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On Mars, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter often sees inverted river channels preserved perched above the surrounding terrain because the sediment inside the river channel was stronger than its surroundings. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionOn Mars, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter often sees inverted river channels preserved perched above the surrounding terrain because the sediment inside the river channel was stronger than its surroundings. This is common in the American Southwest in places where lava flowed down river channels and the surrounding sandstone subsequently eroded away leaving ridges in places that started as valleys.There's another example of high-standing columns protected by a strong cap rock, called "hoodoos." Looking more closely at our image, we see what looks like a crater and its rays of ejecta, preserved and slightly higher than the surrounding terrain, possibly due to a similar process. This is a stereo pair with ESP_050415_1565.
The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 54.7 centimeters (21.5 inches) per pixel (with 2 x 2 binning); objects on the order of 164 centimeters (64.6 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.
The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This small field of sand dunes is located on the floor of an unnamed crater on Mars in Terra Cimmeria as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageThis small field of sand dunes is located on the floor of an unnamed crater in Terra Cimmeria.Orbit Number: 47620 Latitude: -18.6507 Longitude: 134.503 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-09-08 03:29Please 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 Exploration Rover Opportunity rover spent 2006 and 2007 traversing the rim of Victoria Crater.The rover obtained images of rock outcrops exposed at several cliffs along the way. The cliff in this image is dubbed Cape St. Vincent. | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity rover spent about 300 sols (Martian days) during 2006 and 2007 traversing the rim of Victoria Crater. Besides looking for a good place to enter the crater, the rover obtained images of rock outcrops exposed at several cliffs along the way. The cliff in this image from Opportunity's panoramic camera (Pancam) is informally named Cape St. Vincent. It is a promontory approximately 12 meters (39 feet) tall on the northern rim of Victoria crater, near the farthest point along the rover's traverse around the rim. Layers seen in Cape St. Vincent have proven to be among the best examples of meter scale cross-bedding observed on Mars to date. Cross-bedding is a geologic term for rock layers which are inclined relative to the horizontal and which are indicative of ancient sand dune deposits. In order to get a better look at these outcrops, Pancam "super-resolution" imaging techniques were utilized. Super-resolution is a type of imaging mode which acquires many pictures of the same target to reconstruct a digital image at a higher resolution than is native to the camera. These super-resolution images have allowed scientists to discern that the rocks at Victoria Crater once represented a large dune field, not unlike the Sahara desert on Earth, and that this dune field migrated with an ancient wind flowing from the north to the south across the region. Other rover chemical and mineral measurements have shown that many of the ancient sand dunes studied in Meridiani Planum were modified by surface and subsurface liquid water long ago.This is a Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity Panoramic Camera image acquired on sol 1167 (May 7, 2007), and was constructed from a mathematical combination of 16 different blue filter (480 nm) images. | |
The THEMIS camera contains 5 filters. Data from different filters can be combined to create a false color image. This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a sand sheet with surface dune forms on an unnamed crater in Noachis Terrra. | 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 a sand sheet with surface dune forms on the floor of an unnamed crater in Noachis Terrra.Orbit Number: 57556 Latitude: -48.627 Longitude: 34.0091 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-12-04 21:28Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This field of sand dunes occurs within Chasma Borealis on Mars as seen by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image for PIA01867Polar DunesThis field of sand dunes occurs within Chasma Borealis.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 84.7N, Longitude 0.4E. 20 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. | |
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 Gale Crater. | 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 Gale Crater. Basaltic sands are dark blue in this type of false color combination. The Curiosity Rover is located in another portion of Gale Crater, far southwest of this image.Orbit Number: 51803 Latitude: -4.39948 Longitude: 138.116 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-08-18 09:04Please 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 margins and front of a large lava flow located on the plains southeast of Ascraeus Mons in the Tharsis region of Mars. Tharsis is the site of the majority of martian volcanoes and lava flows. | 1 May 2005This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the margins and front of a large lava flow located on the plains southeast of Ascraeus Mons in the Tharsis region. Tharsis is the site of the majority of martian volcanoes and lava flows. In this case, lava flowed from left (west) to right (east) and flowed no further east than the margins of the flow seen in this picture.Location near: 5.4°N, 102.1°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Northern Summer | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a small section of Samara Valles. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a small section of Samara Valles.Orbit Number: 50135 Latitude: -25.0361 Longitude: 340.719 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-04-03 03:03Please 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 360-degree view taken in August, 2006, shows Opportunity's last stop on surface of Meridiani Planum. At center of the mosaic is 'Beagle Crater,' an impact crater. Opportunity's tracks are visible approaching the crater. | Click on the image forOf Craters and Erosion: Opportunity Examines "Beagle" (QTVR)This 360-degree view shows Opportunity's last stop on the now-familiar surface of Meridiani Planum before reaching different terrains associated with the very large "Victoria Crater." In the center of the mosaic is "Beagle Crater," an impact crater about 35 meters (115 feet) wide. On the far left and wrapping around to the far right, Opportunity's tracks are visible approaching the crater.Though it looks relatively fresh in orbital images, from a closer vantage point Beagle Crater appears moderately eroded. The crater walls are slumped and the middle of the crater bowl is filled with rippled sand. However, a slightly raised crater rim remains, and in a few places (for instance, on the inside left wall), cliffs of outcrop appear to be preserved in the crater. Ejected rocks from Beagle Crater surround the rover, many with the distinctive, fine-grained layering commonly seen in the rocks of Meridiani Planum. Many of these rocks have surfaces smoothed by wind erosion. Wind erosion also formed the sand drifts nestled among the rocks.Because impact craters have well-understood shapes when they form, the altered appearance of eroded craters gives scientists clues to the processes that modified them. By observing how filled an impact crater has become and how worn its edges are, scientists can estimate how long its surface has been exposed to erosion. The many-sided outline of a crater such as Beagle and the blocky appearance of its ejecta may also tell scientists about the strength of the underlying bedrock. Based on observations such as these, scientists know that Beagle Crater is fresher than "Eagle" and "Fram" craters near Opportunity's landing site and more similar in form to "Viking" and "Voyager" craters in the plains to the north of Beagle.Opportunity made other observations at Beagle Crater, such as spectroscopic measurements taken with the panoramic camera and the miniature thermal emission spectrometer, to help scientists assess the composition of the rocks and determine whether Beagle Crater was excavated into the surface rocks of Meridiani Planum or into the ejecta blanket of Victoria Crater.Beagle Crater takes its unofficial name from a great ship of exploration, the HMS Beagle, whose most famous passenger was British naturalist Charles Darwin. During the Beagle expedition around the world, Darwin conducted many of the observations that led to his theory of natural selection. Scientists have unofficially named many rocks and features in the area of Beagle Crater after the Galapagos Islands and the varieties of finches Darwin observed there. The name Beagle Crater also commemorates the European Space Agency's ill-fated Beagle 2 lander, the loss if which is a reminder of how difficult space exploration can be.Opportunity took the mosaic of images that make up this 360-degree view of the rover's surroundings with the panoramic camera on the rover's 901st through 904th sols, or Martian days (Aug. 6 through Aug. 9, 2006), of exploration. This is an approximate true-color image combining exposures taken through the panoramic camera's 753-nanometer, 535-namometer, and 432-nanometer filters. | |
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 a region of chaos in Eos Chasma. | Context imageThe THEMIS 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 a region of chaos in Eos Chasma.Orbit Number: 35008 Latitude: -15.093 Longitude: 317.159 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2009-11-04 20:10Please 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. | |
Layered Outcrops in Gusev Crater (False Color) | One of the ways scientists collect mineralogical data about rocks on Mars is to view them through filters that allow only specific wavelengths of light to pass through the lens of the panoramic camera. NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this false-color image of the rock nicknamed "Tetl" at 1:05 p.m. martian time on its 270th martian day, or sol (Oct. 5, 2004) using the panoramic camera's 750-, 530-, and 430-nanometer filters. Darker red hues in the image correspond to greater concentrations of oxidized soil and dust. Bluer hues correspond to portions of rock that are not as heavily coated with soils or are not as highly oxidized. | |
This false color image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows the western part of the dune field on the floor of Russell Crater. | Context image This image shows the western part of the dune field on the floor of Russell Crater. This is a false color image of Russell crater and it's surroundings. Sand Dunes usually appear "blue" in false color images. Russell Crater is located in Noachis Terra. A spectacular dune ridge and other dune forms on the crater floor have caused extensive imaging.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.The Odyssey spacecraft has spent over 15 years in orbit around Mars, circling the planet more than 69000 times. It holds the record for longest working spacecraft at Mars. THEMIS, the IR/VIS camera system, has collected data for the entire mission and provides images covering all seasons and lighting conditions. Over the years many features of interest have received repeated imaging, building up a suite of images covering the entire feature. From the deepest chasma to the tallest volcano, individual dunes inside craters and dune fields that encircle the north pole, channels carved by water and lava, and a variety of other feature, THEMIS has imaged them all. For the next several months the image of the day will focus on the Tharsis volcanoes, the various chasmata of Valles Marineris, and the major dunes fields. We hope you enjoy these images!Orbit Number: 59591 Latitude: -54.471 Longitude: 13.1288 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-05-21 10:57Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This beautiful huge dune and associated smaller dunes are located on the floor of Russell Crater. NASA's Mars Odyssey captured this image on Nov. 28, 2010. | Context imageThis beautiful huge dune and associated smaller dunes are located on the floor of Russell Crater.Orbit Number: 39723 Latitude: -54.4313 Longitude: 13.0502 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-11-28 01:47Please 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. | |
