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This image taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover's panoramic camera on April 5, 2004 shows the eastern-lying 'Columbia Hills.' Of particular interest is the light-toned coating seen here on the low-lying rocks. | This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover's panoramic camera on sol 91 (April 5, 2004) shows the rover's ultimate destination - the eastern-lying "Columbia Hills." The rover will head toward the hills in coming sols, while stopping to investigate rocks and soils along the way. Of particular interest is the light-toned coating seen here on the low-lying rocks. Scientists intend to find out if this coating is the same as that observed on the well-studied rock dubbed "Mazatzal." They believe Mazatzal's coating may have formed by cementation of airborne dust, perhaps in a slightly wetter, past environment. The scientists also plan to determine if the soil here is the same as the somewhat cohesive soil seen near the rover's lander. Like the coatings, this soil may have formed in past moist environments. This image was taken with the panoramic camera's infrared (750 nanometer) filter. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Huo Hsing Valles, located in northern Terra Sabaea. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of Huo Hsing Valles, located in northern Terra Sabaea. This valley system is 318 km (197 miles) long.Orbit Number: 79136 Latitude: 30.7086 Longitude: 66.391 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-10-17 09:11Please 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 captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft of the south polar cap on Mars contains gullies that have developed, or been uncovered, by the warmth of summer. | Context image for PIA03199Polar GulliesThis 34m resolution image of the South Polar Cap contains gullies that have developed, or been uncovered, by the warmth of summer.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 73.8S, Longitude 146.4E. 34 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image, taken by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft, shows a small section of Naktong Vallis. | Context imageCredit: NASA/JPL/MOLAToday's VIS image shows a small section of Naktong Vallis.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 0.1N, Longitude 36.7E. 21 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This view of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was generated using data collected by the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard the agency's Perseverance Mars rover on Aug. 2, 2023. | Figure AFigure BClick on images for larger versionsThis view of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was generated using data collected by the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard the agency's Perseverance Mars rover on Aug. 2, 2023, the 871st Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The image was taken a day before the rotorcraft's 54th flight, and about a week and a half after Flight 53, which was cut short by an unexpected landing.Figure A is an enhanced-color view that exaggerates subtle color differences in the scene.Figure B shows the same image in an anaglyph that can be viewed with red-blue 3D glasses.Arizona State University leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras, and in collaboration with the Niels Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen on the design, fabrication, and testing of the calibration targets.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.For more about Perseverance:mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Tractus Catena, just one of many north/south trending tectonic graben located south and east of Alba Mons. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of Tractus Catena, just one of many north/south trending tectonic graben located south and east of Alba Mons. The features running vertically in the image are part of Tractus Catena. While other graben in the area are identified as fossae (defined as a long, narrow depression), the circular depressions within this graben lead to the descriptor name catena (defined as a chain of craters). In this case the craters are a result of roof collapse into an underlying open space such as a lava tube.Orbit Number: 85481 Latitude: 33.0548 Longitude: 259.221 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-03-22 19:44Please 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. | |
Though a dusty haze fills the giant Hellas impact basin south of the dark fin-shaped feature Syrtis Major, the dust appears to be localized within Hellas in this 1997 image from NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. | [RIGHT]This NASA Hubble Space Telescope picture of Mars was taken on Sept. 12, one day after the arrival of the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft and only five hours before the beginning of autumn in the Martian northern hemisphere. (Mars is tilted on its axis like Earth, so it has similar seasonal changes, including an autumnal equinox when the Sun crosses Mars' equator from the northern to the southern hemisphere).This Hubble picture was taken in support of the MGS mission. Hubble is monitoring the Martian weather conditions during the early phases of MGS aerobraking; in particular, the detection of large dust storms are important inputs into the atmospheric models used by the MGS mission to plan aerobraking operations.Though a dusty haze fills the giant Hellas impact basin south of the dark fin-shaped feature Syrtis Major, the dust appears to be localized within Hellas. Unless the region covered expands significantly, the dust will not be of concern for MGS aerobraking.Other early signs of seasonal transitions on Mars are apparent in the Hubble picture. The northern polar ice cap is blanketed under a polar hood of clouds that typically start forming in late northern summer. As fall progresses, sunlight will dwindle in the north polar region and the seasonal polar cap of frozen carbon dioxide will start condensing onto the surface under these clouds.Hubble observations will continue until October 13, as MGS carefully uses the drag of the Martian atmosphere to circularize its orbit about the Red Planet. After mid-October, Mars will be too close to the Sun, in angular separation, for Hubble to safely view.The image is a composite of three separately filtered colored images taken with the Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 (WFPC2). Resolution is 35 miles (57 kilometers) per pixel (picture element). The Pathfinder landing site near Ares Valles is about 2200 miles (3600 kilometers) west of the center of this image, so was not visible during this observation. Mars was 158 million miles (255 million kilometers) from Earth at the time.[LEFT]An image of this region of Mars, taken in June 1997, is shown for comparison. The Hellas basin is filled with bright clouds and/or surface frost. More water ice clouds are visible across the planet than in the Sept. image, reflecting the effects of the changing season. Mars appears larger because it was 44 million miles (77 million kilometers) closer to Earth than in the September image.This image and other images and data received from the Hubble Space Telescope are posted on the World Wide Web on the Space Telescope Science Institute home page at URL http://oposite.stsci.edu/. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-552, 22 November 2003This October 2003 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of a large cluster of small craters located northeast of the Mars Pathfinder landing site, on the plains scoured by the old Ares and Tiu Valles outflow channels. Clusters of craters, such as these, usually form as secondary impacts. Secondary impacts are the result of a larger, single meteor, asteroid, or cometary impact--the impact ejects debris that falls elsewhere and creates smaller, secondary craters. In other words, the material that hit the ground to form these craters did not come from space, it came from Mars. The craters are located near 19.9°N, 33.3°W. The image shows an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide, and is illuminated by sunlight from the lower left. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a section of Her Desher Vallis. This channel is located in Noachis Terra. | Context imageThis VIS image shows a section of Her Desher Vallis. This channel is located in Noachis Terra.Orbit Number: 74923 Latitude: -25.1336 Longitude: 312.258 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-11-04 10:15Please 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 sand dunes covering a large portion of the floor of Juventae Chasma. | Context imageOn the north side of Mars' great equatorial rift Valles Marineris lies a large depression called Juventae Chasma. The chasma stretches for 180 kilometers (110 miles) east-west and 250 km (155 miles) north-south. Most of its floor lies 5km (3 miles) or more below the surrounding surface of Lunae Planum. The large outflow channel Maja Valles originates at the northern end of Juventae Chasma. Sand dunes cover a large portion of the floor of Juventae Chasma, visible in the central part of this VIS image.Orbit Number: 85954 Latitude: -3.98251 Longitude: 298.967 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-04-30 18:13Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
