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NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows Valles Marineris, a system of troughs, chasms, and pit chains that stretches more than 4,000 km (2,500 miles) across the martian western hemisphere. | Valles Marineris a system of troughs, chasms, and pit chains that stretches more than 4,000 km (2,500 miles) across the martian western hemisphere. Outcrops of layered material found in mounds and mesas within the chasms of the Valles Marineris were known from the pictures taken by Mariner 9 in 1972 and the Viking orbiters of 1976-1980. One example of the those known previously is the mesa labeled "Candor Mensa" in the context image (above); another example is the mound in the center of Ganges Chasma. For several decades, it has been widely speculated among Mars scientists that the light- and dark-toned layered materials in the Valles Marineris might have formed in lakes that had once filled the chasms during the most recent epoch of martian history; others thought they might result from volcanic ash deposited in the chasms. Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images have confirmed the presence of light- and dark-toned layered sedimentary rock outcrops in the Valles Marineris, but they have also revealed many more than were previously known and they have shown several good examples that these materials are coming out of the walls of the Valles Marineris chasms. The fact that these materials come out of the chasm walls means that the layers do not represent lakes (or volcanic debris) that formed in the Valles Marineris. Instead, they represent materials deposited and buried long before there ever was a Valles Marineris. They are seen now because of the faulting and erosion that opened up and widened the Valles Marineris troughs. The context image is a mosaic of Viking 1 orbiter images taken in 1976 showing a portion of the wall that separates western Ophir Chasma from western Candor Chasma in the Valles Marineris. This area is located around 5°S, 74°W. The white box labeled "M17-00467" shows the location of a subframe of MOC image M17-00467 that was acquired in July 2000 to allow scientists to examine one of the many bright patches (indicated by small arrows) seen on the walls of Valles Marineris. The release image is a subframe of MOC image M17-00467, showing a high-resolution view of one of the bright patches on the walls of Candor Chasma. The MOC image reveals that the bright material indeed consists of light-toned layered rock similar to other outcrops thought to be sedimentary in origin found throughout the Valles Marineris. The dark ridge running from top center to center-left in this view is mantled by a smooth, dark material that covers additional light-toned layered rock. The observation that these kinds of bright layered rock occur within the walls of the Valles Marineris indicate that the materials are very, very old. They have been buried under several kilometers (i.e., more than a mile) of additional layered rock, all of which is beneath plains thought to be more than 2.5 to 3.5 billion years old. These relationships suggest that all of the layered sedimentary rocks observed on Mars by MGS MOC may date back to the earliest parts of martian history, between 3.5 and 4.5 billion years ago. In both pictures, north is toward the top. Sunlight illuminates the context image from the top/right; the MOC image (top left) is illuminated from the upper left. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows layering of Mars' south polar cap. | Context image for PIA09283Polar LayersThe layering of the south polar cap is evident in this image.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -82.4N, Longitude 318.5E. 17 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the Daedalia/Claritas/Syria storm dust plumes on Mars revealing a general pattern of regional storm centers beneath an ever-spreading veil of stratospheric dust. | Although dust storms occur year-round on Mars, they often occur in greater numbers during certain seasons. In particular, it has long been known from Earth-based telescopic observations that the largest, global dust events (those that enshroud the entire planet) occur during the southern spring and summer. As the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) mission began to monitor this period for the second time, particular attention was paid to local and regional dust storms in anticipation of capturing--for the first time--high spatial-and time-resolution observations of the start of a "global" storm.Throughout the month of June 2001, the MGS Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) routinely accumulated low resolution (7.5 km/pixel) global maps of Marson an orbit-by-orbit basis. A moderately large number of local dust storms were noted, especially along the retreating margin of the seasonal south polar CO2 frost cap and around the large and deep Hellas impact basin that dominates the southern, eastern highlands. On June 21, an otherwise undistinguished small dust storm surged into the basin from the southwest. When viewed 24 hours later, the storm had circulated clockwise about 1/3 of the circumference of Hellas, indicating relatively high winds. For the next three days, this storm brewed north of Hellas and east towards Hesperia, but didn't cross the equator (see PIA03170). Then, sometime between 2 PM local Mars time on June 25 and 2 PM local Mars time on June 26, the storm exploded north across the equator, and in less than 24 hours thereafter, dust was being raised from separate locations in Arabia, Nilosyrtis, and Hesperia, thousands of kilometers away from Hellas. This was the start of the long-anticipated global dust event.Over the following week, dust injected high into the stratosphere during the initial Hellas and Hesperia storms drifted eastward, carried by the prevailing south circumpolar jet stream. Beneath this "veil" of dust, an intense wind front moved across Mars, setting up conditions for many other local and regional dust storms. By July 4, a large regional storm was raging between Daedalia Planitia south of the Tharsis volcanoes and Syria Planum (just south of Labyrinthus Noctis, see PIA03171). Another storm was raising plumes of dust in north central Noachis/southwestern Meridiani. Plumes were rising in Hesperia but not Hellas.Throughout July and August, MOC observations revealed a general pattern of regional storm centers beneath an ever-spreading veil of stratospheric dust. The Daedalia/Claritas/Syria storm created dust plumes on over 90 consecutive days .Previous views and perceptions of global dust events had noted regional brightenings within the overall pall of what was called a "global duststorm." From our new observations, we know that at least this global dust "storm" was really a set of storms, somehow triggered to occur at the same time. We also know that dust was not raised from everywhere on the surface during this global event, but rather from discrete, long-lived centers of activity. We saw, for the first time, rapid, cross-equatorial flow of dust-raising winds.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. | |
Details of one of Pathfinder's deflated airbags adjacent to a lander petal are prominent in this image, taken by NASA's Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP). The blue tiles on top of the petal are solar cells that are used to give power to the lander. | Details of one of Pathfinder's deflated airbags adjacent to a lander petal are prominent in this image, taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP). The blue tiles on top of the petal are solar cells that are used to give power to the lander.Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.
Photojournal note: Sojourner spent 83 days of a planned seven-day mission exploring the Martian terrain, acquiring images, and taking chemical, atmospheric and other measurements. The final data transmission received from Pathfinder was at 10:23 UTC on September 27, 1997. Although mission managers tried to restore full communications during the following five months, the successful mission was terminated on March 10, 1998. | |
NASA's Mars rover Sojourner is seen here using its Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument in a study of the Martian soil. The upper image is of rocky terrain and a portion of Sojourner's antenna. | Sojourner is seen here using its Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument in a study of the Martian soil. The upper image is of rocky terrain and a portion of Sojourner's antenna, seen at lower right. The image was taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP), standing 1.8 meters above the Martian surface.Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows hills within Marte Vallis, a large volcanic flow. | Context image for PIA11299Tartarus CollesMost of the hills that make up Tartarus Colles have dark slope streaks. The hills in this image are within Marte Vallis, a large volcanic flow.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 22.8N, Longitude 185.4E. 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. | |
This image is from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey. THEMIS ART IMAGE #63 Seattle Seahawk fans may recognize their team emblem in the collapse region around this crater. | Context image for PIA08513THEMIS ART #63Back by popular demand: THEMIS ART IMAGE #63 Seattle Seahawk fans may recognize their team emblem in the collapse region around this crater.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 33.7N, Longitude 348.3E. 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | 11 February 2004 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dark-toned sand dunes in a crater in eastern Noachis Terra. Most big martian dunes tend to be dark, as opposed to the more familiar light-toned dunes of Earth. This difference is a product of the composition of the dunes; on Earth, most dunes contain abundant quartz. Quartz is usually clear (transparent), though quartz sand grains that have been kicked around by wind usually develop a white, frosty surface. On Mars, the sand is mostly made up of the darker minerals that comprise iron- and magnesium-rich volcanic rocks--i.e., like the black sand beaches found on volcanic islands like Hawaii. Examples of dark sand dunes on Earth are found in central Washington state and Iceland, among other places. This picture is located near 49.0°S, 326.3°W. Sunlight illuminates this scene from the upper left; the image covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a dune field in a large crater near Mawrth Vallis; some of the dunes appear to be in 'V' formation. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionMigratory birds and military aircraft -- like during World War II -- often fly in a V-shaped formation. The "V" formation greatly boosts the efficiency and range of flying birds, because all except the first fly in the upward motion of air -- called upwash -- from the wingtip vortices of the bird ahead.In this image of a dune field in a large crater near Mawrth Vallis, some of the dunes appear to be in formation. For dune fields, the spacing of individual dunes is a function of sand supply, wind speed, and topography.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. | |
Perspective View of HiRISE First Image | Overview 1Overview 2Perspective Zoom 1Perspective Zoom 2Perspective Zoom 3Click on each image for larger viewShown here are five different perspective views generated from digital topography (see PIA08053). All views have a field of view 55 degrees wide, and no vertical exaggeration. Three of the images show a sequence of views zooming in on a particular patch of ground showing layers, looking west. The other two images provide an overview of the region, looking east and south. The overviews illustrate how the ridge has deformed several valleys and impact craters.These images are a subset of PIA08060, which was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on March 24, 2006. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:33 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 78.1 degrees, thus the sun was about 11.9 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 29 degrees (with Ls an indicator of Mars' position in its orbit around the sun), the season on Mars is southern autumn.Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov.JPL, 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 is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Albor Fossae. These fossae (graben) are located on the southeastern flank of Albor Tholus, one of the volcanoes of the Elysium volcanic complex. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of Albor Fossae. These fossae (graben) are located on the southeastern flank of Albor Tholus, one of the volcanoes of the Elysium volcanic complex.Orbit Number: 81529 Latitude: 18.2534 Longitude: 151.75 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-05-01 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 image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the south polar cap. The cap is comprised of layers of ice and dust deposited over millions of years. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of the south polar cap. The cap is comprised of layers of ice and dust deposited over millions of years. This image was collected at the end of summer.Orbit Number: 76193 Latitude: -86.7591 Longitude: 96.2982 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-02-17 00:08Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows an unnamed crater in western Utopia Planitia containing both gullies and a landslide deposit that may be related to the formation of some gullies. | Context image for PIA11232GulliesThis unnamed crater in western Utopia Planitia contains both gullies and a landslide deposit that may be related to the formation of some gullies.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 53.1N, Longitude 57.6E. 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. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity provides a circular sign of the success of the rover's first grinding of a rock. The round, shallow hole seen in this image is on a rock dubbed 'McKittrick,' located in the 'El Capitan' area of the larger outcrop | This image was taken by Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's front hazard-avoidance camera, providing a circular sign of the success of the rover's first grinding of a rock. The round, shallow hole seen in this image is on a rock dubbed "McKittrick," located in the "El Capitan" area of the larger outcrop near Opportunity's landing site.Opportunity used its rock abrasion tool to grind off a patch of rock 45.5 millimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter during the 30th martian day, or sol, of its mission (Feb. 23, 2004). The grinding exposed fresh rock for close inspection by the rover's microscopic imager and two spectrometers located on its robotic arm. The Honeybee Robotics team, which designed and operates the rock abrasion tool, determined the depth of the cut at "McKittrick" to be 4.4 millimeters (0.17 inches) deep.On sol 34 (Feb. 27, 2004), the rover is scheduled to grind into its second target on the "El Capitan" area, a rock dubbed "Guadalupe" in the upper middle part of this image.The rock abrasion tools on both Mars Exploration Rovers were supplied by Honeybee Robotics, New York, N.Y. | |
