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A high point on the distant eastern rim of Endeavour Crater is visible on the horizon of this image taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on March 8, 2009. | A high point on the distant eastern rim of Endeavour Crater is visible on the horizon in this image taken by the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on March 8, 2009, during the 1,821st Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission on Mars. That portion of Endeavour's rim is about 34 kilometers (21 miles) away from Opportunity's position west of the crater when the image was taken. The width of the image covers approximately one degree of the horizon. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the large deposit on the floor of Nicholson Crater. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of the large deposit on the floor of Nicholson Crater.Orbit Number: 52387 Latitude: 0.130557 Longitude: 194.999 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-10-05 12:18Please 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. | |
Olympus Mons, imaged here by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft, stands 26 km above the surrounding plains, which is three times taller than Mt. Everest, and is the tallest volcano in the solar system. | (Released 05 April 2002)Olympus Mons stands 26 km above the surrounding plains, which is three times taller than Mt. Everest, and is the tallest volcano in the solar system. Olympus Mons is also wider (585 km) than the state of Arizona. Although these are impressive dimensions an astronaut would find walking these slopes easy, as they are typically only 2 to 5 degrees. This image contains numerous lava flows, leveed lava channels, a discontinuous sinuous rille (thought to be a collapsed lava tube) and lava plains. Close examination of the sinuous rille reveals that portions of the roof of the lava tube have not completely collapsed. All of these features can be seen in basaltic (iron and magnesium rich black rock) volcanic regions on Earth like Hawaii and Iceland. Impact craters are scarce, indicating a relatively young age (several hundred million years old) for these surfaces. | |
The large isolated dune in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft is located on the floor of an unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea. | Context imageThe large isolated dune in this VIS image is located on the floor of an unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea.Orbit Number: 64218 Latitude: 26.2102 Longitude: 57.11 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-06-05 12:48Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows lava flows of Arsia Mons. | Context imageCredit: NASA/JPL/MOLAThis VIS image shows lava flows of Arsia Mons.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -21.1N, Longitude 233.0E. 44 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 region of arcuate fractures and chaos development on the highland/lowland boundary is called Avernus Colles on Mars as seen by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image for PIA08719Avernus CollesThis region of arcuate fractures and chaos development on the highland/lowland boundary is called Avernus Colles.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -1.3N, Longitude 173.4E. 18 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This is a version of one of the first images taken by a front Hazard-Avoidance camera on NASA's Curiosity rover. It was taken through a 'fisheye' wide-angle lens but has been 'linearized' so that the horizon looks flat rather than curved. | This is a version of one of the first images taken by a front Hazard-Avoidance camera on NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 PDT (morning of Aug. 6 EDT). It was taken through a "fisheye" wide-angle lens but has been "linearized" so that the horizon looks flat rather than curved. The image has also been cropped. The fisheye version is available at PIA15969. It is one-quarter of full resolution. As planned, the rover's early engineering images are low resolution. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows an unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea with prominent dark slope streaks. | Context image for PIA10899Dark Slope StreaksThis VIS image shows an unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea with prominent dark slope streaks.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 4.7N, Longitude 34.8E. 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. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity took this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings on Sept. 28, 2008. The rover's parallel tracks are in view as is Victoria Crater. | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings on the 1,664th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (September 28, 2008). Opportunity had driven 152.8 meters (501 feet) southward on the preceding sol, reaching this location on the west side of Victoria Crater. Maps of the traverse to this point are at http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/mission/tm-opportunity/opportunity-sol1664.html.Rover tracks from the Sol 1663 drive extend northward in the image. For scale, the two parallel tracks are about 1 meter (39 inches) apart. To the right of center, Victoria Crater is visible from the north-northeast to the east-southeast. The far right and left edges of the image are to the south.Opportunity drove away from this location on Sol 1666 (September 30, 2008), with a drive of 129.9 meters (426 feet) further southward. This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction. | |
During its examination of Mars, NASA's Viking 1 spacecraft returned images of Valles Marineris, a huge canyon system 5,000 km long, up to 240 km wide, and 6.5 km deep. This view shows west Candor Chasm. | During its examination of Mars, the Viking 1 spacecraft returned images of Valles Marineris, a huge canyon system 5,000 km long, up to 240 km wide, and 6.5 km deep, whose connected chasma or valleys may have formed from a combination of erosional collapse and structural activity. The view shows west Candor Chasma, one of the connected valleys of Valles Marineris; north toward top of frame. The image is a composite of Viking high-resolution (about 80 m/pixel or picture element) images in black and white and low resolution (about 250 m/pixel) images in color. The Viking 1 craft landed on Mars in July of 1976. West Candor Chasma occupies the westernmost part of the large west-northwest-trending trough of Candor Chasma. This section is about 150 km wide. West Candor Chasma is bordered on the north and south by straight-walled cliffs, most likely faults, and on its west by two segments of north-northeast-trending cliffs. The north wall is dissected by landslide scars forming reentrants filled with landslide debris. The south wall shows spur-and-gully morphology and smooth sections. The high-standing central mesa, informally dubbed Red Mesa has several curvilinear reentrants carved into the caprock, whose anomalously colored layers were interpreted to be caused by young hydrothermal alteration products (Geissler et al., 1993, Icarus, v. 106, p. 380-391). Light-colored lobes flow away from the top of the interior stack and then flow around and embay the same layered stack from which they originated. One of these apparent flow features is composed of at least two or perhaps even three huge, superposed, vaguely layered, very rugged, light-colored lobes as much as 100 km long, 20 km wide, and over 2 km thick. The layered deposits below the caprock also merge with a chaotic material that has local lobate fronts and overlaps landslide deposits. Hummocky material, similar in hue to wall rock, fills the southwestern-most region of west Candor Chasma and is perhaps as much as 3 km thick (Lucchitta, 1990, Icarus, v. 86, p. 476- 509). The light-colored lobes, chaotic material, and hummocky fill may be mass wasting deposits due to wholesale collapse of older interior deposits (Lucchitta, 1996, LPSC XXVII abs., p. 779- 780); this controversial idea requires that the older layered deposits were saturated with ice, perhaps from former lakes and that young volcanism and/or tectonism melted the ice and made the material flow. | |