From a position in the shallow 'Yellowknife Bay' depression, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its right Mast Camera (Mastcam) to take the telephoto images combined into this panorama of geological diversity. | Raw ImageClick on the image for larger versionFrom a position in the shallow "Yellowknife Bay" depression, NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its right Mast Camera (Mastcam) to take the telephoto images combined into this panorama of geological diversity. A lip defining the edge of Yellowknife Bay is visible in the middle distance near the center of the image and in the farther distance on the right. The scene is a combination of three mosaics taken on Sols (Martian days) 137, 138, and 141 of Curiosity's work on Mars (Dec. 24, 25 and 28, 2012). Each sol's images were acquired between about 8:30 and 9:30 a.m., local Mars solar time. Distances from the rover range from about 10 feet (3 meters) for the closest objects in the picture to about 100 feet (30 meters) for the most distant ones.The mosaics have been white-balanced to show what the rocks would look like if they were on Earth. A raw-color version is also available, showing what the rocks look like on Mars to the camera. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the dune field on the floor of Rabe Crater. | Context image Today's VIS image shows part of the dune field on the floor of Rabe Crater.Orbit Number: 65691 Latitude: -43.6749 Longitude: 34.8006 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-10-04 20:29Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows linear depressions, part of Nili Fossae. | Context imageThe THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. The linear depressions in today's false color image are part of Nili Fossae. Nili Fossae is a collection of curved faults and down-dropped blocks of crust between the faults. The "fossae," or graben, lie northeast of the large volcano Syrtis Major and northwest of the ancient impact basin Isidis Planitia. The troughs, which can be almost 500 meters (1,600 feet) deep , make concentric curves that follow the outline of Isidis Planitia. The graben likely formed as the crust sagged under the weight of lava flows filling the Isidis Planitia impact basin.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: 94834 Latitude: 21.5829 Longitude: 73.0022 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2023-05-01 22:33Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Candor Chasma. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of Candor Chasma.Orbit Number: 59700 Latitude: -8.61477 Longitude: 292.969 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-05-30 09:44Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The interior of a crater in red hues showing a mixture of coarse gray grains and fine reddish grains surrounding NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity at Meridiani Planum on Mars; | The interior of a crater surrounding the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity at Meridiani Planum on Mars can be seen in this color image from the rover's panoramic camera. This is the darkest landing site ever visited by a spacecraft on Mars. The rim of the crater is approximately 10 meters (32 feet) from the rover. The crater is estimated to be 20 meters (65 feet) in diameter. Scientists are intrigued by the abundance of rock outcrops dispersed throughout the crater, as well as the crater's soil, which appears to be a mixture of coarse gray grains and fine reddish grains.Data taken from the camera's near-infrared, green and blue filters were combined to create this approximate true color picture, taken on the first day of Opportunity's journey. The view is to the west-southwest of the rover. | |
This graph shows the light signatures, or spectra, of two sides of the rock dubbed 'Bounce,' located at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The spectra were taken by the miniature thermal emission spectrometer onboard NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. | This graph shows the light signatures, or spectra, of two sides of the rock dubbed "Bounce," located at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The spectra were taken by the miniature thermal emission spectrometer on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The left side of this rock is covered by fine dust created when the rover drilled into the rock with its rock abrasion tool. These "fines" produce a layer of pyroxene dust that can be detected here in the top spectrum. The right side of the rock has fewer fines and was used to investigate the composition of this basaltic rock. | |
This image obtained by NASA's Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) of the Sojourner rover was taken near the end of daytime operations on Sol 42. The rover is between the rocks 'Wedge' (left) and 'Flute Top' (right). Sol 1 began on July 4, 1997. | This image of the Sojourner rover was taken near the end of daytime operations on Sol 42. The rover is between the rocks "Wedge" (left) and "Flute Top" (right). Other rocks visible include "Flat Top" (behind Flute Top) and those in the Rock Garden, at the top of the frame. The cylindrical object extending from the back end of Sojourner is the Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer.Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The 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. | |
In a view of the colorful west-facing scarp of Ceti Mensa, NASA's Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter sees the interior layers of the deposit, giving a window into the past history of the sediments as they accumulated over time. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThe layered sedimentary deposits inside the giant canyons of Mars have puzzled scientists for decades. These light toned deposits have fine, horizontal laminations that are unlike the rugged rim rock of the Valles Marineris as seen by NASA's Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter (MRO).Various ideas for the origin of the layered sediments have suggested lake deposits, wind blown dust and sand, or volcanic materials that erupted after the canyon was formed, and possibly filled with water.One particular layered deposit, called Ceti Mensa, attracted attention because its deep red color in images collected by the Viking Orbiter mission during the 1970s. Located in west Candor Chasma in the north of the Valles Marineris, Ceti Mensa is an undulating plateau that rises 3 kilometers above the canyon floor and is bounded by steep scarps up to 1.5 kilometers in height. Deep red hues are on the west-facing scarp in particular. The red tint may be due to the presence of crystalline ferric oxide, suggesting that the material may have been exposed to heat or water, or both.Spectral measurements by the Mars Express OMEGA and MRO CRISM instruments confirm the presence of hydrated sulfate salts, such as gypsum and kieserite . These minerals are important for two reasons. On Earth, they typically form in wet environments, suggesting that the deposits in Ceti Mensa may have formed under water. On Mars, these deposits could be valuable to future Martian colonists as fertilizer for growing crops.In a view of the colorful west-facing scarp of Ceti Mensa, we see the interior layers of the deposit, giving us a window into the past history of the sediments as they accumulated over time. We also see layers that were previously too small to view, and a surface that is thoroughly fractured, eroded into knobs, and partially covered by young dark sand dunes.This is a stereo pair with ESP_051986_1750.
The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 26.7 centimeters (10.5 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.
The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This panorama is one of the first that NASA's Spirit rover snapped upon reaching the summit of 'Husband Hill,' located in 'Columbia Hills' in Gusev Crater, Mars. Large amounts of sandy material have been blown creating rippled piles of sand. | This panorama is one of the first that NASA's Spirit rover snapped upon reaching the summit of "Husband Hill," located in "Columbia Hills" in Gusev Crater, Mars. It reveals the vast landscape to the east previously hidden behind the Columbia Hills. The rim of "Thira Crater" frames the distant horizon some 15 kilometers (9.3 miles) away. The summit area is divided by a shallow saddle that slopes north (left) into an area called "Tennessee Valley." Large amounts of sandy material have been blown up the valley and across the saddle in the left-to-right direction, creating the rippled piles of sand seen in this image.The science team will examine bedrock and other materials in the summit area to determine their composition and the orientation of the rock layers. These and other observations will provide clues to how the rocks formed and how the hills were sculpted in the geologic past.This mosaic was taken by Spirit's panoramic camera, using the blue filter of its right eye. | |
Central Deposits in Pasteur Crater | Click on image for larger versionThis HiRISE image (PSP_001756_1995) shows a portion of the central sedimentary deposits in Pasteur Crater. These deposits are now being eroded into knobs and ridges. The erosion is probably dominated by wind, as most of the ridges are parallel. This is common in wind-eroded features, with the ridges generally aligned with the prevailing wind. At high resolution, layering is revealed in many of the knobs and outcrops. The horizontal layers indicate that the material was deposited uniformly over a broad area. Possible origins include volcanic airfall or lacustrine (lake) deposits. After deposition, the rock in this area has been fractured and faulted, forming a diverse array of cracks. The mottled appearance of much of the image is caused by dark, featureless patches which may be wind-blown dust. These have interacted with lighter-toned ridges and ripples which are probably also formed by eolian (wind) processes. In places, the dark patches partially cover the ripples, indicating that they have moved more recently, but they must be thin because the ripples frequently stand above surrounding dark material. The ripples exhibit multiple interacting orientations in some places, producing networks of small ridges which reflect movement in winds from several directions.Observation GeometryAcquisition date: 12 December 2006Local Mars time: 3:33 PMDegrees latitude (centered): 19.2 °Degrees longitude (East): 24.4 °Range to target site: 283.7 km (177.3 miles)Original image scale range: 56.8 cm/pixel(with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~170 cm across are resolvedMap-projected scale: 50 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAREmission angle: 5.7 °br>Phase angle: 45.8 °Solar incidence angle: 51 °, with the Sun about 39 ° above the horizonSolar longitude: 148.6 °, Northern SummerNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
A rock informally named 'Headless,' on the north side of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, showing the workspace reachable with the robotic arm. | A rock informally named "Headless," on the north side of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, has been selected for an attempt to slide the rock aside with the lander's robotic arm.Moving rocks is not among the many tasks the arm was designed to do, but if the maneuver can be accomplished, scientists on the Phoenix team hope to check whether the depth to a subsurface ice layer is any different underneath the area where the rock now sits.Headless is about 19 centimeters (7 inches) long, 10 centimeters (4 inches) wide, extends 2 to 3 centimetes (about 1 inch) above the surface.This image, originally posted on Aug. 27, 2008 without the label on Headless, is a mosaic of images taken by the Surface Stereo Imager on Phoenix, showing the workspace reachable with the robotic arm. The camera took the images during the early afternoon of the mission's 90th Martian day, corresponding to overnight Aug. 25 to Aug. 26.The shadow of the camera itself, atop its mast, is just left of the center of the image and roughly a third of a meter (one foot) wide. The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows light-toned, windblown ripples on the floors of channels of the Apsus Vallis system on Mars. | 22 May 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows light-toned, windblown ripples on the floors of channels of the Apsus Vallis system. The fluid responsible for forming the valleys is unknown; it might have been water. No primary landforms, other than the channels themselves, have been preserved in a way that would indicate the nature of the fluid that carved the valleys. Apsus Vallis is located just west of the Elysium volcanic region; the area in the picture is located near 35.5°N, 225.6°W. The image covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across and is illuminated by sunlight from the lower left. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a transect of Coprates Chasma wall stratigraphy, which includes (moving down sequence): the southern plateau, wall spurs, fans of eroded material, gullies, sand dunes, and canyon floor. | This image shows a transect of approximately 8-kilometers of Coprates Chasma wall stratigraphy, which includes (moving down sequence): the southern plateau, wall spurs, fans of eroded material, gullies, sand dunes, and canyon floor.Dunes located in the center left show slip faces on the downhill side and aligned with the local gradient, indicating down slope transport (see subimage, white arrow). These "falling dunes" are a type of topographically-controlled sand dune that formed when down-slope winds were focused by the gully topography. Although rare across Mars, eastern Coprates Chasma has an abundance of these falling dunes, particularly on north-facing walls.As with all dunes, wind regime, sediment supply, topography, and climate are all important factors in where dunes form and persist. An abundant sand supply from local wall layer and persistent down-slope winds are likely contributors to why these dunes are so common here.Note: the above image (and the subimage) are non map-projected, so North is approximately down).Also take a look at the digital terrain map made with this image pair.HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the orbiter's HiRISE camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor acquired this image of a flow ejecta crater on November 19, 1997. Flow ejecta craters are so named because the material blasted out of the crater during the impact process appears to have flowed across the surface of Mars. | The Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter Camera (MOC) acquired this high resolution image of a flow ejecta crater on November 19, 1997, at 8:26 PM PST, about 18 minutes after the start the 45th orbit of Mars. The area shown is roughly 6.5 by 40.2 kilometers (4 by 25 miles), and is located near 40 degrees South latitude, 120 degrees West longitude. Features as small as 15-18 m (50-60 feet) across are visible in the picture.Flow ejecta craters are so named because the material blasted out of the crater during the impact process appears to have flowed across the surface of Mars. First seen in Mariner 9 images in 1973, and described in detail using Viking Orbiter images acquired in 1976-78, flow-ejecta craters are considered by many scientists to be evidence that liquid water could be found in the near-subsurface at the time the craters formed. This image, a factor of two better than any previous view of such features (and a factor of 33 better than the best Viking frame of the specific crater, 056A61), shows two smaller, pre-existing craters and the interaction of the flowing ejecta with these craters. The uppermost small crater has been over-topped and partly buried by the flow, while the flow has been diverted around the lower crater. Ridges formed where the flow "stacked up" behind obstacles, or came to rest.Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows two types of crater interiors found on Mars, original and modified. The crater on the right has its original bowl shape. The crater of the left has had its interior modified by an infilling of lava. | These two craters show the two types of crater interiors found on Mars -- original and modified. The crater on the right has its original bowl shape. The crater of the left has had its interior modified by an infilling of lava.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 27.6, Longitude 194.5 East (165.5 West). 37 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 Newton Crater on Mars and its surrounding terrain exhibiting many examples of gullies on the walls of craters and troughs. | This dramatic view of gullies emergent from layered outcrops occurs on the wall of a crater within the much larger impact basin, Newton. Newton Crater and its surrounding terrain exhibit many examples of gullies on the walls of craters and troughs. The gullies exhibit meandering channels with fan-shaped aprons of debris located downslope. The gullies are considered to have been formed by erosion--both from a fluid (such as water) running downslope, and by slumping and landsliding processes driven by the force of gravity. This picture was obtained by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) in March 2001; it is illuminated from the upper left and covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) across. | |
These temperature profiles were derived from data taken by the mini-thermal emission spectrometer onboard NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit showing the temperature above the surface of Mars at three different points in time. | This graph shows the temperature above the surface of Mars at three different points in time: Sol 5, late afternoon; Sol 6, mid-morning; and Sol 7, early afternoon (Sol 5 occurred on the night of January 7/8, 2004). These temperature profiles were derived from data taken by the mini-thermal emission spectrometer onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. By measuring the brightness of the carbon dioxide gas that makes up the martian atmosphere, scientists can deduce the surface temperature above Mars between 20 meters (65 feet) and 2 kilometers (1.2 miles). The observations show large changes in atmospheric temperature both as a function of time of day, and as a function of height near the surface. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a fresh well-preserved landslide scarp and rocky deposit off the edge of a streamlined mesa in Simud Valles, a giant outflow channel carved by ancient floods. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThis image NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) finally completes a stereo pair with another observation acquired in 2007. It shows a fresh (well-preserved) landslide scarp and rocky deposit off the edge of a streamlined mesa in Simud Valles, a giant outflow channel carved by ancient floods.The stereo images can be used to measure the topography, which in turn constrains models for the strength of the mesa's bedrock. Do look at the stereo anaglyph.This is a stereo pair with PSP_005701_1920.The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 31.5 centimeters (12.4 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 94 centimeters (37 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This cross-section graphic provides an interpretation of the geologic relationship between the 'Murray Formation,' the crater floor sediments, and the hematite ridge. | This graphic shows the geologic cross-section through lower Mount Sharp on Mars, corresponding to the segment A to A' shown in PIA18781. This cross-section provides an interpretation of the geologic relationship between the "Murray Formation," the crater floor sediments, and the hematite ridge. The cross-sectional view also highlights the impressive thickness of the Murray Formation -- around 650 feet (200 meters). NASA's Curiosity rover will be exploring this formation. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows layering of surface materials in Meridiani Planum. | Context imageThis VIS image shows layering of surface materials in Meridiani Planum. TES (Thermal Emission Spectrometer) initially detected hematite in a surface layer, which was confimed by THEMIS (THermal EMision Imaging System). These findings supported a water rich origin of the hematite and led to the selection of the site for the Opportunity MER (Mars Exploration Rover).Orbit Number: 87337 Latitude: 1.58599 Longitude: 0.436954 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-08-22 15:12Please 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows patterned ground on Mars taking the form of large polygons, each bounded by either troughs or ridges made up of rock particles different in size from those seen in the interior of the polygon. | On Earth, periglacial is a term that refers to regions and processes where cold climate contributes to the evolution of landforms and landscapes. Common in periglacial environments on Earth, such as the arctic of northern Canada,Siberia, and Alaska, is a phenomenon called patterned ground. The "patterns" in patterned ground often take the form of large polygons, each bounded by either troughs or ridges made up of rock particles different in size from those seen in the interior of the polygon. On Earth, many polygons in periglacial environments are directly linked to water: they typically form from stresses induced by repeated freezing and thawing of water, contraction from stress induced by changing temperatures, and sorting of rocks brought to the surface along polygon boundaries by the freeze-thaw processes. Although not exclusively formed by freezing and thawing of water, that is often the dominant mechanism on Earth.Polygons similar to those found in Earth's arctic and antarctic regions are also found in the polar regions of Mars. Typically, they occur on crater floors, or on intercrater plains, between about 60° and 80° latitude. The polygons are best seen when bright frost or dark sand has been trapped in the troughs that form the polygon boundaries. Three examples of martian polygons seen by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) are shown here. Each is located in the southern hemisphere:(left) Polygon troughs highlighted by frost as the south polar cap retreats during spring. The circular features are the locations of buried craters that were originally formed by meteor impact. This image, E09-00029, is located at 75.1°S, 331.3°W, and was acquired on 1 October 2001.(center) Summertime view of polygons, highlighted by dark, windblown sand, on the floor of a crater at 71.2°S, 282.6°W. The image, E12-02319, was obtained on 21January 2002.(right) Polygon troughs highlighted by the retreating south polar frost cap during southern summer near 80.7°S, 70.4°W. This picture, M11-01795, was taken by MOC on 13 January 2000.Some Mars researchers assume that polygons on the Red Planet are key indictors that ground ice is present or was present in the recent past. However, whether these polygons actually required water ice to form is, in fact, unknown, since dry processes are also known on Earth for form similar polygons. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the escarpment of the Olympus Mons volcano on Mars. | Context image for PIA10063Olympus MonsPart of the escarpment of the Olympus Mons volcano is shown in this VIS image.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 21.3N, Longitude 230.3E. 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows the margin and ejecta surrounding two craters located in the northern plains. | Context imageThis VIS image shows the margin and ejecta surrounding two craters located in the northern plains. The rim and ejecta are very subdued compared to craters elsewhere in the same region.The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image.Orbit Number: 61079 Latitude: 66.9349 Longitude: 96.6867 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-09-21 00:38Please 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. | |
