region on Mars near the highland/lowland boundary appears to be breaking into curved-edged blocks. Block edges are created by arcs of collapse pits which expand until a complete margin is created. | Context image for PIA10250Arcuate CollapseThis region near the highland/lowland boundary appears to be breaking into curved-edged blocks. If one looks closely you will see that the block edges are created by arcs of collapse pits which expand until a complete margin is created.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -2.2N, Longitude 172.3E. 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. | |
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of Hebrus Valles, located in the plains of the Northern lowlands, just west of the Elysium volcanic region. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThe drainages in this image are part of Hebrus Valles, an outflow channel system likely formed by catastrophic floods.Hebrus Valles is located in the plains of the Northern lowlands, just west of the Elysium volcanic region. Individual channels range from several hundred meters to several kilometers wide and form multi-threaded (anastamosing) patterns. Separating the channels are streamlined forms, whose tails point downstream and indicate that channel flow is to the north. The channels seemingly terminate in an elongated pit that is approximately 1875 meters long and 1125 meters wide. Using the shadow that the wall has cast on the floor of the pit, we can estimate that the pit is nearly 500 meters deep.The pit, which formed after the channels, exposes a bouldery layer below the dusty surface mantle and is underlain by sediments. Boulders several meters in diameter litter the slopes down into the pit. Pits such as these are of interest as possible candidate landing sites for human exploration because they might retain subsurface water ice (Schulze-Makuch et al. 2016, 6th Mars Polar Conf.) that could be utilized by future long-term human settlements. 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. | |
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its navigation cameras to capture panoramas of this scene. Blue, orange, and green color was added to a combination of the panoramas for an artistic interpretation of the scene. | Figure 1Figure 2Click on images for larger versionsNASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its black-and-white navigation cameras to capture panoramas of this scene at two times of day. Blue, orange, and green color was added to a combination of both panoramas for an artistic interpretation of the scene.On Nov. 16, 2021 (the 3,299th Martian day, or sol, of the mission), engineers commanded Curiosity to take two sets of mosaics, or composite images, capturing the scene at 8:30 a.m. and again at 4:10 p.m. local Mars time. The two times of day provided contrasting lighting conditions that brought out a variety of unique landscape details. They combined the two scenes in an artistic re-creation that includes images from the morning scene in blue, the afternoon scene in orange, and a combination of both in green.The main image is an artistic interpretation of the scene. Figure 1 is the mosaic taken in the afternoon. Figure 2 is the mosaic taken in the morning.At the center of the image is the view back down Mount Sharp, the 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain that Curiosity has been driving up since 2014. Rounded hills can be seen in the distance at center-right; Curiosity got a closer view of these back in July, when the rover started to see intriguing changes in the landscape. A field of sand ripples known as the "Sands of Forvie" stretches a quarter- to a half-mile (400 to 800 meters) away.At the far right of the panorama is the craggy "Rafael Navarro Mountain," named after a Curiosity team scientist who passed away earlier this year. Poking up behind it is the upper part of Mount Sharp, far above the area Curiosity is exploring. Mount Sharp lies inside Gale Crater, a 96-mile-wide (154-kilometer-wide) basin formed by an ancient impact; Gale Crater's distant rim stands 7,500 feet tall (2.3 kilometers), and is visible on the horizon about 18 to 25 miles away (30 to 40 kilometers).Mars Science Laboratory is a project of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The mission is managed by JPL. Curiosity and its navigation cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.For more information, visit https://mars.nasa.gov/msl/home/ and https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows an area of light-toned, wind-blown, ripple-like bedforms spotted in the Brazos Valles near Schiaparelli Basin on Mars. | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-476, 7 September 2003Nearly six years ago, when the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) was taking some of its earliest high resolution images of the planet, an area of light-toned, wind-blown, ripple-like bedforms was spotted in the Brazos Valles near Schiaparelli Basin. These features were highlighted on November 10, 1997, in "Valley and Surrounding Terrain Adjacent to Schiaparelli Crater."This picture shows a close-up view of some of the light-toned bedforms first visible in that early MOC image. This picture was acquired at full resolution (1.5 meters--5 feet--per pixel). The image shows that the light-toned bedforms are not fresh, young features; they are jagged and roughened, as if they have been indurated (cemented) and then somewhat eroded by wind. This picture is located near 5.4°S, 340.6°W; it covers an area 1.1 km (0.7 mi) across. The scene is illuminated by sunlight from the left. | |
