short_caption
stringlengths 3
255
| caption
stringlengths 31
10.7k
| image_url
stringlengths 61
61
|
|---|---|---|
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a grainy image where the rover's airbags left impressions in the martian soil. The drag marks were made after the rover successfully landed at Meridiani Planum and its airbags were retracted. | This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows where the rover's airbags left impressions in the martian soil. The drag marks were made after the rover successfully landed at Meridiani Planum and its airbags were retracted. The rover can be seen in the foreground. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the wall of Hebes Chasma as well as the complex floor materials. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of the wall of Hebes Chasma as well as the complex floor materials.Orbit Number: 51210 Latitude: -0.400442 Longitude: 284.162 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-06-30 15:57Please 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 microscopic imager mosaic of the target area called 'Diamond Jenness' was taken after NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity ground into the surface with its rock abrasion tool for a second time. | This microscopic imager mosaic of the target area called "Diamond Jenness" was taken after NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity ground into the surface with its rock abrasion tool for a second time.Opportunity has bored nearly a dozen holes into the inner walls of "Endurance Crater." On sols 177 and 178 (July 23 and July 24, 2004), the rover worked double-duty on Diamond Jenness. Surface debris and the bumpy shape of the rock resulted in a shallow and irregular hole, only about 2 millimeters (0.08 inch) deep. The final depth was not enough to remove all the bumps and leave a neat hole with a smooth floor. This extremely shallow depression was then examined by the rover's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer.On Sol 178, Opportunity's "robotic rodent" dined on Diamond Jenness once again, grinding almost an additional 5 millimeters (about 0.2 inch). The rover then applied its Moessbauer spectrometer to the deepened hole. This double dose of Diamond Jenness enabled the science team to examine the rock at varying layers. Results from those grindings are currently being analyzed.The image mosaic is about 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) across. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the lava field just off the northern flank of Ascraeus Mons. The depressions are collapse features most likely related to lava tubes below the surface. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of the lava field just off the northern flank of Ascraeus Mons. The depressions are collapse features most likely related to lava tubes below the surface.Orbit Number: 44544 Latitude: 15.8247 Longitude: 254.759 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-12-30 00:51Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the floor of Rabe Crater. Located in Noachis Terra, Rabe Crater is 108 km (67 miles) across. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of the floor of Rabe Crater. Located in Noachis Terra, Rabe Crater is 108 km (67 miles) across. Dunes cover the majority of this image of Rabe Crater. As the dunes are created by wind action the forms of the dunes record the wind direction. Dunes will have a long low angle component and a short high angle side. The steep side is called the slip face. The wind blows up the long side of the dune. In this VIS image the slip faces are illuminated more than the longer side. In this part of the crater the winds were generally moving from the lower right corner of the image towards the upper left.Craters of similar size as Rabe Crater often have flat floors. Rabe Crater has some areas of flat floor, but also has a large complex pit occupying a substantial part of the floor. The interior fill of the crater is thought to be layered sediments created by wind and or water action. The pit is eroded into this material. The eroded materials appear to have stayed within the crater forming a large sand sheet with surface dune forms as well as individual dunes where the crater floor is visible. Several other craters in this region have complex floors with pits.Orbit Number: 84990 Latitude: -43.3123 Longitude: 34.9141 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-02-10 09:02Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Terra Sirenum. | 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 Terra Sirenum.The THEMIS VIS camera is capable of capturing color images of the Martian surface using five different color filters. In this mode of operation, the spatial resolution and coverage of the image must be reduced to accommodate the additional data volume produced from using multiple filters. To make a color image, three of the five filter images (each in grayscale) are selected. Each is contrast enhanced and then converted to a red, green, or blue intensity image. These three images are then combined to produce a full color, single image. Because the THEMIS color filters don't span the full range of colors seen by the human eye, a color THEMIS image does not represent true color. Also, because each single-filter image is contrast enhanced before inclusion in the three-color image, the apparent color variation of the scene is exaggerated. Nevertheless, the color variation that does appear is representative of some change in color, however subtle, in the actual scene. Note that the long edges of THEMIS color images typically contain color artifacts that do not represent surface variation.Orbit Number: 92366 Latitude: -37.8538 Longitude: 184.585 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-10-10 16:34Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey is of an unnamed channel in Margaritifer Terra. | Context imageToday's VIS image is of an unnamed channel in Margaritifer Terra.Orbit Number: 41022 Latitude: -12.423 Longitude: 345.677 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-03-15 00:32Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows many drainage channels in Promethei Terra. | Context image for PIA10066ChannelsMany drainage channels are visible in this image of Promethei Terra.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -38.1N, Longitude 106.6E. 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. | |
Ituxi Vallis is a lava channel located on the eastern side of Elysium Mons in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey. | Context imageItuxi Vallis is a lava channel located on the eastern side of Elysium Mons.Orbit Number: 37172 Latitude: 24.2991 Longitude: 150.935 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-05-02 02:05Please 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. | |
Color differences in this daytime infrared image taken by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft represent differences in the mineral composition of the rocks, sediments and dust on the surface. | (Released 29 May 2002)Color differences in this daytime infrared image taken by the camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft represent differences in the mineral composition of the rocks, sediments and dust on the surface. The image shows a portion of a canyon named Candor Chasma within the great Valles Marineris system of canyons, at approximately 5 degrees south latitude, 285 degrees east (75 degrees west) longitude. The area shown is approximately 30 by 175 kilometers (19 by 110 miles). The image combines exposures taken by Odyssey's thermal emission imaging system at three different wavelengths of infrared light: 6.3 microns, 7.4 microns and 8.7 microns. | |
There are many knob formations is the southeastern Acidalia region of Mars. All show a hilltop crest except one which has a summit crater that resembles a cone volcano in this image captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThere are many knob formations is the southeastern Acidalia region of Mars. All show a hilltop crest except one which has a summit crater that resembles a cone volcano.Knobs like these likely formed from interactions between water ice and lava. For instance, the crater at the top of the center knob is likely from a steam explosion when lava vaporized ice. As such, this summit crater is not an impact crater.This caption is based on a public target suggestion from HiWish.HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows an unnamed crater in Noachis Terra. The sinuous feature near the bottom of the crater rim appears to have been caused by down slope movement of materials. | Context imageThis VIS image is located in an unnamed crater in Noachis Terra. The sinuous feature near the bottom of the crater rim appears to have been caused by down slope movement of materials. The sinuous nature may have been created by inclusion of a volatile material such as ice.Orbit Number: 74447 Latitude: -39.937 Longitude: 11.1296 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-09-26 05:13Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows collapse pits and troughs on the lower northeast flank of the giant martian volcano, Ascraeus Mons on Mars. | 24 September 2005This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows collapse pits and troughs on the lower northeast flank of the giant martian volcano, Ascraeus Mons. Layers of volcanic rock are evident in some of the pit and valley walls, and boulders the size of houses and trucks that were liberated from these walls by gravity can be seen on the floors of the depressions.Location near: 13.6°N, 102.6°W Image width: width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Northern Autumn | |
The Amphitrites Patera region of Mars. This scene shows several indistinct ring structures and radial ridges of an old volcano named Amphitrites Patera, as seen by NASA's Viking spacecraft. | A color image of the Amphitrites Patera region of Mars; north toward top. The scene shows several indistinct ring structures and radial ridges of an old volcano named Amphitrites Patera. A patera (Latin for shallow dish or saucer) is a volcano of broad areal extent with little vertical relief.This image is a composite of Viking medium-resolution images in black and white and low-resolution images in color. The image extends from latitude 55 degrees S. to 62 degrees S. and from longitude 292 degrees to 311 degrees; Lambert projection.Amphitrites Patera is a 138-km-diameter feature on the south rim of Hellas impact basin and is one of many indistinct ring structures in the area. The location of the paterae in this area of Hellas indicates that their source magma may have been influenced by the transition fractures of the basin. The radial ridges of Amphitrites extend for about 400 km north into the Hellas basin. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of a crater and its ejecta. Located in Noachis Terra, this impact crater is not the typical round shape. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of a crater and its ejecta. Located in Noachis Terra, this impact crater is not the typical round shape. Instead, the rim has scallops and indentations. In most instances it is heterogeneities in the preexisting surface that deflect the impact energies and create 'out of round' craters. Tectonic faults are just one of the subsurface features capable of causing non-round craters.Orbit Number: 91604 Latitude: -45.6956 Longitude: 25.6058 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-08-08 23:16Please 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 Phoenix Mars Lander on Aug. 20, 2008 shows some of the soil on the screen beneath the doors and one of the cell's two doors is fully open. | Soil from a sample called Burning Coals was delivered through the doors of cell number seven (left) of the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander on Aug. 20, 2008, during the 85th Martian day, or sol, since Phoenix landed.This image from Phoenix's Robotic Arm Camera shows some of the soil on the screen beneath the doors. One of the cell's two doors is fully open, the other partially open.This soil sample comes from an intermediate depth between the ground surface and the hard, underground icy layer at the Phoenix site.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. | |
