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Mars digital-image mosaic merged with color of the MC-3 quadrangle, Arcadia region of Mars. This image is from NASA's Viking Orbiter 1. | Mars digital-image mosaic merged with color of the MC-3 quadrangle, Arcadia region of Mars. The southern part contains the large shield volcano, Alba Patera, and the highly faulted Tempe Terra province, which includes many small volcanoes. The northern part is dominated by relatively smooth plains. Latitude range 30 to 65 degrees, longitude range 60 to 120 degrees. | |
The THEMIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Coprates Chasma. | Context image The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of Coprates Chasma.Orbit Number: 51423 Latitude: -12.1253 Longitude: 291.311 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-07-18 02:40Please 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 2001 Mars Odyssey released on April 16, 2004 shows the surface of Mars during the southern summer season in Proctor Crater. | Released 16 April 2004The 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 daytime VIS image was collected on April 15, 2002 during the southern summer season in Proctor Crater.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -47.5, Longitude 30.1 East (329.9 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 image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Olympia Undae, a vast sand sea near the north pole. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of Olympia Undae, a vast sand sea near the north pole. In regions with limited sand abundance, individual dunes form and the surface below the dunes are visible. This is the case at the top of the image. When sand abundances grow, the individual dunes coalesce into a sheet of sand hiding the underlaying surface. This is the case at the bottom of the image.Orbit Number: 80393 Latitude: 80.0028 Longitude: 143.285 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-01-28 21:30Please 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 unusual channel is located in northern Arabia Terra. This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey was captured on 2010-10-21 00:17. | Context imageThis unusual channel is located in northern Arabia Terra.Orbit Number: 39260 Latitude: 36.775 Longitude: 35.2272 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-10-21 00:17Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a portion of Alba Fossae, located on the northwestern margin of Alba Mons. Small channels are also visible. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a portion of Alba Fossae, located on the northwestern margin of Alba Mons. Small channels are also visible.Orbit Number: 53322 Latitude: 45.2895 Longitude: 247.241 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-12-21 10:36Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows an unnamed channel in Libya Montes. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows an unnamed channel in Libya Montes. Libya Montes are south of Isidis Planitia, and are remnants of the crater rim created by the Isidis meteor impact.Orbit Number: 85899 Latitude: 2.26071 Longitude: 84.8385 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-04-26 05:34Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Juventae Chasma, located north of Valles Marineris. | Context imageThis false color image shows part of Juventae Chasma. Located north of Valles Marineris, Juventae Chasma stretches for 180 kilometers (110 miles) east-west and 250 km (155 mi) north-south. Most of its floor lies 5,000 meters (16,000 feet) or more below the surrounding surface. Juventae Chasma is the source region for the outflow channel Maja Valles.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: 65981 Latitude: -2.2663 Longitude: 298.189 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-10-28 18:05Please 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 the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a site where two different types of bedrock meet on lower Mount Sharp. | Figure 1Click on the image for larger versionThis view from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a site where two different types of bedrock meet on lower Mount Sharp. The scene combines multiple images taken by the left-eye camera of Mastcam on May 25, 2015, during the 995th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars, in a valley just below "Marias Pass." The color has been approximately white-balanced to resemble how the scene would appear under daytime lighting conditions on Earth.The paler part of the outcrop, in the foreground, is mudstone similar to what Curiosity examined in 2014, and in early 2015, at "Pahrump Hills." The darker, finely bedded bedrock higher in the image and overlying the mudstone stratigraphically is sandstone that the rover team calls the "Stimson" unit. The scene covers an area about 10 feet (3 meters) wide in the foreground. Figure 1 includes scale bars of 50 centimeters (about 20 inches) in the foreground, and 100 centimeters (about 39 inches) in the middle distance.Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates the rover's Mastcam. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. For more information about Curiosity, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a snow-covered surface located on Malea Planum, south of the giant Hellas impact basin on Mars. | July 1999--Spring is rapidly approaching for the martian southern hemisphere. Over the past month, much of the high southern latitudes of Mars have emerged from nearly 5 months of wintertime darkness, revealing a bright, frost-covered surface that presently extends from about 57°S to the south pole. Frosts at this time of year can consist of both frozen carbon dioxide ("dry ice") and frozen water. The above images are interpreted to show surfaces covered by water frost, because the temperature of the surface at the time the images were acquired was about -184°F or -120°C (visit the Thermal Emission Spectrometer to see an example of their data). This temperature is above the freezing point of carbon dioxide (around -200°F = -130°C).The pair of Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images presented here show a snow-covered surface located on Malea Planum, south of the giant Hellas impact basin. These pictures were taken simultaneously on July 18, 1999. The first image (left) is a MOC red camera wide angle context view showing the location of the higher-resolution narrow angle camera view (right). The white box in the context image indicates the location of the high-resolution view. Small black dots in the narrow angle image (right) are boulders and other surfaces from which the snow has been defrosted. The large crater in the wide angle (left) image is about 36 km (22 mi.) across. The narrow angle (right) image covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide at a resolution of 3 meters (10 feet) per pixel. Illumination in each image is from the upper left.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. | |
On October 3, 1997, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor acquired this image of the western Tithonium Chasma/Ius Chasma portion of the Valles Marineris. the canyon floors are mostly shadowed, but steep slopes in the area are exquisitely highlighted. | On October 3, 1997, the MOC acquired this image of the western Tithonium Chasma/Ius Chasma portion of the Valles Marineris, centered at 6.6°S, 90.4°W, at 1:16 PM PDT. Although the lighting beneath the spacecraft was very poor, the camera was canted towards the sun, and the illumination was equivalent to roughly 5 PM local time (the sun was about 17° above the horizon). In the image, the canyon floors are mostly shadowed, but steep slopes in the area are exquisitely highlighted.The area outlined in the upper right image, the highest resolution view of the region previously available, is 6.6 km (4 miles) wide by 55.6 km (34.5 miles) long. The ridges to the north and south are about 4000 m (13,000 feet) above the floor of the troughs, but in the area photographed, the relief is slightly lower (about 3000 m, or 10,000 feet). The top portion of the image is shown on the left, and a section of that image is shown enlarged at lower right. The scale is 6.45 m/pixel across the image by 9.65 m/pixel down the image. The left and lower right images are available at higher resolution as PIA01022 and PIA01023, respectively.Launched on November 7, 1996, Mars Global Surveyor entered Mars orbit on Thursday, September 11, 1997. The original mission plan called for using friction with the planet's atmosphere to reduce the orbital energy, leading to a two-year mapping mission from close, circular orbit (beginning in March 1998). Owing to difficulties with one of the two solar panels, aerobraking was suspended in mid-October and resumed in November 8. Many of the original objectives of the mission, and in particular those of the camera, are likely to be accomplished as the mission progresses.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. | |
MarCO-B, one of the experimental Mars Cube One (MarCO) CubeSats, took these images as it approached Mars, just before NASA's InSight spacecraft landed on the planet. | Click here for animationMarCO-B, one of the experimental Mars Cube One (MarCO) CubeSats, took these images as it approached Mars from about 357,300 miles (575,000 kilometers) to 11,200 miles (18,000 kilometers) away, just before NASA's InSight spacecraft landed on Mars on Nov. 26, 2018. MarCO-B flew by Mars with its twin, MarCO-A, to serve as communications relays for InSight as it touched down on the Red Planet. MarCO-B, nicknamed Wall-E, took these images on Sunday, Nov. 25 and Monday, Nov. 26, 2018.The bright point of light to the left is the corner of MarCO-B's high gain antenna feed and to the right is the high gain antenna, which let the CubeSat communicate with Earth. In this animation, Mars is spinning on its axis from right to left.The MarCO and InSight projects are managed for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena. | |
These dunes in Richardson Crater are still frost covered in this image captured by NASA's Mars Odyssey. As spring deepens the frost will sublimate and the dark dunes will appear. | Context imageThese dunes in Richardson Crater are still frost covered. As spring deepens the frost will sublimate and the dark dunes will appear.Orbit Number: 39717 Latitude: -72.3389 Longitude: 179.491 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-11-27 14:01Please 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. | |
First Mars Image from Newly Arrived Camera | This view shows a full-resolution portion of the first image of Mars taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The spacecraft, launched Aug. 12, 2005, began orbiting Mars on March 10, 2006. The image is of an area in Mars' mid-latitude southern highlands.HiRISE took this first test image from orbit on March 24, 2006, from an altitude of 2,489 kilometers (1,547 miles), achieving a resolution of 2.49 meters (98 inches) per pixel, or picture element. The smallest objects of discernible shape are about three pixels across. An image acquired at this latitude during the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's main science phase, beginning in fall 2006, would be taken from an altitude of about 280 kilometers (174 miles) and have a resolution of 28 centimeters (11 inches) per pixel.This view covers an area about 4.5 by 2.1 kilometers (1.6 by 1.3 miles), a subset of the broader image (see PIA08014).The quality of this test image is spectacular, with no hint to the eye of any smear or blurring. A high signal-to-noise ratio reveals fine details even in the shadows. | |
NASA's Opportunity had driven 72.3 meters southward (237 feet) on June 10. Engineers drove the rover backward as a strategy to counteract an increase in the amount of current drawn by the drive motor of the right-front wheel. 3D glasses are necessary. | Left-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA12129Right-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA12129NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this stereo, 360-degree view of the rover's surroundings on the 1,912th Martian day, or sol, of its surface mission (June 10, 2009). The view appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left.Opportunity had driven 72.3 meters southward (237 feet) that sol. Engineers drove the rover backward as a strategy to counteract an increase in the amount of current drawn by the drive motor of the right-front wheel.North is at the top of the image; south at the bottom. Opportunity's position on Sol 1912 was about 2.5 kilometers (1.6 miles) south-southwest of Victoria Crater. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches).This panorama combines right-eye and left-eye views presented as cylindrical-perspective projections with geometric seam correction. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the south polar region of Mars in mid-January 2006. | 31 January 2006This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 357° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 357° occurred in mid-January 2006. The picture shows the south polar region of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.Season: Northern Winter/Southern Summer | |