This stereo anaglyph from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit looks toward the northeast across 'Endurance Crater' in Mars' Meridiani Planum region. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | This stereo anaglyph looking toward the northeast across "Endurance Crater" in Mars' Meridiani Planum region was assembled from frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during the rover's 131st martian day, or sol, on June 6, 2004. That was two sols before Opportunity entered the crater, taking the route nearly straight ahead in this image into the "Karatepe" area of the crater. This view is a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction.See PIA06058 for left eye view and PIA06059 for right eye view of this 3-D cylindrical-perspective projection. | |
This 180-degree mosaic of images from the navigation camera on the NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rover close to the outcrop called 'Copper Cliff,' which is in the center of this scene. | This 180-degree mosaic of images from the navigation camera on the NASA Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows terrain near the rover during the 3,153rd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (Dec. 6, 2012). West is at the center, south at the left edge, north at the right edge.Opportunity had driven about 7 feet (2.2 meters) westward earlier on Sol 3153 to get close to the outcrop called "Copper Cliff," which is in the center of this scene. The location is on the east-central portion of "Matijevic Hill" on the "Cape York" segment of the western rim of Endeavour Crater. The view is presented as a cylindrical projection. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a short section of Reull Vallis. Reull Vallis starts in Promethei Terra and empties into Hellas Plainitia. | Context imageThis VIS image shows a short section of Reull Vallis. Reull Vallis starts in Promethei Terra and empties into Hellas Plainitia. In other regions of the channel the floor contains ridged and grooved materials. In some sections of the channel these materials appear to deflect around obstacles. These features are proposed to be ice-rich materials similar to glaciers on Earth. Reull Vallis is 1051km (653 miles) long.Orbit Number: 92980 Latitude: -39.6307 Longitude: 110.597 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-11-30 05:57Please 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. | |
Signs of Eolian and Periglacial Activity at Vastitas Borealis | Click on image for larger versionImage PSP_001481_2410 shows a region of approximately 7 x 7 km (4.4-by-4.4 miles) located in Vastitas Borealis, part of the Northern Plains.The surface imaged is relatively young, as indicated by the lack of recent impact craters. Eolian and periglacial activity seem to be the dominant geological processes at work, as shown by numerous crisscrossing dust devil tracks and ubiquitous polygonal features, respectively.Dust devils form when the sun warms up the air near a flat, dry surface. Warm air then rises quickly through the cooler air above and starts spinning, causing a forward motion. The spinning, forward-moving cell may pick up dust and sand as it advances, thus leaving behind a "clean" track. We infer from this image that a thin veneer of light-colored particles of dust and/or fine-grained sand cover relatively darker materials, apparent in the dust devil tracks.The tracks pictured in this image are in many cases more than 30 meters (27 yards) wide and over 4 km (2.5 miles) long, surpassing the dimensions of average terrestrial dust devil tracks.The polygons shown in this image's subset, which covers approximately 400 x 250 m (350 x 225 yards), are in the order of 10 m (0.9 yards) across; in some cases they are delimited by aligned rocks. Similar features in both shape and scale are found in terrestrial periglacial regions such as Antarctica, where ice is present at or near the surface.Antarctica's polygons and rock alignments are produced by repeated expansion and contraction of the soil-ice mixture due to seasonal temperature oscillations; dry soil falling into the cracks form sand wedges and amplify this effect. This results in polygonal networks of stress fractures and in the resurfacing and sorting of rocks along these fractures. (Thin diagonal lines are artifacts in the image).Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 11 November 2006Local Mars time: 3:13 PMDegrees latitude (centered): 60.7°Degrees longitude (East): 318.5°Range to target site: 310.2 km (193.9 miles)Original image scale range: 31.0 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~93 cm across are resolvedMap-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAREmission angle: 0.3°Phase angle: 56.0°Solar incidence angle: 84 56°, with the Sun about 34° above the horizonSolar longitude: 137.9°, 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. | |