NASA's Mariner 9 took this picture of Mars during the closing hours of its approach to the planet on November 13, 1971. It can be identified on a Mars map as Arsia Silva. | Mariner 9 took this picture of Mars during the closing hours of its approach to the planet on November 13, 1971. The picture has been computer-enhanced with electronic high-pass filtering. The crater-like object at the lower left is about 124 miles (200 kilometers) across and is the same dark spot seen earlier in more distant views. It can be identified on a Mars map as Arsia Silva. The streaks pointing north--more than 1000 kilometers long--are either atmospheric turbulence patterns or dunes formed downwind of the crater. If they are dunes, they are as extensive as the largest in the Sahara in North Africa and those in Peru, South America. The picture was taken from a distance of 65,000 miles about eight hours before Mariner 9 went into orbit around Mars. It was transmitted back to Earth at 10:00 p.m. during the first orbit.Mariner 9 was the first spacecraft to orbit another planet. The spacecraft was designed to continue the atmospheric studies begun by Mariners 6 and 7, and to map over 70% of the Martian surface from the lowest altitude (1500 kilometers [900 miles]) and at the highest resolutions (1 kilometer per pixel to 100 meters per pixel) of any previous Mars mission.Mariner 9 was launched on May 30, 1971 and arrived on November 14, 1971. | |
Layered Deposits in Ritchey Crater | Click on image for larger versionHiRISE image (PSP_003249_1510) shows eroding layered deposits in Ritchey Crater, a large impact crater in the southern highlands. Three general units can be seen: a relatively dark upper layer, a light middle unit, and the floor material, which may be mostly obscured by dust. The dark cap layer appears to be relatively hard and resistant, while the light material is weak. Once the upper layer is removed, the light layer does not last long. The cutout from the top center part of the image shows this stack. The dark unit is thin and breaking into boulders. The light material is actually divided into smaller layers, and is pervasively fractured. However, the boulders falling from the edge are mostly small and rarely remain intact if they move more than a few meters. The cracking of the layer could be due to water loss from the layer, or to regional tectonic effects such as stresses from burial and erosion. The base unit is partially covered by wind-blown ripples. It is unclear how each of these layers formed. Volcanic ash layers, lake or stream deposits, or sandstone deposited by dunes can all produce horizontal layers. Unraveling the origin would provide important clues to Mars' past.Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 4 April 2007Local Mars time: 3:40 PMDegrees latitude (centered): -28.5°Degrees longitude (East): 309.4°Range to target site: 259.1 km (161.9 miles)Original image scale range: 25.9 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~78 cm across are resolvedMap-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAREmission angle: 7.4°Phase angle: 60.4°Solar incidence angle: 53°, with the Sun about 37° above the horizonSolar longitude: 214.1°, 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 from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a section of an unnamed channel in Tyrrhena Terra. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a section of an unnamed channel in Tyrrhena Terra.Orbit Number: 80421 Latitude: -12.0208 Longitude: 80.6346 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-01-31 04:20Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This illustration depicts charged particles from a solar storm stripping away charged particles of Mars' atmosphere, one of the processes of Martian atmosphere loss studied by NASA's MAVEN mission, beginning in 2014. | This illustration depicts charged particles from a solar storm stripping away charged particles of Mars' atmosphere, one of the processes of Martian atmosphere loss studied by NASA's MAVEN mission, beginning in 2014. Unlike Earth, Mars lacks a global magnetic field that could deflect charged particles emanating from the Sun.
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, manages the MAVEN project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. MAVEN's principal investigator is based at the University of Colorado Boulder's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, where the mission's IUVS team is also based. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built and operates the spacecraft.
For more information about MAVEN, visit http://www.nasa.gov/maven and http://lasp.colorado.edu/home/maven/. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the northeastern margin of Terra Sabaea. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of the northeastern margin of Terra Sabaea. This regional boundary between the highlands of Terra Sabaea and lowlands of Utopia Planitia is heavily dissected by both fluid flow channels and extensive faulting. While many of the channels are unnamed, this image has three named channels: Clasia Vallis (center of image with ridge in the middle of the channel), Hypsas Vallis (the next channel below Clasia Vallis) and Clanis Valles (the very shallow channel at the bottom of the image). Clasia Vallis is 147km (91 miles) long, Hypsas Vallis is 33km (20 miles) long. and Clanis Valles is 58km (36 miles) long.Orbit Number: 94223 Latitude: 34.7195 Longitude: 57.7232 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2023-03-12 15:13Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows collapse features on the southwest flank of Ascraeus Mons. | Context imageThis VIS image shows collapse features on the southwest flank of Ascraeus Mons.Orbit Number: 39689 Latitude: 8.57383 Longitude: 254.726 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-11-25 08:13Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This terrain, as seen by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, looks like lumpy sediment on top of patterned ground. The lumpy sediment is likely just loosely consolidated because it is covered with spidery channels. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThis terrain looks like lumpy sediment on top of patterned ground. The lumpy sediment is likely just loosely consolidated because it is covered with spidery channels.This landform is uniquely Martian, formed in the spring as seasonal dry ice turns directly into gas that erodes channels in the surface.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. | |
Daisy in Full Bloom on | This image from NASA_x0092_s Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows a daisy pattern created by the rover's rock abrasion tool on a rock dubbed "Mazatzal." The pattern was made as the rover brushed dust away from a large enough area of the surface of the wind-scalloped, volcanic rock to match the field of view of the rover's miniature thermal emission spectrometer. As Spirit ground into the surface with the diamond cutting teeth of the rock abrasion tool, a mineral-filled fracture in the rock suggested the possible presence of past water. The circles cut by the tool are about 5 centimeters (2 inches) in diameter.Spirit acquired this image on Sol 86 (March 31, 2004) with the panoramic camera_x0092_s 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer, and 432-nanometer filters. The image is presented here in false color that is used to bring out subtle color differences. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows boulders in large ripples formed by an ancient catastrophic flood in Mars' Athabasca Vallis on Mars. | Figure 1Researchers' goal in taking this image was to look for boulders in the large ripples formed by an ancient catastrophic flood in Mars' Athabasca Vallis. The Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft captured this image on Dec. 25, 2003, with use of an enhanced-resolution technique called compensated pitch and roll targeted observation.The flood-deposited megaripples had been seen in earlier, lower-resolution images from the same camera. They are the only good examples known of ripples formed in a giant catastrophic flood anywhere on Mars. Their presence indicates that large amounts of water poured rapidly through this area, based on resemblance to similar megaripples in catastrophic flood sites on Earth. The ripples in Athabasca Vallis were buried for some period and later exhumed. Strange, round features on top of some of the ripples and the adjacent plains are products of erosion and removal of the overlying layer. Finding boulders in the ripples would help constrain estimates of the power of the floods. However, the image does not show boulders in the ripples, implying either that the rocks that make up these features are smaller than about 1 to 2 meters (3 to 7 feet) in diameter or that the ripple sediments have not been completely exhumed.The image covers an area 3 kilometers (2 miles) wide, near 9.5 degrees north latitude and 203.7 degrees west longitude. Pixel size is about 1.5 meters (5 feet) by one-half meter (1.6 feet). North is up and sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left. Mars Global Surveyor is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows two linear depressions which are part of Cerberus Fossae. | Context imageThe two linear depressions at the bottom of today's VIS image are part of Cerberus Fossae. The features are termed graben and are formed by crustal extension that allows material to subside between paired tectonic faults. The straight sides and uniform depths are indications that these are tectonic features rather than channels caused by fluid erosion.Orbit Number: 77361 Latitude: 9.90217 Longitude: 161.214 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-05-24 05:06Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
In a shallow depression called 'Yellowknife Bay,' the NASA Mars rover Curiosity drove to an edge of the feature to record this view of the ledge at the margin and a view across the 'bay' during the 130th Martian day, or sol, (Dec. 17, 2012). | In a shallow depression called "Yellowknife Bay," the NASA Mars rover Curiosity drove to an edge of the feature during the 130th Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Dec. 17, 2012) and used its Navigation Camera to record this view of the ledge at the margin and a view across the "bay." NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The mission's Curiosity rover was designed, developed and assembled at JPL.For more about NASA's Curiosity mission, visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl, http://www.nasa.gov/mars, and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows six views of Mars during the month of November, 2006. | 13 November 2006These images capture what Mars typically looks like in mid-afternoon at Ls 137°. In other words, with the exception of occasional differences in weather and polar frost patterns, this is what the red planet looks like this month (November 2006). Six views are shown, including the two polar regions. These are composites of 24-26 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global mapping images acquired at red and blue wavelengths. The 'hole' over the south pole is an area where no images were obtained, because this polar region is enveloped in wintertime darkness. Presently, it is summer in the northern hemisphere and winter in the southern hemisphere. 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. Northern summer/southern winter begins at Ls 90°, northern autumn/southern spring start at Ls 180°, and northern winter/southern summer begin at Ls 270°. Ls 137° occurs in the middle of this month (November 2006). The pictures show how Mars appeared to the MOC wide angle cameras at a previous Ls 137° in March 2001. The six views are centered on the Tharsis region (upper left), Acidalia and Mare Eyrthraeum (upper right), Syrtis Major and Hellas (middle left), Elysium and Mare Cimmeria (middle right), the north pole (lower left), and the south pole (lower right). | |