This subtle, unnamed channel is located in northern Terra Cimmeria as seen by NASA's Mars Odyssey. | Context imageThis subtle, unnamed channel is located in northern Terra Cimmeria.Orbit Number: 40281 Latitude: -2.50562 Longitude: 123.547 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-01-13 00:01Please 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 Phoenix Mars Lander caught this dust devil nearby on Sept. 9, 2008. Dust devils are whirlwinds that often occur when the Sun heats the surface of Mars. Warm air rises in a whirling motion, stirring dust up from the surface like a miniature tornado. | The Surface Stereo Imager on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander caught this dust devil in action west-southwest of the lander at 11:16 a.m. local Mars time on Sol 104, or the 104th Martian day of the mission, Sept. 9, 2008.Dust devils have not been detected in any Phoenix images from earlier in the mission, but at least six were observed in a dozen images taken on Sol 104.Dust devils are whirlwinds that often occur when the Sun heats the surface of Mars, or some areas on Earth. The warmed surface heats the layer of atmosphere closest to it, and the warm air rises in a whirling motion, stirring dust up from the surface like a miniature tornado.The dust devil visible in the center of this image just below the horizon is estimated to be about 400 meters (about 1,300 feet) from Phoenix, and 4 meters (13 feet) in diameter. It is much smaller than dust devils that have been observed by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit much closer to the equator. It is closer in size to dust devils seen from orbit in the Phoenix landing region, though still smaller than those.The image has been enhanced to make the dust devil easier to see.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 a section of one of the many channel forms found radial to the Elysium Mons volcanic complex. | Context imageToday's VIS image contains a section of one of the many channel forms found radial to the Elysium Mons volcanic complex. In this case the fossae are located to the west of Elysium Mons. Elysium Fossae are comprised of both linear and sinuous channels, usually interpreted to have both fluid and tectonic forces playing a part in the formation. The linear depression resembles a graben (formed by tectonic forces) and sinuous channels more closely resembles features caused by fluid flow – either lava or water created by melting subsurface ice due to volcanic heating. The Elysium Fossae system is 1044 km (649 miles) in length.Orbit Number: 93802 Latitude: 27.5316 Longitude: 137.172 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2023-02-05 23:55Please 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 released on Oct 11, 2004 from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows Tyrrhena Patera and its surroundings. Tyrrhena Patera is one of several moderate sized volcanoes located in the Martian southern highlands. | This week we will be examining images of Tyrrhena Patera and its surroundings. Tyrrhena Patera is one of several moderate sized volcanoes located in the Martian southern highlands. While the volcanic edifice is only moderate in size (when compared to the larger Tharsis volcanoes), the surrounding volcanic materials cover an extensive area. Deep eroded channels on the slope of the volcano indicate that the volcano itself is likely composed of pyroclastic materials rather than flow materials.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -21.3, Longitude 106.7 East (253.3 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's InSight lander snapped a series of images of the Sun rising and setting on Mars using the camera on its robotic arm on April 10, 2022, the 1,198th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. | Figure AFigure BClick on images for larger versionsNASA's InSight lander snapped a series of images of the Sun rising and setting on Mars using the camera on its robotic arm on April 10, 2022, the 1,198th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.Figure A shows the Sun rising; Figure B shows the Sun setting. These images are color-calibrated to appear as the human eye would see them on Mars. Dust-sized particles in the Martian atmosphere affect the way sunlight scatters. This effect makes the Martian sky look blue near the Sun, with tinges of purple or gray at sunrise and sunset.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 Reconnaissance Orbiter shows gullies in a semi-circular trough in Noachis Terra. The gullies are observed to face all directions. | This observation shows gullies in a semi-circular trough in Noachis Terra. The gullies are observed to face all directions.It is interesting to note that the gully morphology seen here depends on the orientation of the gullies. The morphology differences are most pronounced on the sunlit slope, with the gullies facing south (down) being more deeply incised than those facing the west. It is unknown what caused the different gully morphologies, but there are several possibilities.Gullies are proposed to form at locations determined by the availability of a forming liquid (thought to be water) and/or the amount of insolation the slope receives, among other factors. It is possible that the deeper gullies experienced more erosional events or that their erosional events were more effective for undetermined reasons. It is also possible that the gullies formed at different times such that they did not have the same amount of water -- either for an individual flow or total -- available to them. Also, the underlying topography could make the gullies appear relatively more incised without this actually being the case.The majority of the gullies on both sides of the trough appear to originate at a boulder-rich layer visible in the subimage. The layer appears dark on the sunlit slope because the boulders sticking out from the slopes cast shadows. If these gullies formed by water from the subsurface, then it is possible that this layer is a permeable layer that conducted water to the surface. The layer is deteriorating and traveling down slope in the form of boulders. These boulders can clearly be seen in the alcoves of the gullies on both sides of the trough.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the HiRISE camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the spacecraft development and integration contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this close-up examination of a freshly exposed area of a rock called 'Uchben' in the 'Columbia Hills' of Mars to reveal an assortment of particle shapes and sizes. This image was taken on Oct. 22, 2004. | Figure 1Close-up examination of a freshly exposed area of a rock called "Uchben" in the "Columbia Hills" of Mars reveals an assortment of particle shapes and sizes in the rock's makeup. NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its microscopic imager during the rover's 286th martian day (Oct. 22, 2004) to take the frames assembled into this view. The view covers a circular hole ground into a target spot called "Koolik" on Uchben by the rover's rock abrasion tool. The circle is 4.5 centimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter. Particles in the rock vary in shape from angular to round, and range in size from about 0.5 millimeter (0.2 inch) to too small to be seen. This assortment suggests that the rock originated from particles that had not been transported much by wind or water, because such a transport process would likely have resulted in more sorting of the particles by size and shape. | |
Eroding Material over Flows in Echus Chasma | Image PSP_001430_1815 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on November 15, 2006. The complete image is centered at 1.6 degrees latitude, 278.9 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 265.2 km (165.8 miles). At this distance the image scale ranges from 53.1 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) to 106.1 cm/pixel (with 4 x 4 binning). The image shown here has been map-projected to 50 cm/pixel and north is up. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:30 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 54 degrees, thus the sun was about 36 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 136.0 degrees, the season on Mars is Northern Summer.NASA'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 image shows part of Sacra Sulci, a region of high standing grooves, crosscut by cracks and fractures. Lava flows are present to the south and sand dunes fill the floor of the large cracks on Mars as seen by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image for PIA08686Grooves and Cracks>This image shows part of Sacra Sulci, a region of high standing grooves, crosscut by cracks and fractures. Lava flows are present to the south and sand dunes fill the floor of the large cracks.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 22.1N, Longitude 285.1E. 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. | |
This image shows the 142 images that make up Mastcam-Z's first 360-degree panorama. Mastcam-Z is a pair of zoomable cameras on the mast, or head, of NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. | This image shows the 142 images that make up Mastcam-Z's first 360-degree panorama. Mastcam-Z is a pair of zoomable cameras on the mast, or "head," of NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. Arizona State University in Tempe leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.For more information about the mission, go to: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020 | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows the two sections of Nanedi Valles. | Context imageThis VIS image shows the two sections of Nanedi Valles. Located In Xanthe Terra, the channel system is 508 km (315 miles) long. Nanedi Valles contains two large channels that join together as the elevation drops near Chryse Planitia.Orbit Number: 89747 Latitude: 6.03809 Longitude: 312.054 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-03-09 01:48Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows the delta deposit on the floor of Eberswalde Crater. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows the delta deposit on the floor of Eberswalde Crater.Orbit Number: 44018 Latitude: -23.9444 Longitude: 326.37 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-11-16 16:00Please 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 shows numerous gullies that dissect the rim of Bunge Crater as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageThis VIS image shows numerous gullies that dissect the rim of Bunge Crater.Orbit Number: 48288 Latitude: -34.1675 Longitude: 311.594 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-11-02 03:00Please 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 from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the lowland plains north of the Elysium volcanic complex. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of the lowland plains north of the Elysium volcanic complex. Right angles are almost always created by tectonic forces. These linear depressions and the right angle intersections most likely were created in response to the volcanic activity that resulted in the uplifted surface and volcanoes of Elysium.Orbit Number: 88717 Latitude: 37.1901 Longitude: 143.037 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-12-14 06:30Please 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. | |
In this image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft, striations on the floor of this sinuous channel adjacent to Protonilus Mensae look like they result from the flow of lava or perhaps even glacial ice. | The striations on the floor of this sinuous channel adjacent to Protonilus Mensae look like they result from the flow of lava or perhaps even glacial ice. However, it is also possible that they result from some process acting on permafrost confined within the channel having nothing to do with flow.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 33.7, Longitude 56.8 East (303.2 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution. | |