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: 90256 Latitude: -43.5412 Longitude: 34.6619 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-04-19 23:24Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows the eastern part of Hydrae Chasma. | Context imageThis VIS image shows the eastern part of Hydrae Chasma.Orbit Number: 50199 Latitude: -6.6969 Longitude: 298.127 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-04-08 09:21Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a section of Cerberus Fossae. Located southeast of the Elysium Planitia volcanic complex, the linear graben was created by tectonic forces related to the volcanic activity. | Context image Today's VIS image shows a section of Cerberus Fossae. Located southeast of the Elysium Planitia volcanic complex, the linear graben was created by tectonic forces related to the volcanic activity. The fossae cuts across features such as hills, indicating the relative youth of the tectonic activity. The fossae is also the source of several channels, some of which are visible on the bottom of the fossae.Orbit Number: 71498 Latitude: 9.94964 Longitude: 157.873 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-01-26 07:16Please 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 captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows the north polar scarp, with the polar cap in the upper left corner. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows the north polar scarp, with the polar cap in the upper left corner. Trending from the lower left corner to the center of the image are the dark dunes of Abalos Undae. This image is slightly west of Monday's image.Orbit Number: 63007 Latitude: 82.3442 Longitude: 283.613 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-02-26 19:19Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows where several channels join together. These channels are located in Terra Sabaea. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows where several channels join together. These channels are located in Terra Sabaea.Orbit Number: 62297 Latitude: 40.0084 Longitude: 50.3626 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-12-30 07:34Please 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. | |
Spirit's Winter Work Site | Annotated VersionThis portion of an image acquired by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera shows the Spirit rover's winter campaign site. Spirit was parked on a slope tilted 11 degrees to the north to maximize sunlight during the southern winter season. "Tyrone" is an area where the rover's wheels disturbed light-toned soils. Remote sensing and in-situ analyses found the light-toned soil at Tyrone to be sulfate rich and hydrated. The original picture is catalogued as PSP_001513_1655_red and was taken on Sept. 29, 2006. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the Acidalia/Mare Erythraeum face in mid-September 2006. | 13 September 2006This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 107° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 107° occurs in mid-September 2006. The picture shows the Acidalia/Mare Erythraeum face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.Season: Northern Summer/Southern Winter | |
This view from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the arm of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows texture within a light-toned vein at a site called 'Garden City' on lower Mount Sharp. | This view from the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the arm of NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows texture within a light-toned vein at a site called "Garden City" on lower Mount Sharp. The area shown is roughly 0.9 inch (2.2 centimeters) wide. It was taken during the 946th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (April 4, 2015). Differences in textures of light-toned veins in the Garden City complex of crisscrossing mineral veins are clues that these veins may result from distinct fluid events. This vein's texture shows indications of crystal growth, suggesting that crystallization may have exerted a force for opening the fracture filled by the vein. Different examples are at PIA19926 and PIA19927.Mineral veins often form where fluids move through fractured rocks, depositing minerals in the fractures and affecting chemistry of the surrounding rock. At Garden City, the veins have been more resistant to erosion than the surrounding host rock. The fluid movement through fractures at Garden City occurred later than wet environmental conditions in which the host rock formed, before it hardened and cracked.Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates MAHLI. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
Northern Plains | Image PSP_001474_2520 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on November 19, 2006. The complete image is centered at 71.6 degrees latitude, 145.4 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 316.3 km (197.7 miles). At this distance the image scale is 31.6 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 2:59 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 61 degrees, thus the sun was about 29 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 137.6 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 false-color image released on June 9, 2004 from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey was collected June 23, 2002 during northern spring season. The image shows an area in the Nili Fossae region on Mars. | Released 9 June 2004This image was collected June 23, 2002 during northern spring season. The local time at the image location was about 4 pm. The image shows an area in the Nili Fossae region.The THEMIS VIS camera is capable of capturing color images of the martian surface using its five different color filters. In this mode of operation, the spatial resolution and coverage of the image must be reduced to accommodate the additional data volume produced from the use of multiple filters. To make a color image, three of the five filter images (each in grayscale) are selected. Each is contrast enhanced and then converted to a red, green, or blue intensity image. These three images are then combined to produce a full color, single image. Because the THEMIS color filters don't span the full range of colors seen by the human eye, a color THEMIS image does not represent true color. Also, because each single-filter image is contrast enhanced before inclusion in the three-color image, the apparent color variation of the scene is exaggerated. Nevertheless, the color variation that does appear is representative of some change in color, however subtle, in the actual scene. Note that the long edges of THEMIS color images typically contain color artifacts that do not represent surface variation.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 22, Longitude 79.3 East (280.7 West). 38 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The dunes in this image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft are part of the dune field that encircles a large portion of Mars' northern pole. Less sand available in this region of the dune field, resulting in individual dunes. | Context imageThe dunes in this image are part of the dune field that encircles a large portion of the northern pole. There is less sand available in this region of the dune field, resulting in individual dunes rather than the dense dunes seen elsewhere in the dune field.Orbit Number: 46733 Latitude: 78.2657 Longitude: 147.577 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-06-27 04:47Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This ridge system is located in the south polar region on Mars as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image for PIA03662Polar RidgesThis ridge system is located in the south polar region.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -81.7N, Longitude 296.5E. 17 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 cylindrical-projection mosaic was created by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 93 (April 7, 2004). It reveals the martian view from Spirit's position during the four-sol flight software update that began on sol 94. | This left eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 93 (April 7, 2004). It reveals the martian view from Spirit's position during the four-sol flight software update that began on sol 94.See PIA05765 for 3-D view and PIA05767 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic. | |
This image, acquired by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) in May 2000 shows numerous examples of martian gullies that all start, or head, in a specific layer roughly a hundred meters beneath the surface of Mars. | This image, acquired by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) in May 2000 shows numerous examples of martian gullies that all start -- or head -- in a specific layer roughly a hundred meters beneath the surface of Mars. These features are located on the south-facing wall of a trough in the Gorgonum Chaos region, an area found to have many examples of gullies proposed to have formed by seepage and runoff of liquid water in recent martian times.The layer from which the gullies emanate has recessed backward to form an overhang beneath a harder layer of rock. The larger gullies have formed an alcove -- an area above the overhang from which debris has collapsed to leave a dark-toned scar. Below the layer of seepage is found a dark, narrow channel that runs down the slope to an apron of debris. The small, bright, parallel features at the base of the cliff at the center-right of the picture is a series of large windblown ripples.Although the dark tone of the alcoves and channels in this image is not likely to be the result of wet ground (the contrast in this image has been enhanced), it does suggest that water has seeped out of the ground and moved down the slope quite recently. Sharp contrasts between dark and light areas are hard to maintain on Mars for very long periods of time because dust tends to coat surfaces and reduce brightness differences. To keep dust from settling on a surface, it has to have undergone some process of erosion (wind, landslides, water runoff) relatively recently. There is no way to know how recent this activity was, but educated guesses center between a few to tens of years, and it is entirely possible that the area shown in this image has water seeping out of the ground today.Centered near 37.9°S, 170.2°W, sunlight illuminates the MOC image from the upper left, north is toward the upper right. The context view above is from the Viking 1 orbiter and was acquired in 1977. The Viking picture is illuminated from the upper right; north is up. The small white box in the context frame shows the location of the high resolution MOC view. | |
This false color image, taken by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander taken Oct. 7, 2008 shows color variations of the trench, informally named 'La Mancha,' and reveals the ice layer beneath the soil surface. The trench's depth is about 5 centimeters deep. | This false color image, taken by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander's Surface Stereo Imager, was taken on the 131st Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Oct. 7, 2008). The image shows color variations of the trench, informally named "La Mancha," and reveals the ice layer beneath the soil surface. The trench's depth is about 5 centimeters deep.The color outline of the shadow at the bottom of the image is a result of sun movement with the combined use of infrared, green, and blue filters. The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter. | |
This image highlights the 'Karatepe' ingress, where NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity began its traverse down into 'Endurance Crater' on July 5, 2004. | Figure 1Figure 2Figure 3Figure 4
Trekking Down 'Endurance' (sol 170, July 16, 2004)
In figure 4, the darker blue line in this approximate true-color mosaic from the
panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity
shows the rover's position as of sol 170 (July 16, 2004). The rover is
located at the end of the blue portion of the line, about 10 meters
(32.8 feet) into "Endurance Crater." The rover took this image while
sitting on the opposite edge of the crater.