Tikhonravov Crater is a large, old crater in Terra Sabaea. The crater is pockmarked by numerous younger craters and other features. This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a channel within Tikhonravov Crater. | Context imageTikhonravov Crater is a large, old crater in Terra Sabaea. The crater is pockmarked by numerous younger craters and other features. Today's VIS image shows a channel within Tikhonravov Crater.Orbit Number: 38611 Latitude: 12.4502 Longitude: 35.2902 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-08-28 13:51Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The pits visible in this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter aren't impact craters. The material they are embedded into is ejecta (stuff thrown out of an impact crater when it forms) from a large crater called Hale not seen in this image. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThe pits visible here aren't impact craters. The material they're embedded into is ejecta (stuff thrown out of an impact crater when it forms) from a large crater called Hale which is not seen in this image.Substances called "volatiles" -- which can explode as gases when they're quickly warmed by the immense heat of an impact-exploded out of the ejecta and caused these pits. Unrelated sand dunes near the top of the image have since blown over portions of the pits.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows depressions near the south polar cap. All surface ice in this region has been removed by the relative warmth of summer, revealing subtle features of the surface. | Context imageThis VIS image shows depressions near the south polar cap. All surface ice in this region has been removed by the relative warmth of summer, revealing subtle features of the surface.Orbit Number: 59463 Latitude: -79.4883 Longitude: 266.91 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-05-10 21:45Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a rare patch of dark sand dunes in the Nilosyrtis Mensae region of Mars. | 31 July 2005This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a rare patch of dark sand dunes in the Nilosyrtis Mensae region of Mars. The steepest slopes on these dunes, their slipfaces, point toward the south-southwest, indicating that the dominant winds that formed them came from the north-northeast (top/upper right).Location near: 34.5°N, 295.1°W Image width: width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Northern Autumn | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Arabia Terra. Arabia Terra is one of the oldest surface regions on Mars and contains a large variety of surface features. | 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 Arabia Terra. Arabia Terra is one of the oldest surface regions on Mars and contains a large variety of surface features.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: 85578 Latitude: 20.3273 Longitude: 342.869 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-03-30 19:20Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Dust Devil in Spirit's View Ahead on Sol 1854 | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to take the images that have been combined into this stereo, 180-degree view of the rover's surroundings during the 1,854th Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's surface mission (March 21, 2009).The rover had driven 13.79 meters (45 feet) westward earlier on Sol 1854. West is at the center, where a dust devil is visible in the distance. North on the right, where Husband Hill dominates the horizon; Spirit was on top of Husband Hill in September and October 2005. South is on the left, where lighter-toned rock lines the edge of the low plateau called "Home Plate."This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a dune field on the floor of Kaiser Crater. | Context imageThis VIS image is located in Kaiser Crater and shows a dune field on the crater floor. The crater floor is visible between the dunes, indicating that there is a limited sand supply creating the dunes. Local winds continue to move the sand dunes across the crater floor. There are two sides to a dune, the low angle slope of the windward face and the high angle slope of the leeward side. The steep side is called the slip face. Wind blows sand grains up the low angle slope of the dunes which then "fall down" the slip face. In this way the whole dune moves towards the slip face. The winds blow from the windward to the leeward side of the dunes. In this image the slip faces are on the left side of the dune, so the dunes are slowly moving to the left side of this image. Kaiser Crater is 207 km (129 miles) in diameter and is located in Noachis Terra west of Hellas Planitia.Orbit Number: 84585 Latitude: -45.8116 Longitude: 19.5816 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-01-08 00:14Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the dune field on the floor of Rabe Crater on Mars. | Context imageCredit: NASA/JPL/MOLAThis daytime infrared image shows part of the dune field on the floor of Rabe Crater.Image information: IR instrument. Latitude -43.8N, Longitude 34.4E. 122 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This 3D anaglyph, from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit, shows a microscopic image taken of the rock called Adirondack. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | This is a 3-D anaglyph showing a microscopic image taken of an area measuring 3 centimeters (1.2 inches) across on the rock called Adirondack. The image was taken at Gusev Crater on the 33rd day of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's journey (Feb. 5, 2004), after the rover used its rock abrasion tool brush to clean the surface of the rock. Dust, which was pushed off to the side during cleaning, can still be seen to the left and in low areas of the rock. | |
The arc of hills in this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft is the rim of an old and infilled impact crater. The sediments that were deposited within the crater have since formed polygonal cracks. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThe arc of hills in this image is the rim of an old and infilled impact crater. The sediments that were deposited within the crater have since formed polygonal cracks due to repeated cycles of freezing and thawing. The process of polygon formation is common at these polar latitudes, but polygons are not always as striking as they are here. In this image, the polygons have been highlighted by persistent frost in the cracks.The crater rim constrains the polygon formation within the crater close to the rim, creating a spoke and ring pattern of cracks. This leads to more rectangular polygons than those near the center of the crater. The polygons close to the center of the crater display a more typical pattern. A closer look shows some of these central polygons, which have smaller polygons within them, and smaller polygons within those smaller polygons, which makes for a natural fractal.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This view to the Northeast was imaged by NASA's Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) as part of a 360-degree color panorama, taken over sols Jul. 12-14, 1997. A deflated airbag is at the bottom of the image. | This view to the Northeast was imaged by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) as part of a 360-degree color panorama, taken over sols 8, 9 and 10. A deflated airbag is at the bottom of the image.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 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a small section of Mangala Valles. Mangala Valles is a complex channel more than 900km long (560 miles). | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a small section of Mangala Valles. Mangala Valles is a complex channel more than 900km long (560 miles). The channel system starts near Mangala Fossae, a large tectonic feature that intersects the volcanic plains of Daedalia Planum. Like other channels in the region, Mangala Valles flows northward, eventually emptying into southern Amazonis Planitia.Orbit Number: 83062 Latitude: -6.77734 Longitude: 209.123 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-09-04 15:21Please 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. | |
The dark platy lava flow in this image is confined to a channel on Mars as seen by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image for PIA08684Marte Vallis>The dark platy lava flow in this image is confined to a channel.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 10.9N, Longitude 182.0E. 18 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images. Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey covers a portion of Ares Valles, an outflow channel carved into the surface of Mars by ancient catastrophic floods. | This image covers a portion of Ares Valles. Ares Valles is an outflow channel carved into the surface of Mars by ancient catastrophic floods. The floods were most likely caused by huge discharges of groundwater at the channel heads. These floods are similar to (but much larger than) floods that created the Channeled Scablands in central Washington State during the last ice age on Earth. The Martian channels are hundreds of kilometers long and occur in a number of regions within equatorial Mars. The material that was eroded away by these floods was deposited as sediment in the northern lowlands. The Mars Pathfinder landing site is several hundred kilometers downstream from the location of this image and the surfaces are probably similar in nature.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 failure of the rim of this unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea forming two small landslide deposits. A scalloped shape of the rim is left by the removal of material. | Context image for PIA11314LandslidesFailure of the rim of this unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea has formed two small landslide deposits. Note the scalloped shape of the rim left by the removal of material.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -8.0N, Longitude 63.3E. 18 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took this color image during its fourth flight on April 30, 2021. Airfield B, it's new landing site, can be seen below. It will seek to set down there on its fifth flight attempt. | NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took this color image during its fourth flight, on April 30, 2021. "Airfield B," its new landing site, can be seen below. The helicopter will seek to set down there on its fifth flight attempt. An unannotated version of the image has also been provided.The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages the technology demonstration project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA's Science, Aeronautics Research, and Space Technology mission directorates. NASA's Ames Research Center in California's Silicon Valley, and NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity's development. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm, and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle components. Lockheed Martin Space designed and manufactured the Mars Helicopter Delivery System. | |