These bright and dark windstreaks are located in the plains surrounding the north polar cap on Mars as seen by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image for PIA01870Bright and DarkThese bright and dark windstreaks are located in the plains surrounding the north polar cap.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 72.1N, Longitude 35.2E. 20 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 shows the region where Mawrth Vallis enters Acidalia Planitia. The name Mawrth Vallis comes from the Welsh word for Mars. | 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 the region where Mawrth Vallis enters Acidalia Planitia. The name Mawrth Vallis comes from the Welsh word for Mars. Mawrth winds through northwest Arabia Terra for some 640 kilometers (400 miles) before emptying into Acidalia Planitia on the edge of the vast northern lowlands. Unlike many outflow channels that start in regions of chaotic terrain, Mawrth Vallis just appears and then grows deeper as it heads downstream, holding a width of approximately 15 km (9 mi) until it widens near its mouth.Orbit Number: 72901 Latitude: 25.6457 Longitude: 341.295 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-05-21 21:12Please 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows fractures in part of Cerberus Fossae on Mars. | Context image for PIA11275Cerberus FossaeThe fractures in this image are part of Cerberus Fossae.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 8.9N, Longitude 158.6E. 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. | |
The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Coprates Chasma. | Context imageThe THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of Coprates Chasma.Orbit Number: 10713 Latitude: -12.6203 Longitude: 294.663 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2004-05-14 10:33Please 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. | |
Light Outcrop on Crater Floor | Click on image for larger versionThis HiRISE image (PSP_001860_1685) shows part of the floor of a large impact crater in the southern highlands, north of the giant Hellas impact basin. Most of the crater floor is dark, with abundant small ripples of wind-blown material. However, a pit in the floor of the crater has exposed light-toned, fractured rock. The light-toned material appears fractured at several different scales. These fractures are called joints, and result from stresses on the rock after its formation.Joints are similar to faults, but have undergone virtually no displacement. With careful analysis, joints can provide insight into the forces that have affected a unit of rock, and thus into its geologic history. The fractures appear dark; this may be due to trapping of dark, wind-blown sand in the crack, to precipitation of different minerals along the fracture, or both. Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 12 December 2006Local Mars time: 3:40 PMDegrees latitude (centered): -11.3°Degrees longitude (East): 69.4°Range to target site: 261.2 km (163.3 miles)Original image scale range: from 26.1 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 52.3 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning)Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAREmission angle: 5.4°Phase angle: 54.4°Solar incidence angle: 59°, with the Sun about 31° above the horizonSolar longitude: 152.8°, Northern AutumnNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
This image released on July 28, 2004 from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows a decorrelation stretch near Mare Cimmerium. Pink/magenta colors usually represent basaltic content, cyan indicates the presence of water ice clouds, while green can represent dust. | Released July 28, 2004This image shows two representations of the same infra-red image covering an area near Mare Cimmerium. On the left is a grayscale image showing surface temperature, and on the right is a false-color composite made from 3 individual THEMIS bands. The false-color image is colorized using a technique called decorrelation stretch (DCS), which emphasizes the spectral differences between the bands to highlight compositional variations. This area contains a mixture of basaltic materials (magenta/purple) and dust (green/blue). Faint blue areas may be due to some thin water ice clouds. The different compositional units are sometimes correlated with crater floors and other surface features, but they are often not tied to valleys, lava flows, etc... indicating that the surface materials could be mobile (dust and sand).Image information: IR instrument. Latitude -23.7, Longitude 139.3 East (220.7 West). 100 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This map shows the route driven by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity through the 56th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission on Mars (Oct. 2, 2012). | This map shows the route driven by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity through the 56th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission on Mars (Oct. 2, 2012).The route starts where the rover touched down, a site subsequently named Bradbury Landing. The white line extending toward the right (eastward) from Bradbury Landing is the rover's path so far, and the green line shows its planned future route. Numbering of the dots along the line indicate the sol number of each drive. North is up. The scale bar is 200 meters (656 feet). By Sol 56, Curiosity had driven at total distance of about 1,590 feet (484 meters). The Glenelg area farther east is the mission's first major science destination, selected as likely to offer a good target for Curiosity's first analysis of powder collected by drilling into a rock.The image used for the map is from an observation of the landing site by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.JPL manages the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed, developed and assembled at JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.For more about NASA's Curiosity mission, visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl, http://www.nasa.gov/mars, and http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a portion of a trough cutting across a dust-covered plain in the Labeatis Fossae region of Mars. Boulders derived from the layered exposures near the top of the trough walls are resting on the floor. | 2 July 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of a trough cutting across a dust-covered plain in the Labeatis Fossae region of Mars. Boulders derived from the layered exposures near the top of the trough walls are resting on the floor, and in some locations, the sloping sidewalls of the dusty trough.Location near: 22.1°N, 94.5°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Northern Spring | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows craters and troughs at polar and middle latitudes on Mars with gullies carved in their walls. | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-388, 11 June 2003Many craters and troughs at polar and middle latitudes on Mars have gullies carved in their walls. These gullies may have formed by running water; others have suggested alternative, exotic fluids such as liquid or gaseous carbon dioxide. This view of martian gullies was acquired by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC). The image shows gullies in the wall of an old meteor impact crater near 39.0°S, 200.7°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. | |
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took this 360-degree selfie using the Mars Hand Lens Imager, or MAHLI, at the end of its robotic arm. The selfie comprises 81 individual images taken on Nov. 20, 2021. | Figure 1NASA's Curiosity Mars rover took this 360-degree selfie using the Mars Hand Lens Imager, or MAHLI, at the end of its robotic arm. The selfie comprises 81 individual images taken on Nov. 20, 2021 – the 3,303rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission.The rock structure behind the rover is "Greenheugh Pediment"; the hill that is middle distance on the right, is "Rafael Navarro Mountain." Curiosity is headed toward "Maria Gordon Notch," the U-shaped opening behind the rover to the left.Also included here is Figure 1, a cropped version of the selfie. Curiosity was built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages JPL for NASA. JPL manages Curiosity's mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. MAHLI was built by Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego.For more about Curiosity, visit mars.nasa.gov/msl/home/ or nasa.gov/msl. | |
Winds streaming off Mars' polar cap toward the north create a variety of patterns in the fogs formed by water ice or vapor as the seasonal cap retreats during southern spring as seen by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-424, 17 July 2003Craters near the edge of the retreating south polar seasonal frost cap often have fog in them, this time of year. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) wide angle red image was acquired just a few days ago on July 13, 2003. It shows a crater, 36 km (22 mi) across, that is enveloped in fog. This picture was taken as a context frame for a high resolution view that was intended to show dunes on the floor of the crater. That high resolution view was frustrated by thick fog that hid the dunes from view. This wide angle context frame shows that winds from the lower right (southeast) were blowing over the crater, causing the fog to bunch up in a wavy, rippled pattern. Winds streaming off the polar cap toward the north create a variety of patterns in the fogs formed by water ice or vapor as the seasonal cap retreats during southern spring. This picture is located at 66.4°S, 208.6°W, sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left (northwest). | |
This daytime IR image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the dune field on the floor of Kaiser Crater. The dune sand is warmer than the surrounding materials, so it appears bright in the IR image. | Context imageThis daytime IR image shows part of the dune field on the floor of Kaiser Crater. The dune sand is warmer than the surrounding materials, so it appears bright in the IR image.Orbit Number: 50658 Latitude: -46.8214 Longitude: 19.182 Instrument: IR Captured: 2013-05-16 04:05Please 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. | |
The small channel in this image captured by is located in volcanic flows in the northern part of Tractus Fossae on Mars as seen by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageThe small channel in this image is located in volcanic flows in the northern part of Tractus Fossae.Orbit Number: 46017 Latitude: 29.1249 Longitude: 259.245 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-04-29 06:38Please 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 Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this image of impact ejecta, a material that is thrown up and out of the surface of a planet as a result of the impact of an meteorite, asteroid or comet. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionImpact ejecta is material that is thrown up and out of the surface of a planet as a result of the impact of an meteorite, asteroid or comet. The material that was originally beneath the surface of the planet then rains down onto the environs of the newly formed impact crater.Some of this material is deposited close to the crater, folding over itself to form the crater rim, visible here as a yellowish ring. Other material is ejected faster and falls down further from the crater rim creating two types of ejecta: a "continuous ejecta blanket" and "discontinuous ejecta." Both are shown in this image. The blocky area at the center of the image close to the yellowish crater rim is the "continuous" ejecta. The discontinuous ejecta is further from the crater rim, streaking away from the crater like spokes on a bicycle.(Note: North is to the right.)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. | |