The image also shows the "Karatepe" ingress, where the rover began
ts traverse down into "Endurance Crater" on sol 159 (July 5, 2004). One
of the major goals motivating the rover team to carefully drive the rover
further down into the crater is to follow up on clues observed so far involving
the element chlorine and the mineral pyroxene. The rover has found that
chlorine and pyroxene (a signature of basaltic, or volcanic, rocks) increase
in concentration with deepening layers of rock. Scientists also hope to study
the dunes, or "ripples," visible at the bottom right of this image. These dunes
show strong signatures for basalt and could further develop the history of this
area of Meridiani Planum.
The Path into "Endurance" (sol 133, June 8, 2004)
Figures 1, 2, and 3 above are images from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover
Opportunity panoramic camera showing the rover's 6-to-7-meter
(20-to-23-foot) drive path into the crater called "Endurance," starting
near the target called "Karatepe." In figure 1, the yellow line at the
top illustrates the first part of the drive, a 1.2-meter (3.9-foot)
movement forward just enough to get all six of the rover's wheels into
the crater. The rover will then back up the same distance and examine
what the wheels did to the rocks. The following day, it will move
forward approximately 3.2 meters (10.5 feet).
In figure 2, the yellow line at the top illustrates the second part of
the drive, in which the rover drives forward 2.4 meters (7.8 feet) into
the crater before backing up to examine the soil and rock it just drove
over.
In figure 3, the yellow arrow at the top illustrates the last leg of the
drive, a forward movement into the crater, illustrated by the blue circle.
The drive began on sol 133 (June 8, 2004). | |
The image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity features small grains one millimeter (0.04 inch) or less in size and somewhat lighter in color than those in other soil units observed in Eagle Crater. | Part of the "Eagle Crater" soil survey, this three-centimeter by three-centimeter (1.2-inch by 1.2-inch) microscopic image of the target called "Vanilla" within the "Neopolitan" area was taken on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's 53rd sol, or day, on Mars. The image features small grains one millimeter (0.04 inch) or less in size and somewhat lighter in color than those in other soil units observed in the crater. Before this picture was taken, the rover's Moessbauer spectrometer took measurements of the target and pressed some of the grains into the surrounding finer-grained soil.For mosaic of related microscopic images, see PIA05651. | |
Palos Crater, seen in this NASA Mars Odyssey image, has been suggested as a future landing site for Mars missions because it may contain lake deposits. This crater has a channel called Tinto Vallis, which enters from the south. | Palos Crater has been suggested as a future landing site for Mars Missions. This crater has a channel called Tinto Vallis, which enters from the south. This site was suggested as a landing site because it may contain lake deposits. Palos Crater is named in honor of the port city in Spain from which Christopher Columbus sailed on his way to the New World in August of 1492. The floor of Palos Crater appears to be layered in places providing further evidence that this site may in fact have been the location of an ancient lake.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 Lycus Sulci region that surrounds Olympus Mons on its north and western flanks. The ridges of the Sulci host numerous dark slope streaks. | Context image for PIA11317Lycus SulciThis VIS image shows a small portion of the Lycus Sulci region that surrounds Olympus Mons on its north and western flanks. The ridges of the Sulci host numerous dark slope streaks.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 27.6N, Longitude 228.7E. 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. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows volcanic flows from Arsia Mons, the southernmost of the Tharsis volcanoes. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows volcanic flows from Arsia Mons.Orbit Number: 45382 Latitude: -12.107 Longitude: 234.856 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-03-07 22:28Please 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. | |
Although well to the northeast of the hematite-bearing unit in Meridiani Planum, this image taken in October 2003 by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft offers a stunning landscape, and clues regarding the possible history of water in this area. | Released 17 October 2003Although well to the northeast of the hematite-bearing unit in Meridiani Planum (the landing site of the Opportunity rover), this THEMIS visible image offers a stunning landscape, and clues regarding the possible history of water in this area. Most noticeable, of course, is the large dark unit in the center of the image. This unit clearly embays the underlying terrain, implying that it was somehow subsequently deposited on top of it. This same unit can be seen in a crater just south of the main body. It is hard to tell if water definitely laid down this unit, but an aqueous mechanism could certainly be implied, especially since the large body of hematite, which most likely formed in the presence of water, is present close by.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 1.5, Longitude 5.6 East (354.4 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows an unconformity in a sequence of layered material in the martian north polar region created by erosion. | 14 August 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an unconformity in a sequence of layered material in the martian north polar region. MGS MOC has been examining many similar examples of unconformities created by erosion in the polar region this year. Long ago, the lower set of layers was deposited. Then, deposition ceased, and erosion occurred for some period. Then, the erosional period ended, and new layers were deposited. The older layers -- the ones deposited before the erosive event -- today appear truncated by the younger, more evenly-bedded layers. No one is certain what composes the north polar layers; they may be sequences of dust and ice.Location near: 84.3°N, 235.6°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Northern Spring | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows several landslides located of the floor of Tiu Valles. | Context image for PIA11303LandslidesSeveral landslides are visible in this image. The landslides are located of the floor of Tiu Valles.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 10.4N, Longitude 326.6E. 18 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Sirenum Fossae. The linear depressions are tectonic graben. | 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 Sirenum Fossae. The linear depressions in this VIS image are tectonic graben. Graben are formed by extension of the crust and faulting. When large amounts of pressure or tension are applied to rocks on timescales that are fast enough that the rock cannot respond by deforming, the rock breaks along faults. In the case of a graben, two parallel faults are formed by extension of the crust and the rock in between the faults drops downward into the space created by the extension. Several graben are visible in this THEMIS VIS image, trending from north-northeast to south-southwest. Because the faults defining the graben are formed parallel to the direction of the applied stress, we know that extensional forces were pulling the crust apart in the west-northwest/east-southeast direction. The Sirenum Fossae graben are 2735km (1700 miles) long.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: 84841 Latitude: -35.7019 Longitude: 196.266 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-01-29 02:03Please 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 image shows the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) on NASA's Curiosity rover, with the Martian landscape in the background. This image let researchers know that the APXS instrument had not become caked with dust during Curiosity's landing. | This image shows the Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) on NASA's Curiosity rover, with the Martian landscape in the background. The image was taken by Curiosity's Mast Camera on the 32nd Martian day, or sol, of operations on the surface (Sept. 7, 2012, PDT or Sept. 8, 2012, UTC). APXS can be seen in the middle of the picture.This image let researchers know that the APXS instrument had not become caked with dust during Curiosity's dusty landing.Scientists enhanced the color in this version to show the Martian scene as it would appear under the lighting conditions we have on Earth, which helps in analyzing the terrain. | |
The pristine nature of this crater and its ejecta indicate that it is younger than the outflow channel where it is located. This image is from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey. | Context imageThe pristine nature of this crater and its ejecta indicate that it is younger than the outflow channel where it is located.Orbit Number: 41833 Latitude: 11.4877 Longitude: 323.96 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-05-20 21:00Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Spirit's View of 'Columbia Hills' (polar) | 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 polar projection with geometric seam correction, was taken by the rover's navigation camera. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows light-toned, layered, sedimentary rock outcrops in the crater, Terby. The crater is located on the north rim of Hellas Basin on Mars. | 25 August 2005This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows light-toned, layered, sedimentary rock outcrops in the crater, Terby. The crater is located on the north rim of Hellas Basin. If one could visit the rocks in Terby, one might learn from them whether they formed in a body of water. It is possible, for example, that Terby was a bay in a larger, Hellas-wide sea.Location near: 27.9°S, 285.7°W Image width: width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Winter | |
These lava flows surrounding a depression in the plains are located in the Cerberus region of Elysium Planitia on Mars as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image for PIA09067Lava FlowsThese lava flows surrounding a depression in the plains are located in the Cerberus region of Elysium Planitia.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 4.6N, Longitude 158.9E. 18 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This mosaic image shows the first target NASA's Curiosity rover aims to zap ChemCam instrument. ChemCam will be firing a laser at this rock, provisionally named N165, and analyzing the glowing, ionized gas, called plasma, that the laser excites. | This mosaic image shows the first target NASA's Curiosity rover aims to zap with its Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument. ChemCam will be firing a laser at this rock, provisionally named N165, and analyzing the glowing, ionized gas, called plasma, that the laser excites. The instrument will analyze that spark with a telescope and identify the chemical elements in the target.The rock is just off to the right of the rover. This image is part of a set of images obtained by Curiosity's Mast Camera on Aug. 8 PDT (Aug. 9 EDT). See PIA16051 for the larger mosaic.