This is a close-up from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft of the western Medusa Fossae formation where we can see dust-covered rocky, bedrock surfaces (beige) and a bluish-tinted sand sheet that transitions into several dunes. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThis beautifully contrasted infrared-color image shows an area approximately 600 by 900 meters. This is a close-up of the western Medusa Fossae formation where we can see dust-covered rocky, bedrock surfaces (beige) and a bluish-tinted sand sheet that transitions into several dunes.The bluish sand is thought to originate from the bedrock that lies beneath the dust. If true, this has implications for the composition of the formation, which has been highly debated over the years.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image from NASA's Curiosity was taken by the right (telephoto-lens) camera of the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on the rover during the 193rd Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Feb. 20, 2013) in the 'Glenelg' area. | Figure 1Click on the image for larger versionOne priority target for a closer look by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity before the rover departs the "Glenelg" area east of its landing site is the pitted outcrop called "Point Lake," in the upper half of this image. The outcrop as seen from this angle is about 7 feet (2 meters) wide and 20 inches (50 centimeters) high.The texture, with its voids or cavities, sets Point Lake apart from other outcrops in the vicinity. A closer inspection may yield information about whether it is a volcanic or sedimentary deposit. This image was taken by the right (telephoto-lens) camera of the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on the rover during the 193rd Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Feb. 20, 2013). It has been white-balanced to show what the rock would look like if it were on Earth. A raw-color version, as recorded by the camera under Martian lighting conditions, is available as Figure 1.Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates Mastcam. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Mars Science Laboratory mission and the mission's Curiosity rover for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed, developed and assembled at JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.For more about NASA's Curiosity mission, visit http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl, http://www.nasa.gov/mars, and http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | 4 January 2004 In 2003, a new technique was pioneered by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) experiment to allow the camera to obtain images with better than 1 meter (~ 3 ft) per pixel resolution. By pitching the spacecraft at a rate faster than the spacecraft moves in its orbit around Mars, MOC is able to obtain pictures with a down-track resolution of about 50 cm/pixel (~20 inches/pixel), although the cross-track resolution remains ~1.5 m/pixel (5 ft/pixel). One of the key goals of this image motion compensation (IMC) technique is to be able to image landers, such as the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, on the martian surface. The two pictures shown here were acquired during the IMC testing in 2003. The first shows the location of the Mars Pathfinder lander (MPF) and the nearby boulder, Yogi. The second image shows the location of the Viking 1 (VL-1) lander. These locations were determined by using sight lines from the landers to near and far objects seen in the pictures acquired by the landers, and then matching these to locations in earlier, 1.5 to 3.0 m/pixel MOC images. Then, the IMC images, shown here, were acquired by MGS so that the actual landers, sitting on the martian surface, might be resolved. This technique only works well when the location of the lander is already fairly-well established. It would be extremely difficult to find a lander for which the location is uncertain, such as Viking 2 or Mars Polar Lander (in fact, for Mars Polar Lander, it would take over 60 years to map out the entire landing ellipse in which the spacecraft was lost). The two images shown here are illuminated from the left and show areas only a few hundred meters across.More information about how MGS MOC will be used to help locate the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, can be found by visiting: Finding MERs. | |
Sand dunes shaped like blue-black flames lie next to a central hill within an unnamed crater in eastern Arabia on Mars. This image is part of an 'All Star' set marking the occasion of NASA's Mars Odyssey as the longest-working Mars spacecraft in history. | Sand dunes shaped like blue-black flames lie next to a central hill within an unnamed, 120-kilometer-wide (75-mile-wide) crater in eastern Arabia on Mars. False colors depict the nature of the ground surface: Areas in bluish tints have more fine sand at the surface, while redder tints indicate harder sediments and outcrops of rock. This scene combines images taken during the period from February 2003 to August 2004 by the Thermal Emission Imaging System instrument on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. It is part of a special set of images marking the occasion of Odyssey becoming the longest-working Mars spacecraft in history. The pictured location on Mars is 26.7 degrees north latitude, 63 degrees east longitude.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 Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC) on NASA's InSight lander took this image of the Martian surface on Nov. 26, 2018. | The Instrument Deployment Camera (IDC), located on the robotic arm of NASA's InSight lander, took this picture of the Martian surface on Nov. 26, 2018, the same day the spacecraft touched down on the Red Planet. The camera's transparent dust cover is still on in this image, to prevent particulates kicked up during landing from settling on the camera's lens. This image was relayed from InSight to Earth via NASA's Odyssey spacecraft, currently orbiting Mars.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the InSight Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space, Denver, Colorado built the spacecraft. 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. | |
Dark slope streaks abound in this image taken by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. The unnamed craters in this image are located east of Henry Crater. | Context imageCredit: NASA/JPL/MOLADark slope streaks abound in this VIS image. The unnamed craters in this image are located east of Henry Crater.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 10.2N, Longitude 27.5E. 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 image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows several craters in Eridania Planitia. | 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 craters in Eridania Planitia. The small crater inside the larger crater is Gasa Crater. The larger crater is unnamed. The bright silver-blue region on the inner and outer 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.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: 88618 Latitude: -35.5932 Longitude: 129.422 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-12-06 02:28Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This vertical-projection mosaic was created by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 93 (April 7, 2004). It reveals the martian view from Spirit's position during the four-sol flight software update that began on sol 94. | This vertical-projection mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 93 (April 7, 2004). It reveals the martian view from Spirit's position during the four-sol flight software update that began on sol 94. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a portion of Aureum Chaos. Several layers of material are visible in the image. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a portion of Aureum