The smooth plains of Elysium embay the blocky broken up highlands of Aeolis in this image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. The plains have been interpreted by researchers to be possibly mudflows or lava flows. | The smooth plains of Elysium embay the blocky broken up highlands of Aeolis. The plains have been interpreted by researchers to be possibly mudflows or lava flows.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 -0.8, Longitude 170.8 East (189.2 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a particularly bright-looking part of the rock Halley, on Mars. Chemical composition of the bright spots is suggestive of a calcium sulfate mineral. | Stretching along "Low Ridge" in front of the winter haven for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit are several continuous rock layers that make up the ridge. Some of these layers form fins that stick out from the other rocks in a way that suggests that they are resistant to erosion. Spirit is currently straddling one of these fin-like layers and can reach a small bit of light-toned material that might be a broken bit of it. Informally named "Halley," this rock was broken by Spirit's wheels when the rover drove over it.The first analyses of Halley showed it to be unusual in composition, containing a lot of the minor element zinc relative to the soil around it and having much of its iron tied up in the mineral hematite. When scientists again placed the scientific instruments on Spirit's robotic arm on a particularly bright-looking part of Halley, they found that the chemical composition of the bright spots was suggestive of a calcium sulfate mineral. Bright soils that Spirit has examined earlier in the mission contain iron sulfate.This discovery raises new questions for the science team: Why is the sulfate mineralogy here different? Did Halley and the fin material form by water percolating through the layered rocks of Low Ridge? When did the chemical alteration of this rock occur? Spirit will continue to work on Halley and other light-toned materials along Low Ridge in the coming months to try to answer these questions.Spirit took this red-green-blue composite image with the panoramic camera on the rover's 820th sol, or Martian day, of exploring Mars (April 24, 2006). The image is presented in false color to emphasize differences among materials in the rocks and soil. It combines frames taken through the camera's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer, and 430-nanometer filters. The middle of the imaged area has dark basaltic sand. Spirit's wheel track is at the left edge of the frame. Just to the right of the wheel track in the lower left are two types of brighter material examined by Spirit at the Halley target. The bluer material yielded the evidence for a calcium sulfate mineral. | |
This annotated image shows landing ellipses for five NASA missions to Mars. | This annotated image shows landing ellipses for five NASA missions to Mars. A landing ellipse is the region within which a probe is expected to land based on its trajectory as it approaches the planet. A smaller landing ellipse means engineers have created a more precise model of the probe's expected trajectory. The four ellipses shown here are for the Perseverance Mars rover, Curiosity Mars rover, InSight Mars lander, Phoenix lander, and Mars Pathfinder probe.A division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory built and will manage operations of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover for the agency.For more information about the mission, go to https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows Claritas Fossae, a graben filled highland, is located between the lava plains of Daedalia Planum and Solis Planum. | Context imageLocated between the lava plains of Daedalia Planum and Solis Planum, Claritas Fossae is a graben filled highland. Graben are formed by tectonic activity, where extensional forces stretch the surface allowing blocks of material to slide down between paired faults. These linear grabens are termed fossae. This region of Mars had very active tectonism and volcanism, resulting in the huge volcanos like Arsia Mons and deep chasmata of Valles Marineris. Claritas Fossae was formed prior to the large lava flows of the Tharsis region.Orbit Number: 91733 Latitude: -42.0473 Longitude: 263.442 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-08-19 14:12Please 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. | |
Kasei Valles is a valley system was likely carved by some combination of flowing water and lava. In some areas, erosion formed cliffs along the flow path resulting in water or lava falls as seen by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionKasei Valles is a valley system was likely carved by some combination of flowing water and lava. In some areas, erosion formed cliffs along the flow path resulting in water or lava falls. In some areas, erosion formed cliffs along the flow path resulting in water or lava falls. The flowing liquid is gone but the channels and "dry falls" remain.Since its formation, Kasei Valles has suffered impacts-resulting in craters-and has been mantled in dust, sand, and fine gravel as evidenced by the rippled textures.This is a stereo pair with ESP_034329_2065.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows dark dunes on Mars both on the crater floor and on the plains surrounding the crater. Note the small backwards shaped | Context image for PIA10048Southern DunesThe dark dunes in this VIS image occur both on the crater floor and on the plains surrounding the crater. Note the small backwards shaped "C," a single sand dune on the move.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -69.1N, Longitude 118.5E. 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. | |
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drove 6.2 feet (1.9 meters) during the 100th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Nov. 16, 2012). The view spans from north at the left to south-southeast at the right. It is presented in a cylindrical projection. | NASA's Mars rover Curiosity drove 6.2 feet (1.9 meters) during the 100th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Nov. 16, 2012). The rover used its Navigation Camera after the drive to record the images combined into this panoramic view. The view spans from north at the left to south-southeast at the right. It is presented in a cylindrical projection.JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the rover. More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
This image acquired on December 31, 2019 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows a new impact crater that formed after December 2007 and before August 2010, based on Context Camera images. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionA HiRISE observation in 2010 covered a new impact crater that formed after December 2007 and before August 2010, based on Context Camera images. HiRISE has been re-imaging these sites to see how rapidly the dark ejecta and blast zone markings disappear as dust is deposited or redistributed.An animation compares the two images and shows that the dark material has faded into the background, while the new 6.3-meter diameter crater persists. The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 30.0 centimeters [11.8 inches] per pixel [with 1 x 1 binning]; objects on the order of 90 centimeters [35.4 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the martian south polar layered terrain on December 3, 1999 during a search for NASA's missing Mars Polar Lander. | Beginning Thursday, December 16, 1999, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft initiated a search for visible evidence of the fate of the missing Mars Polar Lander using the high resolution Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) operated by Malin Space Science Systems of San Diego, California. Mars Polar Lander was lost during its landing attempt near 76.3°S, 195.0°W on the martian south polar layered terrain on December 3, 1999. Although the likelihood of seeing the lander is quite small, the MOC effort might provide some clues that shed light on what happened to the lander. The problem, however, is one of "pixels" -- those little square boxes of different shades of gray that comprise a digital image.The two pictures above illustrate the difficulty of finding the lander in MOC images. The picture at the top of the page is the first of the images that were acquired to look for the lander -- this one was snapped by MOC around 3:36 p.m. Greenwich time on December 16th. Local time on Mars was about 2 p.m. Portions of this image are shown at 1/4th scale (left), full-scale (~1.5 meters, or 5 feet, per pixel -- middle), and 10 times enlarged (right). Because the landing site is very far south (at this latitude on Earth, you would be in Antarctica), the Sun illumination is not ideal for taking high resolution pictures with MOC. Thus, the full-resolution MOC data for this region show a large amount of "salt and pepper" noise, which arises from statistical fluctuations in how light falling on the MOC charge-coupled-device (CCD) detector is converted to electricity. Other aspects of the MOC electronics also introduce noise. These effects are greatly reduced when taking pictures of portions of Mars that have better, more direct sunlight, or when the images are taken at reduced resolution to, in effect, "average-out" the noise.The lower picture shows a model of the Mars Polar Lander sitting on a carpet in a conference room at Malin Space Science Systems. This model is illuminated in the same way that sunlight would illuminate the real lander at 2 p.m. local time in December 1999 -- in other words, the model is illuminated exactly the way it would be if it occurred in the MOC image shown above (left). This figure shows what the Mars Polar Lander would look like if viewed from above by cameras of different resolutions from 1 centimeter (0.4 inch) per pixel in the upper left to 1.5 meters (5 feet) per pixel in the lower right. The 1.5 meters per pixel view is the best resolution that can be achieved by MOC. Note that at MOC resolution, the lander is just a few pixels across.The problem of recognizing the lander in MOC images is obvious -- all that might be seen is a pattern of a few bright and dark gray pixels. This means that it will be extremely difficult to identify the lander by looking at the relatively noisy MOC images that can be acquired at the landing site -- like those shown in the top picture.How, then, is the MGS MOC team looking for the lander? Primarily, they are looking for associations of features that, together, would suggest whether or not the Mars landing was successful. For example, the parachute that was used to slow the lander from supersonic speeds to just under 300 km/hr (187 mph) was to have been jettisoned, along with part of the aeroshell that protected the lander from the extreme heat of entry, about 40 seconds before landing. The parachute and aeroshell are likely to be within a kilometer (6 tenths of a mile) of the lander. The parachute and aeroshell are nearly white, so they should stand out well against the red martian soil. The parachute, if lying on the ground in a fully open, flat position, would measure about 6 meters (20 feet) -- thus it would cover three or four pixels (at most) in a MOC image. If the parachute can be found, the search for the lander can be narrowed to a small, nearby zone. If, as another example, the landing rockets kicked up a lot of dust and roughened the surface around the lander, evidence for this might show up as a dark circle surrounding a bright pixel (part of the lander) in the middle. The MOC operations team is using a set of these and similar scenarios to guide the examination of these images. The search continues... | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a linear depression, part of Sirenum Fossae. Depressions of this type are called graben, which form by the down drop of material between two parallel faults. | Context imageThe linear depression in this VIS image is 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: 84379 Latitude: -32.7135 Longitude: 204.562 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-12-22 01:06Please 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 anaglyph from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows dark, blanketed or mantled surfaces in the Sinus Sabaeus region of Mars. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | (A) Sinus Sabaeus, dark mantle and bright drifts. | |