JPL manages the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed, developed and assembled at JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology
in Pasadena.
For more about NASA's Curiosity mission, visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl, http://www.nasa.gov/mars, and
http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Ariadnes Colles. The term colles means hills or knobs. | 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 Ariadnes Colles. The term colles means hills or knobs. In this false color combination the hills stand out against the darker surrounding plains. This difference is due to the amount of dust covering the hills versus the plains.Orbit Number: 83575 Latitude: -34.2294 Longitude: 173.524 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-10-16 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows interesting landslide is located on the southern wall of Melas Chasma. | Context image for PIA10049LandslideThis interesting landslide is located on the southern wall of Melas Chasma.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -13.6N, Longitude 288.1E. 18 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft provides another look at one of the larger channels dissecting the rim of Gale Crater that may be the source of the dune material. | Context imageDuring the month of April Mars will be in conjunction relative to the Earth. This means the Sun is in the line-of-sight between Earth and Mars, and communication between the two planets is almost impossible. For conjunction, the rovers and orbiting spacecraft at Mars continue to operate, but do not send the data to Earth. This recorded data will be sent to Earth when Mars moves away from the sun and the line-of-sight between Earth and Mars is reestablished. During conjunction the THEMIS image of the day will be a visual tour of Gale Crater, the location of the newest rover Curiosity. Today's image provides another look at one of the larger channels dissecting the rim of Gale Crater that may be the source of the dune material.Orbit Number: 17757 Latitude: -6.00798 Longitude: 137.779 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2005-12-15 09:30Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image uses a view from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity to show context for a horizon shot by the rover's narrower-angle panoramic camera of the rim of Endeavour crater. | This image uses a view from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity to show context for a horizon shot by the rover's narrower-angle panoramic camera. The navigation camera exposures were taken during the 2,220th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's mission on Mars (April 22, 2010).The horizon view from the panoramic camera, at PIA13081 and PIA13080, includes a portion of the rim of Endeavour crater, the rover's destination in a multi-year traverse along the sandy Martian landscape. Opportunity began a marathon from Victoria to Endeavour in September 2008 after spending two years exploring Victoria. | |
This image, taken by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft, shows a portion of the lava flows associated with Arsia Mons. | Context imageCredit: NASA/JPL/MOLAThis VIS image shows a portion of the lava flows associated with Arsia Mons.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -22.9N, Longitude 238.7E. 41 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 linear depressions, 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 fossae are 2735km long (1700 miles).Orbit Number: 83511 Latitude: -26.424 Longitude: 218.759 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-10-11 14:31Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows small barchan dunes on the floor of a crater in western Arabia Terra on Mars. Similar dunes are found in most of the larger craters of this region. | 16 July 2005This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows small barchan dunes on the floor of a crater in western Arabia Terra. Similar dunes are found in most of the larger craters of the region. The steepest slopes on these dunes, their slipfaces, point toward the west-southwest, indicating that dominant winds blow from the east-northeast (upper right).Location near: 10.9°N, 2.8°W Image width: width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Northern Autumn | |
This image is a single frame from a computer animation, which begins with a global view of the planet Mars compiled with images from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | This image is a single frame from a computer animation, which begins with a global view of the planet Mars created from Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Orbiter Camera, wide angle images. In the animation the ODYSSEY spacecraft is displayed above a series of globes, where color is used to emphasize the Martian topographic, andesite, and basalt compositional differences. A global view of Earth introduces a comparison of the difference in resolution between the current MGS TES and planned ODYSSEY THEMIS observations. | |
This right-eye mosaic was created from images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired May 8, 2004.The rover was on its way to the 'Columbia Hills,' which can be seen on the horizon. | This right eye of a stereo pair of views in a cylindrical-perspective projection was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 124 (May 9, 2004). It reveals Spirit's view as it gets closer to the "Columbia Hills."See PIA05901 for 3-D view and PIA05902 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection. | |
This image shows numerous dark shapes and bright spots on a sand dune in the Northern polar regions of Mars. This observation is from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThis image shows numerous dark shapes and bright spots on a sand dune in the Northern polar regions of Mars.The bright spots are carbon dioxide frost. On Mars, the main atmospheric component is carbon dioxide, which circulates seasonally between the atmosphere and the polar regions. One of the reasons that permit this process is the fact that temperatures on Mars are much colder than on Earth, which allows carbon dioxide frost to condense on the surface in winter.When spring comes however, the surface heats up and the carbon dioxide frost eventually sublimates (turns directly from the solid to the vapor state), and forms jets of carbon dioxide mixed with dust, leading to the formation of the dark features we see in the image.Such processes occur seasonally on Mars, and therefore are continuously being monitored by the HiRISE scientists to assess the differences from one year to the next.HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the orbiter's HiRISE camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image (cut out from a mosaic) shows the view from the landing site of NASA's Curiosity rover toward the lower reaches of Mount Sharp, where Curiosity is likely to begin its ascent through hundreds of feet (meters) of layered deposits. | This image (cut out from a mosaic) shows the view from the landing site of NASA's Curiosity rover toward the lower reaches of Mount Sharp, where Curiosity is likely to begin its ascent through hundreds of feet (meters) of layered deposits. The lower several hundred feet (meters) show evidence of bearing hydrated minerals, based on orbiter observations. The terrain Curiosity will explore is marked by hills, buttes, mesas and canyons on the scale of one-to-three story buildings, very much like the Four Corners region of the western United States.A scale bar indicates a distance of 1.2 miles (2 kilometers).Curiosity's 34-millimeter Mast Camera acquired this high-resolution image on Aug. 8, 2012 PDT (Aug. 9 EDT).This image shows the colors modified as if the scene were transported to Earth and illuminated by terrestrial sunlight. This processing, called "white balancing," is useful to scientists for recognizing and distinguishing rocks by color in more familiar lighting.
Mars Science Laboratory is a project of NASA's Science Mission Directorate. The mission is managed by JPL. Curiosity was designed, developed and assembled at JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.