This cylindrical-projection mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 100 (April 14, 2004). It reveals Spirit's view after a century of sols on the martian surface. | This left eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 100 (April 14, 2004). It reveals Spirit's view after a century of sols on the martian surface. See PIA05771 for 3-D view and PIA05773 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its microscopic imager to get this view of the surface of a rock called 'Block Island' during the 1,963rd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission on Mars (Aug. 1, 2009). | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its microscopic imager to get this view of the surface of a rock called "Block Island" during the 1,963rd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission on Mars (Aug. 1, 2009). The triangular pattern of small ridges seen at the upper right in this image and elsewhere on the rock is characteristic of iron-nickel meteorites found on Earth, especially after they have been cut, polished and etched. Block Island has been identified as an iron-nickel meteorite based on this surface texture and analysis of its composition by Opportunity's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer. At about 60 centimeters (2 feet) across, it is the largest meteorite yet found on Mars.This image shows a patch 32 millimeters by 32 millimeters (1.3 inches by 1.3 inches) on the surface of Block Island while the target was fully illuminated by the sun. This target on the rock is informally named "New Shoreham." The vertical white streaks, especially near the top and bottom of the image, are artifacts caused by saturation of the camera's CCD (charge-coupled device, or image recorder) where sunlight glinted off metallic facets.The triangular pattern in the texture of iron-nickel meteorites, called the Widmanstatten pattern, formed more than 4.5 billion years ago as the metal cooled. One iron-nickel mineral, kamacite, formed thin layers along the surface of crystals of another, taenite, which contains less nickel. The two minerals differ in their resistance to either etching by acid or erosion by wind-blown sand, so those processes can make the pattern visible. | |
InSight captured this image of one of its dust-covered solar panels on April 24, 2022, the 1,211th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. | NASA's InSight Mars lander captured this image of one of its dust-covered solar panels on April 24, 2022, the 1,211th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.JPL manages InSight for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the InSight spacecraft, including its cruise stage and lander, and supports spacecraft operations for the mission.A number of European partners, including France's Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are supporting the InSight mission. CNES provided the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument to NASA, with the principal investigator at IPGP (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris). Significant contributions for SEIS came from IPGP; the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany; the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in Switzerland; Imperial College London and Oxford University in the United Kingdom; and JPL. DLR provided the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument, with significant contributions from the Space Research Center (CBK) of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Astronika in Poland. Spain's Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) supplied the temperature and wind sensors.For more information about the mission, go to https://mars.nasa.gov/insight. | |
This full-circle scene combines 817 images, taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, showing the terrain that surrounded the rover while it was stationary for four months of work during its most recent Martian winter. | This full-circle scene combines 817 images taken by the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. It shows the terrain that surrounded the rover while it was stationary for four months of work during its most recent Martian winter.Opportunity's Pancam took the component images between the 2,811th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's Mars surface mission (Dec. 21, 2011) and Sol 2,947 (May 8, 2012). Opportunity spent those months on a northward sloped outcrop, "Greeley Haven," which angled the rover's solar panels toward the sun low in the northern sky during southern hemisphere winter. The outcrop's informal name is a tribute to Ronald Greeley (1939-2011), who was a member of the mission team and who taught generations of planetary scientists at Arizona State University, Tempe. The site is near the northern tip of the "Cape York" segment of the western rim of Endeavour Crater. North is at the center of the image. South is at both ends. On the far left at the horizon is "Rich Morris Hill." That outcrop on Cape York was informally named in memory of John R. "Rich" Morris (1973-2011), an aerospace engineer and musician who was a Mars rover team member and mission manager at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena. Bright wind-blown deposits on the