The dunes in this daytime IR image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft appear bright because they are warmer than the surrounding crater materials. These dunes are located on the floor of Proctor Crater. | Context imageThe dunes in this daytime IR image appear bright because they are warmer than the surrounding crater materials. These dunes are located on the floor of Proctor Crater.Orbit Number: 51282 Latitude: -48.8558 Longitude: 29.9853 Instrument: IR Captured: 2013-07-06 12:25Please 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. | |
A ridge called 'Rocheport' on the western rim of Mars' Endeavour Crater spans this mosaic of images from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. | A ridge called "Rocheport" on the western rim of Mars' Endeavour Crater spans this mosaic of images from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The view extends from south-southeast on the left to north on the right. Rocheport is near the southern end of an Endeavour rim segment called "Cape Tribulation." The Pancam took the component images for this panorama on Feb. 25, 2017, during the 4,654th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's work on Mars. Opportunity began exploring the western rim of Endeavour Crater in 2011 and reached the north end of Cape Tribulation in 2014.This ridge bears some grooves on its side, such as between the two dark shoulders angling down near the left edge of the scene. For scale, those shoulders are about 10 to 16 feet (3 to 5 meters) long. The grooves might have been carved long ago by water or ice or wind. The view merges 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). It is presented in approximately true color. The Rocheport name comes from a riverbank town in Missouri along the route of Lewis and Clark's "Corps of Discovery" Expedition.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.For more information about Opportunity, visit http://www.nasa.gov/rovers and http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov.Photojournal Note: Also available is the full resolution TIFF file PIA21943_full.tif. This file may be too large to view from a browser; it can be downloaded onto your desktop by right-clicking on the previous link and viewed with image viewing software. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a portion of the floor of Crommelin Crater. This crater contains a large mound of material that filled a large part of the crater and has been subsequently eroded. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a portion of the floor of Crommelin Crater. This crater contains a large mound of material that filled a large part of the crater and has been subsequently eroded.Orbit Number: 45814 Latitude: 4.68823 Longitude: 350.1 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-04-12 13:44Please 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-530, 31 October 2003Isidis Planitia is a vast, nearly circular plain centered at 12°N, 273°W. Its circular shape has led Mars researchers to suspect that it is the site of a very ancient, very eroded basin formed by asteroid or comet impact when the planet was still very young. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a 3 km (1.9 mi) wide view of a typical Isidis Planitia scene. All over Isidis Planitia are found craters, ripple-like, light-toned, windblown dunes, and rugged mounds with summit pits. The mounds with summit pits might mark the location of impact craters that formed in a layer of material that used to cover much of Isidis Planitia, but has been largely stripped away, leaving the floors of former impact craters standing high upon remnants of this formerly more extensive layer. This example is located near 18.2°N, 272.5°W, and is illuminated by sunlight from the lower left. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows an intercrater plain in the Memnonia region of Mars that has been severely eroded by wind to form sharp ridges known as yardangs. | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-435, 28 July 2003One of the goals of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) Picture of the Day collection is to provide a sense of the great diversity of terrain, surfaces, patterns, and textures of the martian surface, as viewed by the MOC high resolution (narrow angle) camera. This image shows an intercrater plain in the Memnonia region that has been severely eroded by wind to form sharp ridges known as yardangs. This terrain would be very difficult to walk, or drive a rover, across. The picture is located near 11.8°S, 157.2°W. The scene is illuminated by sunlight from the left. | |
This illustration shows a concept for a proposed NASA Mars lander-and-rocket combination that would play a key role in returning to Earth samples of Mars material collected by the Perseverance rover. | This illustration shows a concept for a proposed NASA Mars lander-and-rocket combination that would play a key role in returning to Earth samples of Mars material collected by the Perseverance rover. This Sample Retrieval Lander would carry a small rocket (about 10 feet, or 3 meters, tall) called the Mars Ascent Vehicle to the Martian surface. After using a robotic arm to load the rover's sealed sample tubes into a container in the nose cone of the rocket, the lander would launch the Mars Ascent Vehicle into orbit around the Red Planet.The lander and rocket are part of the multimission Mars Sample Return program being planned by NASA and ESA (European Space Agency). The program would use multiple robotic vehicles to pick up and ferry sealed tubes containing Mars samples already collected by NASA's Perseverance rover, for transport to laboratories on Earth.For more information, visit: mars.nasa.gov/msr. | |
This image, acquired on December 25, 2019 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows a crater south of Aurorae Chaos has a central pit exposing bedrock units with diverse colors, indicating diverse rock compositions. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionLarge impacts produce uplifted central structures, either peaks, or pits, or an uplifted peak with a central pit. This crater south of Aurorae Chaos has a central pit exposing bedrock units with diverse colors, indicating diverse rock compositions.This crater includes clay-rich minerals identified by the CRISM instrument on MRO. See this enhanced-color cutout over the eastern half of the central pit. The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 53.4 centimeters [21.0 inches] per pixel [with 2 x 2 binning]; objects on the order of 160 centimeters [63.0 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.This is a stereo pair with ESP_044930_1690.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 was taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the rover's grinding of the rock dubbed 'Mazatzal.' Dark grey coating is seen after brushing remains on the right side of the hole, while the left side is the underlying basaltic rock. | This image was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's panoramic camera during the rover's grinding of the rock dubbed "Mazatzal" with its rock abrasion tool. The picture shows the rock after the rover drilled 3.8 millimeters (.15 inches) into the target dubbed "New York" on Sol 82. The dark grey coating seen after brushing remains on the right side of the hole, while the left side is the underlying basaltic rock. This approximate true-color image was created using the panoramic camera's red, green and blue filters. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the Nili Patera dune field. The paterae are calderas on the volcanic complex called Syrtis Major Planum. | Context image This image shows part of the Nili Patera dune field. High resolution imaging by other spacecraft has revealed that the dunes in this region are moving. Winds are blowing the dunes across a rough surface of regional volcanic lava flows. The paterae are calderas on the volcanic complex called Syrtis Major Planum. Dunes are found in both Nili and Meroe Paterae and in the region between the two calderas.The Odyssey spacecraft has spent over 15 years in orbit around Mars, circling the planet more than 69000 times. It holds the record for longest working spacecraft at Mars. THEMIS, the IR/VIS camera system, has collected data for the entire mission and provides images covering all seasons and lighting conditions. Over the years many features of interest have received repeated imaging, building up a suite of images covering the entire feature. From the deepest chasma to the tallest volcano, individual dunes inside craters and dune fields that encircle the north pole, channels carved by water and lava, and a variety of other feature, THEMIS has imaged them all. For the next several months the image of the day will focus on the Tharsis volcanoes, the various chasmata of Valles Marineris, and the major dunes fields. We hope you enjoy these images!Orbit Number: 38248 Latitude: 8.87797 Longitude: 67.3841 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-07-29 16:30Please 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 image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows Galaxias Chaos, located on the northern border of the Elyisum volcanic complex. | Context imageGalaxias Chaos is located on the northern border of the Elyisum volcanic complex. Chaos terrain develops by erosion, often along faults, that create regions of mesas and valleys.Orbit Number: 80119 Latitude: 33.6966 Longitude: 146.662 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-01-06 07:47Please 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 360-degree, stereo mosaic of images from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the view from the western rim of 'Santa Maria' crater on Dec. 19, 2010. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | Left-eye viewRight-eye viewClick on an individual image for full resolution figures imageThis 360-degree, stereo mosaic of images from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the view from the western rim of "Santa Maria" crater on the 2,454th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's work on Mars (Dec. 19, 2010). The view appears three-dimensional when seen through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left. The crater is about 90 meters (295 feet) in diameter. East-southeast (110 degrees) is at the center, west-northwest at both ends.This panorama combines right-eye and left-eye views presented as cylindrical-perspective projections. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image of 'Punaluu' named after the white sand beaches of Hawaii, was taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity showing irregularly shaped, light-colored, millimeter-sized (0.04 inch) clasts, or particles, in a fine-grained soil. | This three-centimeter by three-centimeter (1.2-inch by 1.2-inch) microscopic image of the soil survey target informally called "Lanikai" was taken on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's 52nd sol, or day, on Mars. Named after Hawaii's white sand beaches, this target reveals irregularly shaped, light-colored, millimeter-sized (0.04 inch) clasts, or particles, in a fine-grained soil. Lanikai's angular, less-rounded clast shapes interested the science team when compared to other soil targets in the crater area examined by the microscopic imager. For mosaic of related microscopic images, see PIA05651. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows intersecting ridges creating an unusual surface in this region of Noachis Terra. | Context image for PIA10333RidgesIntersecting ridges create an unusual surface in this region of Noachis Terra.