For more about NASA's Curiosity mission, visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl, http://www.nasa.gov/mars, and http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. | |
The North Polar layered deposits (NPLD) are a stack of layers of ice and dust at the North Pole of Mars. The layers are thought to have been deposited over millions of years. This image is from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionHiRISE has captured some stunning images of dust devils in action, but the overall sample remains fairly limited. Both Mars Orbiter Camera and HiRISE images in this general region have a fairly high rate of capturing dust devils (sometimes several in one image), so acquiring images here in the right season has a good chance to help us obtain better measurements of these features.This image has been fairly successful, showing one well-defined, large dust devil in the north and two less well formed ones in the center. Dust devils are identified in images both by their cloudy form and the shadow their cloud casts on the surface, from which the height of the dust devil can be determined.Dust devils on Mars form the same way they do in deserts on Earth: strong heating of the surface by the sun, rising of heated, less-dense air that swirls upwards in a column, some wind to move it along a path over the ground, and entrainment, or picking up, of surface particles such as dust.Preliminary results have shown that the along-ground movement and the circulating winds of a dust devil can be estimated using the HiRISE color frames if the dust devils happen to be imaged in the HiRISE color swath (down the center of the image).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. | |
Ceraunius Fossae is the region of fractures and volcanic flows south of Alba Mons shown in this image captured by NASA's Mars Odyssey. | Context imageCeraunius Fossae is the region of fractures and volcanic flows south of Alba Mons.Orbit Number: 39477 Latitude: 31 Longitude: 254.016 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-11-07 21:09Please 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. | |
This image acquired on December 31, 2019 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows part of the ejecta from an impact crater (about 6-kilometers in diameter) to the west in Utopia Planitia. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionThis image covers part of the ejecta from an impact crater (about 6-kilometers in diameter) to the west in Utopia Planitia. The ejecta lobes have morphologies suggesting icy flow. Several small (about 100 to 200 meters in diameter) craters on top of those lobes have a distinctive formation. One interpretation is that the impact crater exposed nearly pure water ice, which then sublimated away where exposed by the slopes of the crater, expanding the crater's diameter and producing a scalloped appearance. The small polygons are another indicator of shallow ice. The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 61.0 centimeters [24.0 inches] per pixel [with 2 x 2 binning]; objects on the order of 183 centimeters [72.0 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a small section of Nirgal Valles. Located in Noachis Terra, Nirgal Valles is 610km long (379 miles). | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a small section of Nirgal Valles. Located in Noachis Terra, Nirgal Valles is 610km long (379 miles).Orbit Number: 84500 Latitude: -27.3291 Longitude: 314.675 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-01-01 00:11Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor was acquired during the Mar's southern spring season on December 29, 1997. A crater wall shows channeling suggestive of fluid seepage. | Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image 7707 (subframe) reproduced at full resolution, about 24.5 meters/pixel (80.4 feet/pixel). Picture shows an area approximately 25.1 x 31.3 km (15.6 x 19.5 miles) in size. Sun illumination is from the lower left. The MOC image is centered near 65.1°S latitude, 15.1°W longitude. Image was obtained during the Southern Spring season on December 29, 1997, at 1:19 p.m. PST on Mars Global Surveyor's 77th orbit around Mars.Despite evidence of catastrophic floods and integrated valley networks on Mars, unequivocal evidence of ponding has been difficult, if not impossible, to find. MOC image 7707 shows what, at first examination, appears to be such evidence. There are two striking geomorphic attributes of the crater shown in the image: (1) The crater wall shows channeling suggestive of fluid seepage; and (2) The contact (i.e., the boundary between two types of geologic materials) between the dark floor materials and the lighter materials of the crater wall suggests, by the formation of bays and peninsulas, a ponding relationship.These relationships are best and most easily explained if, at some time in the past, water seeped out of layers within the crater wall and flowed down into the crater, flooding part of the crater floor. In this interpretation, the dark material may be sediment transported by the seeping water. The appearance of dunes within the crater may be coincidental, or the sand may have been generated by wind and wave action. The lack of superimposed fresh impact craters suggests this process may have been active relatively recently.It is important to note that both the channel and floor relationships seen in this image may be formed by other processes, and that there is also the possibility that they may not be related (i.e., that the fluid from the channels did not emplace the dark, ponded floor material). It is also important to remember that a fluid other than water, for example, fluid lava, could be responsible for the features seen. Indeed, lower resolution Viking and some MOC images suggest just such an alternative explanation. The absence of craters may reflect the difficulty of the materials to preserve such features, or their burial by dust. Finally, the environmental difficulties of having liquid water seeping from the wall of a south polar crater are quite formidable. For these reasons, caution must be exercised in adopting any specific hypothesis.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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a pattern of polygonal cracks and aligned, elliptical pits in western Utopia Planitia on Mars. | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-339, 23 April 2003This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a pattern of polygonal cracks and aligned, elliptical pits in western Utopia Planitia. The picture covers an area about 3 km (about 1.9 mi) wide near 44.9°N, 274.7°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the left. | |
In this image of Tithonium Chasma from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft both sides of the chasma are visible. This narrow and deep part of the chasma exist both large, chaotic block landslide deposits with smaller lobate shaped landslide deposits. | Context image In this VIS image of Tithonium Chasma both sides of the chasma are visible. In this narrow and deep part of the chasma exist both large, chaotic block landslide deposits with smaller lobate shaped landslide deposits on top.Tithonium Chasma has numerous large landslide deposits. The resistant material of the plateau surface forms the linear ridges of the canyon wall. Large landslides have changed the walls and floor of the canyon. A landslide is a failure of slope due to gravity. They initiate due to several reasons. A lower layer of poorly cemented/resistant material may have been eroded, undermining the wall above which then collapses; earth quake seismic waves can cause the slope to collapse; and even an impact event near the canyon wall can cause collapse. As millions of tons of material fall and slide down slope a scalloped cavity forms at the upper part where the slope failure occurred. At the material speeds downhill it will pick up more of the underlying slope, increasing the volume of material entrained into the landslide. Whereas some landslides spread across the canyon floor forming lobate deposits, very large volume slope failures will completely fill the canyon floor in a large complex region of chaotic blocks.Tithonium Chasma is at the western end of Valles Marineris. Valles Marineris is over 4000 kilometers long, wider than the United States. Tithonium Chasma is almost 810 kilometers long (499 miles), 50 kilometers wide and over 6 kilometers deep. In comparison, the Grand Canyon in Arizona is about 175 kilometers long, 30 kilometers wide, and only 2 kilometers deep. The canyons of Valles Marineris were formed by extensive fracturing and pulling apart of the crust during the uplift of the vast Tharsis plateau. Landslides have enlarged the canyon walls and created deposits on the canyon floor. Weathering of the surface and influx of dust and sand have modified the canyon floor, both creating and modifying layered materials.The Odyssey spacecraft has spent over 15 years in orbit around Mars, circling the planet more than 71,000 times. It holds the record for longest working spacecraft at Mars. THEMIS, the IR/VIS camera system, has collected data for the entire mission and provides images covering all seasons and lighting conditions. Over the years many features of interest have received repeated imaging, building up a suite of images covering the entire feature. From the deepest chasma to the tallest volcano, individual dunes inside craters and dune fields that encircle the north pole, channels carved by water and lava, and a variety of other feature, THEMIS has imaged them all. For the next several months the image of the day will focus on the Tharsis volcanoes, the various chasmata of Valles Marineris, and the major dunes fields. We hope you enjoy these images!Orbit Number: 36058 Latitude: -4.39265 Longitude: 272.557 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-01-30 06:55Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This 3-D image taken by the microscopic imager on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a close-up of the center of the rock abrasion tool hole, ground into 'Bounce.' 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | This 3-D image taken by the microscopic imager on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a close-up of the center of the rock abrasion tool hole, ground into "Bounce" on the rover's 66th sol on Mars. Features smaller than one-tenth of a millimeter (.004 inches) are visible. The observed area is a little over 3 centimeters (1.2 inches). The canyon-like crack that runs across the bottom half of the image is really only about 2 millimeters (about 0.08 inches) deep. Scientists are currently using a variety of instruments to study the chemical content of the rock. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows two suites of gullies within a single impact crater in the Terra Cimmeria region of Mars. Gully erosion has cut into the layered rock exposed on the crater wall. | 15 March 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows two suites of gullies within a single impact crater in the Terra Cimmeria region. The gullies near the top of the image are located on the northern wall of the crater, while the lower suite resides on a lower bench in the crater's northern wall complex. Gully erosion has cut into the layered rock exposed on the crater wall. Water may have been involved in their formation.Location near: 38.2°S, 190.6°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Summer | |
NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft captured this image of the southwestern margin of Juventae Chasma. Located to the north of Marineris Vallis, this chasma is elongate in the north-south direction, rather than east-west. | Context imageThis VIS image is on the southwestern margin of Juventae Chasma. Located to the north of Marineris Vallis, this chasma is elongate in the north/south direction, rather than east/west.Orbit Number: 43008 Latitude: -4.84971 Longitude: 296.607 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-08-25 12:46Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Concentric Crater Fill in the Northern Plains | Click on image for larger versionThis HiRISE image (PSP_001926_2185) shows part of an unnamed crater located in the Northern Plains. The intriguing landforms in the floor of this crater are known as "concentric crater fill." Such landforms are found at high latitudes (approximately above 30° from the equator), where theoretical calculations indicate that ice may exist under the surface, mixed with rocks and soil. Examples of concentric crater fill were first observed in the 1970s, in images acquired by cameras on board the Viking orbiters. The roughly concentric ridges and throughs in the crater's floor are believed to result from compression caused by viscous flow of a thick mixture of rocks, soils, and ice inward from the crater's walls.Impact craters with concentric fill are usually shallower than other craters. The crater shown here is approximately 12 km (7.5 miles) in diameter, and 200-400 m (220-440 yards) deep; other Martian craters (see PIA09659) of similar diameter but without concentric fill may be as deep as 700 m (765 yards). Unlike in "regular" craters, the slopes of the walls of craters with concentric fill tend to be convex, and the crater's rim is more rounded. All these characteristics are consistent with deformation of an ice-rock mixture similar to what's observed in rock glaciers on Earth.Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 12 December 2006Local Mars time: 3:28 PMDegrees latitude (centered): 38.3°Degrees longitude (East): 60.5°Range to target site: 295.0 km (184.4 miles)Original image scale range: 29.5 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~89 cm across are resolvedMap-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAREmission angle: 1.2°Phase angle: 55.4°Solar incidence angle: 54°, with the Sun about 36° above the horizonSolar longitude: 155.5°, 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 false-color polar map was generated from images obtained by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's Mars Color Imager (MARCI). It shows a large local dust storm that researchers were monitoring on May 25, 2008. | Image with ArrowScientists are anticipating clear skies when NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander arrives on the north polar plains of the Red Planet Sunday, May 25, 2008. This orbital view of the north polar region of Mars, where NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander will land, shows clear skies as of May 22, 2008. Mission planners are always on the lookout for dust storms in daily weather updates like this one, provided by the Mars Color Imager on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Based on current conditions, they are predicting good weather when Phoenix arrives May 25, 2008. Temperature profiles, used to calculate atmospheric density, are also updated on a regular basis, provided by the Mars Climate Sounder, another instrument on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Atmospheric density was well within expectations as of May 22, 2008. Mission planners will continue to receive updates on weather and atmospheric conditions prior to landing.The animated orbital view shows recent weather conditions from May 16 to May 22, 2008, as tracked by the Mars Color Imager on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. A cloud of dust kicked up by Martian winds traveled from west to east between May 19 and May 22, 2008, passing over Phoenix's landing site. The dust cloud was about 500 kilometers (300 miles) from head to tail and made the skies somewhat hazy. Since then, the dust has been replaced by clear skies, indicating that Phoenix will not land in any dust clouds, which are a common occurrence in the northern latitudes of Mars.The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter. | |
These images show changes in the dust accumulation over the course of four days on the rim of the collection tube containing Perseverance's 14th sample. The images were acquired by the rover's Sampling and Caching System Camera, or CacheCam. | Click here for animationPerseverance's Sampling and Caching System Camera, or CacheCam, captured this time-lapse series of images of the rover's 14th rock-core sample. Taken over four Martian days (or sols) – on Sols 595, 599, 601, and 604 of the mission (Oct. 22, Oct. 26, Oct. 28, and Oct. 31, 2022) – they document the results of the mission's use of the rover's Bore Sweep Tool to remove dust from the tube. Small dust grains can be seen moving around the rim of the sample tube. The tool is designed to clean the inner surface near the tube's opening and also move the collected rock sample further down into the tube. Because the CacheCam's depth of field is plus or minus 5 millimeters, the rock sample, which is farther down in the tube, is not in focus in these images. The pixel scale in this image is approximately 13 microns per pixel. The images were acquired on Oct. 5. When the rover attempted to insert a seal into the open end of the tube, the seal did not release as expected from its dispenser. The bright gold-colored ring in the foreground is the bearing race, an asymmetrical flange that assists in shearing off a sample once the coring drill has bored into a rock. The sample collection tube's serial number, "184," can be seen in the 2 o'clock position on the bearing race. About the size and shape of a standard lab test tube, these tubes are designed to contain representative samples of Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).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 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/mars2020 | |
This scene combines three frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the 1,869th Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's mission on Mars (April 6, 2009). It spans 120 degrees, with south at the center. | This scene combines three frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the 1,869th Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's mission on Mars (April 6, 2009). It spans 120 degrees, with south at the center.The view is from the position Spirit reached with a 17.5-meter (57-foot) southward drive on the preceding sol. The foreground includes terrain that the rover covered in its next two drives, when it traveled 12.7 meters (42 feet) southward on Sol 1870 (April 7, 2009) and an additional 7 meters (23 feet) on Sol 1871 (April 8, 2009).On the far left of the image is the slope of the western edge of the low plateau called "Home Plate." On the right, in the middle distance, is a ridge called "Tsiolkovsky." Behind the saddle between Home Plate and Tsiolkovsky is a mound capped with light-toned rock and called "Von Braun," a possible destination for Spirit to investigate in the future.Spirit was driving toward Von Braun when the rover became embedded in soft soil at a site called "Troy" by Sol 1899 (May 6, 2009). The soft soil at Troy was covered with a darker layer before Spirit's wheels broke through that top layer and revealed lighter material, so the site is inconspicuous in the middle distance toward Von Braun in this image.This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction. | |
The four main pieces of hardware that arrived on Mars with NASA's Curiosity rover were spotted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) which captured this image about 24 hours after landing. | The four main pieces of hardware that arrived on Mars with NASA's Curiosity rover were spotted by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera captured this image about 24 hours after landing. The large, reduced-scale image points out the strewn hardware: the heat shield was the first piece to hit the ground, followed by the back shell attached to the parachute, then the rover itself touched down, and finally, after cables were cut, the sky crane flew away to the northwest and crashed. Relatively dark areas in all four spots are from disturbances of the bright dust on Mars, revealing the darker material below the surface dust.Around the rover, this disturbance was from the sky crane thrusters, and forms a bilaterally symmetrical pattern. The darkened radial jets from the sky crane are downrange from the point of oblique impact, much like the oblique impacts of asteroids. In fact, they make an arrow pointing to Curiosity. This image was acquired from a special 41-degree roll of MRO, larger than the normal 30-degree limit. It rolled towards the west and towards the sun, which increases visible scattering by atmospheric dust as well as the amount of atmosphere the orbiter has to look through, thereby reducing the contrast of surface features. Future images will show the hardware in greater detail. Our view is tilted about 45 degrees from the surface (more than the 41-degree roll due to planetary curvature), like a view out of an airplane window. Tilt the images 90 degrees clockwise to see the surface better from this perspective. The views are primarily of the shadowed side of the rover and other objects. The Curiosity rover is approximately 4,900 feet (1,500 meters) away from the heat shield; about 2,020 feet (615 meters) away from the parachute and back shell; and approximately 2,100 feet (650 meters) away from the discoloration consistent with the impact of the sky crane.The image scale is 39 centimeters (15.3 inches) per pixel. Complete HiRISE image products are available at: http://uahirise.org/releases/msl-descent.php .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 NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of one of the larger storms that occurred during the spring season on Mars. Southern spring is the season of dust storms. This storm is located over Promethei Terra. | Context image for PIA09428Southern StormThis image captured part of one of the larger storms that occurred during the latest spring season on Mars. Southern spring is the season of dust storms. This storm is located over Promethei Terra.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -71.4N, Longitude 125.5E. 17 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This is the 3-D version of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's view on its 56th sol on Mars, before it left 'Eagle Crater.' 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | This is the 3-D version of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's view on its 56th sol on Mars, before it left "Eagle Crater." To the right, the rover tracks are visible at the original spot where the rover attempted unsuccessfully to exit the crater. After a one-sol delay, Opportunity took another route to the plains of Meridiani Planum. This image was taken by the rover's navigation camera. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows the intersection of Mangala Fossae and an impact crater. | Context imageThis VIS image shows the intersection of Mangala Fossae and an impact crater. Mangal Fossae is a long linear depression called a graben, and was formed due to extensional tectonic stresses. In this image the graben crosses through a crater. Impact crater formation changes the surface and near surface materials, usually creating much stronger rocks due to the melting of the preexisting surface. The extensional stresses forming the graben interacted with this material and produced the jumble of depressions we see today within the crater.Orbit Number: 82251 Latitude: -19.3232 Longitude: 207.574 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-06-29 20:38Please 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a small section on Margaritifer Chaos. The term chaos is applied to regions where the surface is being eroded to form mesas. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a small section on Margaritifer Chaos. The term chaos is applied to regions where the surface is being eroded to form mesas. As the surface processes continue individual mesas become more isolated and take on the appearance of regions of hills. At the top of the image is Margaritifer Terra, which is being dissected into large mesas. Towards the bottom of the image the mesas have been eroded into smaller hills.Orbit Number: 72315 Latitude: -8.86121 Longitude: 339.105 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-04-03 14:28Please 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. | |