Chaos. Several layers of material are visible in the image.Orbit Number: 43169 Latitude: -4.03676
Longitude: 333.407 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-09-07 18:50Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting
THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's
Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed
by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS
investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is
the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted
jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows an area at the equator near Gordii Dorsum. | Context imageWind is one of the remaining active processes altering the surface of Mars. In regions of long term unidirectional winds, the dust and sand is winnowed away. In places with poorly cemented surface materials the wind and entrained sand with blast the surface causing linear erosion like that seen in today's VIS image. This image is located at the equator near Gordii Dorsum.Orbit Number: 77484 Latitude: 5.04807 Longitude: 213.038 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-06-03 08:10Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows layered material near the south polar cap. | Context image Today's VIS image shows layered material near the south polar cap.Orbit Number: 67402 Latitude: -83 Longitude: 350.38 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2017-02-22 19:25Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has detected widespread deposits of glacial ice in the mid-latitudes of Mars. This map of a region known as Deuteronilus Mensae, in the northern hemisphere, shows locations of the detected ice deposits in blue. | The Shallow Radar instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has detected widespread deposits of glacial ice in the mid-latitudes of Mars. This map of a region known as Deuteronilus Mensae, in the northern hemisphere, shows locations of the detected ice deposits in blue. The yellow lines indicate ground tracks of the radar observations from multiple orbits of the spacecraft. The ice, up to 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) thick, is found adjacent to steep cliffs and hillsides, where rocky debris from slopes covers and protects the ice from sublimation into the atmosphere. The base map of this image is shaded relief topography obtained by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. The image is centered at 42.2 degrees north latitude and 24.7 degrees east longitude. It covers an area 1050 kilometers by 775 kilometers (650 miles by 481 miles).The Shallow Radar instrument on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was provided by the Italian Space Agency. Its operations are led by the University of Rome and its data are analyzed by a joint U.S.-Italian science team. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the spacecraft development and integration contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. | |
This plot from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the estimated change in dust levels from December 2003 to early January 2004 at Gusev Crater (red curve) and Meridiani Planum (black curve) on Mars. | This plot shows the estimated change in dust levels from December 2003 to early January 2004 at Gusev Crater (red curve) and Meridiani Planum (black curve), the two Mars Exploration Rover landings sites. The measurements, retrieved from Mars Global Surveyor Thermal Emission Spectrometer, indicate that a large regional dust storm beginning in mid-December raised significant dust near Meridiani. Smaller amounts of dust were spread globally by winds, the effects of which were seen at Gusev Crater. For comparison, a dust optical depth value of 1.0 would correspond to a very smoggy day in Los Angeles or Houston, and a value of 0.1 to a relatively clear day in Los Angeles. | |
The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the dune field on the floor of Proctor 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 dune field on the floor of Proctor Crater.Orbit Number: 58592 Latitude: -47.5967 Longitude: 30.0732 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-02-28 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. | |
This image from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover, taken on April 3, 2014, includes a bright spot near the upper left corner. Possible explanations include a glint from a rock or a cosmic-ray hit. | This image from the Navigation Camera (Navcam) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover includes a bright spot near the upper left corner. The sun is in the same direction, west-northwest, above the frame. Bright spots appear in images from the rover nearly every week. Typical explanations for them are cosmic rays hitting the light detector or sunlight glinting from rocks. The right-eye camera of the stereo Navcam recorded this frame during the afternoon of the 589th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (April 3, 2014), from the site where the rover reached a waypoint called "the Kimberley" by that sol's drive. An image taken by the Navcam's left-eye camera within one second of the same time (http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=NLB_449790582EDR_F0310000NCAM00262M_&s=589) does not include a bright spot of this type. A pair of Navcam images in the same direction from the previous afternoon has a bright spot similarly located in the right-eye image http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=NRB_449700848EDR_F0301254NCAM00252M_&s=588) but not in the left-eye image (http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/raw/?rawid=NLB_449700848EDR_F0301254NCAM00252M_&s=588).One possible explanation for the bright spot in this image is a glint from a rock surface reflecting the sun. Another is a cosmic ray hitting the camera's light detector, a CCD (charge-coupled device). Cosmic ray patterns in Mars rover images vary from a dot to a long line depending on the angle at which the ray strikes the detector. 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 the rover's Navcam.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
Sand dunes cover much of this terrain, which has large boulders lying on flat areas between the dunes in this image captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionSand dunes cover much of this terrain, which has large boulders lying on flat areas between the dunes.It is now late winter here in the Southern hemisphere, and these dunes are just getting enough sunlight to start defrosting their seasonal cover of carbon dioxide. Spots form where pressurized carbon dioxide gas escapes to the surface.This is part of a stereo pair, so be sure to look at the stereo anaglyph.This is a stereo pair with ESP_045245_1205.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 Mars' south polar residual cap landscape, formed in frozen carbon dioxide. | 1 August 2005This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a south polar residual cap landscape, formed in frozen carbon dioxide. There is no place on Earth that one can go to visit a landscape covering thousands of square kilometers with frozen carbon dioxide, so mesas, pits, and other landforms of the martian south polar region are as alien as they are beautiful. The scarps of the south polar region are known from thousands of other MGS MOC images to retreat at a rate of about 3 meters (~3 yards) per martian year, indiating that slowly, over the course of the MGS mission, the amount of carbon dioxide in the martian atmosphere has probably been increasing.Location near: 86.9°S, 25.5°W Image width: width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Spring | |
This 2001 Mars Odyssey image shows a region of Aonia Terra criss-crossed with a multitude of dust devil tracks on Mars. The tracks show up well on the dusty plains. | Context imageCredit: NASA/JPL/MOLAThis region of Aonia Terra is criss-crossed with a multitude of dust devil tracks. The tracks show up well on the dusty plains.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -62.7N, Longitude 253.3E. 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. | |
A Rock Like None Before, Brushed | Scientists viewed a rock like none seen before on Mars when NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit brushed the surface and took magnified images of this rock dubbed "Wishstone." The circular area of interest, measuring approximately 5 centimeters (2 inches) in diameter, revealed darker pieces of material randomly distributed within a lighter-colored matrix. The rock has poorly sorted granular material, with grain sizes ranging from fine to coarse and some grains that are very angular in shape.Spirit used its microscopic imager on martian day, or sol, 333 (Dec. 9, 2004) to take the four individual frames that are combined into this mosaic view. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a portion of Shalbatana Vallis. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a portion of Shalbatana Vallis. Located in Xanthe Terra, Shalbatana Vallis is an outflow channel carved by massive floods of escaping groundwater whose source lies far to the south of this image. Shalbatana Vallis is over 1300 km long (808 miles). This channel, and all others in this region, drain into Chryse Planitia.Orbit Number: 88761 Latitude: 8.29946 Longitude: 317.817 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-12-17 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. | |