This July 29, 2014, panorama combines several images from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity to show the rover's surroundings after surpassing 25 miles (40.23 kilometers) of total driving on Mars. | This panorama combines several images from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity to show the rover's surroundings after surpassing 25 miles (40.23 kilometers) of total driving on Mars.The component images were taken on July 29, 2014, during the 3,737th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's work on Mars, prior to that sol's drive. The rover's location was the point it reached with a drive of 157 feet (48 meters) on Sol 3735 (July 27, 2014), which brought Opportunity's total odometry to 25.01 miles (40.25 kilometers). The site is on the western side of the west rim of Endeavour Crater. This full-circle vista is centered approximately to the east, with the crater rim extending northward in the left half and southward in the right half.JPL manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. For more information about Spirit and Opportunity, visit http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov. | |
The layered ridge and mesas in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft are located on the northern margin of Hellas Basin. | Context imageThe layered ridge and mesas in this VIS image are located on the northern margin of Hellas Basin.Orbit Number: 42217 Latitude: -29.1104 Longitude: 69.9052 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-06-21 10:03Please 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 polar projection image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows tracks from the drive extend northward across dark-toned sand ripples and light-toned patches of exposed bedrock in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings just after driving 60.86 meters (200 feet) on the 1,806th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (Feb. 21, 2009). North is at the center; south at both ends.Tracks from the drive extend northward across dark-toned sand ripples and light-toned patches of exposed bedrock in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches).Engineers designed the Sol 1806 drive to be driven backwards as a strategy to redistribute lubricant in the rovers wheels. The right-front wheel had been showing signs of increased friction.The rover's position after the Sol 1806 drive was about 2 kilometer (1.2 miles) south southwest of Victoria Crater. Cumulative odometry was 14.74 kilometers (9.16 miles) since landing in January 2004, including 2.96 kilometers (1.84 miles) since climbing out of Victoria Crater on the west side of the crater on Sol 1634 (August 28, 2008). This view is presented as a polar projection with geometric seam correction. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows Galle Crater on Mars, informally known as 'Happy Face,' as it appeared in early southern winter. | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-361, 15 May 2003Every day, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) wide angle instruments obtain a global view of the planet to help monitor weather and seasonal patterns of frost deposition and removal. The two pictures shown here are taken from the same daily global image mosaic (the only difference is that each was processed slightly differently). The pictures show Galle Crater, informally known as "Happy Face," as it appeared in early southern winter. The white-ish gray surfaces are coated with wintertime carbon dioxide frost. The pattern of frost distribution gives the appearance that "Happy Face" has opened its mouth. Galle Crater is located on the east rim of Argyre at 51°S, 31°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. Galle Crater is 230 km (143 mi) across. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the summit caldera on Arsia Mons. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of the summit caldera on Arsia Mons.Orbit Number: 51200 Latitude: -10.169 Longitude: 239.951 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-06-29 18:17Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows lava flows originating from Arsia Mons. | Context image for PIA10265Lava FlowsThese lava flows originated from Arsia Mons.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -13.5N, Longitude 241.1E. 17 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This 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: 84353 Latitude: -22.909 Longitude: 236.007 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-12-19 21:40Please 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. | |
Portion of Beagle 2 Landing Ellipse in Isidis Planitia | This image (PSP_002347_1915) was targeted to a dark spot seen in a MOC image that was suggested to be the Beagle 2 landing site (see Beagle 2 Landing Site Located for more information). The dark spot corresponds to an impact crater, shown here in color. The European Beagle 2 lander was carried by the Mars Express orbiting spacecraft and released into the Martian atmosphere in December 2003, but Observation GeometryAcquisition date: 1 January 2007Local Mars time: 3:40 PMDegrees latitude (centered): 11.7 °Degrees longitude (East): 90.7 °Range to target site: 278.3 km (173.9 miles)Original image scale range: 27.8 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~84 cm across are resolvedMap-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAREmission angle: 3.3 °Phase angle: 51.9 °Solar incidence angle: 55 °, with the Sun about 35 ° above the horizonSolar longitude: 173.1 °, Northern SummerNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured this 360-degree panorama on Jan. 21, 2005. This vertical projection includes the debris and impact divot from Opportunity's heat shield. The rim of 'Endurance Crater' is visible on the horizon. | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured this 360-degree panorama with its navigation camera on the rover's 354th martian day, or sol (Jan. 21, 2005). The view is presented as a vertical projection with geometric seam correction. It includes the debris and impact divot from Opportunity's heat shield. The rim of "Endurance Crater" is visible on the horizon. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows many large gullies dissecting the rim of this unnamed crater in Aonia Terra. | Context imageMany large gullies dissect the rim of this unnamed crater in Aonia Terra.Orbit Number: 75019 Latitude: -46.9827 Longitude: 245.827 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-11-12 07:26Please 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 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. The Curiosity Rover is located off this image to the west.Orbit Number: 46047 Latitude: -4.36053 Longitude: 138.275 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-05-01 16:06Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image acquired on January 25, 2019 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows Ius Chasma, a major section of the western portion of the giant Valles Marineris trough. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionThis image was acquired in Ius Chasma, a major section of the western portion of the giant Valles Marineris trough. We see a portion of a steep slope with gullies extending downhill (towards bottom of image). Many of the gully floors are dark, and in some places that dark material extends onto the fan-shaped deposits of the gullies. These dark features are candidates for recurring slope lineae (RSL), which are seasonal features that grow incrementally. The relation between RSL and gullies is not clear: does the RSL activity carve the gullies, or do they simply follow the gully topography created by other processes? Another closeup from this observation shows part of the floor of Ius Chasma, with layered bedrock draped by dunes.The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 53.2 centimeters [20.9 inches] per pixel [with 2 x 2 binning]; objects on the order of 160 centimeters [63.0 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the results of erosion acting upon a layer of material in the south polar region of Mars. The elliptical pit in the lower left corner of the image was once buried beneath this eroding layer. | 24 June 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the results of erosion acting upon a layer of material in the south polar region of Mars. The elliptical pit in the lower left corner of the image was once buried beneath this eroding layer, as well. The processes that eroded the material, and the composition of the material, are unknown. The image is located near 80.7°S, 300.9°W, and covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates this scene from the top. | |
This view captured NASA's Mars Global Surveyor crosses one of the troughs of the Sirenum Fossae on the martian planet. | The Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) orbits the red planet twelve times each day. The number of pictures that MOC can take varies from orbit to orbit, depending upon whether the data are being stored in MGS's onboard tape recorder for playback at a later time, or whether the data are being sent directly back to Earth via a real-time radio link. More data can be acquired during orbits with real-time downlink.During real-time orbits, the MOC team often will take a few random or semi-random pictures in between the carefully-selected, hand-targeted images. On rare occasions, one of these random pictures will surprise the MOC team. The picture shown here is an excellent example, because the high resolution view (top) is centered so nicely on a trough and an adjacent, shallow crater that it is as if someone very carefully selected the target for MOC. The high-resolution view covers an area only 1.1 km (0.7 mi) wide by 2.3 km (1.4 mi) long. Hitting a target such as this with such a small image is very difficult to do, on purpose, because there are small uncertainties in the predicted orbit, the maps used to select targets, and the minor adjustments of spacecraft pointing at any given moment. Nevertheless, a very impressive image was received.The high resolution view crosses one of the troughs of the Sirenum Fossae near 31.2°S, 152.3°W. The context image (above) was acquired at the same time as the high resolution view on July 23, 2000. The small white box shows the location of the high resolution picture. The lines running diagonally across the context image from upper right toward lower left are the Sirenum Fossae troughs, formed by faults that are radial to the volcanic region of Tharsis. Both pictures are illuminated from the upper left. The scene shows part of the martian southern hemisphere nearly autumn. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of an unnamed crater in Aonia Terra. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of an unnamed crater in Aonia Terra. At the top of the image numerous gullies dissect the crater rim. These channels are called gullies due to being on a steep slope rather than a flat river plain. In some images it is possible to see a boundary layer between the upper incised gully and a lower deposition region. The boundary marks a change in slope, the steep upper portion supports fast moving fluid that carves into the rim, eroding materials. The change to a flatter slope causes the fluid to slow down and as it slows the materials carried by the fluid are deposited. Sand dunes cover part of the crater floor.Orbit Number: 91821 Latitude: -52.412 Longitude: 246.698 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-08-26 20:03Please 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. | |