The light-toned materials at the bottom end of this anaglyph fomr NASA's Mars Global Surveyor are considered to be thick exposures of sedimentary rock. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-341, 25 April 2003This is a stereo (3-d anaglyph) composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) wide angle images of northern Sinus Meridiani near 2°N, 0°W. The light-toned materials at the south (bottom) end of the picture are considered to be thick (100-200 meters; 300-600 ft) exposures of sedimentary rock. Several ancient meteor impact craters are being exhumed from within these layered materials. To view in stereo, use "3-d" glasses with red over the left eye, and blue over the right. The picture covers an area approximately 113 km (70 mi) wide; north is up. | |
Multiple channels dissect the northern flank of Ceraunius Tholus in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageMultiple channels dissect the northern flank of Ceraunius Tholus in this VIS image.Orbit Number: 53646 Latitude: 24.8376 Longitude: 263.181 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-01-17 02:36Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The dunes in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft are still partial covered in frost. They will get darker and darker as the frost is removed and the underlying dark material is completely exposed. | Context imageThe dunes in this image are still partial covered in frost. They will get darker and darker as the frost is removed and the underlying dark material is completely exposed.Orbit Number: 44860 Latitude: 78.9359 Longitude: 156.23 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-01-25 00:44Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This diagram shows a possible configuration of ice-rich and dry soil in the upper meter (3 feet) of Mars. The ice-rich soil was detected by the gamma ray spectrometer suite of instruments aboard NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | This diagram shows a possible configuration of ice-rich and dry soil in the upper meter (three feet) of Mars. The ice-rich soil was detected by the gamma ray spectrometer suite of instruments aboard NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. Measurements indicate that the uppermost soil contains very little ice, while an ice-rich zone below contains 20 to 50 percent ice by mass. The depth of the ice-rich layer becomes shallower toward the south pole, as shown on the left of the diagram. The instruments detect the signature of hydrogen, indicating water ice, to a depth of about one meter (three feet). It is not known whether or how deep the ice-rich zone continues below that depth.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Investigators at Arizona State University in Tempe, the University of Arizona in Tucson, and NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, operate the science instruments. The gamma-ray spectrometer was provided by the University of Arizona in collaboration with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, 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, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows the start of Mamers Valles. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows the start of Mamers Valles.Orbit Number: 60364 Latitude: 31.4345 Longitude: 20.3221 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-07-24 03:06Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows channels draining towards Moreux Crater. | Context image for PIA10874ChannelsThe channels in this image are draining towards Moreux Crater.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 40.4N, Longitude 43.0E. 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. | |
This image from NASA's rover Opportunity shows mostly a portion of Endeavour's western rim (left); a paler-looking terrain on the horizon beyond Endeavour (right) is part of a thick deposit of material ejected by the impact that excavated Iazu Crater. | AnnotatedClick on the image for the larger versionSince the summer of 2008, when NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity finished two years of studying Victoria Crater, the rover's long-term destination has been the much larger Endeavour Crater to the southeast. By the spring of 2010, Opportunity had covered more than a third of the charted, 19-kilometer (12-mile) route from Victoria to Endeavour and reached an area with a gradual, southward slope offering a view of Endeavour's elevated rim.On the 2,239th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's mission on Mars (May 12, 2010), the rover used its panoramic camera (Pancam) to take multiple exposures of the horizon toward the southeast. The Pancam team combined these images into this super-resolution view showing details of a portion of the rim of Endeavour about 13 kilometers (8 miles) away plus more-distant features. Super-resolution is an imaging technique combining information from multiple pictures of the same target in order to generate an image with a higher resolution than any of the individual images.Above the dark plains in the lower portion of the view, the horizon in the left half is mostly a portion of Endeavour's western rim. The paler-looking terrain on the horizon beyond Endeavour in the right half of the image is part of a thick deposit of material ejected by the impact that excavated Iazu Crater, south of Endeavour. The observed increase in brightness of Iazu's ejecta relative to Endeavour's features is consistent with modeling by science team members Michael Wolff, of the Space Science Institute, and Ray Arvidson, of Washington University in St. Louis, applying optical characteristics Opportunity has measured in the Martian atmosphere.Supplementing this image, a reference map as seen from orbit (PIA13196) by the Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows the relative positions of Victoria, Endeavour and Iazu craters, and the Opportunity rover. Science team member Tim Parker, of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., has correlated several points visible in the Pancam image with features visible from orbit. Above the dark plains in the lower portion of the view, the horizon in the left half is mostly a portion of Endeavour's western rim. Labels identify some points on the rim that have been assigned informal names by the rover science team, using as a theme names of places visited by British Royal Navy Capt. James Cook in his 1769-1771 Pacific voyage in command of H.M.S. Endeavour. The paler-looking terrain on the horizon beyond Endeavour in the right half of the image is part of a thick deposit of material ejected by the impact that excavated Iazu Crater, south of Endeavour. The observed increase in brightness of Iazu's ejecta relative to Endeavour's features is consistent with modeling by science team members Michael Wolff, of the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo., and Ray Arvidson, of Washington University in St. Louis, applying optical characteristics Opportunity has measured in the Martian atmosphere.After the rover team chose Endeavour as a long-term destination, the goal became even more alluring when observations with the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, also on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, found clay minerals exposed at Endeavour. James Wray, of Cornell University, and co-authors reported observations of those minerals in Geophysical Research Letters in 2009. Clay minerals, which form under wet and relatively neutral pH conditions, have been found extensively on Mars from orbit but have not been examined on the surface. Additional observations with that spectrometer are helping the rover team choose which part of Endeavour's rim to visit first with Opportunity. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a close-up of texture interpreted as cross-lamination evidence that sediments forming the rock were laid down in flowing water on Mars' Meridiani Planum. | Figure 1A three-dimensional close-up visualization of this portion of the martian rock called "Last Chance" (see PIA05482) offers additional details of the cross-lamination. The visualization and the image from the panoramic camera are compared to show a point of correlation (yellow arrow, Figure 1). | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows linear features, part of Mangala Fossae. Mangala Fossae are long linear depressions called a graben and were formed by extension of the crust and faulting. | Context imageThe linear features in this image are part of Mangala Fossae. Mangala Fossae are long linear depressions called a graben and were 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: 91822 Latitude: -19.0175 Longitude: 212.283 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-08-26 22:12Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Gullies on the Exterior Wall of a Crater | Figure 1Click on image for larger versionThe mid-latitude Martian gullies are found on slopes of many varieties, including crater walls, crater central peaks, trough walls, valley network walls, and mesas.Rarely are gullies found on the exterior walls of craters as seen in the subimage (figure 1). This might be related to a paucity of craters fresh enough to have raised rims during the geologically recent epoch in which gullies formed. The gullies are clearly incised into the exterior wall, and their channels are not linear suggesting a fluvial, rather than mass wasting, origin. They do not have noticeable debris aprons, but there are dunes nearby that might contain material from the gullies' debris aprons that was deposited then subsequently transported by the wind.The crater shown in PSP_001908_1405 is the right half of an overlapping pair of craters in which the left crater formed most recently. The craters have fluidized ejecta which imply that volatiles, possibly including water, were present at the time of their formation.Gullies are proposed to be formed by liquid water, and the origin of this water is much debated. Current leading theories include breakout from a subsurface aquifer, melt from near-surface ground ice, and melt from under a snowpack. It is interesting to note that there are no gullies on the interior wall of the crater directly opposite the gullies on the exterior wall. This suggests that, if subsurface water formed these gullies, then the subsurface structure of the crater rim is responsible for the gullies being only on the exterior wall. If surface water did formed these gullies, then insolation likely played a role in the gullies' location.Observation GeometryImage PSP_001908_1405 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on 23-Dec-2006. The complete image is centered at -39.3 degrees latitude, 202.8 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 255.2 km (159.5 miles). At this distance the image scale is 25.5 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~77 cm across are resolved. The image shown here has been map-projected to 25 cm/pixel and north is up. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 03:47 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 72 degrees, thus the sun was about 18 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 154.7 degrees, the season on Mars is Northern Summer.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