The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Iani Chaos. | 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 Iani Chaos.Orbit Number: 12808 Latitude: -0.595538 Longitude: 341.755 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2004-11-02 22:13Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This right image of a stereo image pair, taken on Sol 72 (September 15) from NASA's Sojourner rover's front cameras, shows areas of the Pathfinder landing site never before seen. The large rock on the right is 'Chimp.' Sol 1 began on July 4, 1997. | This right image of a stereo image pair, taken on Sol 72 (September 15) from the Sojourner rover's front cameras, shows areas of the Pathfinder landing site never before seen. The large rock on the right is "Chimp."This image and PIA01576 (left eye) make up a stereo pair.Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Photojournal note: Sojourner spent 83 days of a planned seven-day mission exploring the Martian terrain, acquiring images, and taking chemical, atmospheric and other measurements. The final data transmission received from Pathfinder was at 10:23 UTC on September 27, 1997. Although mission managers tried to restore full communications during the following five months, the successful mission was terminated on March 10, 1998. | |
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter used its HiRISE camera to obtain this view of an area with unusual texture on the southern floor of Gale Crater. An enigmatic deposit appears to have flowed into the small crater from the south. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionNASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, nearing the 10th anniversary of its arrival at Mars, used its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera to obtain this view of an area with unusual texture on the southern floor of Gale Crater.This area shown hosts many distinctive landforms in a different part of Gale Crater from where NASA's Curiosity rover is working. This view spans about half a mile or one kilometer across, with north toward the top. It shows about half of the floor area of a small crater lying within Gale Crater, which is 96 miles (154 kilometers) in diameter. An enigmatic deposit appears to have flowed into the small crater from the south. The location of the site in this image is 6.2 degrees south latitude, 137.7 degrees east latitude. The image is an excerpt from HiRISE observation ESP_043961_1740, taken on Dec. 12, 2015. Other image products from this observation are available at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_043961_1740.HiRISE is one of six instruments on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the orbiter and collaborates with JPL to operate it. | |
This seismogram shows the largest quake ever detected on another planet. Estimated at magnitude 5, this quake was discovered by NASA's InSight lander on May 4, 2022. | This seismogram shows the largest quake ever detected on another planet. Estimated at magnitude 5, this quake was discovered by NASA's InSight lander on May 4, 2022, the 1,222nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission.InSight was sent to Mars with a highly sensitive seismometer, provided by France's Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES), to study the deep interior of the planet. As seismic waves pass through or reflect off material in Mars' crust, mantle, and core, they change in ways that seismologists can study to determine the depth and composition of these layers. What scientists learn about the structure of Mars can help them better understand the formation of all rocky worlds, including Earth and its Moon.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California manages InSight for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the InSight spacecraft, including its cruise stage and lander, and supports spacecraft operations for the mission.A number of European partners, including France's Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are supporting the InSight mission. CNES provided the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument to NASA, with the principal investigator at IPGP (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris). Significant contributions for SEIS came from IPGP; the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany; the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in Switzerland; Imperial College London and Oxford University in the United Kingdom; and JPL. DLR provided the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument, with significant contributions from the Space Research Center (CBK) of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Astronika in Poland. Spain's Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) supplied the temperature and wind sensors.For more information about the mission, go to https://mars.nasa.gov/insight. | |
This image released on August 13, 2004 from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows Promethei Terra, part of the southern highlands of Mars. This mosaic shows the cratered terrain that is typical of this region. | Released August 13, 2004The THEMIS Image of the Day will be exploring the nomenclature of Mars for the next three weeks.Promethei TerraTerra: extensive land massPromethei: Prometheus was the Titan that stole fire from Zeus and gave it to man. For this crime, Prometheus was chained to a rock and an eagle ate his liver anew everyday.Promethei Terra is part of the southern highlands of Mars. This daytime IR mosaic shows the cratered terrain that is typical of this region.Nomenclature Fact of the Day: Large craters on Mars are named for scientists who have contributed to the study of Mars, and writers and others who have contributed to the lore of Mars. (As an example: the large crater at the bottom of this image is Redi Crater, named for Francesco Redi, an Italian physicist.)Image information: IR instrument. Latitude -52, Longitude 95.2 East (264.8 West). 100 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a section of Hypanis Valles. Located in Xanthe Terra, the valley system is 270 km (167 miles) long. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a section of Hypanis Valles. Located in Xanthe Terra, the valley system is 270 km (167 miles) long.Orbit Number: 88861 Latitude: 9.34241 Longitude: 312.724 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-12-26 02:55Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The ridges in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft are creating shadows due to low sun angle. | Context image The ridges in this VIS image are creating shadows due to low sun angle. Shadows can give indications of the shape of the feature that is casting the shadow.Orbit Number: 67866 Latitude: -79.1408 Longitude: 266.294 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2017-04-02 00:59Please 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. | |
Håvard Grip, chief pilot of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, documents the details of each flight in the mission's logbook, The Nominal Pilot's Logbook for Planets and Moons, after each flight. | Håvard Grip, chief pilot of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter, documents the details of each flight in the mission's logbook, The Nominal Pilot's Logbook for Planets and Moons, after each flight. Entries for Flights 9 and 10 are seen here. | |