Holden Crater, a Finalist Not Selected as Landing Site for Curiosity | An area inside Holden crater was considered as a landing site for NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission. If Holden had been selected, rather than Gale crater, the mission's rover, Curiosity, would have been sent to land on the broad alluvial fans flanking the western wall of the crater. The rover would have traversed down to study underlying and finely layered rocks that may have been deposited in a lake. The left panel shows the regional context of the Holden target landing ellipse with colors representing the elevation of the surface features (purple lowest and red highest). The yellow box indicates the location of the feature shown in the center panel. The white box indicates the location of the feature shown in the right panel. The scale bars in each panel indicate distance in kilometers.The middle panel shows an example of a high priority science targets for exploration near the ellipse, and the right column shows science targets within the ellipse (white box in left column shows the location of each). Holden and each of the three of three finalist Mars Science Laboratory landing sites display a variety of very interesting targets for exploration within and outside of the proposed landing ellipse. The images in the middle and right panels are from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the High Resolution Science Imaging Experiment. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Science Laboratory and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter missions for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. | |
This image acquired on January 29, 2019 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows the southern half of the picture is covered by a well-preserved lava flow. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionThis image demonstrates the curious phenomenon called "topographic inversion." The southern half of the picture is covered by a well-preserved lava flow. The flow stops just at the brink of descending a steep slope. Lava isn't afraid of falling, so what happened here? It is likely that the terrain to the north was once higher, and stopped the lava from flowing any further. Once the lava cooled, it protected the ground beneath it, while the softer rocks to the north continued to erode, "inverting" the topography so that what was once low-lying ground is now the top of a mesa.The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 56.0 centimeters [22.0 inches] per pixel [with 2 x 2 binning]; objects on the order of 168 centimeters [66.1 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 craters on Mars with asymmetric ejecta blankets, typically formed by oblique impacts. The region of 'missing' ejecta indicates the direction of the incoming meteorite. | Context image for PIA10848Asymmetric EjectaCraters with asymmetric ejecta blankets are typically formed by oblique impacts. The region of 'missing' ejecta indicates the direction of the incoming meteorite.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 44.0N, Longitude 318.4E. 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 from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a section of Naktong Vallis. Located in Terra Sabaea, Naktong Vallis is 670 km long (415 miles). | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a section of Naktong Vallis. Located in Terra Sabaea, Naktong Vallis is 670 km long (415 miles).Orbit Number: 79337 Latitude: 7.12086 Longitude: 30.7954 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-11-02 22:16Please 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 rainbow-colored map shows underground water ice on Mars. | This rainbow-colored map shows underground water ice on Mars. Cool colors represent less than one foot (30 centimeters) below the surface; warm colors are over two feet (60 centimeters) deep. Sprawling black zones on the map represent areas where a landing spacecraft would sink into fine dust. The outlined box represents the ideal region to send astronauts for them to be able to dig up water ice.The map was created by combining data from multiple NASA orbiters, including the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and its Mars Climate Sounder instrument; Mars Odyssey and its Thermal Emission Imaging System; and the Mars Global Surveyor. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows dunes on the floor of Juventae Chasma. | Context imageThis VIS image shows dunes on the floor of Juventae Chasma.Orbit Number: 37043 Latitude: -4.72182 Longitude: 297.231 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-04-21 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 released on Sept 3, 2004 from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the solar system. If this canyon were on Earth, it would stretch from New York to Los Angeles. Seen here is a landslide in Ius Chasma. | The Odyssey spacecraft has taken some great pictures of Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the solar system. If this canyon were on Earth, it would stretch from New York to Los Angeles. For the next several weeks, the Image of the Day will tour some of the canyons that make up this vast system. We will start with Ius Chasma in the west, and end with Coprates Chasma to the east. For more information on Vallis Marineris, please see http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mep/science/vm.html.In this image, there is evidence of a large landslide. Landslides are common throughout Valles Marineris, but are particularly common here in Ius Chasma.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -7.9, Longitude 281.1 East (78.9 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows several small, unnamed craters in Terra Sirenum. The bright blue region on the inner crater rim is morning frost. | 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 several small, unnamed craters in Terra Sirenum. The bright blue region on the inner crater rim is morning frost. Collected during the winter, south facing slopes stay in shadow and retain frost longer than the rest of the rim already in sunlight. Frosts are only identifiable in multi filter images.Orbit Number: 80442 Latitude: -36.3327 Longitude: 198.274 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-02-01 21:41Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
With its cracked, blistery appearance, this mound near the center of a very large, over 5-kilometer diameter mid-latitude crater poses an interesting question: how did this form? This image is from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionWith its cracked, blistery appearance, this mound near the center of a very large, over 5-kilometer diameter mid-latitude crater poses an interesting question: how did this form?More importantly, what is the relationship between the mound and the surrounding, viscous features? Did those flow features play a role in forming the mound? Can that material help explain the cracked surface of the mound?HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
Spirit Discovers New Class of Igneous Rocks | During the past two-and-a-half years of traversing the central part of Gusev Crater, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has analyzed the brushed and ground-into surfaces of multiple rocks using the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer, which measures the abundance of major chemical elements. In the process, Spirit has documented the first example of a particular kind of volcanic region on Mars known as an alkaline igneous province. The word alkaline refers to the abundance of sodium and potassium, two major rock-forming elements from the alkali metals on the left-hand side of the periodic table.All of the relatively unaltered rocks -- those least changed by wind, water, freezing, or other weathering agents -- examined by Spirit have been igneous, meaning that they crystallized from molten magmas. One way geologists classify igneous rocks is by looking at the amount of potassium and sodium relative to the amount of silica, the most abundant rock-forming mineral on Earth. In the case of volcanic rocks, the amount of silica present gives scientists clues to the kind of volcanism that occurred, while the amounts of potassium and sodium provide clues about the history of the rock. Rocks with more silica tend to erupt explosively. Higher contents of potassium and sodium, as seen in alkaline rocks like those at Gusev, may indicate partial melting of magma at higher pressure, that is, deeper in the Martian mantle. The abundance of potassium and sodium determines the kinds of minerals that make up igneous rocks. If igneous rocks have enough silica, potassium and sodium always bond with the silica to form certain minerals. The Gusev rocks define a new chemical category not previously seen on Mars, as shown in this diagram plotting alkalis versus silica, compiled by University of Tennessee geologist Harry McSween. The abbreviations "Na2O" and "K2O" refer to oxides of sodium and potassium. The abbreviation "SiO2" refers to silica. The abbreviation "wt. %" indicates that the numbers tell what percentage of the total weight of each rock is silica (on the horizontal scale) and what percentage is oxides of sodium and potassium (on the vertical scale). The thin lines separate volcanic rock types identified on Earth by different scientific names such as foidite and picrobasalt. Various classes of Gusev rocks (see box in upper right) all plot either on or to the left of the green lines, which define "alkaline" and "subalkaline" categories (subalkaline rocks have more silica than alkaline rocks).Members of the rover team have named different classes of rocks after specimens examined by Spirit that represent their overall character. During the rover's travels, Spirit discovered that Adirondack-class rocks littered the Gusev plains; that Backstay, Irvine, and Wishstone-class rocks occurred as loose blocks on the northwest slope of "Husband Hill"; and that outcrops of Algonquin-class rocks protruded in several places on the southeast face.These rocks have less silica than all previously analyzed Mars samples, which are subalkaline. The previously analyzed Mars samples include Martian meteorites found on Earth and rocks analyzed by the Mars Pathfinder rover in 1997. Gusev is the first documented example of an alkaline igneous province on Mars. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a trough in the Stygis Catena region east of the martian volcano, Elysium Mons. The trough probably formed by collapse. Large, dark boulders can be seen on the trough floor in this volcanic region. | 18 December 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a trough in the Stygis Catena region east of the martian volcano, Elysium Mons. The trough probably formed by collapse. Large, dark boulders can be seen on the trough floor in this volcanic region. The image is located near 24.4°N, 210.4°W. The image covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows an unnamed crater in Terra Cimmeria. | Context image This VIS image shows an unnamed crater in Terra Cimmeria. Note how the ejecta overlays the surrounding terrain, radial to the crater.Orbit Number: 68431 Latitude: -44.3744 Longitude: 139.441 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2017-05-18 14:27Please 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 dust devil tracks in this image are located in Terra Sirenum on Mars as seen by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image for PIA11914Dust Devil TracksThe dust devil tracks in this VIS image are located in Terra Sirenum.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -69.5N, Longitude 215.0E. 20 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a narrow channel in Ituxi Vallis, a lava channel east of Elysium Mons. | Context image for PIA11313Ituxi VallisThe narrow channel in this VIS image is Ituxi Vallis, a lava channel east of Elysium Mons.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 25.1N, Longitude 153.1E. 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 a leveed channel running down the middle of a lava flow in Daedalia Planum, the southern plains of the Tharsis volcanic region on Mars. | 14 December 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a leveed channel running down the middle of a lava flow in Daedalia Planum, the southern plains of the Tharsis volcanic region. Transport of fluid lava through a channel such as this helps insulate the molten rock, keeping it hot longer, and thus permits the flow to extend to greater distances than it otherwise might. This example is located near 23.6°S, 123.2°W, and covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. The scene is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left. | |
Much of Mars' surface is covered by fine-grained materials that hide the bedrock, but in this scene from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the bedrock is well exposed except where covered by sand dunes. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionMuch of Mars' surface is covered by fine-grained materials that hide the bedrock, but elsewhere, such as in this scene, the bedrock is well exposed (except where covered by sand dunes).Colors are enhanced in the cutout of a pit exposing reddish layers. This is part of a stereo pair, so check out the stereo anaglyph for a 3D view.This is a stereo pair with ESP_039581_1520.The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 26.7 centimeters (10.5 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 80 centimeters (31.5 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
Rather than a central peak, Hale Crater contains a complex ridge of peaks. This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a portion of the ridge. | Context image Rather than a central peak, Hale Crater contains a complex ridge of peaks. This VIS image shows a portion of the ridge.Orbit Number: 67402 Latitude: -35.7295 Longitude: 323.763 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2017-02-22 19:41Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Australe Montes. This region of highlands is located near the south polar cap. | 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 Australe Montes. This region of highlands is located near the south polar cap. The pale blue surface at the bottom of the image is likely surface frost.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: 84934 Latitude: -81.7965 Longitude: 10.5697 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-02-05 18:05Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbite on May 19, 2010, shows an impact crater that had not existed when the same location on Mars was previously observed in March 2008. | This image taken on May 19, 2010, shows an impact crater that had not existed when the same location on Mars was previously observed in March 2008. The new impact excavated and scattered water ice that had been hidden beneath the surface. The location is at 63.9 degrees north latitude, 44.9 degrees east longitude. The 50-meter scale bar at lower right is about 55 yards long.The image is an excerpt from an observation by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Additional image products from the same observation are at http://www.uahirise.org/ESP_017868_2440. The image has been processed to allow details to be seen in both the bright ice and the darker soil.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a typical view of polygon-cracked and pitted surfaces unique to western Utopia Planitia. No other place on Mars has this appearance. | 14 April 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a typical view of polygon-cracked and pitted surfaces unique to western Utopia Planitia. No other place on Mars has this appearance. Some Mars scientists have speculated that ground ice may be responsible for these landforms.Location near: 42.3°N, 275.6°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Northern Summer | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the crater rim and floor of an unnamed crater located in Terra Sirenum on the north rim of Newton Crater. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of the crater rim and floor of an unnamed crater located in Terra Sirenum on the north rim of Newton Crater. The rim of the crater is in the upper half of the image. Several rounded features are located near the top of the rim. Rather than being impact craters, these features are more likely formed by collapse of the crater rim. In this type of slope failure a block of material slides down a fracture leaving a scalloped shaped feature with a block of material along the lower edge of the slope. There are also several channels dissecting the rim. This crater has a central peak, just off the image at the bottom left corner. The channels in the bottom part of the image are flowing away from the peak.Orbit Number: 81565 Latitude: -37.72 Longitude: 200.927 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-05-04 08:53Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image taken by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows a dissected and eroded channel in plains materials southwest of Mars' volcano Elysium Mons shows typical erosional islands and depositional features. | Released 20 June 2003The dissected and eroded channel observed in this THEMIS image taken of plains materials southwest of the volcano Elysium Mons shows typical erosional islands and depositional features. The interesting thing about this channel is that it appears to start out of nowhere. The MOLA context image shows that the channel originates from a fissure within the ground, whose origin is likely volcanic, but may also be related to volatile processes.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 19.5, Longitude 126.8 East (233.2 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Northern Plains | Image PSP_001473_2480 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 67.7 degrees latitude, 174.5 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 314.9 km (196.8 miles). At this distance the image scale is 31.5 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~94 cm across are resolved. The image shown here has been map-projected to 25 cm/pixel. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:05 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 59 degrees, thus the sun was about 31 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 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. | |
Sand dunes cover this entire image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. The dunes are part of Olympia Undae, a huge dune field surrounding 1/4 of the northern polar cap. | Context image Sand dunes cover this entire VIS image. The dunes are part of Olympia Undae, a huge dune field surrounding 1/4 of the northern polar cap. This image was collected during northern summer, and the dunes are frost free.Orbit Number: 71391 Latitude: 80.8754 Longitude: 198.41 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-01-17 12:12Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a complex surface, with intersecting linear ridges located to the north of Nili Fossae. | Context image for PIA10857Linear RidgesThis complex surface, with intersecting linear ridges is located to the north of Nili Fossae.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 26.8N, Longitude 74.8E. 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 Mars Odyssey shows a section of Nanedi Valles. Located In Xanthe Terra, the channel system is more than 500 km (310 miles) long. | Context imageThis VIS image shows a section of Nanedi Valles. Located In Xanthe Terra, the channel system is more than 500 km (310 miles) long.Orbit Number: 88599 Latitude: 5.78968 Longitude: 311.856 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-12-04 13:08Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows that exhaust from the descent engine has blown soil off to reveal either rock or ice. | This contrast-enhanced image was acquired at the Phoenix landing site on Sol 4 by Phoenix's Robotic Arm Camera (RAC). As seen in the top center, the exhaust from the descent engine has blown soil off to reveal either rock or ice, which has not yet been determined.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 mosaic from the navigation camera aboard NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity was compiled from images taken on the rover's 193rd and 194th sol on Mars on August 9 and 10, 2004. | This mosaic from the navigation camera aboard NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity was compiled from images taken on the rover's 193rd and 194th sol on Mars (August 9 and 10, 2004). The rover's current work area near the bottom of "Endurance Crater" is featured in this image. In coming sols, Opportunity will make its way toward the interesting rock, "Wopmay," located on the far right of this image, on the crater's inner slopes just beneath "Burns Cliff." Scientists say the rock's unusual texture is unlike any others observed so far at Meridiani Planum. Wopmay measures approximately 1 meter (3.3 feet) across. This image is presented in a polar projection, with geometric and radiometric seam correction. | |