Dark streaks mark the slopes of craters and hills in this region of Amazonis Planitia on Mars as seen by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageMass Wasting is the term given to the process of change on a surface due to gravity -- i.e., things moving downhill due to the force of gravity. Dark streaks mark the slopes of craters and hills in this region of Amazonis Planitia. The streaks are caused by dust being displaced by an object (rock) rolling downhill.Orbit Number: 43710 Latitude: 8.40411 Longitude: 183.638 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-10-22 09:29Please 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 animation shows the evolution of the 2018 Mars global dust storm from late May to September as measured by the Mars Climate Sounder instrument onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. | Click on the image for larger animationThis animation shows the evolution of the 2018 Mars global dust storm from late May to September. The animation shows the optical depth tau -- a measure of how much light is being blocked by atmospheric dust as measured by the Mars Climate Sounder instrument onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.NASA's Opportunity rover is marked with a red dot. The dust is mapped to two opposite hemispheres of Mars, giving a view of the full globe. Certain features of the Martian terrain, including Olympus Mons, the three volcanoes in the equatorial region, and Vallis Marineris, are also visible.The data shows the daily global column of dust, illustrating how the dust behaves over the course of the storm. The storm has a complex growth affecting most of Mars over the first month. It then remains near the peak for three weeks. Finally, the storm starts a multi-month decay back to regular weather.A color scale in the lower right-hand corner of the animation explains the colors in relation to approximate tau values. A tau of three indicates that only about 5 percent of the sunlight entering the atmosphere directly reaches the surface.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, and leads the Mars Climate Sounder investigation. | |
On Aug. 3, 2005, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its microscopic imager to take this mosaic of the rock 'Haussmann.' The rounded nature of the pebbles indicates that they were eroded on the surface before being embedded into the rock. | Annotated image of PIA04196Focus on 'Rue Legendre'Spirit used its microscopic imager to take this mosaic of the rock "Haussmann" on martian day, or sol, 563 (August 3, 2005). The specific target is nicknamed "Rue Legendre." The rounded nature of the pebbles indicates that they were eroded on the surface before being embedded into the Haussmann rock. The size of the larger of the two pebbles is approximately 3 centimeters (1.2 inches). The rock probably formed from impact ejecta, consistent with other rocks Spirit discovered during its climb to the summit of "Husband Hill." | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows an individual windstreak located on the extensive volcanic flows of the Tharsis region. | Context image for PIA11315WindstreakLocated on the extensive volcanic flows of the Tharsis region, this individual windstreak indicates wind direction in this region.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 2.1N, Longitude 265.4E. 18 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Ganges Chasma. Ganges Chasma is part of the Valles Marineris chasma system, but is north of the main section of canyons. | 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 Ganges Chasma. A large landslide deposit fills the bottom third of the image, and another landslide deposit is visible near the top of the image. The radial grooves on the top of a landslide are a common feature formed by the downslope movement of the landslide materials. A field of dunes is visible in the center of the image. Ganges Chasma is part of the Valles Marineris chasma system, but is north of the main section of canyons. Ganges Chasma is 584km (363 miles) long.Orbit Number: 70657 Latitude: -7.47135 Longitude: 315.505 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2017-11-18 00:19Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This graphic depicts the relative shapes and distances from Mars for five active orbiter missions plus the planet's two natural satellites. It illustrates the potential for intersections of the spacecraft orbits. | This graphic depicts the relative shapes and distances from Mars for five active orbiter missions plus the planet's two natural satellites. It illustrates the potential for intersections of the spacecraft orbits. The number of active orbiter missions at Mars increased from three to five in 2014. With the increased traffic, NASA has augmented a process for anticipating orbit intersections and avoiding collisions.NASA's Mars Odyssey and MRO (Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter) travel near-circular orbits. The European Space Agency's Mars Express, NASA's MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution) and India's MOM (Mars Orbiter Mission), travel more elliptical orbits. Phobos and Deimos are the two natural moons of Mars.NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center manages the MAVEN project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. MAVEN's principal investigator is based at the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages NASA's Mars Exploration Program and the Odyssey and MRO projects for the Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built all three NASA Mars orbiters.For more about NASA's Mars Exploration Program, visit: http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov. | |
After months spent crossing a sea of rippled sands, NASA's Opportunity rover reached an outcrop in August 2005 and began investigating exposures of sedimentary rocks, intriguing rind-like features that appear to cap the rocks. | Annotated image of PIA04189Rind-Like Features at a Meridiani OutcropAfter months spent crossing a sea of rippled sands, Opportunity reached an outcrop in August 2005 and began investigating exposures of sedimentary rocks, intriguing rind-like features that appear to cap the rocks, and cobbles that dot the martian surface locally. Opportunity spent several martian days, or sols, analyzing a feature called "Lemon Rind," a thin surface layer covering portions of outcrop rocks poking through the sand north of "Erebus Crater." In images from the panoramic camera, Lemon Rind appears slightly different in color than surrounding rocks. It also appears to be slightly more resistant to wind erosion than the outcrop's interior. This is an approximately true-color composite produced from frames taken during Opportunity's 552nd martian day, or sol (Aug. 13, 2005). | |
This 3-D cylindrical-perspective mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured on on sol 151. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | Click on the image for Spirit Tracks on Mars, Sol 151 (3-D) (QTVR)This stereo view of a full 360-degree panorama in Mars' Gusev Crater region was assembled from frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during Spirit's 151st martian day, or sol, on June 5, 2004. The view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. The rover sits at site 63, still more than 100 meters (328 feet) from the base of the "Columbia Hills." As suggested by the rover tracks fading off in the distance, Spirit made great progress on this sol, roving 73 meters (240 feet) to get to this point.See PIA06054 for left eye view and PIA06055 for right eye view of this 3-D cylindrical-perspective projection. | |
Challenger Memorial Station, Meridiani Planum, Mars | A composite image reveals the local region surrounding the Challenger Memorial Station. The image is actually an amalgamation of a Mars Global Surveyor's Mars Orbiter Camera image and the third and final picture taken by Opportunity's DIMES camera ( Descent Image Motion Estimation System) during descent. The location of the site is a 20-meter (65.6 foot) wide, 2-meter (6.6 foot) deep crater somewhere in this composite image. The final crew of the space shuttle Challenger was lost when the shuttle suffered an in-flight breakup during launch on Jan. 28, 1986.Figure 1Opportunity's TurfApril 8, 2004This map highlights the past and future stomping grounds of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. "Eagle Crater" is the small crater where the rover landed over two months ago. "Anatolia," named after the Anatolian fault system in Turkey, is the trough the rover is currently investigating. "Endurance" is the large crater the rover will travel toward in coming sols. The underlying image was taken by the camera onboard the Mars Global Surveyor orbiter. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Indus Vallis. Indus Vallis is 300km long (186 miles) and is located in Terra Sabaea. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of Indus Vallis. Indus Vallis is 300km long (186 miles) and is located in Terra Sabaea.Orbit Number: 78900 Latitude: 19.8775 Longitude: 36.769 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-09-27 22:44Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a summertime view of sand dunes in Richardson Crater in the Mare Chromium region of the martian southern hemisphere. | 25 December 2005This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a summertime view of sand dunes in Richardson Crater in the Mare Chromium region of the martian southern hemisphere.Location near: 72.4°S, 179.7°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Summer | |
Dark-Toned Ridges in Meridiani | Click on image for larger versionThis HiRISE image (PSP_003379_1835) is along the rim of an impact crater in Meridiani and shows a lighter-toned base unit with more resistant dark-toned ridges on top.Both units exhibit complex fracture patterns. Also evident are old dune fields that have been solidified and then fractured, as well as younger, non-solidified dune fields.More recently, the entire area has been deeply eroded by the wind.Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 4 April 2007Local Mars time: 3:34 PMDegrees latitude (centered): 3.3°Degrees longitude (East): 357.1°Range to target site: 271.6 km (169.7 miles)Original image scale range: 27.2 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~82 cm across are resolvedMap-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAREmission angle: 0.1°Phase angle: 56.3°Solar incidence angle: 56°, with the Sun about 34° above the horizonSolar longitude: 220.3°, 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 night time image released on Nov 24, 2004 from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows a small unnamed channel on Mars located near Tyrrhena Patera. This channel is located to the northwest of the volcanic complex and likely formed by fluvial action. | Like yesterday's image, the small unnamed channel in this nighttime IR image is located near Tyrrhena Patera. This channel is located to the northwest of the volcanic complex and likely formed by fluvial action.NOTE: in nighttime images North is to the bottom of the image.Image information: IR instrument. Latitude -24.6, Longitude 349.7 East (10.3 West). 100 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Oti Fossae are paired fractures with a downdropped block [called graben] located on the eastern flank of Arsia Mons as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageOti Fossae are paired fractures with a downdropped block [called graben] located on the eastern flank of Arsia Mons. In some cases the graben are covered by lava flows younger than the formation of the graben themselves.Orbit Number: 45956 Latitude: -11.8534 Longitude: 241.607 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-04-24 04:22Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image shows NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity sitting along the rim of 'Endurance Crater' in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars on May 15, 2004. | This cylindrical-projection mosaic was created from three navigation camera frames that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity acquired on sol 109, May 15, 2004. Opportunity is sitting along the rim of "Endurance Crater" in the Meridiani Planum region. | |
This is the first image taken by the Navigation cameras on NASA's Curiosity rover. It shows the shadow of the rover's now-upright mast in the center, and the arm's shadow at left. The arm itself can be seen in the foreground. | This is the first image taken by the Navigation cameras on NASA's Curiosity rover. It shows the shadow of the rover's now-upright mast in the center, and the arm's shadow at left. The arm itself can be seen in the foreground.The navigation camera is used to help find the sun -- information that is needed for locating, and communicating, with Earth. After the camera pointed at the sun, it turned in the opposite direction and took this picture. The position of the shadow helps confirm the sun's location. The "augmented reality" or AR tag seen in the foreground can be used in the future with smart phones to obtain more information about the mission. This is a full-resolution image, 1024 by 1024 pixels. |
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