Taken Sept. 1, 2021 by Mastcam-Z after Perseverance's sample-coring activities, this image shows the rover's drill with no cored rock sample evident in the sample tube. | This Mastcam-Z image shows Perseverance's drill with no cored-rock sample evident in the sample tube. The image was taken on Sept. 1, 2021 (the 190th sol, or Martian day, of the mission), after coring – and after a cleaning operation was performed to clear the sample tube's lip of any residual material. The bronze-colored ring is the coring bit. The half-moon inside the bit is the open end of the sample tube. A portion of the tube's serial number – 266 – can be seen on the left side of tube's rim.Arizona State University in Tempe leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.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. | |
Layers in the lower portion of two neighboring buttes within the Noctis Labyrinthus formation on Mars are visible in this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. | Layers in the lower portion of two neighboring buttes within the Noctis Labyrinthus formation on Mars are visible in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The view covers an area about 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) wide. Dune fields blanket the ground in the upper left of the image and a portion of the ground between the buttes. Exposures of brighter and darker materials are also visible in the portion of that area not covered by the dunes.Observations of this region of Noctis Labyrinthus by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have shown indications of iron-bearing sulfates and phyllosilicate (clay) minerals. The exposed layers revealed in HiRISE observations of the area might be the sources of the mineral signatures seen by CRISM.This view is a portion of a HiRISE observation taken on Aug. 18, 2009, at 11.2 degrees south latitude, 261.8 degrees east longitude. The full-frame image is available at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_014353_1685.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the HiRISE camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory led the effort to build the CRISM instrument and operates CRISM in coordination with an international team of researchers from universities, government and the private sector. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | 18 March 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a field of low-albedo (i.e., dark) sand dunes in a crater in Noachis Terra. Dunes on Earth are usually light while those on Mars are usually dark. This contrast results from a difference in the mineral composition. Earth dunes often contain abundant quartz, which appears light, while martian dunes typically contain minerals and rock fragments abundant in iron- and magnesium-rich minerals, which are usually dark. This dune field is located near 41.7°S, 319.8°W. The steeper slopes on these dunes, known as slip faces, point toward the lower left (southwest), indicating the dominant winds come from the northeast (upper right). This picture covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows some of the minor channels that are related to the major Kasei Valles system. | Context image for PIA10297Kasei ChannelsThis VIS image shows some of the minor channels that are related to the major Kasei Valles system.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 27.9N, Longitude 295.9E. 19 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. | |
Northern Plains | Image PSP_001338_2480 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on November 8, 2006. The complete image is centered at 68.0 degrees latitude, 260.0 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 317.9 km (198.7 miles). At this distance the image scale is 31.8 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~95 cm across are resolved. The image shown here has been map-projected to 25 cm/pixel. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:15 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 132.5 degrees, the season on Mars is Northern Summer.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
This map shows where NASA's Perseverance Mars rover will be dropping 10 samples that a future mission could pick up. The orange circles represent areas where a Sample Recovery Helicopter could safely operate to acquire the sample tubes. | Figure AThis map shows where NASA's Perseverance Mars rover will be dropping 10 samples that a future mission could pick up. The orange circles represent areas where a Sample Recovery Helicopter could safely operate to acquire the sample tubes.Figure A is the same map with a legend.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.For more about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ | |
The hills in this image seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft are part of Tartarus Colles. Several of the hills have dark slope streaks, believed to be formed by downslope removal of dust revealing the darker rock beneath. | Context imageThe hills in this VIS image are part of Tartarus Colles. Several of the hills have dark slope streaks, believed to be formed by downslope removal of dust revealing the darker rock beneath.Orbit Number: 53811 Latitude: 26.2606 Longitude: 186.421 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-01-30 16:28Please 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 image of the parachute that helped deliver NASA's Perseverance Mars rover to the Martian surface was taken by the rover's Mastcam-Z instrument on April 6, 2022. | This image of the parachute that helped deliver NASA's Perseverance Mars rover to the Martian surface was taken by the rover's Mastcam-Z instrument on April 6, 2022, the 401st Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The parachute helped slow Perseverance down during its landing at Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.The Mastcam-Z investigation is led and operated by Arizona State University in Tempe, 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/mars2020nasa.gov/perseverance | |
In this infrared image of the dunes on the floor of Russell Crater, the dunes are brighter than the surround materials, as shown in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageIn this infrared image of the dunes on the floor of Russell Crater, the dunes are brighter than the surround materials. This shows that the dunes are warmer than the nearby rocky material.Latitude: -54.4765 Longitude: 13.0926 Instrument: IR Captured: 2015-01-21 17:09Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Spirit's View of 'Columbia Hills' (vertical) | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit looked up at the "Columbia Hills" from its location on the 265th martian day, or sol, of its mission (Sept. 30, 2004) and captured this view. This cropped mosaic image, presented here in a vertical projection with geometric seam correction, was taken by the rover's navigation camera. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows the layered edge of the south polar cap. | Context imageAt the bottom of this image is the layered edge of the south polar cap. There are more layers visible between the bright polar material and the dark sand dunes at the top of the image. These mid-toned layers most likely still contain polar ice but probably underneath a thick dust cover.Orbit Number: 74910 Latitude: -71.6589 Longitude: 143.628 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-11-03 08:06Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Active Processes: Bright Streaks and Dark Fans | Figure 1Figure 2In a region of the south pole known informally as "Ithaca" numerous fans of dark frost form every spring. HiRISE collected a time lapse series of these images, starting at Ls = 185 and culminating at Ls = 294. "Ls" is the way we measure time on Mars: at Ls = 180 the sun passes the equator on its way south; at Ls = 270 it reaches its maximum subsolar latitude and summer begins. In the earliest image (figure 1) fans are dark, but small narrow bright streaks can be detected. In the next image (figure 2), acquired at Ls = 187, just 106 hours later, dramatic differences are apparent. The dark fans are larger and the bright fans are more pronounced and easily detectable. The third image in the sequence shows no bright fans at all. We believe that the bright streaks are fine frost condensed from the gas exiting the vent. The conditions must be just right for the bright frost to condense. Observation GeometryImage PSP_002622_0945 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on 16-Feb-2007. The complete image is centered at -85.2 degrees latitude, 181.5 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 246.9 km (154.3 miles). At this distance the image scale is 49.4 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~148 cm across are resolved. The image shown here has been map-projected to 50 cm/pixel . The image was taken at a local Mars time of 05:46 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 88 degrees, thus the sun was about 2 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 185.1 degrees, the season on Mars is Northern Autumn.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. | |
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 Gusev Crater. | 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 Gusev Crater. This image is located at the MER-A Spirit Lander ground zero.Orbit Number: 11416 Latitude: -14.5817 Longitude: 175.192 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2004-07-11 07:40Please 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. | |
The three large aligned Tharsis volcanoes are Arsia Mons, Pavonis Mons and Ascreaus Mons. This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the southern flank of Arsia Mons, along the center of the aligned fracture system. | Context image The three large aligned Tharsis volcanoes are Arsia Mons, Pavonis Mons and Ascreaus Mons (from south to north). There are collapse features on all three volcanoes, on the southwestern and northeastern flanks. This alignment may indicate a large fracture/vent system was responsible for the eruptions that formed all three volcanoes. This VIS image shows part of the southern flank of Arsia Mons, along the center of the aligned fracture system. The scalloped depressions are most likely created by collapse of the roof of lava tubes. Lava tubes originate during eruption event, when the margins of a flow harden around a still flowing lava stream. When an eruption ends these can become hollow tubes within the flow. With time, the roof of the tube may collapse into the empty space below. The tubes are linear, so the collapse of the roof creates a linear depression. In this region, the complexity of the collapse and faulting has created a unique surface. This region has collapse depressions with floors at a variety of elevations, landslide deposits where material has continued to fall into the depression and depression sizes from small to large.Arsia Mons is the southernmost of the Tharsis volcanoes. It is 270 miles (450km) in diameter, almost 12 miles (20km) high, and the summit caldera is 72 miles (120km) wide. For comparison, the largest volcano on Earth is Mauna Loa. From its base on the sea floor, Mauna Loa measures only 6.3 miles high and 75 miles in diameter. A large volcanic crater known as a caldera is located at the summit of all of the Tharsis volcanoes. These calderas are produced by massive volcanic explosions and collapse. The Arsia Mons summit caldera is larger than many volcanoes on Earth. 