This image was taken by NASA's Sojourner rover's left front camera on Sol 32. The Pathfinder lander is at right and is about 9 meters away. Sol 1 began on July 4, 1997. | This image was taken by the Sojourner rover's left front camera on Sol 32. The Pathfinder lander is at right and is about 9 meters away. Wind tails of dust are clearly seen extending from the left side of many of the small rocks in the foreground. The large rocks on the horizon at left center are the next goal of Sojourner as it continues our exploration of Mars.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 managed the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Photojournal note: Sojourner spent 83 days of a planned seven-day mission exploring the Martian terrain, acquiring images, and taking chemical, atmospheric and other measurements. The final data transmission received from Pathfinder was at 10:23 UTC on September 27, 1997. Although mission managers tried to restore full communications during the following five months, the successful mission was terminated on March 10, 1998. | |
Stitched together from 116 images, this view captured by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the path it will take in the summer of 2020 as it drives toward the next region it will be investigating, the sulfate-bearing unit. | Stitched together from 116 images, this view captured by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows the path it will take in the summer of 2020 as it drives to the "sulfate-bearing unit," the next layer it will be investigating on the 3-mile-tall (5-kilometer-tall) Mount Sharp. Curiosity has to drive around a large sand patch in order to reach a place where it can ascend to the sulfate-rich region. The upper part of the mountain looms at the top image. The images were taken by the rover's Mast Camera, or Mastcam, on Jan. 10, 2020, the 2,641st Martian day, or sol, of the mission.The panorama has been white-balanced so that the colors of the rock materials resemble how they would appear under daytime lighting conditions on Earth.Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego built and operates Mastcam. A division of Caltech, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California built the Curiosity rover and manages the Mars Science Laboratory mission for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.For more information about Curiosity, visit http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl or https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows layered material in west Arabia Terra crater on Mars. | Hundreds of layers of similar thickness, texture, and pattern have been exposed by erosion in a 64 kilometer-wide (40 mile-wide) impact crater in western Arabia Terra at 8°N, 7°W. In other words, these layers provide a record of repeated, episodic changes that took place at some time far in the martian past, when this particular impact crater was the site of sediment deposition. Layers toward the center of the crater are nearly horizontal, but those closer to or draping over the crater walls are tilted (geologist use the term dipping) toward the basin center. These relationships suggest that the sediments that created these layers were deposited from above--perhaps by settling out of the martian atmosphere, or perhaps by settling out of water that might have occupied this crater as a lake.The context view (above) was taken by the Viking 1 orbiter in 1978; in it, north is up and sunlight illuminates the scene from the right. The three Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) narrow angle (high resolution) views (PIA02840, PIA02841 (this release), PIA02842) sample layer outcrops that were previously not known to exist in this crater. Each MOC image is illuminated from the left. Dark material in PIA02841 (this release) and PIA02840 is windblown sand; in PIA02840, this sand enhances the appearance of the layers.Note: In the context image above, the boxes marked A, B, and C refer to PIA02842, PIA02841 (this release), and PIA02840 respectively. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a small portion of Daedalia Planum. The lava flows the comprise this large lava plain originated at Arsia Mons, one of the large Tharsis volcanoes. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a small portion of Daedalia Planum. The lava flows the comprise this large lava plain originated at Arsia Mons, one of the large Tharsis volcanoes.Orbit Number: 74957 Latitude: -18.6281 Longitude: 239.478 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-11-07 04:43Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Northern Plains | Image PSP_001351_2490 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on November 9, 2006. The complete image is centered at 69.0 degrees latitude, 260.0 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 315.3 km (197.1 miles). At this distance the image scale is 31.5 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 2:54 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 58 degrees, thus the sun was about 32 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 133.0 degrees, the season on Mars is Northern Summer.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Briault Crater located in Tyrrhena Terra. | Context imageThe THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of Briault Crater located in Tyrrhena Terra.Orbit Number: 63007 Latitude: -10.2464 Longitude: 89.4098 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-02-26 18:43Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows 'Adirondack,' the rover's first target rock. Spirit traversed the sandy martian terrain at Gusev Crater to arrive in front of the football-sized rock on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2004. | This approximate true color image taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit shows "Adirondack," the rover's first target rock. Spirit traversed the sandy martian terrain at Gusev Crater to arrive in front of the football-sized rock on Sunday, Jan. 18, 2004, just three days after it successfully rolled off the lander. The rock was selected as Spirit's first target because its dust-free, flat surface is ideally suited for grinding. Clean surfaces also are better for examining a rock's top coating. Scientists named the angular rock after the Adirondack mountain range in New York. The word Adirondack is Native American and is interpreted by some to mean "They of the great rocks." | |
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera system to create this panorama of its first drill site. Scientists will be looking for a rock to drill somewhere in this location. | Figure 1NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used its Mastcam-Z camera system to create this panorama of its first drill site. Scientists will be looking for a rock to drill somewhere in this.Perseverance's team has nicknamed this region the "Crater Floor Fractured Rough" unit. The flat, light-colored stones are informally referred to as "paver rocks" and will be the first type from which Perseverance will collect a sample for planned return to Earth by subsequent missions. Small hills to the south of the rover and the sloping inner walls of the Jezero Crater rim fill the distant background of this view.The panorama is stitched together from 70 individual images taken on July 28, 2021, the 155th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This panorama is seen here in natural color (main image) and enhanced color (Figure 1).The Mastcam-Z investigation is led and operated by Arizona State University in Tempe, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, California, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras, and in collaboration with the Neils Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen on the design, fabrication, and testing of the calibration targets.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.For more about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ and nasa.gov/perseverance | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows extensive lava flows in part of the Arsia Mons volcanic complex. | Context image for PIA10156Lava FlowsThe extensive lava flows in this image are part of the Arsia Mons volcanic complex.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -21.7N, Longitude 242.4E. 17 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Engineers at Lockheed Martin Space, Denver, Colorado, prepare NASA's InSight lander for testing in a thermal vacuum chamber several months before launch. | Engineers at Lockheed Martin Space, Denver, Colorado, prepare NASA's InSight lander for testing in a thermal vacuum chamber several months before launch.JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the InSight Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space built and tested the spacecraft, including its cruise stage and lander, and supports spacecraft operations for the mission. InSight is part of NASA s Discovery Program, which is managed by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama.For more information about the mission, go to https://mars.nasa.gov/insight. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | 15 February 2004 Calling out across millions of miles of space, the compelling dark sand dunes and light-toned sedimentary rock outcrops of Becquerel Crater and dozens of other layered rock sites on Mars beg for further scientific investigation. Layered rocks record the history of a place; the younger layers are above the older ones. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows some of the dunes and layered rocks in Becquerel, a ~170 km (~106 mi) wide crater in western Arabia Terra. Wind has blown the dunes toward the southwest (lower left). The image is located near 21.5°N, 8.6°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left; the image covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Lyot Crater. Lyot Crater is a large complex crater located in the lowlands between Arabia Terra and Vastitas Borealis. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of Lyot Crater. Lyot Crater is a large complex crater located in the lowlands between Arabia Terra and Vastitas Borealis. A small region of sand dunes can be seen in the image.The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image.Orbit Number: 61000 Latitude: 49.3848 Longitude: 29.4295 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-09-14 12:08Please 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 Reconnaissance Rover shows the edge of a mound of ice in one of the mid-latitude craters. Scientists now realize that ice is very common on the Martian surface. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionIn this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Rover (MRO) we can see the edge of a mound of ice in one of these mid-latitude craters. Some of it has already been removed, so we can see layering that used to be in the crater's interior. Scientists use ice deposits like these to figure out how the climate has changed on Mars. Another upside of recognizing this ice is that future astronauts will have plenty of drinking water.Scientists now realize that ice is very common on the Martian surface. It often fills up craters and valleys in the mid-latitudes in older climates, although when it's covered in dust it can be hard to recognize. Today the climate on Mars makes this ice unstable and some of it has evaporated away.The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 59.6 centimeters (23.5 inches) per pixel (with 2 x 2 binning); objects on the order of 179 centimeters (70.5 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity edged closer to the top of the Duck Bay alcove along the rim of Victoria Crater on Sept. 27-28, 2006, gaining this vista of the crater. The rim of the crater is composed of alternating promontories, rocky points. | NASA's Mars rover Opportunity edged 3.7 meters (12 feet) closer to the top of the "Duck Bay" alcove along the rim of "Victoria Crater" during the rover's 952nd Martian day, or sol (overnight Sept. 27 to Sept. 28), and gained this vista of the crater. The rover's navigation camera took the seven exposures combined into this mosaic view of the crater's interior. This crater has been the mission's long-term destination for the past 21 Earth months.The far side of the crater is about 800 meters (one-half mile) away. The rim of the crater is composed of alternating promontories, rocky points towering approximately 70 meters (230 feet) above the crater floor, and recessed alcoves, such as Duck Bay. The bottom of the crater is covered by sand that has been shaped into ripples by the Martian wind. The rocky cliffs in the foreground have been informally named "Cape Verde," on the left, and "Cabo Frio," on the right.Victoria Crater is about five times wider than "Endurance Crater," which Opportunity spent six months examining in 2004, and about 40 times wider than "Eagle Crater," where Opportunity first landed. The great lure of Victoria is an expectation that the thick stack of geological layers exposed in the crater walls could reveal the record of past environmental conditions over a much greater span of time than Opportunity has read from rocks examined earlier in the mission.This view is presented as a polar projection with geometric seam correction. | |
North Polar Layered Deposits Exposed Wall | Image PSP_001488_2665 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on November 20, 2006. The complete image is centered at 86.5 degrees latitude, 80.0 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 317.1 km (198.2 miles). At this distance the image scale is 31.7 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 12:11 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 70 degrees, thus the sun was about 20 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 138.2 degrees, the season on Mars is Northern Summer.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows dark lava flows that have embayed -- flowed up against and into -- higher, more rugged terrain in the Cyclopia/Aethiopis region of Mars (southwest of Cerberus). | 11 September 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dark lava flows that have embayed -- flowed up against and into -- higher, more rugged terrain in the Cyclopia/Aethiopis region of Mars (southwest of Cerberus). Because they are relatively dark, these flows might have very little dust mantling them; these might be among the youngest lava flows on the planet. Nevertheless, the flow material does have a few small impact craters that formed in its surface, indicating that it is not extremely young.Location near 6.0°N, 220.0°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Northern Autumn | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows old, heavily cratered volcanic terrain in Terra Tyrrhena within the Martian southern highlands. | Old, heavily cratered volcanic terrain in Terra Tyrrhena within the Martian southern highlands.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -28, Longitude 78.6 East (281.4 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution. | |
This mid-afternoon, 360-degree panorama was acquired by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on April 4, 2016, as part of long-term campaign to document the context and details of the geology and landforms along Curiosity's traverse inside Gale Crater. | Figure 1Click on the image for larger viewDownload the full resolution TIFF fileThis mid-afternoon, 360-degree panorama was acquired by the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on April 4, 2016, as part of long-term campaign to document the context and details of the geology and landforms along Curiosity's traverse since landing in August 2012.The view combines dozens of images taken during the mission's 1,302nd sol, or Martian day, by Mastcam's left-eye camera from a location on top of what rover team members call "Naukluft Plateau" on lower Mount Sharp, which stands inside Gale Crater. The foreground and middle distance show a geologic scene dominated by eroded remnants of a finely layered ancient sandstone deposit. Since landing, the rover traversed through terrains dominated by water-lain sedimentary rocks (mudstones and siltstones, and early on, conglomerates), some of which have contained minerals like clays that attest to the ancient presence of water. However, the rover crossed into very different geology while climbing onto the Naukluft Plateau. The sandstone here appears to be dominated by thick layers of windblown sand, suggesting that these deposits formed in a drier epoch. These rocks resemble the types of rocks that a dune field like the "Bagnold Dunes" (PIA20283) -- visited by Curiosity in late 2015 and early 2016 --would form if buried. The scene is presented with a color adjustment that approximates white balancing, to resemble how the rocks and sand would appear under daytime lighting conditions on Earth. A portion of the rim of Gale Crater fills the horizon in the center of the image, with upper Mount Sharp on the horizon at right. South is at both ends of this full-circle scene; north is at center. The rover's location when its Mastcam acquired the component images of this scene was the site it reached in its Sol 1301 drive, [http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/images/?ImageID=7787].Figure 1 adds two small scale bars to the scene. One at left center is placed on rocks about 16 feet (5 meters) from the camera and marks a length of 50 centimeters (20 inches). The other is in the upper center of the scene, placed on rocks about 164 feet (50 meters) from the camera and marking a length of 4 meters (13 feet). NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover and its Navcam. For more information about Curiosity, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl.Photojournal Note: The main image is also available in full resolution TIFF file PIA20332_full.tif. This file may be too large to view from a browser; it can be downloaded onto your desktop by right-clicking on the previous link and viewed with image viewing software. | |
The layered bedrock in this image was brought from several kilometers of depth during the formation of this 44 kilometer wide crater in the volcanic plains of Lunae Planum as seen by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThe layered bedrock in this image was brought from several kilometers of depth during the formation of this 44 kilometer wide crater in the volcanic plains of Lunae Planum.As these layers were exhumed and brought to nearly vertical orientations, faulting and fracturing occurred and breccia dikes formed. Breccias are rocks consisting of angular and sharp fragments, and a dike is a fracture that has been widened by forces pulling apart the rock while simultaneously filling it with rocky materials. Breccia dikes are a common feature in terrestrial craters and can now be recognized in brilliant preservation on Mars.This high-resolution, false-color image cutout above allows us to see a cross-cutting breccia dike near the bottom of the image.This is a stereo pair with ESP_017055_1975.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image taken by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows two craters in Arabia Terra on Mars, in the old cratered highlands, are surrounded by many small mesas. | Released 3 June 2003Two craters in Arabia Terra, in the old cratered highlands, are surrounded by many small mesas. The two craters are partially shown in the central-left and extreme upper-right of the image. These mesas are remnants of ejecta blankets of debris that were cast out when the impact craters originally formed. These former ejecta blankets formed a material resistant to weathering, and so they remain on the surface as mesas, while the surrounding terrain has been stripped away.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 17.1, Longitude 8 East (352 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. | |
The THEMIS camera contains 5 filters. Data from different filters can be combined in many ways to create a false color image. This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the sand sheet with surface dune forms on Proctor Crater. | Context image The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of the sand sheet with surface dune forms located on the floor of Proctor Crater. Proctor Crater is located in Noachis Terra.Orbit Number: 58904 Latitude: -47.7155 Longitude: 29.9151 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-03-25 21:18Please 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. | |
Tectonic activity in this region has not only fractured the surface, but has tilted some of the fracture blocks on Mars as seen by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image for PIA01866Sacra MensaTectonic activity in this region has not only fractured the surface, but has tilted some of the fracture blocks.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 24.6N, Longitude 293.5E. 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. | |
Dark spots appear on the south polar ice cap just after the sun starts to shine in this image captured by NASA's Mars Odyssey. | Context imageDark spots appear on the south polar ice cap just after the sun starts to shine.Orbit Number: 39631 Latitude: -86.1853 Longitude: 97.5027 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-11-20 12:09Please 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. | |