The two prominent mesas in this view of Mars' 'Murray Buttes' region from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover are about 260 feet (about 80 meters) apart. Upper Mount Sharp is the salmon-hued mound dominating the horizon between the scene's two prominent mesas. | The two prominent mesas in this view of Mars' "Murray Buttes" region from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover are about 260 feet (about 80 meters) apart. The top of the one on the left is about 26 feet (about 8 meters) above the surrounding plain and about 330 feet (about 100 meters) from Curiosity's position when the rover acquired this view on Aug. 18, 2016, during the 1,434th Martian day, or sol, of its work Mars.The component images of this mosaic were taken by the right-eye camera of the rover's Mast Camera (Mastcam), which has a telephoto lens.The mesa on the right is about 33 feet (about 10 meters) high. The top of it is about 270 feet (about 82 meters) from the rover. Upper Mount Sharp is the salmon-hued mound dominating the horizon between the scene's two prominent mesas.The left edge of this view is east-northeast from the rover; the right edge is southeast. The rover's location when it recorded this scene was the site it reached in its Sol 1433 drive. (See map at http://mars.nasa.gov/msl/multimedia/images/?ImageID=7999.)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. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates Mastcam. JPL, a division of Caltech, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, and built the project's Curiosity rover. For more information about Curiosity, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. For more information about Curiosity, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Pathfinder (MPF) shows important features around the rock nicknamed 'Barnacle Bill' in the left foreground. | This is an image from the super-pan sequence. Of importance are some of the features around the rock nicknamed Barnacle Bill in the left foreground. The rock shows a "streamlined tail" composed of particles deposited by wind on the leeward (downwind) side of the rock. Also seen is a "moat" around the opposite (windward) side of the rock where either erosion (or non-deposition) of fine sediment has occurred. Mars Pathfinder scientist believe that the wind blowing over and around rocks like Barnacle Bill creates an airflow pattern wherein a buffer zone is formed immediately upwind of the rock and airflow patterns keep sediment from being deposited directly upwind of Barnacle Bill. On the downwind side, however, the airflow is complex and a small wake and tapered "dead air zone" form. Sediment can be deposited within this region, the shape of the formed deposit corresponds to the airflow patterns that exist behind the rock. Similar features have been observed at the Viking landing sites, and are thought to form under high wind conditions during the autumn and winter seasons in the northern hemisphere. This image mosaic was processed by the U.S. Geological Survey in support of the NASA/JPL Mars Pathfinder Mars Mission.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. | |
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 plains and craters in Terra Sirenum. | 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 plains and craters in Terra Sirenum.Orbit Number: 59228 Latitude: -37.9211 Longitude: 224.753 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-04-21 13:06Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is one of the rare examples of a fresh 'lunar-like' crater on Mars. The impact crater formed in the Tharsis region. | This image is of an approximately 5 kilometer (approx. 3.1 mile) diameter crater that is one of the rare examples of a fresh "lunar-like" crater on Mars. The impact crater formed in the Tharsis region, which is the volcanic region on Mars that harbors the great Olympus Mons volcano -- in fact, this crater lies just 150 kilometer (94 miles) from the flanks of Olympus.Most really fresh craters on Mars typically have floors with a frothy, pitted deposit on them , which possibly suggests that water/ice was present in the subsurface prior to impact.This 5 kilometer crater completely lacks such materials. Instead, the crater possess a deposit is generally smooth with some rocks peppered throughout the deposit. This is more similar to observations of fresh craters on the Moon. This distinction from the more typical pitted crater floor deposit may support that the lavas sampled by this crater were low in water/ice or dry at the time of impact. There are some smaller craters superimposed on the floor, which is a sign that the crater is reasonably fresh, but not as recent as other craters on Mars.There's also a lot of Martian dust in this crater, which often gives geologic forms a somewhat muted appearance, some of that dust and fine-grained material may be the source of the materials that comprise the "sand" ripples in the bottom-half of the subimage.Note: By "fresh," we are speaking in geologic terms, not something that just occurred.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows Aram Chaos. Aram Chaos was initially formed by a large impact. | Context imageToday's VIS image is located in Aram Chaos. Aram Chaos was initially formed by a large impact. Over time the crater interior was modified by several different processes, including liquid water. Located near Ares Vallis, a narrow channel links the Aram Chaos crater with Ares Vallis indicating a substantial amount of water was located in the crater. Chaos forms from erosion of the surface into mesa features. With time the valleys expand creating the jumble of hills 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: 62100 Latitude: 4.04973 Longitude: 340.137 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-12-14 01:59Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a crater formed in light-toned, layered, sedimentary rocks in Meridiani Planum on Mars. Erosion of sedimentary rock layers around the crater rim has caused an uneven retreat. | 31 August 2005This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a crater formed in light-toned, layered, sedimentary rocks in Meridiani Planum. This crater is located approximately 55 kilometers (~34 miles) southwest of the Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, site. Erosion of sedimentary rock layers around the crater rim has caused an uneven retreat, resulting in the formation of U-shaped alcoves where undermining and collapse have occurred. Dark material in this scene is probably sand and granules, similar to the dark surfaces explored by the Opportunity rover.Location near: 3.1°S, 5.8°W Image width: width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Southern Spring | |
This stereo view combines a pair of images taken by the microscopic imager on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the 1,925th Martian day (sol) of Spirit's mission on Mars (June 2, 2009). 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | This stereo view combines a pair of images taken by the microscopic imager on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the 1,925th Martian day (sol) of Spirit's mission on Mars (June 2, 2009). Rover team members used the microscopic imager on the rover's arm to accomplish something never intended during the design of the rover or that camera -- getting a look underneath the rover. They did so to get a better understanding of Spirit's predicament, with wheels embedded deeply enough in soft soil at a site called "Troy" for the rover to be at risk of getting hung up on a rock under the rover. The dark triangular shape is a rock that is either touching or nearly touching Spirit's underbelly.The two images combined here come from two camera positions, one slightly to left of the other, yielding a three-dimensional view when seen through red and blue glasses with the red lens on the left. The microscopic imager is designed to focus on rock or soil targets 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) away. It rides on the end of the rover's robotic arm so that it can be placed close to targets for inspection. It cannot focus on objects as far away as the rover underbelly and rocks that are visible in this image despite being out of focus.The team has used this image as an aid in planning a drive strategy for Spirit. The rock underneath presents a risk of high-centering the rover if the wheels sink much further into the soil. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a portion of Sirenum Fossae. The linear features are tectonic graben. Graben are formed by extension of the crust and faulting. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a portion of Sirenum Fossae. The linear features are tectonic graben. Graben are formed by extension of the crust and faulting. When large amounts of pressure or tension are applied to rocks on timescales that are fast enough that the rock cannot respond by deforming, the rock breaks along faults. In the case of a graben, two parallel faults are formed by extension of the crust and the rock in between the faults drops downward into the space created by the extension. Numerous sets of graben are visible in this THEMIS image, trending from north-northeast to south-southwest. Because the faults defining the graben are formed perpendicular to the direction of the applied stress, we know that extensional forces were pulling the crust apart in the west-northwest/east-southeast direction. The Sirenum Fossae graben are 2735km (1700 miles) long and stretch from eastern Terra Sirenum into western Daedalia Planum.Orbit Number: 93139 Latitude: -32.2816 Longitude: 204.773 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-12-13 08:06Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This false-color image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows the eastern flank of Elysium Mons volcano, taken during Mars' northern spring season. | 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.This false color image is of the eastern flank of Elysium Mons volcano. This image was collected during the Northern Spring season. Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 24.5, Longitude 147.1 East (212.9 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. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows another unnamed crater near the north pole with dunes on its floor. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows another unnamed crater near the north pole with dunes on its floor.Orbit Number: 54223 Latitude: 73.4676 Longitude: 2.52812 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-03-05 13:45Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-505, 6 October 2003Northwest Hellas Planitia presents an array of strange-looking surfaces. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) picture shows an example near 39.3°S, 306.7°W. The scene is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left. Some of the banding apparent in this image may be related to layering, but the overall cause for the patterns remains elusive. Hellas Basin is a difficult place to obtain MOC high resolution images, because for most of the year it is cloudy. The clouds clear up and imaging opportunities are spectacular in southern autumn, the time of year that this image was obtained. This picture covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. | |