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: 33925 Latitude: -10.6619 Longitude: 239.412 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2009-08-07 16:10Please 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a small meteor impact crater with bouldery ejecta in the Arabia Terra region of Mars. | 28 October 2004This high resolution Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a small meteor impact crater with bouldery ejecta in the Arabia Terra region of Mars. The image is located near 11.9°N, 342.2°W. The 300 meter scale bar is about 328 yards long. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a cross section of Elysium Mons, including part of the summit caldera. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a cross section of Elysium Mons, including part of the summit caldera. Unlike the Tharsis volcanoes to the east, there are very few identifiable lava flows on the flanks of the Elysium Mons. In profile the volcano looks like Mt. Fuji in Japan. Mt. Fuji is a stratovolcano. A stratovolcano, also known as a composite volcano, is a conical volcano built up by multiple layers of lava and ash erupting solely from the summit caldera. The Tharsis volcanoes are shield volcanoes, which will host flank eruptions, but rarely ash eruptions. Elysium Mons is 12.6km (7.8 miles) tall. For comparison, Mt. Fuji is 3.7 km (2.3 miles) tall.Orbit Number: 93908 Latitude: 24.4791 Longitude: 146.667 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2023-02-14 16:41Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This 3-D view of the calibration target for the MAHLI camera aboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity was assembled from two images taken by that camera during the 34th Martian day. The camera is on the turret of tools at the end of Curiosity's robotic arm. | This 3-D view of the calibration target for the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) aboard NASA's Mars rover Curiosity was assembled from two images taken by that camera during the 34th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Sept. 9, 2012). The camera is on the turret of tools at the end of Curiosity's robotic arm. Its calibration target is on the rover's robotic arm shoulder azimuth actuator. The Sol 34 imaging by MAHLI was part of a weeklong set of activities for characterizing the movement of the arm in Mars conditions. MAHLI has adjustable focus. The calibration target for the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) instrument includes color references, a metric bar graphic, a 1909 VDB Lincoln penny, and a stair-step pattern for depth calibration. The 0.7-inch (19 millimeter) diameter penny is a nod to geologists' tradition of placing a coin or other object of known scale as a size reference in close-up photographs of rocks, and it gives the public a familiar object for perceiving size easily when it will be viewed by MAHLI on Mars.This image shows the calibration target has a coating of Martian dust and some adhering grains of fine and very fine sand. This is unsurprising - the target was facing directly toward the plume of dust stirred up by the sky crane's descent engines during the final phase of the August 6, 2012 (EDT) landing.The main purpose of Curiosity's MAHLI camera is to acquire close-up, high-resolution views of rocks and regolith at the rover's Gale Crater field site. The camera is capable of focusing on any target at distances of about 0.8 inch (2.1 centimeters) to infinity, providing versatility for other uses. | |
This image, part of an images as art series from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey released on Feb 11, 2004 shows sunlight reflecting off martian dunes giving a very aquatic feel to this area, like waves washing around a barren desert island. | Released 11 February 2004Humanity is a very visual species. We rely on our eyes to tell us what is going on in the world around us. Put any image in front of a person and that person will examine the picture looking for anything familiar. Even if the examiner has no idea what he/she is looking at in a picture, he/she will still be able to make a statement about the picture, usually preceded by the words "it looks like..." The image above is part of the surface of Mars, but is presented for its artistic value rather than its scientific value. When first viewed, this image solicited a statement that "it looks like..." something seen in everyday life.Further continuing our aquatic theme of the past two days, today we see waves washing around a barren desert island.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 mosaic scene combining five images from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a view from inside the upper end of 'Perseverance Valley' on the inner slope of Endeavour Crater's western rim. | This mosaic scene combining five images from the navigation camera (Navcam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a view from inside the upper end of "Perseverance Valley" on the inner slope of Endeavour Crater's western rim. The valley is the main destination for the current two-year extension of the 13-year-old Opportunity mission on Mars. It was likely carved long ago by a fluid, such as water, water-lubricated debris or wind. The rover team is using Opportunity to learn more about the processes that shaped the valley. Plans call for driving the rover down the full length of the valley, about twice the length of a football field. Opportunity entered the top end of Perseverance Valley after studying the area just outside the crater rim above the valley during the spring and early summer of 2017. The images combined into this scene were taken on July 7, 2017, during the 4,782nd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars. Opportunity had driven about 45 feet (13.8 meters) earlier that same sol.The portion of this scene to the left of the shadow of the rover's mast shows Perseverance Valley descending to the floor of Endeavour Crater. Foreground areas in the middle and right sections of the scene shows terrain details in the upper end of the valley. More distant in the center section, the rim of Endeavour Crater extends southeastward. The full scene spans from northeast at left to southwest at right. | |
Uchben' Rock | Figure 1NASA's Mars Exploration Spirit examined a rock dubbed "Uchben" in the "Columbia Hills" inside Gusev Crater. Spirit took this image with its panoramic camera as it approached the rock during the rover's 278th martian day (Oct. 14, 2004). The visible portion of Uchben is about 50 centimenters (20 inches) long.Abrasion Work on 'Uchben' (Figure 1)Researchers used the rover Spirit's rock abrasion tool to help them study a rock dubbed "Uchben" in the "Columbia Hills" of Mars. The tool ground into the rock, creating a shallow hole 4.5 centimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter in the central upper portion of this image. It also used wire bristles to brush a portion of the surface below and to the right of the hole. Spirit used its panoramic camera during the rover's 293rd martian day (Oct. 29, 2004) to take the frames combined into this approximately true-color image. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows the southern wall of Juventae Chasma. | Context imageThis VIS image shows the southern wall of Juventae Chasma.Orbit Number: 64347 Latitude: -5.0713 Longitude: 298.551 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-06-16 03:38Please 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 Global Surveyor shows a thick mantle of dust covering lava flows north of Pavonis Mons on Mars so well that the flows are no longer visible. | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-356, 10 May 2003This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a thick mantle of dust covering lava flows north of Pavonis Mons so well that the flows are no longer visible. Flows are known to occur here because of the proximity to the volcano, and such flows normally have a very rugged surface. Fine dust, however, has settled out of the atmosphere over time and obscured the flows from view. The cliff at the top of the image faces north (up), the cliff in the middle of the image faces south (down), and the rugged slope at the bottom of the image faces north (up). The dark streak at the center-left was probably caused by an avalanche of dust sometime in the past few decades. The image is located near 4.1°N, 111.3°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the right/lower right. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a flow knob of light-toned, layered rock exposed by erosion in the Iani Chaos region of Mars. | 9 August 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a knob of light-toned, layered rock exposed by erosion in the Iani Chaos region of Mars. Owing to its similarity to other light-toned rock outcrops on Mars, this may be a remnant of a once more extensive sedimentary rock formation.Location near: 1.6°S, 18.2°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Autumn | |
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft captured this daytime infrared image of Rabe Crater shows the large dune field located within the crater on Mars. | Context imageCredit: NASA/JPL/MOLAThis daytime infrared image of Rabe Crater shows the large dune field located within the crater. Note that the dunes are not confined to the lowest elevation depressions on the crater floor.Image information: IR instrument. Latitude -44.1N, Longitude 34.7E. 120 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 meteorite, a basalt lava rock nearly indistinguishable from many Earth rocks, provides strong proof that meteorites could come from Mars. Originally weighing nearly 17.6 pounds, it was collected in 1979 in the Elephant Moraine area of Antarctica. | This meteorite, a basalt lava rock nearly indistinguishable from many Earth rocks, provided the first strong proof that meteorites could come from Mars. Originally weighing nearly 8 kilograms (17.6 pounds), it was collected in 1979 in the Elephant Moraine area of Antarctica. The side of the cube at the lower left in this image measures 1 centimeter (0.4 inches).This picture shows a sawn face of this fine-grained gray rock. (The vertical stripes are saw marks.) The black patches in the rock are melted rock, or glass, formed when a large meteorite hit Mars near the rock. The meteorite impact probably threw this rock, dubbed "EETA79001," off Mars and toward Antarctica on Earth. The black glass contains traces of martian atmosphere gases.The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has discovered that a rock dubbed "Bounce" at Meridiani Planum has a very similar mineral composition to this meteorite and likely shares common origins. Bounce itself is thought to have originated outside the area surrounding Opportunity's landing site; an impact or collision likely threw the rock away from its primary home. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows Mangala Fossae, a long linear depression called a graben. It was formed by extension of the crust and faulting. | Context imageMangala Fossae is a long linear depression called a graben and was formed by extension of the crust and faulting. When large amounts of pressure or tension are applied to rocks on timescales that are fast enough that the rock cannot respond by deforming, the rock breaks along faults. In the case of a graben, two parallel faults are formed by extension of the crust and the rock in between the faults drops downward into the space created by the extension. Mangala Fossae is 828 km long (514 miles).Orbit Number: 88715 Latitude: -19.129 Longitude: 208.571 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-12-14 02:14Please 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 linear depressions that are part of Sirenum Fossae. | Context imageThe linear depressions in this VIS image are part of Sirenum Fossae. These depressions are called graben, which form by the down drop of material between two parallel faults. The faults are caused by extensional tectonic stresses in the region. The Sirenum Fossae graben are 2735km (1700 miles) long.Orbit Number: 82775 Latitude: -29.7098 Longitude: 211.959 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-08-12 00:05Please 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. | |