The Canadian Meteorological Station on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander tracked some changes in daily weather patterns over the first 61 Martian days of the mission (May 26 to July 22, 2008), a period covering late spring to early summer on northern Mars. | The Canadian Meteorological Station on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander tracked some changes in daily weather patterns over the first 61 Martian days of the mission (May 26 to July 22, 2008), a period covering late spring to early summer on northern Mars.This summary weather report notes that daily temperature ranges have changed only about 4 Celsius degrees (7 Fahrenheit degrees) since the start of the mission. The average daily high has been minus 30 degrees C (minus 22 degrees F), and the average daily low has been minus 79 degrees C (minus 110 degrees F).The mission has been accumulating enough wind data to recognize daily patterns, such as a change in direction between day and night, and to begin analyzing whether the patterns are driven by local factors or larger-scale movement of the atmosphere.The air pressure has steadily decreased. Scientists attribute this to a phenomenon on Mars that is not shared by Earth. The south polar cap of carbon dioxide ice grows during the southern winter on Mars, pulling enough carbon dioxide out of the thin atmosphere to cause a seasonal decrease in the amount of atmosphere Mars has. Most of the Martian atmosphere is carbon dioxide. This measurable dip in atmospheric pressure, even near the opposite pole, is a sign of large amounts of carbon dioxide being pulled out of the atmosphere as carbon-dioxide ice accumulates at the south pole.The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA_x0092_s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Tractus Catena, just one of many north/south trending tectonic graben located south and east of Alba Mons. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of Tractus Catena, just one of many north/south trending tectonic graben located south and east of Alba Mons. The graben with circular pits are part of Tractus Catena. The graben without pits are part of Tractus Fossae. The pits most likely formed as a result of roof collapse into an underlying open space such as a lava tube.Orbit Number: 93979 Latitude: 28.6599 Longitude: 257.766 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2023-02-20 13:00Please 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. | |
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft captured this image in August 2003, showing an unusual layer of smooth material covering the flanks of the volcano Peneus Patera just south of the Hellas Basin on Mars. | Released 12 August 2003An unusual layer of smooth material covers the flanks of the volcano Peneus Patera just south of the Hellas Basin. Though smooth on its upper surface, the layer is pitted by a process of erosion that produces steep scarps facing the south pole and more gentle slopes in the direction of the equator. The style of erosion of the smooth layer suggests that ice of some form plays a role in shaping this terrain.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -57, Longitude 54.1 East (305.9 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows wide variety of surface textures of lava flows from Arsia Mons. | Context image for PIA10033Arsia FlowsA wide variety of surface textures can be found in this VIS image of lava flows from Arsia Mons.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -19.0N, Longitude 232.1E. 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. | |
Dark slope streaks are found everywhere on the inner rim of this unnamed crater in Arabia Terra in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageDark slope streaks are found everywhere on the inner rim of this unnamed crater in Arabia Terra.Orbit Number: 53642 Latitude: 17.2407 Longitude: 17.3787 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-01-16 18:44Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's front hazard-avoidance camera shows the rover's view of the floor of 'Endurance Crater.' The image was taken from just inside the rim of the crater on June 9, 2004. | This image from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's front hazard-avoidance camera shows the rover's view of the floor of "Endurance Crater." The image was taken from just inside the rim of the crater during Opportunity's 134th martian day, or sol, on June 9, 2004. | |
This self-portrait of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is a polar projection of the 360-degree 'McMurdo' panorama made from images taken by Spirit from April through October 2006. | This self-portrait of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit is a polar projection of the 360-degree "McMurdo" panorama made from images taken by Spirit's panoramic camera (Pancam). From April through October 2006, Spirit stayed on a small hill known as "Low Ridge." There, the rover's solar panels were tilted toward the sun to maintain enough solar power for Spirit to keep making scientific observations throughout the winter on southern Mars. This view of Spirit and the rover's surroundings at Low Ridge is presented in approximately true color.The Pancam began shooting component images of this panorama during the 814th Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's work on Mars (April 18, 2006) and completed the part shown here on Sol 980 (Oct. 5, 2006).This is an approximately true-color, red-green-blue composite generated from images taken through the Pancam's 600-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 480-nanometer filters. Some image mosaic seams and brightness variations in the sky as well as several other small areas of color mis-alignments or other mismatch problems have been smoothed over in image processing in order to simulate the view that a human would see if he or she were standing here and looking around. This "natural color" view is the rover team's best estimate of what the scene would look like if we were there and able to see it with our own eyes.Spirit completed its three-month prime mission on Mars in April 2004, then continued operating in bonus extended missions into March 2010, when it ceased communicating. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows several linear depressions called graben. Graben are formed due to extensional tectonic stresses, creating linear faults that allow subsidence of blocks of material between paired faults. | Context imageThis VIS image shows several linear depressions called graben. Graben are formed due to extensional tectonic stresses, creating linear faults that allow subsidence of blocks of material between paired faults. At the top of the image several graben of Mangala Fossae intersect an impact crater. The other graben in the rest of the image are part of Memnonia Fossae. Both sets of fossae cross between Terra Sirenum and Daedalia Planum.Orbit Number: 83137 Latitude: -19.9645 Longitude: 207.232 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-09-10 19:29Please 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 raw image of 'Tintina,' a broken rock fragment in a rover wheel track, was taken by Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam). | This raw image of "Tintina," a broken rock fragment in a rover wheel track, was taken by Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam). When Curiosity drove over Tintina, the rock broke apart and exposed a fresh, bright white surface that may be the same as similarly bright material filling pale veins in the nearby bedrock of the "Yellowknife Bay" area. The Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity took this image of Tintina during the 160th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (Jan. 17, 2013). The size of the rock is roughly 1.2 inches by 1.6 inches (3 centimeters by 4 centimeters).Curiosity's Mastcam was built and is operated by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project and the mission's Curiosity rover for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed and assembled at JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
These dark streaks show where dust has been moving down the rim of the unnamed crater on Mars as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey. | Context image for PIA08421Dust SlidesThese dark streaks show where dust has been moving down the rim of the unnamed crater.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 8.6N, Longitude 40.1E. 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. | |
The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. This false color image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the floor of Muller Crater. | Context imageThe THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of the floor of Muller Crater located in terra Cimmeria.Orbit Number: 6500 Latitude: -25.899 Longitude: 127.662 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2003-06-02 14:42Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The THEMIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Coprates Chasma. | Context image The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of Coprates Chasma.Orbit Number: 59937 Latitude: -12.9223 Longitude: 295.366 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-06-18 22:08Please 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. | |
Lycus Sulci is an extremely complex region surrounding the western and northern flanks of Olympus Mons. With a multitude of fault formed cliff faces, dark slope streaks are a common occurrence. This image was captured by NASA's Mars Odyssey. | Context imageLycus Sulci is an extremely complex region surrounding the western and northern flanks of Olympus Mons. With a multitude of fault formed cliff faces, dark slope streaks are a common occurrence.Orbit Number: 38954 Latitude: 26.477 Longitude: 221.722 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-09-25 19:37Please 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 that dust avalanches, also called slope streaks, occur on many Martian terrains. These dust avalanches are located in Hebes Chasma. | Dust avalanches, also called slope streaks, occur on many Martian terrains. The deposition of airborne dust on surfaces causes a bright tone in the THEMIS VIS images. Any movement of the dust downhill, a dust avalanche, will leave behind a streak where the darker, dust-free surface is exposed. These dust avalanches are located in Hebes Chasma.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -1.4, Longitude 286.6 East (73.4 West). 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | 3 April 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dust-mantled layer exposures (left) in east Candor Chasma, one of the troughs of the Valles Marineris system. Erosion of the steeper slope (right) has disrupted the expression of layered material, indicating that some layered materials on Mars may not be recognized as such, depending upon how the materials have been degraded. This image is located near 7.8°S, 65.6°W. The image covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the left. | |
Scientists have now named the four marks near NASA's Curiosity rover where blasts from the descent stage rocket engines blew away some of the Martian surface material. Clockwise from the most north: Burnside, Goulburn, Hepburn and Sleepy Dragon. | Scientists have now named the four marks near NASA's Curiosity rover where blasts from the descent stage rocket engines blew away some of the Martian surface material. Scientists have named the scour marks, clockwise from the most north: Burnside, Goulburn, Hepburn and Sleepy Dragon. These names were chosen by the science team from a list of rock formations in northern Canada because they all have something to do with heat, for example "burn" or "dragon."This cropped image is part of a larger panorama from Curiosity's Mast Camera (PIA16051).
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. |
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