NASA's InSight lander detected a marsquake, represented here as a seismogram, on July 25, 2019, the 235th Martian day, or sol, of its mission. | NASA's InSight lander detected a marsquake, represented here as a seismogram, on July 25, 2019, the 235th Martian day, or sol, of its mission. Seismologists study the wiggles in seismograms in order to confirm whether they're really seeing a quake or noise caused by wind.The InSight mission is led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows layered sedimentary rocks exposed by erosion, then mantled by dust, in Tikhonravov Crater in central Arabia Terra on Mars. | 23 June 2005This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows layered sedimentary rocks exposed by erosion, then mantled by dust, in Tikhonravov Crater in central Arabia Terra. Dark slope streaks occur where some of the dust has slid down the layered slopes.Location near: 13.8°N, 324.8°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Northern Autumn | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the Acidalia/Mare Erythraeum face of Mars in mid-March 2006. | 14 March 2006This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 25° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 25° occurs in mid-March 2006. The picture shows the Acidalia/Mare Erythraeum face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.Season: Northern Spring/Southern Autumn | |
This image by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows the northwestern flank of Ceraunius Tholus, one of the smaller volcanoes in the Tharsis region.Channels dissect the flank of the volcano, including a larger channel that deposited material in Rahe Crater. | Context imageCredit: NASA/JPL/MOLAThis VIS image shows the northwestern flank of Ceraunius Tholus, one of the smaller volcanoes in the Tharsis region. Several channels dissect the flank of the volcano, including a larger channel that deposited material in Rahe Crater.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 24.6N, Longitude 262.3E. 23 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 acquired this image on April 24, 1998. Shown here are Gusev Crater and Ma'adim Vallis. | On July 20, 1969, the first human beings landed on the Moon. On July 20, 1976, the first robotic lander touched down on Mars. This July 20th -- 29 years after Apollo 11 and 22 years since the Viking 1 Mars landing -- we take a look forward toward one possible future exploration site on the red planet.One of the advantages of the Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) over its predecessors on the Viking and Mariner spacecraft is resolution. The ability to see -- resolve-- fine details on the martian surface is key to planning future landing sites for robotic and, perhaps, human explorers that may one day visit the planet.At present, NASA is studying potential landing sites for the Mars Surveyor landers, rovers, and sample return vehicles that are scheduled to be launched in 2001, 2003, and 2005. Among the types of sites being considered for these early 21st Century landings are those with "exobiologic potential" -- that is, locations on Mars that are in some way related to the past presence of water.For more than a decade, two of the prime candidates suggested by various Mars research scientists are Gusev Crater and Ma'adim Vallis. Located in the martian southern cratered highlands at 14.7° S, 184.5° W, Gusev Crater is a large, ancient, meteor impact basin that -- after it formed -- was breached by Ma'adim Vallis.Viking Orbiter observations provided some evidence to suggest that a fluid -- most likely, water -- once flowed through Ma'adim Vallis and into Gusev Crater. Some scientists have suggested that there were many episodes of flow into Gusev Crater (as well as flow out of Gusev through its topographically-lower northwestern rim). Some have also indicated that there were times when Ma'adim Vallis, also, was full of water such that it formed a long, narrow lake.The possibility that water flowed into Gusev Crater and formed a lake has led to the suggestion that the materials seen on the floor of this crater -- smooth-surfaced deposits, buried craters, and huge mesas near the mouth of Ma'adim Vallis -- are composed of sediment that eroded out of the highlands to the south of Gusev Crater. In 1995, the Exobiology Program Office at NASA Headquarters produced a report, An Exobiological Strategy for Mars Exploration (NASA SP-530), that included Gusev Crater as a possible priority site for future Mars exploration because it might once have been a lake.At 12:17 a.m. (PDT) on April 24, 1998 -- during Mars Global Surveyor's 259th orbit -- MOC obtained the high resolution image of Gusev Crater and Ma'adim Vallis shown above, in part to test some of the proposed hypotheses. The raw image has a scale of 7.3 meters (24 feet) per pixel. At this scale, there are no obvious shorelines that would indicate the past presence of a lake in either Ma'adim Vallis or Gusev Crater. There are several alternative explanations for this absence, including: It is possible that any lake in Gusev occurred so long ago that erosion by wind and hillslope processes have long since removed such features. It is possible that 7.3 meters per pixel is insufficient to identify key diagnostic lake features. It is possible that a lake once existed, but that shore- and near-shore processes as they occur in terrestrial lake environments did not occur on Mars. It is possible no lake ever existed. When Mars Global Surveyor achieves its Mapping Orbit in March 1999, MOC will have the ability to obtain pictures with resolutions around 1.5 meters (5 feet) per pixel. Sometime during the mapping mission, it may be possible to image Gusev Crater again to look for potential lake features and possible future landing sites.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.obal Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | 1 July 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dark sand dunes in a crater in Noachis Terra near 45.8°S, 323.4°W. Martian dunes, unlike the majority of their terrestrial counterparts, are dark because they are composed of minerals or rock fragments rich in unoxidized iron and magnesium. This image covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates this autumn scene from the upper left. | |
Layers in 'Tetl' | Figure 1NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has examined the layered structure of this rock, called "Tetl," in the "Columbia Hills." This approximately true-color view was made from frames taken by Spirit's panoramic camera on the rover's 264th martian day (Sept. 29, 2004). The rock is about 25 centimeters (10 inches) long. Spirit used its microscopic imager to inspect the region indicated as MI (Figure 1). | |
This diagram illustrates Mars' 'thermal tides,' a weather phenomenon responsible for large, daily variations in pressure at the Martian surface. | This diagram illustrates Mars' "thermal tides," a weather phenomenon responsible for large, daily variations in pressure at the Martian surface. Sunlight heats the surface and atmosphere on the day side of the planet, causing air to expand upwards. At higher levels in the atmosphere, this bulge of air then expands outward, to the sides, in order to equalize the pressure around it, as shown by the red arrows. Air flows out of the bulge, lowering the pressure of air felt at the surface below the bulge. The result is a deeper atmosphere, but one that is less dense and has a lower pressure at the surface, than that on the night side of the planet. As Mars rotates beneath the sun, this bulge moves across the planet each day, from east to west. A fixed observer, such as NASA's Curiosity rover, measures a decrease in pressure during the day, followed by an increase in pressure at night. The precise timing of the increase and decrease are affected by the time it takes the atmosphere to respond to the sunlight, as well as a number of other factors including the shape of the planet's surface and the amount of dust in the atmosphere.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the rover. For more information about Curiosity and its mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. | |
At the eastern end of Valles Marineris the chasma floors are typically filled with the hills and mounds of chaos terrain as seen by NASA's Mars Odyssey. | Context imageAt the eastern end of Valles Marineris the chasma floors are typically filled with the hills and mounds of chaos terrain.Orbit Number: 39800 Latitude: -15.2186 Longitude: 318.142 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-12-04 09:44Please 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 Global Surveyor spacecraft shows a suite of gullies on a scarp in Lyell Crater. | 1 February 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a suite of gullies on a scarp in Lyell Crater.Location near: 69.7°S, 14.0°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Summer | |
This image acquired on April 13, 2020 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, reveals exquisite layering emerging from the sand in southern Holden Crater. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionMuch of Mars is covered by sand and dust but in some places stacks of sedimentary layers are visible. In this image, exquisite layering is revealed emerging from the sand in southern Holden Crater. Sequences like these offer a window into Mars' complicated geologic history.Holden Crater was once a candidate landing area for the Mars Science Laboratory, and is still an intriguing choice today.The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 52.2 centimeters [20.6 inches] per pixel [with 2 x 2 binning]; objects on the order of 157 centimeters [61.8 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows Tyrrhenus Mons, one of the oldest Martian volcanoes. Tyrrhena Fossae is the largest of the channels dissecting the volcano. | Tyrrhenus Mons is one of the oldest Martian volcanoes. Tyrrhena Fossae is the largest of the channels dissecting the volcano. As well as being one of the oldest volcanoes, it is made of layers that include volcanic ash rather than just basaltic flows. This difference is evident in how the volcano is being eroded, creating broad intersecting sinuous channels. On Earth basaltic flows form broad shield volcanoes like Hawaii. Shield volcanoes can erupt from the central crater, as well as along the flanks. Volcanoes with ash layers, called composite volcanoes, form steeper sides like Mt Rainier and Mt Fuji. The major amount of material erupts only from the central caldera.Orbit Number: 73059 Latitude: -20.5291 Longitude: 107.331 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-06-03 21:19Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the north flank of the Martian volcano Ulysses Patera on Mars. Fine details are evident at the impact site, showing how the blast moved dust around and interacted with craters and other small obstacles on the ground. | Figure AAnnotated ImageNo AnnotationFigure BAnnotated ImageNo AnnotationTwo of the 20 new impact craters determined by the Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera science operations team to have formed between May 1999 and March 2006 occur at a location that the narrow-angle camera imaged previously. This is surprising given that the narrow-angle camera, with its 3-kilometer-wide (1.9-mile-wide) field of view, has only covered about 5.2 percent of the Martian surface. One of the two craters that formed where the camera had already taken a narrow-angle image is featured here. Figure A: The colorized image and figure A show sub-frames of an image acquired on March 13, 2006. This image has been colorized using a table derived from the colors of Mars as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera. The impact site is located near 27.3 degrees north latitude, 91.8 degrees west longitude, on the upper north flank of the Martian volcano Ulysses Patera. Fine details are evident at the impact site, showing how the blast moved dust around and interacted with craters and other small obstacles on the ground. The crater has a diameter of about 19.8 meters (about 65 feet). Figure B: The second figure shows before-and-after narrow-angle camera views of the impact site. The before image was acquired on Feb. 24, 2002. The after image was acquired on March 13, 2006. Other images from Mars-orbiting spacecraft cover this location and show the impact site, including data from the Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera and Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System. These other data help constrain when the impact occurred. The last orbiter image obtained before the impact was taken on April 18, 2003. The first orbiter image that showed the impact feature was obtained on Feb. 7, 2004. Thus, the impact occurred between those dates, April 18, 2003, and Feb. 7, 2004.The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., a division of the California Institute of Technology, also in 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows troughs and a pit, possibly formed by collapse, on the volcanic plains south of the large volcano, Ascraeus Mons on Mars. Wind-eroded debris mantles the scene and partly fills the depressions. | 18 July 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows troughs and a pit, possibly formed by collapse, on the volcanic plains south of the large volcano, Ascraeus Mons. Wind-eroded debris mantles the scene and partly fills the depressions. The image is located near 4.5°N, 105.5°W, and covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left. | |