On May 18, 2022, NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used an artificial intelligence software called AEGIS to select and target the rock seen in close-up here. | Figure AOn May 18, 2022, NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used an artificial intelligence software called Autonomous Exploration for Gathering Increased Science (AEGIS) to select and target the rock seen in close-up here. It's one of two rocks that the AI for the first time helped Perseverance study without direction from the mission's team back on Earth.AEGIS was developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California – which also built Perseverance – to collect data on rocks and other Martian features that the rover discovers while driving. AEGIS is used in conjunction with Perseverance's SuperCam laser instrument, directing the laser to zap certain features that scientists have commanded the rover to look for. SuperCam used its Remote Micro-Imager (RMI) camera to take two images of this target, which were stitched together into the main picture seen here. The rock target, which was about 16 feet (5 meters) away from the rover, is named "AEGIS_0442B," referring to the Martian day, or sol, it was targeted (Sol 442) and that it was the second rock ("B") targeted by AEGIS on that sol. The red crosshairs seen across the rock target indicate each place AEGIS directed the laser to zap.Figure A shows a view from a distance of the each of the two rocks that AEGIS targeted, with annotations for the names given to each target. AEGIS_0442B is on the right. This image was taken from software used by the Perseverance team to select science targets.SuperCam is led by Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where the instrument's body unit was developed. That part of the instrument includes several spectrometers as well as control electronics and software. The mast unit, including RMI, was developed and built by several laboratories of the CNRS (the French research center) and French universities under the contracting authority of Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES), the French space agency.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.For more about Perseverance:mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ | |
Scientists think these polygonal fractures seen by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft contain chlorides, like sodium chloride or table salt, or maybe chloride of calcium or magnesium. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionWhat is that "purplish" colored stuff (in HiRISE IRB color) with the polygonal fractures in this observation? Scientists think it contains chlorides, like sodium chloride or table salt, or maybe chloride of calcium or magnesium.These salts can be deposited during the evaporation or water in lakes or playas. These deposits are billions of years old, so it is truly old salt, not a fish tale. This is a stereo pair with PSP_008780_1735.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. | |
The multiple trends of yardangs in this image indicate that the winds in the Elysium region on Mars have changed direction several times as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image for PIA03283Elysium WindsThe multiple trends of yardangs in this image indicate that the winds in the Elysium region have changed direction several times.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 2.6N, Longitude 151.2E. 18 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of a dune field near the north polar cap. This is not Olympia Undae, the largest dune field near the north polar cap, but is rather a portion of a smaller dune field further to the east. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of a dune field near the north polar cap. This is not Olympia Undae, the largest dune field near the north polar cap, but is rather a portion of a smaller dune field further to the east.Orbit Number: 47014 Latitude: 75.8413 Longitude: 320.603 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-07-20 07:56Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Spirit on | Two Earth years ago, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit touched down in Gusev Crater. The rover marked its first Mars-year (687 Earth days) anniversary in November 2005. On Nov. 2, 2005, shortly before Spirit's Martian anniversary, the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor acquired an image centered on the rover's location in the "Columbia Hills." The location of Spirit on that date is circled on the image on the right. On the left, for comparison, is an image from Jan. 10, 2004, when few dreamed that the Spirit would ever reach the hills from its landing site about three kilometers (two miles) away. The newer image has a resolution of about 50 centimeters (1.6 feet) per pixel. North is up; illumination is from the left. The location is near 14.8 degrees south latitude, 184.6 degrees west longitude. Dr. Timothy J. Parker of the Mars Exploration Rover team at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., confirmed the location of the rover in the 2005 image. The scale bar is 50 meters (164 feet). | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a small portion of Lobo Vallis near where it recombines with Kasei Valles and empties into Chryse Planitia. | Context image Today's VIS image shows a small portion of Lobo Vallis near where it recombines with Kasei Valles and empties into Chryse Planitia. Kasei Valles is a huge channel system that drained the higher elevations of Tharsis into the low of Chryse Planitia.Orbit Number: 71206 Latitude: 28.9604 Longitude: 303.568 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-01-02 06:02Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Centuries of wind action have sculpted the surface materials shown this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey. | Context imageCenturies of wind action have sculpted the surface materials shown this VIS image.Orbit Number: 41239 Latitude: -1.46331 Longitude: 207.055 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-04-01 21:17Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This artist's concept depicts NASA's Mars 2020 rover exploring Mars. Mars 2020 will use powerful instruments to investigate rocks on Mars down to the microscopic scale of variations in texture and composition. | This artist's concept depicts NASA's Mars 2020 rover exploring Mars. The mission will not only seek out and study an area likely to have been habitable in the distant past, but it will take the next, bold step in robotic exploration of the Red Planet by seeking signs of past microbial life itself. Mars 2020 will use powerful instruments to investigate rocks on Mars down to the microscopic scale of variations in texture and composition. It will also acquire and store samples of the most promising rocks and soils that it encounters, and set them aside on the surface of Mars. A future mission could potentially return these samples to Earth. Mars 2020 is targeted for launch in July/August 2020 aboard an Atlas V-541 rocket from Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory builds and manages the Mars 2020 rover for the NASA Science Mission Directorate at the agency's headquarters in Washington.For more information about the mission, go to https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/. Photojournal Note: Also available is the full resolution TIFF file PIA22107_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. | |
InSight's solar panels produced roughly 5,000 watt-hours each Martian day, or sol, after the spacecraft touched down in November 2018. But by spring 2022, they were only producing about 500 watt-hours each sol. | The solar panels on NASA's InSight Mars lander produced roughly 5,000 watt-hours each Martian day, or sol, after the spacecraft touched down. But by spring 2022, enough dust had settled on the panels that they were only producing about 500 watt-hours each sol.The lander's first full selfie, which shows clean panels, was taken in December 2018; the dusty selfie (at right) is from images taken in March and April 2019.JPL manages InSight for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the InSight spacecraft, including its cruise stage and lander, and supports spacecraft operations for the mission.A number of European partners, including France's Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are supporting the InSight mission. CNES provided the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument to NASA, with the principal investigator at IPGP (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris). Significant contributions for SEIS came from IPGP; the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany; the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in Switzerland; Imperial College London and Oxford University in the United Kingdom; and JPL. DLR provided the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument, with significant contributions from the Space Research Center (CBK) of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Astronika in Poland. Spain's Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) supplied the temperature and wind sensors.For more information about the mission, go to https://mars.nasa.gov/insight. | |
This image, taken Oct. 9, 2005 by NASA's rover Opportunity, is a portion of a mosaic that highlights the light-toned outcrop on the rim of 'Erebus Crater' and large, dark, wind-deposited drifts that have filled the center of the crater. | This image taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is a portion of a mosaic acquired by the panoramic camera. The picture highlights the light-toned outcrop on the rim of "Erebus Crater" and large, dark, wind-deposited drifts that have filled the center of the crater. Opportunity took this image on the rover's 608th sol (Oct. 9, 2005). The rover is driving west, avoiding the large drifts and crossing the low ripples and outcrop to the right. After traversing to the north of the large drift on the horizon (near the center of the image), Opportunity will drive south to the western rim of the crater. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | 2 February 2004 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image provides a springtime view of defrosting processes on a surface that in summer would be a dark patch of sand. In winter, the sand is covered by frost (carbon dioxide and possibly water ice, as well). In spring, the sand develops a spotted pattern as the frosts sublime away. The sand patch is part of a dune field in Jeans Crater, located in the south polar region near 69.8°S, 206.6°W. The picture covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide; sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. | |