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -23.4N, Longitude 9.4E. 17 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This color image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey released on May 7, 2004 shows the martian surface during the southern summer season in Atlantis Chaos. | Released 7 May 2004This daytime visible color image was collected on May 30, 2002 during the Southern Fall season in Atlantis Chaos.The THEMIS VIS camera is capable of capturing color images of the martian surface using its 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 the use of 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.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -34.5, Longitude 183.6 East (176.4 West). 38 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter saw the saddle between two valleys named Dingo Gap-in Gale Crater-where the rover Curiosity just traversed. The gap is spanned by a single dune visible both from the ground and from orbit. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionIn this image, we see the saddle between two valleys named Dingo Gap-in Gale Crater-where the rover Curiosity just traversed. The gap is spanned by a single dune visible both from the ground and from orbit. (The rover itself is not in this image as it was acquired before MSL landed.)With images taken with the Mastcam on Curiosity, we can see a view looking northwest and the Dingo Gap where the rover recently crossed.HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the orbiter's 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 in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the floor of Candor Chasma on Mars. | Context image for PIA11291Candor ChasmaThis VIS image shows part of the floor of Candor Chasma.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -6.6N, Longitude 284.2E. 18 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows drainage channels from the highland of Claritas Fossae toward the lowlands of Icaria Planum. | Context image for PIA10038Draining the HighlandDrainage channels completely fill this image. The flow is toward the bottom of the frame, from the highland of Claritas Fossae toward the lowlands of Icaria Planum.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 0.0N, Longitude 0.0E. 0 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. | |
Floor of Noctus Labyrnthus | Image PSP_001457_1725 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on November 17, 2006. The complete image is centered at -7.3 degrees latitude, 263.7 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 258.0 km (161.2 miles). At this distance the image scale ranges from 25.8 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 51.6 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning). The image shown here has been map-projected to 25 cm/pixel and north is up. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:34 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 58 degrees, thus the sun was about 32 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 137.0 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. | |
Intriguing Martian rocks surround NASA's Perseverance rover in this panorama showing an ancient river delta, made from images captured by the Mastcam-Z camera system. | Figure AMain image - full resolution version, 93761 x 26305 pixels (3.85 GB)Figure A image - full resolution version, 93761 x 26305 pixels (3.28 GB)Intriguing Martian rocks surround NASA's Perseverance rover in this panorama showing an ancient river delta, made from images captured by the Mastcam-Z camera system. This 2.5-billion-pixel mosaic, which combines 1,118 individual frames, is the most detailed landscape panorama ever returned from Mars.The delta in Mars' Jezero Crater is an area where scientists surmise that, billions of years ago, a river once flowed into a lake and deposited rocks and sediments in a fan shape. Deltas are believed to be the best places on Mars to search for potential signs of ancient microbial life. Arrival at the Jezero delta has been a primary goal of the Perseverance mission since the rover landed in the crater in February 2021.The panorama shows sedimentary rocks of great interest to scientists. The Perseverance rover has abraded the surface of several rocks in this area and acquired compositional information. It also has collected rock samples that the Mars Sample Return campaign could bring back to Earth in the future, enabling detailed laboratory studies as part of a search for signs of ancient life.In this enhanced-color view, the color bands of the image have been processed to improve visual contrast and accentuate color differences. Figure A shows the same panorama using a natural-color view. A guided tour of the panorama is available at https://images.nasa.gov/details-JPL-20220906-Perseverance_Explores_Jezero_Crater_Delta_UHD.These images were taken in 2022 on June 12, 13, 16, 17, and 20 (the 466th, 467th, 470th, 471st, and 474th Martian days, or sols, of Perseverance's mission).A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover. Arizona State University leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras, and in collaboration with the Neils Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen on the design, fabrication, and testing of the calibration targets.For more about Perseverance:mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/nasa.gov/perseverance | |
Scientists Contemplate Tilting of Rock Layers on Mars | Gazing across the landscape of the "Columbia Hills" in Gusev Crater on Mars, scientists working with NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit think they have been seeing hints of tilted rock layers across the area traversed by the rover. At "Larry's Lookout," pictured here, ridges of rock are stacked atop each other and tilted. Similar rock ridges are visible in the distance across the "Tennessee Valley." One possible explanation for these ridges is that they were formed by tilted layers of sediment that were more resistant to erosion and now stand in relief above the surrounding surface. Scientists hope to better understand the structure of the hills and perhaps determine how they were formed by observing how the orientation of layers in these outcrops changes throughout the region. Hypotheses include that the Columbia Hills are the remains of an ancient volcano, a remnant of an old impact crater formed by an asteroid or comet, or delta deposits formed where water flowed into Gusev Crater early in its history. Each of these hypotheses leads to a different prediction regarding bedding orientation and structure.Hills on the distant horizon may be the rim of a large impact crater many miles to the east of the Columbia Hills. Spirit took this image with its navigation camera on martian day, or sol, 438 (March 27, 2005). | |
Rising highest above the horizon in the right half of the image, captured by NASA's Mars Exporation Rover, is a portion of the western rim of Endeavour Crater including a ridge informally named 'Cape Tribulation.' | Annotated imageClick on the image for larger versionNASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its panoramic camera in a super-resolution technique to record this eastward view of the horizon on the 2,298th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (July 11, 2010).Rising highest above the horizon in the right half of the image is a portion of the western rim of Endeavour Crater including a ridge informally named "Cape Tribulation" (see Figure 1). Super-resolution is an imaging technique combining information from multiple pictures of the same target in order to generate an image with a higher resolution than any of the individual images.Endeavour Crater is about 22 kilometers (14 miles) in diameter. The rover team chose Endeavour as a long-term destination for Opportunity in mid-2008, after the rover had investigated the much-smaller Victoria Crater for two years. More than a year later, observations by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter revealed clay minerals on Endeavour's western rim, making the destination even more enticing for Opportunity's investigation. Cape Tribulation is one location where the clay minerals are exposed.Opportunity completed its three-month prime mission in April 2004 and has continued working in mission extensions since then. | |
A 'Grand Canyon of Mars' slices across the Red Planet near its equator. This canyon, Valles Marineris, or the Mariner Valley, is 10 times longer and deeper than Arizona's Grand Canyon, and 20 times wider. This image was taken by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey. | A "Grand Canyon of Mars" slices across the Red Planet near its equator. This canyon -- Valles Marineris, or the Mariner Valley -- is 10 times longer and deeper than Arizona's Grand Canyon, and 20 times wider. As the picture shows, you could drop the whole Los Angeles basin into a small part of Valles Marineris and leave plenty of room to spare. In length, the canyon extends far enough that it could reach across the United States from East Coast to West Coast, while its rim stands more than 25,000 feet high, nearly as tall as Earth's Mount Everest. This scene comes from "Flight Through Mariner Valley," an exciting video produced for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The video takes viewers on a simulated flight into Valles Marineris, where they explore its scenic wonders as their imaginary scout ship dives low over landslides and races through winding canyons.The video features high-resolution images from Arizona State University's Thermal Emission Imaging System multi-band camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey. The images, which show details as small as 300 meters (1,000 feet) across, were taken at infrared wavelengths during the Martian daytime. Scientists joined hundreds of individual frames from the camera into a giant mosaic, then colored the mosaic to approximate how Mars would appear to the human eye. To give the mosaic depth and height, moviemakers fitted it to a computerized topographic model for Valles Marineris. This was developed using hundreds of thousands of altitude measurements by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, an instrument on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows the southern cliffside of Tithonium Chasma and the complete cross section of Ius Chasma. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows the southern cliffside of Tithonium Chasma (top of image) and the complete cross section of Ius Chasma (center of image). Ius Chasma and Thithonium Chasma are at the western end of Valles Marineris. Valles Marineris is over 4000 kilometers long, wider than the United States. Tithonium Chasma is 803 kilometers long (499 miles) while Ius Chasma is almost 850 kilometers long (528 miles), 120 kilometers wide and over 8 kilometers deep. In comparison, the Grand Canyon in Arizona is about 175 kilometers long, 30 kilometers wide, and only 2 kilometers deep. The canyons of Valles Marineris were formed by extensive fracturing and pulling apart of the crust during the uplift of the vast Tharsis plateau. Landslides have enlarged the canyon walls and created deposits on the canyon floor. Weathering of the surface and influx of dust and sand have modified the canyon floor, both creating and modifying layered materials. There are many features that indicate flowing and standing water played a part in the chasma formation. The rugged floor of Ius Chasma in this image is the result of many large landslides.Orbit Number: 89711 Latitude: -6.50729 Longitude: 272.316 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-03-06 02:35Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor acquired in February 1998, shows the large, dark region near the top-center of the picture of Sinus Meridiani. The circular feature at the upper right is the impact basin, Schiaparelli. | Mars Global Surveyor was presented with a unique opportunity February 13-18, 1998, to image sunlight glinting off of the surface and atmospheric haze of Mars. Orbits 130-137 were devoted to obtaining MOC images of this effect, also known as opposition surge. During each orbit in mid-February, the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft passed close to and through the line between the Sun and the center of Mars. In other words, the phase angle (angle between the Sun's incident light and the direction from the surface to the spacecraft) was near zero degrees. The sunlight reflecting from Mars near the zero phase angle produces the rare sun-glint phenomenon. The size and brightness of the glint depends on the physical properties of the surface (dust, sand, and rock distribution) and the atmosphere (haze/suspended dust). Studies of these images are expected to yield important information that can be compared with thermal emission observations.The picture is a color composite of MOC images 13601 (red wide angle) and 13602 (blue wide angle). The green-color band is synthesized from the red and blue using a relationship well-understood from Viking images of the late 1970s. The large, dark region near the top-center of the picture is Sinus Meridiani. The circular feature at the upper right is the impact basin, Schiaparelli. The opposition surge feature --the sun glint-- is centered around 21.0°S latitude, 4.1°W longitude.The two images were taken on Mars Global Surveyor's 136th orbit on February 18, 1998. Orbit 136 was the second-to-last orbit on which MOC obtained images of Mars during the first aerobraking phase (AB-1) of the mission. MOC was off between the end of AB-1 on February 19, 1998, until the start of Science Phasing Orbit-1 phase (SPO-1), which began March 28 and ended April 28, 1998.Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. | |