This image shows a small part of Meridiani Planum, the site of the Opportunity Rover on Mars as seen by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image for PIA08718MeridianiThis image shows a small part of Meridiani Planum, the site of the Opportunity Rover.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 0.9N, Longitude 0.6E. 18 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Dark slope streaks mark the rim of this unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea, as shown in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageDark slope streaks mark the rim of this unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea.Orbit Number: 54715 Latitude: 13.3858 Longitude: 41.7134 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-04-15 02:01Please 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 captures Mangala Fossa. Mangala Fossa is a graben, which in geologic terminology translates into a long parallel to semi-parallel fracture or trough. | (Released 29 May 2002)The ScienceToday's THEMIS release captures Mangala Fossa. Mangala Fossa is a graben, which in geologic terminology translates into a long parallel to semi-parallel fracture or trough. Grabens are dropped or downthrown areas relative to the rocks on either side and these features are generally longer than they are wider. There are numerous dust devil trails seen in this image. In the lower portion of this image several dust devil tracks can be seen cutting across the upper surface then down the short stubby channel and finally back up and over to the adjacent upper surface. Some dust avalanche streaks on slopes are also visible. The rough material in the upper third of the image contains a portion of the rim of a 90 km diameter crater located in Daedalia Planum. The smooth crater floor has a graben (up to 7 km wide) and channel (2 km wide) incised into its surface. In the middle third and right of this image one can see ripples (possibly fossil dunes) on the crater floor material just above the graben. The floor of Mangala Fossa and the southern crater floor surface also have smaller linear ridges trending from the upper left to lower right. These linear ridges could be either erosional (yardangs) or depositional (dunes) landforms. The lower third of the scene contains a short stubby channel (near the right margin) and lava flow front (lower left). The floor of this channel is fairly smooth with some linear crevasses located along its course. One gets the impression that the channel floor is mantled with some type of indurated material that permits cracks to form in its surface.The StoryIn the Daedalia Plains on Mars, the rim of an old eroded crater rises up, a wreck of its former self (see context image at right). From the rough, choppy crater rim (top of the larger THEMIS image), the terrain descends to the almost smooth crater floor, gouged deeply by a trough, a channel, and the occasional dents of small, scattered craters.The deep trough running from southwest to northeast across the middle of this image is called "Mangala Fossa." Mangala Fossa is a graben, a land feature created by tectonic processes that worked to create a depression in the landscape. This graben is a little more than 4 miles wide at its maximum, but like most grabens, is much longer than it is wide. You can see from the context image that it runs across much of the width of the crater.Running southward from the graben (lower right-hand side of the larger THEMIS image) is a branching channel a little over a mile wide. The floor of this channel is fairly smooth with some linear crevasses along its course. These features suggest that the channel floor might be layered with some type of cemented material that permits cracks to form in its surface.Between the rough crater rim and the depressed graben, tiny crackles on the otherwise smooth surface appear. They might be the ripples of fossil dunes, hardened remains from a more active time. The floor of Mangala Fossa and the southern crater floor surface also feature small lines that seem to crease the surface. We know that they are ridges on the surface, but how did they form? Were higher surfaces carved away in grooves by the wind and scouring sand, forming ridges called yardangs? Or were dunes deposited on the smooth, lower terrain? No one knows for sure.Look closely for faint details as well. Do you see the subtle, scalloped pattern that laps at the lower left of the image, almost too muted to be seen? That's the sign of an ancient lava flow that stopped just there. And the shadowy gray streaks? Some are smudges caused by dust avalanches running down the slopes of the channel. Others are the tracks of dust devils that pass across the land, lifting and carrying away brighter dust to reveal the darker surface beneath. For a good example of a dust devil track, check out the faint gray line that cuts across the upper part of the channel, just below the point where it meets the graben. | |
Twenty-one times during the first 12 weeks that NASA's Mars rover Curiosity worked on Mars, the rover's Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) detected brief dips in air pressure that could be caused by a passing whirlwind. | Twenty-one times during the first 12 weeks that NASA's Mars rover Curiosity worked on Mars, the rover's Rover Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) detected brief dips in air pressure that could be caused by a passing whirlwind. The blue line in this chart shows two examples, both shortly after 11 a.m. local Mars time, when the air pressure dipped on the 75th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Oct. 25, 2012). In both cases, wind direction monitored by REMS changed within a few seconds of the dip in pressure, as indicated by the green line on the chart. That is additional evidence that the pressure dips were whirlwinds. A Finnish, Spanish and American team is using REMS, which Spain provided for Curiosity, to watch for signs of dust devils -- whirlwinds carrying dust.In many regions of Mars, dust-devil tracks and shadows have been photographed from orbit, but those visual clues have not been seen at Gale Crater, where Curiosity is working. The evidence from REMS indicates that whirlwinds may be forming in Gale Crater. While Curiosity is watching for them with cameras on some days, researchers are also considering the possibility that these swirling, convective winds do not lift as much dust at Gale as in other parts of Mars.In this chart, the air-pressure scale is in Pascals. The wind direction scale is an estimate in degrees relative to the front of the rover. On Sol 75, the rover was facing approximately westward, and 90 degrees on this graph indicates winds coming from the north.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the rover. For more information about Curiosity and its mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. | |
This view southeastward from NASA's Curiosity's Mastcam shows terrain judged difficult for traversing between the rover and an outcrop in the middle distance where a pale rock unit meets a darker rock unit above it. | Figure 1Click on the image for larger versionThis view southeastward from Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam) shows terrain judged difficult for traversing between the rover and an outcrop in the middle distance where a pale rock unit meets a darker rock unit above it.The Mastcam's left-eye camera captured the component images on May 10, 2015, during the 981st Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars. This observation helped the rover team evaluate routes for driving to that geological contact area where the two rock units meet. The outcrop exposing the contact is in the eastern portion of the "Logan Pass" area. The windblown ripples and the steep ground where ripples are lacking are both poor terrain for the rover to cross. The team subsequently chose to approach a different site where the pale and darker rock units are in contact with each other. That alternative site is in the northern portion of the Logan Pass area, outside of this scene. This panorama spans from east, at left, to south-southwest. The color has been approximately white-balanced to resemble how the scene would appear under daytime lighting conditions on Earth.Figure 1 is version of this panorama annotated with two scale bars. The five-meter scale bar nearest the center is just below the geological contact. Five meters is about 16.4 feet. Scale bars of 10 meters (32.8 feet) and 50 centimeters (20 inches) are at mid-distance on the left and in the foreground on the right.Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates the rover's Mastcam. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover.For more information about Curiosity, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. | |
Cataracts are large landforms, and this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter covers only a small area of the innermost channel. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionCataracts are large landforms, and this oblique image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter covers only a small area of the innermost channel. The ridged material on the channel floor may be a lava flow that followed this channel after it was initially carved by giant floods of water.Obviously these are not the kind of cataracts that can develop in the lenses of your eyes, but large erosional scallops that form in river channels, like the Niagara Falls draining the Great Lakes of North America.Obviously these are not the kind of cataracts that can develop in the lenses of your eyes, but large erosional scallops that form in river channels, like the Niagara Falls draining the Great Lakes of North America.The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 28.7 centimeters (11.3 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 86 centimeters (33.9 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.This is a stereo pair with PSP_002814_2055.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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows sub-radial grooves are typical of the surface of landslides on Mars. This particular landslide in Melas Chasma is quite large. | Context image for PIA10270Landslide SurfaceThis landslide in Melas Chasma is so large that a single THEMIS VIS image can cover only a portion of the deposit. This image clearly shows the sub-radial grooves typical of the surface of landslides on Mars.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -11.8N, Longitude 292.5E. 18 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Tugaske Crater. The northern margin of this crater has been modified from a circular form, most likely related to the tectonic activity of Claritas Fossae, where this crater is located. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of Tugaske Crater. The northern margin of this crater has been modified from a circular form, most likely related to the tectonic activity of Claritas Fossae, where this crater is located. Additionally there are several landslide deposits in the crater, perhaps also formed by tectonic instability in the local region.Orbit Number: 59439 Latitude: -31.581 Longitude: 258.918 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-05-08 22:03Please 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 the lander was imaged by NASA's Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) as part of a 360-degree color panorama, taken over sols 8, 9 and 10. A deflated airbag is at the bottom of the image. Sol 1 began on July 4, 1997. | This view from the lander was imaged by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) as part of a 360-degree color panorama, taken over sols 8, 9 and 10. A deflated airbag is at the bottom of the image. At the extreme right, the Atmospheric Structure Instrument and Meteorology package (ASI/MET) mast, with its three windsocks, is visible at the bottom right of the image.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 Imager for Mars Pathfinder (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. | |
As NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is progressing toward Mount Sharp, researchers are using the rover's RIM and ChemCam instruments to examine soils and rocks in Gale Crater. | As NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is progressing toward Mount Sharp, researchers are using the rover's instruments to examine soils and rocks in Gale Crater. On the mission's 514th sol, or Martian day (Jan. 15, 2014) the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument examined a rock target called "Harrison" with its Remote Micro-Imaging (RMI) camera and its laser. This is an RMI image of the rock, which is loose on the surface inside Gale Crater, not part of an outcrop.Harrison contains elongated, light-colored crystals in a darker matrix. The 4.5-millimeter scale bar at lower right is about one-sixth of an inch long. Some of the crystals are up to about 0.4 inch (1 centimeter) in size.The RMI and ChemCam's laser were about 7.5 feet (2.3 meters) from the target. At that distance, the laser can sample areas less than 0.016 inch (0.4 millimeter) in diameter. Thanks to this small sampling area, ChemCam provides constraints on the composition of each constituent in the rock: The elongated crystals are likely feldspars, while the matrix is pyroxene-dominated, an association typical of basaltic igneous rocks. This texture provides compelling evidence for igneous rocks at Gale Crater.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows rounded and streamlined hills produced by wind erosion located in western Arabia Terra on Mars. | 18 September 2004Apollinaris Patera is an ancient volcano located northwest of Gusev Crater, the landing site of the Mars Exploration Rover, Spirit. Apollinaris Patera, being rather old, is covered with craters, mantles of dust, and a wind-scoured covering of indurated, fine material. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a small portion of the Apollinaris Patera volcano, revealing the exhumation of older surfaces from beneath a relatively thin, wind-scoured material. This view is located on the upper south slope of the volcano, near 9.5°S, 186.4°W. The image covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) across and is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is continuing its traverse southward on the western rim of Endeavour Crater during the fall of 2014, stopping to investigate targets of scientific interest along way. | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is continuing its traverse southward on the western rim of Endeavour Crater during the fall of 2014, stopping to investigate targets of scientific interest along way. This view is from Opportunity's front hazard avoidance camera on Nov. 26, 2014, during the 3,854th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars. This camera is mounted low on the rover and has a wide-angle lens.The scene includes Opportunity's robotic arm, called the "instrument deployment device," at upper left. Portions of the pale bedrock exposed on the ground in front of the rover are within the arm's reach. Researchers used instruments on the arm to examine a target called "Calera" on this patch of bedrock. The wheel tracks in the scene are from the drive -- in reverse -- to this location, a drive of 32.5 feet (9.9 meters) on Sol 3846 (Nov. 18, 2014).JPL manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. For more information about Spirit and Opportunity, visit http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov. | |
The European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft is depicted in orbit around Mars in this artist's concept illustration. | The European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft is depicted in orbit around Mars in this artist's concept illustration.The spacecraft was launched June 2, 2003, from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, on a journey to arrive at Mars in December 2003.Mars Express is a mission of the European Space Agency. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., supplied the receiver for the mission's Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding instrument. | |
The total distance driven by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity passed the one-mile mark a few days before the first anniversary of the rover's landing on Mars. The mapped area is within Gale Crater, and north of Mount Sharp, in the middle of the crater. | The total distance driven by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity passed the one-mile mark a few days before the first anniversary of the rover's landing on Mars.This map traces where Curiosity drove between landing at "Bradbury Landing" on Aug. 5, 2012, PDT, (Aug. 6, 2012 (Universal Time and EDT) and the position reached during the mission's 351st Martian day, or sol, (Aug. 1, 2013). The Sol 351 leg added 279 feet (85.1 meters) and brought the odometry since landing to about 1.05 miles (1,686 meters).The mapped area is within Gale Crater and north of the mountain called Mount Sharp in the middle of the crater. After the first use of the drill, the rover's main science destination will be on the lower reaches of Mount Sharp. For broader-context images of the area, see PIA16064 and PIA16058.The base image from the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment Camera (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. | |
This image of Utopia Planitia, NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey, is covered with the tracks of dust devils. | Context imageThis VIS image of Utopia Planitia is covered with the tracks of dust devils.Orbit Number: 37262 Latitude: 49.483 Longitude: 78.8393 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-05-09 11:48Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows an unnamed crater in Arabia Terra. | Context imageThe THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows an unnamed crater in Arabia Terra. Arabia Terra is one of the oldest surface regions on Mars and contains a large variety of surface features. The region is dissected with numerous unnamed channels of all sizes and complexities, as well as numerous pits of unknown origin. The blue features on the crater floor are sand dunes, in this false color combination blue indicates basaltic sands.The THEMIS VIS camera is capable of capturing color images of the Martian surface using five different color filters. In this mode of operation, the spatial resolution and coverage of the image must be reduced to accommodate the additional data volume produced from using multiple filters. To make a color image, three of the five filter images (each in grayscale) are selected. Each is contrast enhanced and then converted to a red, green, or blue intensity image. These three images are then combined to produce a full color, single image. Because the THEMIS color filters don't span the full range of colors seen by the human eye, a color THEMIS image does not represent true color. Also, because each single-filter image is contrast enhanced before inclusion in the three-color image, the apparent color variation of the scene is exaggerated. Nevertheless, the color variation that does appear is representative of some change in color, however subtle, in the actual scene. Note that the long edges of THEMIS color images typically contain color artifacts that do not represent surface variation.Orbit Number: 88036 Latitude: -7.46789 Longitude: 356.08 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-10-19 04:28Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows complexly-eroded, layered, sedimentary rock outcrops in southern Melas Chasma, part of the vast Valles Marineris trough system on Mars. | 10 July 2005This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows complexly-eroded, layered, sedimentary rock outcrops in southern Melas Chasma, part of the vast Valles Marineris trough system. These rocks were originally deposited as sediment, perhaps in water, long ago.Location near: 12.5°S, 73.3°WImage width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Spring | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor acquired this image on April 6, 1998. Shown here is the 'Face on Mars' feature in the Cydonia region. | Shortly after midnight Sunday morning (5 April 1998 12:39 AM PST), the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft successfully acquired a high resolution image of the "Face on Mars" feature in the Cydonia region. The image was transmitted to Earth on Sunday, and retrieved from the mission computer data base Monday morning (6 April 1998). The image was processed at the Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) facility 9:15 AM and the raw image immediately transferred to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for release to the Internet. The images shown here were subsequently processed at MSSS.The picture was acquired 375 seconds after the spacecraft's 220th close approach to Mars. At that time, the "Face," located at approximately 40.8° N, 9.6° W, was 275 miles (444 km) from the spacecraft. The "morning" sun was 25° above the horizon. The picture has a resolution of 14.1 feet (4.3 meters) per pixel, making it ten times higher resolution than the best previous image of the feature, which was taken by the Viking Mission in the mid-1970's. The full image covers an area 2.7 miles (4.4 km) wide and 25.7 miles (41.5 km) long. Processing Image processing has been applied to the images in order to improve the visibility of features. This processing included the following steps:The image was processed to remove the sensitivity differences between adjacent picture elements (calibrated). This removes the vertical streaking.The contrast and brightness of the image was adjusted, and "filters" were applied to enhance detail at several scales.The image was then geometrically warped to meet the computed position information for a mercator-type map. This corrected for the left-right flip, and the non-vertical viewing angle (about 45° from vertical), but also introduced some vertical "elongation" of the image for the same reason Greenland looks larger than Africa on a mercator map of the Earth.A section of the image, containing the "Face" and a couple of nearly impact craters and hills, was "cut" out of the full image and reproduced separately.See PIA01440, PIA01441, and PIA01442 for additional processing steps. Also see PIA01236
for the raw image.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 | |
Dark dunes are located on the floor of an unnamed crater inside Firsoff Crater in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageDark dunes are located on the floor of an unnamed crater inside Firsoff Crater.Orbit Number: 51982 Latitude: 2.88772 Longitude: 350.44 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-09-02 04:02Please 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 cylindrical-projection mosaic was created by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 93 (April 7, 2004). It reveals the martian view from Spirit's position during the four-sol flight software update that began on sol 94. | This cylindrical-projection mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 93 (April 7, 2004). It reveals the martian view from Spirit's position during the four-sol flight software update that began on sol 94. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft runs from northern Juventae Chasma to just short of the southern canyon wall. | Context image This VIS image runs from northern Juventae Chasma to just short of the southern canyon wall. Illustrating the variety of landforms within the chasma, this image contains the rough canyon floor at the northern extent of the chasma, layered materials in the center of the image and dunes located in the southern, deepest section of the chasma.Orbit Number: 71356 Latitude: -3.55335 Longitude: 298.389 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-01-14 14:25Please 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 captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft looks like a dinosaur head at the top of the image. | Context image Do you see what I see? Is that a dinosaur head at the top of the image?Orbit Number: 65488 Latitude: 4.92808 Longitude: 126.933 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-09-18 03:24Please 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. | |