Taken on June 10, 2018 (the 5,111th Martian day, or sol, of the mission) this 'noisy', incomplete image was the last data NASA's Opportunity rover sent back from Mars. | Taken on June 10, 2018 (the 5,111th Martian day, or sol, of the mission) this "noisy", incomplete image was the last data NASA's Opportunity rover sent back from Perseverance Valley on Mars. The partial, full-frame image from the Panoramic Camera (Pancam) was sent up to NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter around 9:45 a.m. PDT (12:45 p.m. EDT) to relay back to Earth as an intense dust storm darkened the skies around the solar-powered rover. The image was received on Earth at around 10:05 a.m. PDT (1:05 p.m. EDT).Opportunity took this image with the left eye of the Pancam, with its solar filter pointed at the Sun. But since the dust storm blotted out the Sun, the image is dark. The white speckles are noise from the camera. All Pancam images have noise in them, but the darkness makes it more apparent. The transmission stopped before the full image was transmitted, leaving the bottom of the image incomplete, represented here as black pixels.While this partial full-frame image was the last that Opportunity transmitted, it was not actually the last set of images from Opportunity. This image was taken at around 9:30 a.m. PDT (12:30 p.m. EDT) on June 10, 2018. Another set of images (PIA22930) was taken about three minutes later. The thumbnail versions of the last images taken were transmitted, but the rover lost contact before transmitting the full-frame versions.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.For more information about Opportunity, visit https://www.nasa.gov/rovers and https://mars.nasa.gov/mer. | |
This image shows the journey of NASA's Perseverance rover across the floor of Mars' Jezero Crater in the approximately seven months since landing on February 18, 2021. | This image shows the journey of NASA's Perseverance rover across the floor of Mars' Jezero Crater in the approximately seven months since landing on Feb. 18, 2021. From the landing site "Octavia E. Butler Landing," the rover drove south and attempted to collect its first sample at a drill hole called "Roubion" in early August. After that rock proved too crumbly to provide a core sample, Perseverance drove northwest along "Artuby" ridge to an area known as "Citadelle," where it successfully collected its first two samples in early September 2021. The first core was taken from a block of rock called "Rochette," at the drill hole called "Montdenier." The second, or paired, sample of Montdenier was taken at the drill hole called "Montagnac.") "Séítah," a future area of rover exploration, is also shown. This map is composed of images from the High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. 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.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.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.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California built and manages operations of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover for NASA.For more information about the mission, go to: https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020The 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. | |
Melas Chasma is part of the Valles Marineris canyon system, the largest canyon in the Solar System. This image was taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionMelas Chasma is part of the Valles Marineris canyon system, the largest canyon in the Solar System. It has been recently suggested that Melas Chasma may have been produced by an impact crater. To test this idea, HiRISE has been imaging surrounding small faults such as the ones seen in this image.There are actually three faults in this image. The two trench-like features are called "graben" and are caused when the surface stretches apart and blocks of rock drop downwards. The third fault is the wavy ridge the cuts across both of the graben. This type of fault is sometimes called a "wrinkle ridge" and occurs when surface rocks are compressed causing one block of rock to be thrust up on top of another. So this area has been both stretched in the north-south direction and squeezed in the east-west direction.With enough HiRISE images scientists hope to reconstruct the full history of this area and uncover the origin of one of Mars' most spectacular features.This is a stereo pair with " target="new">ESP_034817_1645.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. | |
Hilltop' View of the Terrain in Candor Chasma | This is a perspective view of a scene within Mars' Candor Chasma based on stereo imaging by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It shows how the surface would appear to a person standing on top of one of the many hills in the region and facing southeast. The hills in the foreground are several tens of meters to about 100 meters (tens of yards to about 100 yards) wide and several tens of meters or yards tall. The light-toned layers of rock likely consist of material laid down by the wind or under water. The dark-toned material is a layer of windblown sand on the surface. The orientations of these layers were measured in three dimensions in order to understand the region's geologic history. The particular patterns in which these rocks are oriented to the surrounding Candor Chasma are most consistent with the idea that the layers formed as basin-filling sediment, analogous to the sedimentary rocks of the Paradox Basin in southeastern Utah. This implies that these sediments are younger than the formation of the chasm, providing important constraints on the maximum age of groundwater (about 3.7 billion years) within the region. The width of the scene at bottom of the image is approximately 500 meters (1,640 feet). There is no vertical exaggeration.The detailed three-dimensional information of the area comes from a pair of HiRISE observations. Those full observations are available online at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_003474_1735 and http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_003540_1735. | |
Several different surface textures are present on the lower elevations of Iani Chaos in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageSeveral different surface textures are present on the lower elevations of Iani Chaos.Orbit Number: 52283 Latitude: -0.827418 Longitude: 341.65 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-09-26 20:57Please 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. | |
Before and After a Cleaning Event on Spirit | These two images from 10 days apart show that dust was removed from the panoramic camera's calibration target on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. Spirit's panoramic camera took the picture on the left on the rover's 416th martian day, or sol, (March 5, 2005) and took the picture on the right on sol 426 (March 15, 2005). During the time in-between, other evidence of dust-lifting winds were a jump in power output by Spirit's solar arrays on sol 420 from removal of some accumulated dust, and sighting of two dust devils in sol 421 images from Spirit. The size of the base plate on the calibration target shown in both of these images is 8 centimeters (3.15 inches) on each side. These are the panoramic camera team's best current attempt at generating "true color" views of what these scenes would look like if viewed by a human on Mars. They were generated from mathematical combinations of six calibrated, left-eye Pancam images for each sequence, using filters ranging from 430-nanometer to 750-nanometer wavelengths. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the floor of Kaiser Crater. Kaiser Crater is 207 km (129 miles) in diameter and is located in Noachis Terra west of Hellas Planitia. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of the floor of Kaiser Crater. Kaiser Crater is 207 km (129 miles) in diameter and is located in Noachis Terra west of Hellas Planitia. This sand dune field is one of several regions of sand dunes located in the southern part of the crater floor. The small individual dunes at the bottom of the image indicate that in this region there is only limited amounts of sand available to form dunes. The image also shows the complex crater floor around the dunes.Orbit Number: 90294 Latitude: -46.9286 Longitude: 18.9726 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-04-23 02:29Please 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows Mars' red landscape at 'Whale Panorama' on May 27 through 30, 2005. | Click on the image forA Whale of a Panorama (QTVR)More than 1.5 years into their exploration of Mars, both of NASA's Mars Exploration Rovers continue to send a cornucopia of images to Earth. The results are so spectacular that Deputy Project Manager John Callas recently described them as "an embarrassment of riches." Spirit produced this image mosaic, nicknamed the "Whale Panorama," two-thirds of the way to the summit of "Husband Hill," where the rover investigated martian rocks. On the right side of the panorama is a tilted layer of rocks dubbed "Larry's Outcrop," one of several tilted outcrops that scientists examined in April, 2005. They used spatial information to create geologic maps showing the compass orientation and degree of tilting of rock formations in the vicinity. Such information is key to geologic fieldwork because it helps establish if rock layers have been warped since they formed. In this case, scientists have also been studying the mineral and chemical differences, which show that some rocks have been more highly altered than others. In the foreground, in the middle of the image mosaic, Spirit is shown with the scientific instruments at the end of its robotic arm positioned on a rock target known as "Ahab." The rover was busy collecting elemental chemistry and mineralogy data on the rock at the same time that it was taking 50 individual snapshots with its five panoramic camera filters to create this stunning view of the martian scenery. The twin tracks of the rover's all-terrain wheels are clearly visible on the left.This mosaic of images spans about 220 degrees from left to right and is an approximate true-color rendering of the Mars terrain acquired through the panoramic camera's 750-, 530-, and 430-nanometer filters. Spirit collected these images from its 497th martian day, or sol, through its 500th sol (May 27 through May 30, 2005). | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey released on March 17, 2004 shows a crater on Mars at the upper right was once buried, and is now being exhumed. | Released 17 March 2004The Odyssey spacecraft has completed a full Mars year of observations of the red planet. For the next several weeks the Image of the Day will look back over this first mars year. It will focus on four themes: 1) the poles - with the seasonal changes seen in the retreat and expansion of the caps; 2) craters - with a variety of morphologies relating to impact materials and later alteration, both infilling and exhumation; 3) channels - the clues to liquid surface flow; and 4) volcanic flow features. While some images have helped answer questions about the history of Mars, many have raised new questions that are still being investigated as Odyssey continues collecting data as it orbits Mars.This daytime VIS image was collected on December 12, 2002 during the northern summer season. The crater at the upper right was once buried, and is now being exhumed.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 4.9, Longitude 357 East (3 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit welcomed the beginning of 2006 on Earth by taking this striking panorama of intricately rippled sand deposits in Gusev Crater on Mars. | Click on the image for Intricately Rippled Sand Deposits (QTVR)NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit welcomed the beginning of 2006 on Earth by taking this striking panorama of intricately rippled sand deposits in Gusev Crater on Mars. This is an approximate true-color rendering of the "El Dorado" ripple field provided by Spirit over the New Year's holiday weekend. The view spans about 160 degrees in azimuth from left to right and consists of images acquired by Spirit's panoramic camera on Spirit's 708th and 710th Martian days, or sols, (Dec. 30, 2005 and Jan. 1, 2006). Spirit used the Pancam's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters to capture the colors on Mars. Scientists have eliminated seams between individual frames in the sky portion of the mosaic to better simulate the vista a person standing on Mars would see. Spirit spent several days acquiring images, spectral data, and compositional and mineralogical information about these large sand deposits before continuing downhill toward "Home Plate." | |