left are banked up against the Greeley Haven outcrop. Opportunity's tracks can be seen extending from the south, with a turn-in-place and other maneuvers evident from activities to position the rover at Greeley Haven. The tracks in some locations have exposed darker underlying soils by disturbing a thin, bright dust cover. Other bright, dusty deposits can be seen to the north, northeast, and east of Greeley Haven. The deposit at the center of the image, due north from the rover's winter location, is a dusty patch called "North Pole." Opportunity drove to it and investigated it in May 2012 as an example of wind-blown Martian dust.The interior of Endeavour Crater can been seen just below the horizon in the right half of the scene, to the northeast and east of Cape York. The crater spans 14 miles (22 kilometers) in diameter. Opportunity's solar panels and other structures show dust that has accumulated over the lifetime of the mission. Opportunity has been working on Mars since January 2004. During the recent four months that Opportunity worked at Greeley Haven, activities included radio-science observations to better understand Martian spin axis dynamics and thus interior structure, investigations of the composition and textures of an outcrop exposing an impact-jumbled rock formation on the crater rim, monitoring the atmosphere and surface for changes, and acquisition of this full-color mosaic of the surroundings. The panorama combines exposures taken through 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.
Photojournal Note: Also available are: PIA15869.tif (Full-Res TIFF) and PIA15869.jpg (Full-Res JPEG) These files may be too large to view from a browser; they can be downloaded onto your desktop by right-clicking on the previous links and viewed with image viewing software. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows linear depressions, part of Sirenum Fossae. | Context imageThe linear depressions in this VIS image are part of Sirenum Fossae. Depressions of this type are called graben, which form by the down drop of material between two parallel faults. The faults are caused by tectonic stresses in the region. The Sirenum Fossae graben are 2735km (1700 miles) long.Orbit Number: 84092 Latitude: -32.8748 Longitude: 203.947 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-11-28 09:58Please 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows wind-eroded sedimentary rocks in Tithonium Chasma, one of the troughs of the Valles Marineris system on Mars. | 30 April 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows wind-eroded sedimentary rocks in Tithonium Chasma, one of the troughs of the Valles Marineris system. The winds responsible for the majority of the erosion blew from the northeast (upper right), creating yardangs (wind erosion ridges) with their tapered ends pointing downwind.Location near: 4.6°S, 88.3°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Winter | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows surface, atmospheric dust, and atmospheric water-ice clouds have been observed as approximate spectral end-members as well as in combinations. | Surface, atmospheric dust, and atmospheric water-ice clouds have been observed as approximate spectral end-members as well as in combinations. Note the deep 15-micron line for atmospheric CO2 and the near 7 micron water vapor lines. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows an impact crater site located in Arabia Terra on Mars. | Figure A Annotated ImageFigure B Annotated Image No AnnotationFigure C Annotated Image No AnnotationPictured here is the second of 2 of the 20 new impact craters identified by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) science operations team to have formed between May 1999 and March 2006 that occur at a location that the MOC narrow angle camera imaged previously. This is surprising, given that the narrow angle camera, with its 3 kilometer- (1.9 miles)-wide field of view, has only covered about 5.2% of the martian surface. The other such case is described in an accompanying release, "One of Two Fresh Impact Crater Sites With Before and After Narrow Angle Mars Orbiter Camera Images" (see PIA09023 or MOC2-1614). Figure A: This picture shows the impact site. It is located in Arabia Terra near 25.8°N, 308.0°W. The figure is a composite of sub-frames of MOC images S15-02322, obtained on 22 February 2006, and S17-01393, from 17 April 2006. The largest crater at the center of the impact zone has a diameter of about 16.0 ± 1.7 meters (about 52 feet). Several other smaller craters were formed by this impact event. Figure B: This figure shows how the impact site appeared in a previous MOC narrow angle camera image, R13-00039, on 1 January 2004, before the impact occurred. This is compared with MOC image S15-02322, obtained after the impact. Figure C: This figure shows the impact site as it appeared to the Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) visible camera on 21 December 2005. Most importantly, the crater did not exist on 21 December 2005, but the dark spot the impact produced was seen 42 days later in MOC red wide angle image S14-03311 on 31 January 2006. In other words, the impact occurred between 21 December 2005 and 31 January 2006. It is possible that the crater formed in January 2006, after we began our survey for fresh martian impact craters! The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera.For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html. | |