Color coded spectra from NASA's Mars Pathfinder of the rock 'Stripe' compares color features on the rock with the surrounding soil. | These spectra, color coded to PIA00760 of the rock Stripe, compare color features on the rock with the surrounding soil. Intermediate-colored darker soil in front of the rock (red) is intermediate in its spectral properties to the relatively unweathered rock face (blue) and the bright red soil forming the drift (green). The vertical stripe on the rock face closely resembles the dark intermediate soil, suggesting that the stripe may result from trapping of drift material in a fracture in the rock.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. The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator. JPL is an operating 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 Curiosity Mars rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to capture this scene of a drill hole named Edinburgh. The images used to create the scene were taken on March 22 and 23, 2020. | NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to capture this scene around a drill hole named "Edinburgh." The images used to create the scene were taken on March 22 and 23, 2020, which were the 2,711th and 2,712th Martian days, or sols, of the mission.The scene was captured while Curiosity was parked on top of a feature called the "Greenheugh Pediment." Looming above in the background is the top of Mount Sharp, the 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) mountain that Curiosity has been ascending since 2014.The color balance of the scene was processed to reflect the way it would look to the human eye under daytime lighting on Earth.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.For more about Curiosity, visit http://mars.nasa.gov/msl or https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a large field of sand dunes on Kaiser Crater. They are partially free of seasonal ice, with the contrast making it easy to see the ripples. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionKaiser Crater hosts a large field of sand dunes. Every winter the dunes are covered with a layer of seasonal carbon dioxide ice (dry ice). In early spring the ice begins to sublimate (going directly from solid ice to gas).In this image, the dunes are partially free of seasonal ice, with the contrast making it easy to see the ripples. Deep alcoves have been carved at the crest of the dune. We hypothesize that this is the result of the gas coming from the dry ice, destabilizing the sand at the crest. As blocks of ice protected in the cold shadows of the alcove break off they slide downslope, carving the channels we see. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image comes from observations of Horowitz crater by the HiRISE camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The features that extend down the slope during warm seasons are called recurring slope lineae. | Click on the image for the movieThis series of images shows warm-season features that might be evidence of salty liquid water active on Mars today. Evidence for that possible interpretation is presented in a report by McEwen et al. in the Aug. 5, 2011, edition of Science.These images come from observations of Horowitz crater, at 32 degrees south latitude, 141 degrees east longitude, by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. In time, the series spans from late summer of one Mars year to mid-summer of two years later. The images taken from oblique angles have been adjusted so that all steps in the sequence show the scene as if viewed from directly overhead.The features that extend down the slope during warm seasons are called recurring slope lineae. They are narrow (one-half to five yards or meters wide), relatively dark markings on steep (25 to 40 degree) slopes at several southern hemisphere locations. Repeat imaging by HiRISE shows the features appear and incrementally grow during warm seasons and fade in cold seasons. They extend downslope from bedrock outcrops, often associated with small channels, and hundreds of them form in rare locations. They appear and lengthen in the southern spring and summer from 48 degrees to 32 degrees south latitudes favoring equator-facing slopes. These times and places have peak surface temperatures from about 10 degrees below zero Fahrenheit to 80 degree above zero Fahrenheit (about 250 to 300 Kelvin). Liquid brines near the surface might explain this activity, but the exact mechanism and source of the water are not understood.The series is timed to dwell two seconds on the first and last frames and one second on intermediate frames, though network or computer performance may cause this to vary. The legend on each image gives the exact HiRISE observation number so that additional image products from the observation and information about the observation can be found on the HiRISE website (e.g., the first image of the series is from PSP_005787_1475, at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_005787_1475). The legend also marks the Mars year and seasonal identifier (Ls) for each image. The Mars years begin with the first years of Mars exploration by robot spacecraft. This sequence includes images from Mars Year 28 and Mars Year 30. Ls stands for longitude of the sun, dividing the year into 360 degrees to mark the seasons. Ls = 180 is the beginning of southern spring, Ls = 270 is the beginning of southern summer, and Ls = 360 (or 0) is the beginning of southern autumn.Other imagery related to these new findings from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/multimedia/gallery/gallery-index.html.HiRISE is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and 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 for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft. | |
This false-color scene from the Pancam on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity looks back toward part of the west rim of Endeavour Crater that the rover drove along, heading southward, during the summer of 2014. | This scene from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity looks back toward part of the west rim of Endeavour Crater that the rover drove along, heading southward, during the summer of 2014.The vista merges multiple Pancam exposures taken on August 15, 2014, during the 3,754th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's work on Mars. The high point on the rim in the left half of the scene is the southern end of "Murray Ridge." Tracks from drives from mid-July 2014 are faintly visible near there, and tracks from subsequent drives advance to the foreground. For scale, the distance between Opportunity's parallel wheel tracks is about 3.3 feet (1 meter).The most distant visible tracks are from nearly half a mile (more than 700 meters) prior to Opportunity's arrival at the viewpoint from which this scene was recorded.This version of the image is presented in false color, which enhances visibility of the wheel tracks. It combines exposures taken through three of the Pancam's color filters, centered on wavelengths of 753 nanometers (near-infrared), 535 nanometers (green) and 432 nanometers (violet).A video at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/video/?id=1325 places the scene into context of the rover's entire route of more than 25 miles (40 kilometers) since its 2004 landing. A map indicating the rover's Sol 3754 location (as the location reached by a Sol 3752 drive) is online at http://mars.nasa.gov/mer/mission/tm-opportunity/opportunity-sol3757.html.JPL manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. For more information about Spirit and Opportunity, visit http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov. | |
This image shows the martian terrain through the eyes of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's mini-thermal emission spectrometer, an instrument that detects the infrared light, or heat, emitted by objects. Red represents warmer regions and blue, cool. | This image shows the martian terrain through the eyes of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's mini-thermal emission spectrometer, an instrument that detects the infrared light, or heat, emitted by objects. The different colored circles show a spectrum of soil and rock temperatures, with red representing warmer regions and blue, cooler. Clusters of cool rocks stand out to the left, and a warm, dusty depression similar to the one dubbed Sleepy Hollow can be seen to the upper right. Scientists and engineers will use this data to pinpoint features of interest, and to plot a safe course for the rover free of loose dust. The mini-thermal emission spectrometer data are superimposed on an image taken by the rover's panoramic camera. | |
Soft Rock Yields Clues to Mars' Past | Figure 1This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows the rock outcrop dubbed "Clovis." The rock was discovered to be softer than other rocks studied so far at Gusev Crater after the rover easily ground a hole into it with its rock abrasion tool. Spirit's solar panels can be seen in the foreground. This image was taken by the rover's navigation camera on sol 205 (July 31, 2004).Elemental Trio Found in 'Clovis'Figure 1 above shows that the interior of the rock dubbed "Clovis" contains higher concentrations of sulfur, bromine and chlorine than basaltic, or volcanic, rocks studied so far at Gusev Crater. The data were taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer after the rover dug into Clovis with its rock abrasion tool. The findings might indicate that this rock was chemically altered, and that fluids once flowed through the rock depositing these elements. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the floor of an unnamed crater in Margaritifer Terra. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of the floor of an unnamed crater in Margaritifer Terra. The crater floor is dissected by linear features, most likely faults. There is an offset of the large depression in the center of the image, where the linear feature has been pulled sideways along a perpendicular fault. With time and erosion this region of fault blocks will become chaos terrain.Orbit Number: 81735 Latitude: -18.403 Longitude: 333.725 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-05-18 08:56Please 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 the major channel that started near the top of Mt. Sharp. Near the top of this image is a wide valley that reaches to the crater floor and the nearby dunes. | Context imageDuring the month of April Mars will be in conjunction relative to the Earth. This means the Sun is in the line-of-sight between Earth and Mars, and communication between the two planets is almost impossible. For conjunction, the rovers and orbiting spacecraft at Mars continue to operate, but do not send the data to Earth. This recorded data will be sent to Earth when Mars moves away from the sun and the line-of-sight between Earth and Mars is reestablished. During conjunction the THEMIS image of the day will be a visual tour of Gale Crater, the location of the newest rover Curiosity. Today's image shows almost the same region as the previous image - showing the major channel that started near the top of Mt. Sharp. Near the top of this image is a wide valley that reaches to the crater floor and the nearby dunes. It is this valley that has been chosen as a possible route for Curiosity to use for driving onto Mt. Sharp.Orbit Number: 35551 Latitude: -5.16407 Longitude: 137.394 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2009-12-19 13:02 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 global map of Mars was acquired on Aug. 4, 2012, by the Mars Color Imager instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to forecast weather conditions for the entry, descent and landing of NASA's Curiosity rover. | This global map of Mars was acquired on Aug. 4, 2012, by the Mars Color Imager instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. One global map is generated each day to forecast weather conditions for the entry, descent and landing of NASA's Curiosity rover. The atmosphere is clear and seasonal around Gale Crater, in agreement with the computer models used to simulate Curiosity's landing. The dust storm southwest of Gale Crater, first seen on July 31, changed into an inactive dust cloud on Aug. 2, and now has dispersed even further. Dust activity is picking up on the other side of the planet, as shown by the dust clouds marked on the left side of the map. None of these dust clouds will arrive at Gale Crater before Curiosity does.The map is a rectangular projection of Mars (from 90 degrees latitude to minus 90 degrees latitude, and minus 180 degrees longitude to 180 degrees east longitude). The landing site is located on the right side of the map, near 137 degrees east longitude and 4.5 degrees south latitude. The map shows water ice clouds at equatorial latitudes that are typical for late southern winter, when Mars is farther from the sun. Small, short-lived dust storms are common at this time of year on Mars and were taken into account when Curiosity's landing system was designed and tested. Larger and more long-lived dust storms are very rare at this time of year. | |