This color image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit was processed to produce a sharper look at a trail left by the one of rover's airbags. The drag mark was made after the rover landed and its airbags were deflated and retracted. | Click on the image for Airbag Trail Dubbed "Magic Carpet" (QTVR)Magic Carpet Close-upMagic Carpet Close-up HDThis section of the first color image from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has been further processed to produce a sharper look at a trail left by the one of rover's airbags. The drag mark was made after the rover landed and its airbags were deflated and retracted. Scientists have dubbed the region the "Magic Carpet" after a crumpled portion of the soil that appears to have been peeled away (lower left side of the drag mark). Rocks were also dragged by the airbags, leaving impressions and "bow waves" in the soil. The mission team plans to drive the rover over to this site to look for additional clues about the composition of the martian soil. This image was taken by Spirit's panoramic camera.This extreme close-up image (see insets above) highlights the martian feature that scientists have named "Magic Carpet" because of its resemblance to a crumpled carpet fold. Scientists think the soil here may have detached from its underlying layer, possibly due to interaction with the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's airbag after landing. This image was taken on Mars by the rover's panoramic camera. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows Cavi Angusti, located near the south polar cap. It consists of large irregular steep-sided depressions termed cavi. | Context imageCavi Angusti is located near the south polar cap and consists of large irregular steep-sided depressions termed cavi.Orbit Number: 91670 Latitude: -75.7331 Longitude: 292.795 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-08-14 09:31Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The large sand sheet with surface dune forms seen in this image from NASA's Mars Odyssey is located on the complex floor of Rabe Crater. The sand is likely derived by erosion into the deposit that fills most of the crater floor. | Context imageThe large sand sheet with surface dune forms seen in this VIS image is located on the complex floor of Rabe Crater. The sand is likely derived by erosion into the deposit that fills most of the crater floor, creating a pit which hosts the dunes. This crater morphology is unique to Rabe Crater. Rabe Crater is part of Noachis Terra.Orbit Number: 72201 Latitude: -43.5392 Longitude: 34.6572 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-03-25 04:53Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This view of one of the footpads of NASA's three-legged Phoenix Mars Lander shows a solid surface at the spacecraft's landing site. | This view of one of the footpads of NASA's three-legged Phoenix Mars Lander shows a solid surface at the spacecraft's landing site. As the legs touched down on the surface of Mars, they kicked up some loose material on top of the footpad, but overall, the surface is unperturbed.Each footpad is about the size of a large dinner plate, measuring 11.5 inches from rim to rim. The base of the footpad is shaped like the bottom of a shallow bowl to provide stability.This image was taken by the spacecraft's Surface Stereo Imager shortly after landing, at 17:07 local time on Mars.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 linear depressions, part of Nili Fossae. | 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. The linear depressions in today's false color image are part of Nili Fossae. Nili Fossae is a collection of curved faults and down-dropped blocks of crust between the faults called graben. The "fossae," or graben, lie northeast of the large volcano Syrtis Major and northwest of the ancient impact basin Isidis Planitia. The graben, which can be almost 500 meters (1,600 feet) deep, make concentric curves that follow the outline of Isidis Planitia. The graben likely formed as the crust sagged under the weight of lava flows filling the Isidis Planitia impact basin.Orbit Number: 79198 Latitude: 23.3867 Longitude: 78.7424 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-10-22 11:40Please 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 Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows the location with the most impressive known gully activity in Mars' northern hemisphere. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThis image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows the location with the most impressive known gully activity in Mars' northern hemisphere. Gullies are active in the winter due to carbon dioxide frost, but northern winters are shorter and warmer than southern winters, so there is less frost and less gully activity.An enhanced-color image cutout shows recent gullies with bright colors. The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 61.5 centimeters (24.2 inches) per pixel (with 2 x 2 binning); objects on the order of 185 centimeters (72.8 inches) across are resolved.] North is upThe University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
The crater gullies, channels and fractures in this image taken by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft are located on the eastern margin of Tempe Terra. | Context imageThe crater gullies, channels and fractures in this VIS image are located on the eastern margin of Tempe Terra.Orbit Number: 53370 Latitude: 43.4434 Longitude: 303.065 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-12-25 09:24Please 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. | |
These color and black and white pictures of Mars were taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope just two weeks after Earth made its closest approach to the Red Planet during the 1997 opposition. | These color and black and white pictures of Mars were taken by NASA's Hubble Space Telescope just two weeks after Earth made its closest approach to the Red Planet during the 1997 opposition. When the Hubble pictures were taken Mars was at a distance of 62 million miles (100 million kilometers) and the resolution at the center of the disk is 13.5 miles/pixel (22 kilometers/pixel). Both images were made with the Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2. The color composite (left image) is constructed from three images taken in red (673 nanometers), green (502 nm) and blue (410 nm) light. The right image, in blue light only, brings out details in the cloud structure and is remarkably similar to weather satellite pictures taken of Earth. A planetary-scale wave curls around the north pole, similar in behavior to high latitude cold fronts which descend over North America and Europe during springtime.The picture was taken when Mars was near aphelion, its farthest point from the Sun. The faint sunlight results in cold atmospheric conditions which stimulate the formation of water ice clouds. The clouds themselves further reduce atmospheric temperatures. Atmospheric heating, resulting when sunlight is absorbed by the dust, is reduced when ice forms around the dust particles and causes the dust to gravitationally settle to the ground.These images of Mars are centered at approximately 94 degrees longitude and 23 degrees N latitude (oriented with north up). The four largest Tharsis Montes (massive extinct volcanoes) are visible as dark spots extending through the clouds. The vast canyon system, Valles Marineris, stretches across the eastern (lower right) half of the image; the Pathfinder landing site is near the eastern edge of the image. It is early summer in the northern hemisphere, and the North polar cap has retreated to about 80 degrees N latitude; the "residual" summer cap, which is composed of water ice, is about one-third the size of the "seasonal" winter cap, which consists mostly of carbon-dioxide frost (dry ice) condensed on the surface. The polar cap is surrounded by a "sand sea" made up of dark sand dunes. A distinct belt of water-ice clouds extends over much of this hemisphere.This image and other images and data received from the Hubble Space Telescope are posted on the World Wide Web on the Space Telescope Science Institute home page at URL http://oposite.stsci.edu/. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a portion of Nirgal Vallis, an ancient valley system in the Mare Erythraeum region of Mars. The valley floor is covered by large, ripple-like bedforms created by wind. | 28 September 2004For the past several weeks, Mars was on the other side of the Sun relative to Earth. During this period, known as solar conjunction, radio communication with spacecraft orbiting and roving on Mars was limited. As is always done during solar conjunction, on 7 September 2004, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) was turned off. On Saturday, 25 September 2004, the MOC team gathered at Malin Space Science Systems to command the instrument to turn back on again. After a successful turn-on, MOC acquired its first narrow angle camera image, shown here, on orbit 24808 (24,808th orbit since the start of the Mapping phase of the MGS mission in March 1999). The 25 September image shows a portion of Nirgal Vallis, an ancient valley system in the Mare Erythraeum region of Mars. The valley floor is covered by large, ripple-like bedforms created by wind. This early southern winter image is located near 27.4°S, 42.9°W, and covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. This was the 4th solar conjunction period that MGS and MOC have been through since the spacecraft reached the red planet in September 1997. The four solar conjunction periods, where MOC was turned off, were: First solar conjunction: 29 April - 1 June 1998 Second solar conjunction: 22 June - 12 July 2000 Third solar conjunction: 1 August - 18 August 2002 Fourth solar conjunction: 7 September - 25 September 2004.In late October, MGS MOC will mark the start of its fourth Mars year since the beginning of the Mapping Phase of the mission in March 1999. MGS and MOC have already been orbiting Mars for more than 4 Mars years, including the pre-Mapping aerobrake and science phasing orbit insertion periods. | |