Lineations (fissures, or cracks in the ground) can be seen in this image of Acidalia Planitia from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft and create what is referred to as 'patterned ground' or 'polygonal terrain.' | (Released 26 July 2002)Another in a series of craters with unusual interior deposits, this THEMIS image shows an unnamed crater in the southern hemisphere Pandora Fretum region near the Hellas Basin. Craters with eroded layered deposits are quite common on Mars but the crusty textured domes in the center of the image make this crater more unusual. Looking vaguely like granitic intrusions, there erosional style is distinct from the rest of the interior deposit which shows a very obvious layered morphology. While it is unlikely that the domes are granite plutons, it is possible that they do represent some other shallowly emplaced magmatic intrusion. More likely still is that variations in induration of the layered deposit allow for variations in the erosional morphology. Note how the surface of the crater floor in the northernmost portion of the image has a texture similar to that of the domes. This may represent an incipient form of the erosion that has produced the domes but has not progressed as far. An analysis of other craters in the area may shed light on the origin of the domes. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a group of four small hills surrounded by the larger mountains in the Cydonia region of Mars. | The recent motion picture, "Mission to Mars," takes as part of its premise that certain features in the Cydonia region of Mars were constructed as monuments by ancient Martians. This idea--widely popularized in books, magazines, tabloids and other news/infotainment media--has its origin in the chance observation (in 1976) by one of the Viking Orbiter spacecraft of a face-like hill. On April 5, 1998, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft performed a specially-planned maneuver to photograph the "Face on Mars." Having successfully imaged the "Face" on its first attempt, two additional maneuvers were used to observe other purported "artificial" features: the "City" (a cluster of small mountains west-southwest of the "Face") and the "City Square" (a group of four small hills surrounded by the larger mountains of the "City"). These special observations occurred during the Science Phasing Orbits period of the MGS mission, while the spacecraft was in a 12 hour, elliptical orbit. A year later, in March 1999, MGS attained its final, circular, polar Mapping Orbit, from which it has now subsequently observed the planet for a year. During this year of mapping, the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) has continued to make observations within the Cydonia region whenever the MGS spacecraft has flown over that area. Click on Image for larger viewThe above figure shows the location of all high resolution (narrow angle) MOC images of the Cydonia region that have been obtained to date, including the first three taken in 1998 (PIA01240, PIA01241, AND PIA01440). These images are superimposed upon a mosaic of Viking images taken during the 1970's. Images acquired during the Science Phasing Orbit period of 1998 slant from bottom left to top right; Mapping Phase images (from 1999 and 2000) slant from lower right to upper left. Owing to the nature of the orbit, and in particular to the limitations on controlling the location of the orbit, the longitudinal distribution of images (left/right in the images above) is distinctly non-uniform. An attempt to take a picture of a portion of the "Face" itself in mid-February 2000 was foiled when the MGS spacecraft experienced a sequencing error and most of that day's data were not returned to Earth. Only the first 97 lines were received; the image's planned footprint is shown as a dashed box. This image is one in a series of eight. | |
This infographic shows how InSight uses a seismometer and quakes to study the inner layers of Mars. | Figure AFigure BFigure CClick on images for larger versionsNASA's InSight Mars lander uses a seismometer to study the inner layers of Mars. Seismic signals from quakes change as they pass through different kinds of materials; seismologists can "read" the squiggles of a seismogram to study the properties of the planet's crust, mantle, and core.This infographic shows those layers, and how InSight uses quakes to study them. It also shows a close-up of InSight and the major sources of marsquakes. Most quakes are created by heat and pressure inside the planet, which cause rock to fracture; another source is meteors striking the surface.Figure A is a horizontal version of the infographic without a title but with some annotations added.Figure B is a horizontal version of the infographic with a title and detailed annotations.Figure C is a vertical version of the infographic with a title and detailed annotations.JPL manages InSight for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the InSight spacecraft, including its cruise stage and lander, and supports spacecraft operations for the mission.A number of European partners, including France's Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are supporting the InSight mission. CNES provided the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument to NASA, with the principal investigator at IPGP (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris). Significant contributions for SEIS came from IPGP; the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany; the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in Switzerland; Imperial College London and Oxford University in the United Kingdom; and JPL. DLR provided the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument, with significant contributions from the Space Research Center (CBK) of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Astronika in Poland. Spain's Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) supplied the temperature and wind sensors.For more information about the mission, go to https://mars.nasa.gov/insight. | |
The wind eroded surface in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft is located in Zephyria Planum. | Context imageThe wind eroded surface in today's VIS image is located in Zephyria Planum.Orbit Number: 44873 Latitude: -1.80079 Longitude: 154.113 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-01-26 00:54Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows two troughs in the Hephaestus Fossae region of Mars surrounded by heavily cratered terrain. | 6 April 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows two troughs in the Hephaestus Fossae region surrounded by heavily cratered terrain.Location near: 22.7°N, 239.0°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Northern Summer | |
These dark dunes are frost covered for most of the year. As southern summer on Mars draws to a close, the dunes have been completely defrosted as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image for PIA03291 Frost-free DunesThese dark dunes are frost covered for most of the year. As southern summer draws to a close, the dunes have been completely defrosted.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -66.6N, Longitude 37.0E. 34 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 captured by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) on April 5, 1999, shows a cottage cheese-like texture on the surface of a part of the residual, summertime, north polar cap. | This image is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left.Martian Dairy Products? If parts of the south polar cap can look like swiss cheese (see "Martian "Swiss Cheese""), then parts of the north polar cap might as well look like some kind of cheese, too. This picture shows a cottage cheese-like texture on the surface of a part of the residual--summertime--north polar cap.The north polar cap surface is mostly covered by pits, cracks, small bumps and knobs. In this image, the cap surface appears bright and the floors of pits look dark. Based upon observations made by the Mariner 9 and Viking orbiters in the 1970s, the north polar residual cap is thought to contain mostly water ice because its summertime temperature is usually near the freezing point of water and water vapor was observed by the Vikings to be coming off the cap during summer. The south residual cap is different--its temperatures in summer remain cold enough to freeze carbon dioxide, and very little to no water vapor has been observed to come off the south cap in summer.The pits that have developed on the north polar cap surface are closely-spaced relative to the very different depressions in the south polar cap. The pits are estimated from the length of shadows cast in them to be less than about 2 meters (5.5 feet) deep. These pits probably develop slowly over thousands of years of successive spring and summer seasons.This picture was taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) during northern summer on April 5, 1999. The picture is located near 82.1°N, 329.6°W and covers an area 1.5 km wide by 3 km long (0.9 x 1.8 miles) at a resolution of 3 meters (10 ft) per pixel.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. | |
These two views of Mars were made with data taken by the neutron spectrometer component of NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft and show epithermal neutron flux, which is sensitive to the amount of hydrogen present. | These two views of Mars were made with data taken by the neutron spectrometer component of NASA's Mars Odyssey gamma ray spectrometer suite. These maps show epithermal neutron flux, which is sensitive to the amount of hydrogen present.The first view was made shortly after the Mars Odyssey science mission began in Feb. 2002, during late summer in the south. The magenta region in the south is due to large amounts of water ice buried a fraction of a meter beneath the surface. The amount of ice is approximately 60 percent by volume. At that time the buried ice in the north was not visible because it was covered with a thick cap of carbon dioxide (dry-ice) frost.The second view was made in November 2002 as Mars enters summer in the north. In this view the ice-rich regions in the north are now visible because the thick carbon dioxide frost has evaporated, and the ice-rich regions in the south are beginning to be obscured by the formation of wintertime seasonal frost. The ice content in the north is even greater than it is in the south, though it is not yet known by how much.JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science in Washington, D.C. Investigators at Arizona State University in Tempe, the University of Arizona in Tucson and NASA's Johnson Space Center,Houston, operate the science instruments. The gamma-ray spectrometer was provided by the University of Arizona in collaboration with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, which provided the high-energy neutron detector, and the Los Alamos National Laboratories, New Mexico, which provided the neutron spectrometer. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL. | |
In this image from NASA's Mars Odyssey the majority of the surface appears uniform with a few small hills, the region of fractured blocks sticks out as 'something different,' perhaps remnants of crater ejecta, or an area of a different type of rock. | Context imageIn an image where the majority of the surface appears uniform with a few small hills, the region of fractured blocks sticks out as "something different." The reason that the material is different is unknown; it could be the remnants of crater ejecta, or an area of a different type of rock.Orbit Number: 38919 Latitude: 7.72132 Longitude: 148.828 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-09-22 22:33Please 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. |
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.