This image acquired on October 1, 2020 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows several craters in Arabia Terra filled with layered rock. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionSeveral craters in Arabia Terra are filled with layered rock, often exposed in rounded mounds. The bright layers are roughly the same thickness, giving a stair-step appearance.The process that formed these sedimentary rocks is not yet well understood. They could have formed from sand or volcanic ash that was blown into the crater, or in water if the crater hosted a lake. One thing is certain, though: it wouldn't be hard to get your 10,000 daily steps when going on a hike in beautiful Arabia Terra!The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 27.6 centimeters [10.9 inches] per pixel [with 1 x 1 binning]; objects on the order of 83 centimeters [32.7 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows Olympia Undae during north polar summer. | Context imageThis VIS image of Olympia Undae was collected during north polar summer. The density of dunes and the alignments of the dune crests varies with location, controlled by the amount of available sand and the predominant winds over time.Olympia Undae is a vast dune field in the north polar region of Mars. It consists of a broad sand sea or erg that partly rings the north polar cap from about 120° to 240°E longitude and 78° to 83°N latitude. The dune field covers an area of approximately 470,000 km2 (bigger than California, smaller than Texas). Olympia Undae is the largest continuous dune field on Mars. Olympia Undae is not the only dune field near the north polar cap, several other smaller fields exist in the same latitude, but in other ranges of longitude, e.g. Abolos and Siton Undae. Barchan and transverse dune forms are the most common. In regions with limited available sand individual barchan dunes will form, the surface beneath and between the dunes is visible. In regions with large sand supplies, the sand sheet covers the underlying surface, and dune forms are found modifying the surface of the sand sheet. In this case transverse dunes are more common. Barchan dunes "point" down wind, transverse dunes are more linear and form parallel to the wind direction. Transverse dunes cover the top half of this image.Orbit Number: 80092 Latitude: 81.4474 Longitude: 183.52 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-01-04 02:42Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This mosaic image taken on June 24, 2004 by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rock abrasion tool target 'London.' | This mosaic image from the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the rock abrasion tool target, "London." The image was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on its 149th sol on Mars (June 24, 2004). Scientists "read" the geology of the image from bottom to top, with the youngest material pictured at the bottom of the image and the oldest material in the layers pictured at the top. Millimeter-scale layers run horizontally across the exposed surface, with two sliced sphere-like objects, or "blueberries" on the upper left and upper right sides of the impression. This material is similar to the evaporative material found in "Eagle Crater." However, the intense review of these layers in Endurance Crater is, in essence, deepening the water story authored by ancient Mars. In Eagle Crater, the effects of water were traced down a matter of centimeters. Endurance Crater's depth has allowed the tracing of water's telltale marks up to meters. Another process that significantly affects martian terrain is muddying the water story a bit. Although it is clear that the layers in Endurance were affected by water, it is also evident that Aeolian, or wind, processes have contributed to the makeup of the crater. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows windstreaks features caused by the interaction of wind and topographic landforms. These windstreaks are located on the lava flows of Meroe Patera in Syrtis Major. | Windstreaks are features caused by the interaction of wind and topographic landforms. The raised rims and bowls of impact craters causes a complex interaction such that the wind vortex in the lee of the crater can both scour away the surface dust and deposit it back in the center of the lee. If you look closely, you will see evidence of this in a darker "rim" enclosing a brighter interior. These windstreaks are located on the lava flows of Meroe Patera in Syrtis Major.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 5.7, Longitude 73.2 East (286.8 West). 36 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 a section of Ares Vallis. Ares Vallis is a large channel that arises in Iani Chaos, passes through Margaritifer Terra, and then empties into Chryse Planitia. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a section of Ares Vallis. Ares Vallis is a large channel that arises in Iani Chaos, passes through Margaritifer Terra, and then empties into Chryse Planitia.Orbit Number: 80624 Latitude: 0.445959 Longitude: 342.666 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-02-16 21:33Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image shows NASA's InSight lander's domed Wind and Thermal Shield, which covers its seismometer. The image was taken on the 110th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. | This image shows InSight's domed Wind and Thermal Shield, which covers its seismometer. The image was taken on the 110th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The seismometer is called Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure, or SEIS.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 SEIS 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 from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows wavy linear ridges in Gigas Sulci that are actually dunes. These dunes are probably very old and not active at the present time. | Context image for PIA11335Gigas SulciThe wavy linear ridges in this image of Gigas Sulci are actually dunes. These dunes are probably very old and not active at the present time.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 8.0N, Longitude 230.3E. 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a portion of Syrtis Major Planum. There are several windstreaks with the classic dark rim/bright interior appearance. | Context image for PIA10069WindstreaksThis image shows a portion of the Syrtis Major Planum. There are several windstreaks with the classic dark rim/bright interior appearance. Some of the windstreaks also have an additional dark streak oriented further southward than the main streaks. This indicates a change in wind regime in the region.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 9.4N, Longitude 69.4E. 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. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows the dune field in Nili Patera on Mars. | Context imageCredit: NASA/JPL/MOLAThis VIS image shows the dune field in Nili Patera.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 8.7N, Longitude 67.4E. 21 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. | |
Mars is kept company by two cratered moons -- an inner moon named Phobos and an outer moon named Deimos. | Mars is kept company by two cratered moons -- an inner moon named Phobos and an outer moon named Deimos. On August 1, 2013, NASA's Curiosity rover pointed its telephoto lens toward the Martian heavens and recorded a series of night sky images that show the irregularly shaped moons crossing paths. Phobos, the larger of the two, circles the Red Planet about every eight hours from an average distance of 3,700 miles. Deimos is located farther away -- approximately 12,500 miles -- and completes one orbit every 30 hours. In comparison to Earth's moon, the moons of Mars are much smaller and placed in closer proximity to their planetary companion. For example, it would take Apollo astronauts three days to travel 238,000 miles from Earth to the moon. A similar journey from Mars to Phobos or Deimos would only take an hour or two. See PIA17089 to watch a time-lapse view of Mars' moons in motion.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
A traverse map for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit traces the path Spirit drove during its prime mission of 90 sols amidst several martian craters. | A traverse map for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit traces the path Spirit drove during its prime mission of 90 sols. The base image for this map was taken seconds before landing by Spirit's downward-looking descent image motion estimation system camera. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows wispy dark rays and dark, annular (nearly-circular) zones surround the crater, while several chains of dark spots formed by secondary impact radiate away for hundreds of meters from the tiny crater on Mars. | Figure AAnnotated ImageNo AnnotationFigure BNo AnnotationFigure CAnnotated ImageNo AnnotationThe images of new martian impact craters reveal many details about the impact event that result from the manner in which the impact process interacted with the dusty surface and thin planetary atmosphere; these data are sure to keep scientists busy for years. Of the 20 new impact craters found on Mars by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) in 2006, the one shown here is perhaps the prettiest. The darkened "blast zone" around the crater exhibits considerable details about how the energy transferred from the impact to the surrounding atmosphere and dust-mantled surface interacted. Wispy dark rays and dark, annular (nearly-circular) zones surround the crater, while several chains of dark spots formed by secondary impact radiate away for hundreds of meters from the tiny crater. This impact site has a single crater of about 22.6 ± 1.7 meters (about 75 feet) in diameter. Compare this with the typical 100 yard U.S.-style football field: 75 feet is about 24.7 yards. The crater is located in Arabia Terra near 26.4°N, 336.5°W. This picture is a colorized view of the crater. The image is a sub-frame of MOC narrow angle camera image S16-01674, obtained on 20 March 2006. The color comes from a look-up table derived from the colors of Mars as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). Figures A and B: These pictures are grayscale composites of portions of MOC images S16-01674, S17-00795, S17-02191, and S18-01407, showing the impact site and the extensive rays developed during the impact event. These data were acquired during March, April, and May 2006. Figure C: This picture shows how the age of the crater was constrained. The first (left) is a portion of MOC red wide angle camera image R12-00786, acquired on 8 December 2003. The white circle indicates the location of the impact site, but the impact had not yet occurred. The second picture (right) shows the same MOC red wide angle image, overlain by a portion of an image from the Mars Odyssey Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS). The THEMIS image is an infrared picture (I17523014, band 9, ~12.6 micrometers) acquired on 26 November 2005. In the infrared image, the impact site shows up as a bright spot because it is warmer than its surroundings during the day. These two pictures, thus, tell us that the impact occurred some time between 8 December 2003 and 26 November 2005. 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. |
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