Enigmatic Ice Mound | This full HiRISE image shows the edge of an ice mound located inside a 1.5 Km (~1 mile) deep impact crater a few hundred kilometers south of the northern permanent ice cap. The ice-mound is up to 200m (656 feet) thick at its center and much thinner here at its edge. Similar surface textures within and around the ice deposit indicate that the ice is thin here. It is somewhat of a mystery as to why this mound of ice survives in such a southerly location where temperatures are much warmer than those at the north pole. The brightness of the ice itself has a self-preservation effect: bright surfaces remain cooler, which limits the amount of ice lost during the summer. The adjacent ice-free dark surfaces get much warmer, which means that fresh ice cannot form there. These feedback effects are the reason that the edge of this ice-covered area is so sharp. The puzzling part of the story is that there are nearby, similarly-sized craters which are ice-free. Some special property of this particular crater allowed the ice to be either originally deposited there and not in other craters or retained here and lost in other craters. Possibilities for this special property include a local source of water unique to this crater or unusual weather conditions associated with this crater but not others. Image PSP_001370_2505 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on November 11, 2006. The complete image is centered at 70.1 degrees latitude, 103.0 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 314.1 km (196.3 miles). At this distance the image scale ranges from 31.4 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 62.9 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning). The image shown here has been map-projected to 25 cm/pixel. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:00 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 59 degrees, thus the sun was about 31 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 133.7 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows small ridges known as yardangs located southwest of Olympus Mons near Gordii Dorsum on Mars. | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-383, 6 June 2003Small ridges known as yardangs in the upper left quarter of this April 2003 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image indicate that wind has stripped away a mantling layer of sediment to reveal the terrain beneath. Layers and boulders on the cliff face near the south-center of the image show that the substrate is quite competent; its location southwest of Olympus Mons near Gordii Dorsum suggests the bedrock here may include old lava flows. The picture is located near 4.8°N, 142.7°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the left/lower left. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows Angustus Labyrinthus. The squares formed by intersecting ridges earned the feature the informal name of the Inca City when it was discovered in Mariner 9 images in 1972. | Context imageAngustus Labyrinthus is a unique region near the south polar cap. The squares formed by intersecting ridges earned the feature the informal name of the Inca City when it was discovered in Mariner 9 images in 1972. The linear ridges are believed to have formed by volcanic and tectonic forces, where magma filled fractures in the subsurface and then erosion revealed the magmatic material.Orbit Number: 84158 Latitude: -81.3484 Longitude: 296.938 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-12-03 20:45Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a small portion of the immense lava flows that originated from Arsia Mons. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a small portion of the immense lava flows that originated from Arsia Mons. Arsia Mons is the southernmost of the three large aligned volcanoes in the Tharsis region. Arsia Mons' last eruption was 10s of million years ago. The different surface textures are created by differences in the lava viscosity and cooling rates. The lobate margins of each flow can be traced back to the start of each flow — or to the point where they are covered by younger flows. Flows in Daedalia Planum can be as long as 180 km (111 miles). For comparison the longest Hawaiian lava flow is only 51 km (˜31 miles) long. The total area of Daedalia Planum is 2.9 million square km – more than four times the size of Texas.Orbit Number: 91603 Latitude: -23.5547 Longitude: 238.804 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-08-08 20:42Please 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 false-color image released on May 27, 2004 from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey of material entering Moreux Crater from the rim area on Mars was acquired March 17, 2003, during northern summer. | Released 27 May 2004This image of material entering Moreux Crater from the rim area was acquired March 17, 2003, during northern summer.The THEMIS VIS camera is capable of capturing color images of the martian surface using its 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 the use of 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.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 41.1, Longitude 44.1 East (315.9 West). 38 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 spacecraft shows lava flows from Arsia Mons on Mars. | Context imageLike yesterday's image, this THEMIS VIS image shows lava flows from Arsia Mons.Orbit Number: 49739 Latitude: -24.4896 Longitude: 237.755 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-03-01 12:55 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. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity recorded this view of a crater informally named 'Freedom 7' shortly before the 50th anniversary of the first American in space: astronaut Alan Shepard's flight in the Freedom 7 spacecraft. | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity recorded this view of a crater informally named "Freedom 7" shortly before the 50th anniversary of the first American in space: astronaut Alan Shepard's flight in the Freedom 7 spacecraft. The image combines two frames that Opportunity took with its navigation camera during the 2,585th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (May 2, 2011). Shepard's suborbital flight lasted 15 minutes on May 5, 1961. The crater is about 25 meters (82 feet) in diameter. It is the largest of a cluster of about eight craters all formed just after an impactor broke apart in the Martian atmosphere. By taking advantage of seeing many craters of diverse ages during drives between major destinations, the Opportunity mission is documenting how impact craters change with time. The cluster that includes Freedom 7 crater formed after sand ripples in the area last migrated, which is estimated to be about 200,000 years ago. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
NASA's rover Curiosity appears as a bluish dot near the lower right corner of this enhanced-color view from the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. | NASA's Mars Science Laboratory rover Curiosity appears as a bluish dot near the lower right corner of this enhanced-color view from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The rover's tracks are visible extending from the landing site, "Bradbury Landing," in the left half of the scene. Two bright, relatively blue spots surrounded by darker patches are where the Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft's landing jets cleared away reddish surface dust at the landing site. North is toward the top. For scale, the two parallel lines of the wheel tracks are about 10 feet (3 meters) apart.HiRISE shot this image on June 27, 2013, when Curiosity was at an outcrop called "Shaler" in the "Glenelg" area of Gale Crater. Subsequently the rover drove away from Glenelg toward the southwest.When HiRISE captured this view, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was rolled for an eastward-looking angle rather than straight downward. The afternoon sun illuminated the scene from the western sky, so the lighting was nearly behind the camera. Specifically, the angle from sun to orbiter to rover was just 5.47 degrees. This geometry hides shadows and reveals subtle color variations.The image is one product from HiRISE observation ESP_032436_1755. Other image products from this observation are available at http://uahirise.org/ESP_032436_1755.HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, 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 southeastward-looking vista from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the 'Pahrump Hills' outcrop and surrounding terrain seen from a position about 70 feet (20 meters) northwest of the outcrop. | This southeastward-looking vista from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the "Pahrump Hills" outcrop and surrounding terrain seen from a position about 70 feet (20 meters) northwest of the outcrop. The component images were acquired on Sept. 17, 2014, during the 751st Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars. The rover team used these images to select a first drilling site on Pahrump Hills, which is part of the base layer of Mount Sharp. The selected drilling location is in the near portion of the pale outcrop to the right of the sand ripples.The scene includes four distinct features:1. Sand ripples in foreground, typical of those along the floors of valleys in this area within Gale Crater2. The Pahrump Hills section of the Murray formation, where approximately 60 vertical feet (18 meters) of rock layers are exposed3. A darker ridge off in the distance toward the left4. Northwestern slopes of Mount Sharp in the background, where an abrupt transition is apparent between the buttes and valleys in the lower part and the tilted and carved beds of the upper partThis view combines several exposures taken by the Mastcam's left-eye camera. The color has been approximately white-balanced to resemble how the scene would appear under daytime lighting conditions on Earth. 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. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates the rover's Mastcam.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows an area located between the uplands of Aeolis Mensae and Aeolis Planum. | Context imageThis VIS image is located between the uplands of Aeolis Mensae and Aeolis Planum. This region of the Martian surface is highly dissected by wind action. The surface materials are poorly cemented and easily eroded. It has been suggested that the surface is comprised of volcanic ash deposits, sourced from the Tharsis and Apollinaris volcanoes.Orbit Number: 81417 Latitude: -4.34556 Longitude: 145.846 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-04-22 04:36Please 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 observation from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a beautiful example of gullies in a massif in Nereidum Montes, located in Argyre Planitia, one of the largest impact basins on Mars. | This observation shows a beautiful example of gullies in a massif in Nereidum Montes, located in Argyre Planitia, one of the largest impact basins on Mars.The purpose of acquiring this full-resolution image of these gullies was to take a closer look at where they are originating from in the massif wall. If we can answer that, we might be able to learn what were the processes that actually formed these gullies. In this particular region, there might be indications of a glacial past.Nereidum Montes extends approximately 1150 kilometers, and was named by the noted Greek astronomer Eugène Michel Antoniadi (1870-1944).HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the orbiter's 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 in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | 22 January 2004 This January 2004 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows three distinct bands of layered material exposed in the wall of a south, middle-latitude meteor impact crater wall. Talus--debris shed from erosion of the wall--has piled up on the slopes below the layered outcrop. This picture is located near 45.5°S, 85.9°W, and covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the right/lower right. | |
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its navigation cameras to capture this scene after making a detour around the toughest climb it has ever faced. | Figure A
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its navigation cameras to capture this scene after making a detour around the toughest climb it has ever faced. After the rover struggled to crest a 23-degree slope covered with slippery sand and wheel-sized rocks, the mission decided to drive about 492 feet (150 meters) to a location where the slope was below 15 degrees, and there were fewer rocks and less sand.