A broad channel in the Deuteronilus Mensae region, shown in this NASA Mars Odyssey image, displays the strange landforms common to the northern mid-latitudes where ground ice likely plays a role in their formation. | A broad channel in the Deuteronilus Mensae region displays the strange landforms common to the northern mid-latitudes where ground ice likely plays a role in their formation. A tongue-shaped feature at the bottom of this image looks surprisingly glacier-like in its morphology.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.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 37.1, Longitude 15.3 East (344.7 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution. | |
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows partial opening of doors to one of the tiny ovens of itsThermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer. Each oven has a pair of spring-loaded doors over the opening where a soil sample will be delivered. | This view from the Robotic Arm Camera on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows partial opening of doors to one of the tiny ovens of the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer.Each oven has a pair of spring-loaded doors. Near the center of the image, the partial opening of a pair of doors reveals screen over the opening where a soil sample will be delivered. The door to the right is fully opened and the one to the left is partially deployed. The doors are 10 centimeters (4 inches) long. The opening is 4 centimeters (1.5 inches) wide.Tests on the Phoenix testbed at the University of Arizona, Tucson, indicate that a soil sample could be delivered into the oven through the partially opened doors. Engineers are also exploring possibilities for opening the doors more completely.This image was taken during Phoenix's eighth Martian day, or sol (June 2, 2008).The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter. | |
This annotated image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), provides a look at the altitude of surface features standing between the Perseverance Mars rover and Ingenuity helicopter after the rotorcraft's 17th flight at Mars on December 5, 2021. | This annotated image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO), and the topographic map below it, provide a look at the altitude of surface features standing between the agency's Perseverance Mars rover and Ingenuity helicopter at the conclusion of the rotorcraft's 17th flight at Mars on Dec. 5, 2021. In the image of the surface – taken by MRO's High Resolution Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera – Ingenuity's flight path is depicted in yellow. Perseverance's location is indicated in the upper left, with the blue line delineating its line of sight to the helicopter's landing spot. The location of the tallest point on Mars' surface between rover and helicopter during its final descent is the hill near the center of image that the Perseverance science team has nicknamed "Bras," after a city in France.The topographic map below the orbital image provides the elevation of surface features along the blue line, or Perseverance's line of sight to helicopter. The height measurements to the left of the map are derived by comparing local elevations to the areoid (a model for an equipotential surface of Mars, analogous to "sea level" on Earth). The Ingenuity team believes the 13-foot (4-meter) height difference between the Perseverance rover and the top of Bras contributed to the loss of communications when the helicopter descended toward the surface at the end of its flight.The image's background terrain was generated using data collected by the HiRISE camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation, 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 in Washington.The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages the technology demonstration project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA's Science, Aeronautics Research, and Space Technology mission directorates. 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. | |
This false-color image taken on Sept. 28, 2006 from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, shows Victoria crater, looking southeast from Duck Bay towards the dramatic promontory called Cabo Frio. | This view of "Victoria crater" is looking southeast from "Duck Bay" towards the dramatic promontory called "Cabo Frio." The small crater in the right foreground, informally known as "Sputnik," is about 20 meters (about 65 feet) away from the rover, the tip of the spectacular, layered, Cabo Frio promontory itself is about 200 meters (about 650 feet) away from the rover, and the exposed rock layers are about 15 meters (about 50 feet) tall. This is an enhanced false color rendering of images taken by the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity during the rover's 952nd sol, or Martian day, (Sept. 28, 2006) using the camera's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters. |
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