This mosaic shows the view ahead as the rover began to ascend the area that was less challenging.
Figure A shows a map with Curiosity's route; the red dot is where the rover was positioned when it captured this panorama.
The map imagery was provided by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). Each black dot represents one of the rover's stops after a drive; in the upper left corner is a cluster of dots where the rover struggled to crest the steep slope. After the detour (the right side of the map), Curiosity visited a cluster of impact craters (the pockmarked terrain at the bottom of the map).
Curiosity was built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed by Caltech in Pasadena, California. JPL leads the mission, along with MRO, on behalf of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. MRO was built by Lockheed Martin Space. JPL manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate.
For more about Curiosity, visit: http://mars.nasa.gov/msl.
For more about MRO, visit: http://mars.nasa.gov/mro. | |
The channel on the right side of this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft is located in the volcanic plains southeast of Alba Mons. | Context imageThe channel on the right side of today's VIS image is located in the volcanic plains southeast of Alba Mons.Orbit Number: 45555 Latitude: 30.9693 Longitude: 262.842 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-03-22 05:05Please 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | 3 February 2004 Wind is the chief agent of change on Mars today. Wind blows dust and it can move coarser sediment such as sand and silt. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows bright ripples or small dunes on the floors of troughs northeast of Isidis Planitia near 31.1°N, 244.6°W. The picture covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide; sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left. | |
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 captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows an unnamed crater in Acidalia Planitia. | Context imageThe THEMIS 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 images shows an unnamed crater in Acidalia Planitia. The "dark blue" material is likely basaltic sand.Orbit Number: 19321 Latitude: 42.1856 Longitude: 359.705 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2006-04-23 05:40Please 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. | |
Perseverance relies on left and right navigation cameras. The view seen here combines the perspective of two cameras rover during the rover's first drive using AutoNav, it's auto-navigation function. | Click here for animationThe view from the left and right navigation cameras aboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover during its first drive using its auto-navigation function, also called AutoNav. While the navigation cameras are capable of color, the mobility software uses panchromatic images, which are easier for the machine-vision software to process. Perseverance's upgraded cameras and new Vision Compute Element computer have enabled major upgrades in mobility software. The new auto-navigation algorithms allow the rover to drive quicker and more efficiently than its predecessors. As a first test of its abilities, Perseverance's team planned a drive that took the rover to a hazardous rock with AutoNav enabled. The software identified the rock as hazardous and successfully deviated the rover's course around it.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Ariadnes Colles. The term colles means hills. | Context image This VIS image shows part of Ariadnes Colles. The term colles means hills. The hills in this image are much brighter than the surroundings, possibly due to erosion or removal of the darker material from the upper elevations of the hills.Orbit Number: 66840 Latitude: -33.9961 Longitude: 171.816 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2017-01-07 11:47Please 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 lava crumpled against the upstream side of an impact crater as seen by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. | This image shows lava crumpled against the upstream side of an impact crater. In places where we see smaller ridges in the lava, they have steep faces that retain less dust and look rocky. Because of the lesser amount of dust, we might be able to see better details of the topography.The crater itself is extremely old, having long been filled in with dust and its rim severely eroded. Note also the flat surrounding terrain.HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the orbiter's 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 in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This mosaic shows a north-facing outcrop, informally named 'Greeley Haven.' The site is near the northern tip of the 'Cape York' segment of the western rim of Endeavour Crater. | This mosaic was acquired by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's Panoramic Camera (Pancam) on Sol 2793 (Dec. 2, 2011). It shows a north-facing outcrop, informally named "Greeley Haven," where Opportunity will work during the rover's fifth Martian winter. The rover team chose this designation as a tribute to the influential planetary geologist Ronald Greeley (1939-2011), who was a member of the science team for the Mars rovers and many other interplanetary missions. The site is of interest not only for its geologic features but because it has favorable northerly slopes to optimize Opportunity's solar energy as winter approaches in the southern hemisphere of Mars. After this mosaic was acquired, Opportunity backed up the slope to park at approximately 16 degrees northerly tilt and used tools on its robotic arm (Instrument Deployment Device, or IDD) to examine rock and soil targets. After deciding that the site could serve the mission well for the next several months, the team designated it as a memorial for Greeley, who taught generations of planetary scientists at Arizona State University, Tempe, until his death on Oct. 27, 2011.The site is near the northern tip of the "Cape York" segment of the western rim of Endeavour Crater.The image combines exposures taken through Pancam filters centered on wavelengths of 753 nanometers (near infrared), 535 nanometers (green) and 432 nanometers (violet). The view is presented in approximate true color. This "natural color" is the rover team's best estimate of what the scene would look like if humans were there and able to see it with their own eyes.Plans for research continuing through the months at Greeley Haven include a radio-science investigation of the interior of Mars, inspections of mineral compositions and textures on the outcrop, and assembly of a full-circle, color panorama of the surroundings. The planned full-circle image will be called the Greeley Panorama. | |
With its rim eroded off by catastrophic floods in Tiu Vallis and its strangely angular shape, this 12 km (about 7.5 mile) diameter crater imaged by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft looks vaguely like a stop sign. | With its rim eroded off by catastrophic floods in Tiu Vallis and its strangely angular shape, this 12 km diameter crater looks vaguely like a stop sign.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 8.6, Longitude 329.2 East (30.8 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution. | |
Mantling Material on Crater Floor | Click on image for larger versionThis HiRISE image (PSP_001507_1400) shows remnants of a mantling deposit on the floor of a crater in the southern highlands of Mars. The slope up towards the crater rim is visible in the lower right part of the image. The rough, hummocky texture may be related to loss of ice from material that was once ice-rich. One goal of this image was to investigate the parallel lines that are visible around several of the large hummocks and hills in the image's center (see subimage, approx. 500 m [1/3 mile] across). We'd like to determine whether these are layers that are present throughout the rock, or whether they are merely on the surface. In the first case, these may be the expression of buried bedrock layers. However, it is also possible that these are related to the mantling deposits, perhaps representing variations in the mantle. At high resolution, the lines appear to be small ridges, that are either buried by or composed of the mantling material. In the best exposures, these ridges look like the edges of layers of the mantling material that was draped over the entire region and then eroded off the high places. This suggests the second hypothesis: we are probably seeing variations in the mantle, perhaps due to multiple cycles of material being laid down.Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 11 November 2006Local Mars time: 3:40 PMDegrees latitude (centered): -39.6°Degrees longitude (East): 343.8°Range to target site: 251.1 km (156.9 miles)Original image scale range: from 25.1 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 100.5 cm/pixel (with 4 x 4 binning)Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAREmission angle: 0.3°Phase angle: 76.0°Solar incidence angle: 76°, with the Sun about 14° above the horizonSolar longitude: 138.9°, Northern AutumnNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
The graben in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft is Cyane Fossae. The lava flows are part of the extensive Tharsis volcanic flows. | Context imageThe graben in this VIS image is Cyane Fossae. The lava flows are part of the extensive Tharsis volcanic flows.Orbit Number: 54084 Latitude: 23.9838 Longitude: 235.597 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-02-22 03:39Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The ridges in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft are part of Angustus Labyrinthus. | Context image The ridges in this VIS image are part of Angustus Labyrinthus. The intersecting ridges were most likely formed due to tectonic activity.Orbit Number: 67279 Latitude: -81.43 Longitude: 296.558 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2017-02-12 16:12Please 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. | |
Wheel slippage during attempts to extricate NASA's Mars Rover Spirit from a patch of soft ground during the preceding two weeks had partially buried
the wheels by the 1,899th Martian day, or sol, of the Spirit's mission on Mars (May 6, 2009). | Wheel slippage during attempts to extricate NASA's Mars Rover Spirit from a patch of soft ground during the preceding two weeks had partially buried the wheels by the 1,899th Martian day, or sol, of the Spirit's mission on Mars (May 6, 2009).Spirit took this image with its front hazard-avoidance camera on Sol 1899. With Spirit in the position shown here, the rover team temporarily suspended driving attempts while studying the ground around Spirit and planning simulation tests of driving options with a test rover at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.Driving attempts between the time Spirit took a similar image (PIA12002) 10 sols earlier and when this image was taken moved the rover a total of about 36 centimeters (14 inches).While driving backwards, the rover drags its right front wheel, which no longer rotates. For scale, the distance between the wheel tracks is about 1 meter (40 inches). This view is looking northward, with Husband Hill on the horizon. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows dozens of light- and a few dark-toned sedimentary rock layers exposed by faulting and erosion in western Candor Chasma, part of the vast Valles Marineris trough system on Mars. | 11 February 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dozens of light- and a few dark-toned sedimentary rock layers exposed by faulting and erosion in western Candor Chasma, part of the vast Valles Marineris trough system.Location near: 6.5°S, 77.0°W Image width: ~~3.0 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Autumn | |
The dark markings in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft are tracks made by the passage of 'dust devils.' Dust devils are common in the extensive plains of the northern latitudes. This image is located in Utopia Planitia. | Context imageThe dark markings in this VIS image are tracks made by the passage of "dust devils". Dust devils are common in the extensive plains of the northern latitudes. This image is located in Utopia Planitia.Orbit Number: 53315 Latitude: 55.0129 Longitude: 91.1792 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-12-20 20:43Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The dunes shown in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey are located on the floor of Hussey Crater in Terra Sirenum. | Context imageThe dunes in today's VIS image are located on the floor of Hussey Crater in Terra Sirenum.Orbit Number: 41425 Latitude: -53.0143 Longitude: 233.095 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-04-17 05:08Please 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 dune field located on the floor of Kaiser Crater on Mars. | Context imageCredit: NASA/JPL/MOLAThis daytime IR image shows part of the dune field located on the floor of Kaiser Crater.Image information: IR instrument. Latitude -47.5N, Longitude 19.6E. 122 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 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft took this image of Candor Chasma showing a complex region of eroded layered deposits. | Context imageCredit: NASA/JPL/MOLAThis VIS image of Candor Chasma shows a complex region of eroded layered deposits.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -5.5N, Longitude 284.6E. 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. | |
This image was taken by the Lander Vision System Camera (LCAM) of NASA's Perseverance rover. The camera served as part of the Terrain-Relative Navigation system, a kind of autopilot that helps the spacecraft avoid hazards as it lands. | The heat shield drops away toward Mars after being released from the Mars 2020 back shell during the spacecraft's descent through the Martian atmosphere on Feb. 18, 2021. The heat shield and back shell encapsulated NASA's Perseverance rover on its journey to the Red Planet. This image was taken by the rover's Lander Vision System Camera (LCAM), serving as part of the Terrain-Relative Navigation system. This was the first use at Mars of the system, which compared images from below the spacecraft to an onboard map, helping to guide the spacecraft to a safe landing spot in Jezero Crater. Past missions had deemed Jezero Crater too hazardous to be a landing site because of its cliffs, dunes, and boulders.The LCAM generates 1024x1024 pixel grayscale images across a 90x90-degree field of view. The exposure time for each image is just under 150 microseconds, which enables crisp images during descent.LCAM was provided by Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego; the Perseverance rover was built and is operated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. JPL is a division of Caltech in Pasadena.For more information about the mission, go to: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020 | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows a delta deposit on the floor of Holden Crater. This delta was formed by small channels dissecting the rim of the crater, rather than the influx of material from Uzboi Vallis. | Context imageCredit: NASA/JPL/MOLAThis VIS image shows a delta deposit on the floor of Holden Crater. This delta was formed by small channels dissecting the rim of the crater, rather than the influx of material from Uzboi Vallis.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -26.9N, Longitude 325.6E. 20 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 shows a region of chaos near the terminal end of Morava Valles. | Context imageThis VIS image shows a region of chaos near the terminal end of Morava Valles. Located in Margaritifer Terra, Morava Valles is one of several channels that empty northward towards Chryse Planitia. Morava Valles arises from a region of chaos. Chaos terrain is also found along the course of the channel and may occur where the channel flow fluid warmed the subsurface ice creating additional release points for melted subsurface ice. Chaos terrain is typified by regions of blocky, often steep sided, mesas interspersed with deep valleys. With time and erosion the valleys widen and the mesas become smaller. It has been proposed that a catastrophic outflow of subsurface water creates the chaos and provides the surface flow creating the channel.Orbit Number: 79002 Latitude: -11.1516 Longitude: 338.097 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-10-06 08:08Please 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 dark sand dunes in Arkhangelsky Crater on Mars. The steepest slopes on these dunes, their slip faces, point toward the northeast (upper right), indicating formative winds from the southwest. | 24 August 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dark sand dunes in Arkhangelsky Crater, named for A. D. Arkhangelsky (1879-1940), an influential, early Russian geologist. The steepest slopes on these dunes, their slip faces, point toward the northeast (upper right), indicating formative winds from the southwest.Location near: 41.3°S, 25.0°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Autumn | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows outcrops of sedimentary rocks in a crater located just north of the Sinus Meridiani region on Mars. Perhaps the crater was once the site of a martian lake. | 6 November 2005This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows outcrops of sedimentary rocks in a crater located just north of the Sinus Meridiani region. Perhaps the crater was once the site of a martian lake.Location near: 2.9°N, 359.0°W Image width: width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Northern Autumn | |
This image taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows ice sheets at Mars' south pole. The spacecraft detected clays nearby this ice; previously interpreted as liquid water. | This image taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows ice sheets at Mars' south pole. The spacecraft detected clays near this ice; scientists have proposed such clays are the source of radar reflections that have been previously interpreted as liquid water using data from the ESA (European Space Agency) Mars Express orbiter.Flying 186 miles (300 kilometers) above the Martian surface, MRO used its High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera to study the ice sheets while using its Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer (CRISM) to map out clay minerals near the ice.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages MRO for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, led the work to build the CRISM instrument and operates CRISM in coordination with an international team of researchers from universities, government and the private sector. | |
This NASA Mars Odyssey image of NASA's Viking 1 landing site was taken to commemorate the anniversaries of NASA's Apollo 11 landing on the Moon and Viking 1 landing on Mars -- July 20, 1969 and July 20, 1976, respectively. | (Released 20 July 2002)The date July 20 marks two major milestones in humanity's grand push to explore the frontier of space. On this date, in 1969, the Apollo 11 lunar module Eagle landed the first men (Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin) on another celestial body, the Moon . In 1976, seven years to the day, the robotic Viking 1 Lander made the first successful landing on the ruddy rock strewn surface of Mars . To commemorate these milestones the THEMIS Team is releasing both an IR (Infra-Red) and Visible image of the Viking 1 landing site. THEMIS is currently imaging landing sites for future robotic missions including the twin Mars Exploration Rovers set to touchdown in January 2004. All of these missions anticipate the day when, hopefully in the not too distant future, astronauts will land on the red planet. So as we reflect on our rich tradition of space exploration let us also dream and plan on a wondrous future exploring the mysterious red planet.Viking 1 landed on a relatively smooth plain in Chryse Planitia (Plains of Gold), which is a low region of the northern hemisphere of Mars. The reported landing site is 22.48° N, 49.97° W. The landing site is marked with an X in the images. This region of Mars is dominated by plains, wrinkle ridges, and impact craters.This one band IR (band 9 at 12.6 microns) image shows bright and dark textures, which are primarily due to differences in the abundance of rocks on the surface. The relatively cool (dark) regions during the day are rocky or indurated materials whereas fine sand and dust are warmer (bright). The brightness levels show daytime surface temperatures, which range from about minus 34 degrees to minus 22 degrees Celsius (minus 29 degrees to minus 8 degrees Fahrenheit). Many of the temperature variations are due to slope effects, with sun-facing slopes warmer than shaded slopes. The dark rings around several of the craters are due to the presence of rocky (cool) material ejected from the crater. These rocks are well below the resolution of any existing Mars camera, but THEMIS can detect the temperature variations they produce.Daytime temperature variations are produced by a combination of topographic (solar heating) and thermophysical (thermal inertia and albedo) effects. Due to topographic heating the surface morphologies seen in THEMIS daytime IR images are similar to those seen in previous imagery and MOLA topography. Smooth, undulating, and ridged plains dominate this scene. The major thermophysical variations seen in daytime images are associated with impact craters and the wrinkle ridges. Other than these ejecta deposits and the wrinkle ridges, there is little variation in the thermophysical properties of the surface materials. | |
NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows Mars' surface likely had fractures or preexisting tectonic features that diverted some of the impact stresses along those features. | Context imageMost impact events create round craters. In this case the crater is not round, which likely means the surface had fractures or preexisting tectonic features that diverted some of the impact stresses along those features and resulted in the straighter east and north sides.Orbit Number: 46152 Latitude: 10.6203 Longitude: 323.397 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-05-10 09:25Please 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a set of south middle-latitude gullies in a crater wall on Mars. Some of the gullies and the erosional alcoves that formed above them have cut and exposed a light-toned material. | 29 March 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a set of south middle-latitude gullies in a crater wall. Some of the gullies and the erosional alcoves that formed above them have cut and exposed a light-toned material. In the larger gully, this material has been transported down the slope, through the channel, to give the debris apron a lighter tone, as well. The origin of middle-and polar-latitude gullies on Mars remains an area of active debate and discussion within the Mars science community. Mass movement of debris, everyone agrees, has occurred. Unclear are the relative roles of water, ice, and carbon dioxide, if any, in the processes that created the gullies. The light-toned material exposed by the gullies is bedrock, not ice. These features occur near 38.8°S, 40.3°W. This February 2004 image covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the Elysium/Mare Cimmerium face of Mars in mid-June 2005. | 28 June 2005This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 230° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 230° occurred in mid-June 2005. The picture shows the Elysium/Mare Cimmerium face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.Season Northern Autumn/Southern Spring |
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