A group of dunes captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft is visible on the floor of this unnamed crater in Arabia Terra. The dunes contain basaltic sand, which is darker than the dust covered materials of the rest of the crater. | Context image A group of dunes is visible on the floor of this unnamed crater in Arabia Terra. The dunes contain basaltic sand, which is darker than the dust covered materials of the rest of the crater.Orbit Number: 71366 Latitude: 9.85278 Longitude: 7.9986 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-01-15 10:16Please 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 300-kilometer (186-mile) long daytime infrared image of Terra Sirenum, taken by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft, displays a wide variety of geologic features. The mottled floor and rim of Koval'skiy Crater is seen at the left (north) of the image. | This 300-kilometer (186-mile) long daytime infrared image of Terra Sirenum, taken by the thermal emission imaging system on NASA's 2002 Mars Odyssey spacecraft, displays a wide variety of geologic features. The mottled floor and rim of Koval'skiy Crater is seen at the left (north) of the image. The bright and dark textures on the floor of Koval'skiy are due primarily to differences in the abundance of rocks, which are relatively cool (dark) during the day, whereas fine sand and dust are warmer (bright).Lava flows, fracture systems up to 3.3 kilometers (two miles) wide, and numerous impact craters ranging in diameter from 300 meters (1000 feet) to several kilometers (or miles) are visible south of Koval'skiy. The dark rings around several craters are due to the presence of rocky material ejected from the crater. Other brightness differences show temperature variations due to the presence of warmer, Sun-facing and colder, shadowed slopes. A larger image taken by NASA's Viking Orbiter shows the location of the new image as an incised rectangle.Terra Sirenum is located in the cratered highlands of the south. This image is centered near 33.5 degrees south, 141.5 degrees west, and was acquired on February 19, 2002 at about 3:15 p.m. martian time. North is toward the left of this image.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 was provided by Arizona State University, Tempe. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
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 several small craters in Aonia Terra. | 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 several small craters in Aonia Terra.Orbit Number: 58048 Latitude: -48.2615 Longitude: 242.373 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-01-14 09:42Please 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 dark surface markings of Utopia Planitia are thought to be caused by dust devils as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageThe dark surface markings in this image of Utopia Planitia are thought to be caused by dust devils. The markings are darker than the surroundings due to the dust devil removing material and revealing the original darker surface.Orbit Number: 45973 Latitude: 50.6197 Longitude: 91.9287 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-04-25 15:35Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This NASA Mars Global Surveyor image shows a portion of the south polar residual cap; darkened edges of the pits and mesas are evidence of the removal, by sublimation, of frozen carbon dioxide during the recent martian summer. | 22 April 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of the south polar residual cap. The darkened edges of the pits and mesas are evidence of the removal -- by sublimation -- of frozen carbon dioxide during the recent martian summer. Summer ended and autumn began in January 2006, shortly before this image was acquired.Location near: 86.8°S, 90.5°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Summer | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows dark streaks on the steep, down-wind slopes of sand dunes in Rabe Crater on Mars. | Dark streaks on the steep, down-wind slopes of sand dunes in Rabe Crater are seen at several locations in this Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image. These streaks indicate relatively recent (i.e., in the past few years or less) movement of sand down these slopes.Sand dunes move forward by the combined action of wind that drives sand up the shallow slope on the windward side of the dune (in this case, the slopes that face toward the lower right) and the avalanching of this sand down the steeper, lee-side slope. The steep slope is also known as the slip face. The dark streaks indicated by arrows are evidence for sand avalanches that occurred within a few months or years of the time when the picture was taken in March 1999. Other streaks which are seen criss-crossing the dunes may be the result of passing dust devils. This image is illuminated from the upper left and located in Rabe Crater of the Hellespontus-Noachis region near 44.2°S, 325.6°W. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows layers and possibly buried dunes in the north polar region of Mars. | 1 April 2005This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows layers and possibly buried dunes in the north polar region.Location near: 30 74.3°N, 264.8°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Northern Summer | |
Joint Observation of the Isidis Basin with the Rosetta Mission | Click on image for larger versionThis HiRISE image (PSP_002703_1920) of the floor of the Isidis Basin was taken in coordination with the Mars flyby of the European Rosetta mission. Comparing this image with those taken by the OSIRIS camera onboard Rosetta should help calibrate HiRISE. Since OSIRIS was only able to take low resolution images of Mars, this image was targeted at a broad, bland, expanse of uniform appearance. However, it is just east of the landing ellipse for the failed European Beagle 2 lander and may help with the search for debris from that mission. This is an example of the international cooperation of HiRISE and the MRO missions.Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 2 February 2007Local Mars time: 3:40 PMDegrees latitude (centered): 11.8°Degrees longitude (East): 91.1°Range to target site: 277.3 km (173.3 miles)Original image scale range: 27.7 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~83 cm across are resolvedMap-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAREmission angle: 0.1°Phase angle: 56.9°Solar incidence angle: 57°, with the Sun about 33° above the horizonSolar longitude: 188.7°, Northern AutumnNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the south polar cap. Millions of years of alternating seasons have created the south polar cap. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of the south polar cap. Millions of years of alternating seasons have created the south polar cap. Ice is laid down during the winter and dust coats the ice in summer. The ice/dust cycle creates layers as the cap grows. The layers are revealed on the side of troughs that are eroded down into the cap.Orbit Number: 84339 Latitude: -86.1557 Longitude: 147.82 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-12-18 18:22Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Fractured Mounds in Elysium Planitia | Click on image for larger versionThis HiRISE image (PSP_003597_1765), shows fractured mounds on the southern edge of Elysium Planitia.The mounds are typically a few kilometers in diameter and about 200 feet tall. The fractures that crisscross their surfaces are dilational (extensional) in nature, suggesting that the mounds formed by localized uplift (i.e., they were pushed up from below).The mounds are probably composed of solidified lava. They are contiguous with, and texturally similar to, the flood lavas that blanket much of Elysium Planitia, and, where dilation cracks provide cross-sectional exposure, the uplifted material is rocky.Patches of mechanically weak and disrupted material overlie the rocky mound material. This is particularly conspicuous in the northeast corner of the HiRISE image. These patches may be remnants of a layer that was once more continuous but has been extensively eroded. Smooth lava plains fill the low-lying areas between the mounds. They are riddled with sinuous pressure ridges. The entire area is covered by a relatively thin layer of dust and sand. Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 5 May 2007Local Mars time: 3:35 PMDegrees latitude (centered): -3.3°Degrees longitude (East): 167.9°Range to target site: 290.3 km (181.4 miles)Original image scale range: 29.0 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~87 cm across are resolvedMap-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAREmission angle: 22.9°Phase angle: 33.1°Solar incidence angle: 55°, with the Sun about 35° above the horizonSolar longitude: 231.0°, Northern AutumnNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows an unnamed channel on part of the highlands above Tiu Valles. | Context imageThis VIS image shows an unnamed channel on part of the highlands above Tiu Valles.Orbit Number: 44529 Latitude: 13.2541 Longitude: 326.951 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-12-28 19:14Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows frost-covered sand dunes in the early northern spring of 2004 in the north polar region of Mars. | 1 May 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows frost-covered sand dunes in the early northern spring of 2004 in the north polar region. Sunlight illuminates the dunes from the bottom/lower left, but frost on slopes facing the lower right create the illusion of sunlight from that direction. This dune field, which would appear quite dark in summertime, is located near 80.3°N, 148.7°W. The picture covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across. | |
The image on the left is a particle of Martian soil observed with the atomic force microscope on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. For comparison, the image on the right is a type of terrestrial soil on Earth viewed with a scanning electron microscope. | The image on the left is a particle of Martian soil observed with the atomic force microscope on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. For comparison, the image on the right is a type of terrestrial soil viewed with a scanning electron microscope.The Mars image covers an area approximately 10 microns wide. This flat, smooth-surfaced particle is consistent with the appearance of soil particles from Earth containing the mineral phylloslicate, as seen in the left and right perimeter of the terrestrial image.The terrestrial image shows particles in a soil sample from Koua Bocca, Ivory Coast, West Africa. This image's field of view is approximately 23 microns wide.The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by JPL, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development was by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.Mars image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/University of Neuchatel/Imperial College LondonEarth image credit: Photo courtesy of Michael Velbel (Michigan State University) and William Barker, (University of Wisconsin-Madison). From the image database of the Clay Minerals Society and the Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland at http://www.minersoc.org/pages/gallery/claypix/index.html.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 taken by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows a small portion of Auqakuh Vallis. | Context imageThis VIS image shows a small portion of Auqakuh Vallis.Orbit Number: 36364 Latitude: 31.499 Longitude: 61.1988 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-02-24 13:23Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This false-color view of a mineral vein called 'Homestake' comes from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The vein is about the width of a thumb and about 18 inches (45 centimeters) long. | This false-color view of a mineral vein called "Homestake" comes from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The vein is about the width of a thumb and about 18 inches (45 centimeters) long. Opportunity examined it in November 2011 and found it to be rich in calcium and sulfur, possibly the calcium-sulfate mineral gypsum."Homestake" is near the edge of the "Cape York" segment of the western rim of Endeavour Crater.Exposures combined into this view were taken through Pancam filters admitting light with wavelengths centered at 753 nanometers (near infrared), 535 nanometers (green) and 432 nanometers (violet). The view is presented in false color to make some differences between materials easier to see.The exposures were taken during the 2,769th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's career on Mars (Nov. 7, 2011). | |
This image was taken by the microscopic imager onboard NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 99 (April 13, 2004). It is a close-up look at a portion of the rock called 'Route 66,' which was brushed by the rover's rock abrasion tool. | This image was taken by the microscopic imager onboard NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 99 (April 13, 2004). It is a close-up look at a portion of the rock called "Route 66," which was brushed by the rover's rock abrasion tool.This image intrigues scientists because it looks very different from the microscopic images taken of other brushed rocks at the Gusev Crater location. The surface of Route 66 is very shiny and specularly reflective, which may indicate a glassy surface, or perhaps a very smooth, discontinuous coating. The unique coating appears mottled and may be multi-layered.Other interesting features in this brushed area of Route 66 are the very thin, arc-shaped lines that are visible in the upper left quadrant of the image. An initial hypothesis suggests that these arcs may have been caused by the rock abrasion tool when the instrument made its initial contact with the surface.Scientists will use the combined data from the rover's Moessbauer spectrometer and alpha particle X-ray spectrometer along with color versions of this image to try to reach stronger conclusions about what they are seeing and what processes caused the features. | |
This channelized area is near the source region of the huge outflow channel, Ares Vallis. It was at the distal end or 'long-ways down-river-area' where the Pathfinder/Sojourner mission landed on 4 July 1997. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThis channelized area is near the source region of the huge outflow channel, Ares Vallis. It was at the distal end or "long-ways down-river-area" where the Pathfinder/Sojourner mission landed on 4 July 1997.This tiny region of Ares Vallis is on a plateau and did not contribute much to the overall water discharge. The slope downhill at the northeast edge of the image leads to the main channel.Dune- and ripple-like transverse aeolian ridges (TARs) have since covered the bottom of the channels. These are oriented perpendicularly to the winds that must flow through these now-dry channels.HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the Syrtis Major face of Mars in mid-May 2005. | 17 May 2005This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 211° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 211° occurs in mid-May 2005. The picture shows the Syrtis Major face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.Season: Northern Autumn/Southern Spring | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows jumbled and broken terrain known as chaotic terrain. The region shown here is named 'Margaritifer Chaos.' | The jumbled and broken terrain in the picture on the left is known as chaotic terrain. Chaotic terrain was first observed in Mariner 6 and 7 images of Mars more than 30 years ago, and is thought to result from collapse after material -- perhaps water or ice -- was removed from the subsurface by events such as the formation of giant flood channels. The region shown here is named "Margaritifer Chaos." The left picture is a Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) red wide angle camera context frame that covers an area 115 km (71 miles) across. The small white box is centered at 10.3°S, 21.4°W and indicates the location of the high-resolution view on the right. The high resolution view (right) covers a small portion of the Margaritifer Chaos at 1.8 meters (6 feet) per pixel. The area shown is 3 km (1.9 miles) across. Uplands are lumpy with small bright outcrops of bedrock. Lowlands or valleys in the chaotic terrain have floors covered by light-toned windblown drifts. This image is typical of the very highest-resolution views of the equatorial latitudes of Mars. Both pictures are illuminated from the left/upper left, north is toward the top. | |
Taking advantage of Mars's closest approach to Earth in eight years, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have taken the space-based observatory's sharpest views yet of the Red Planet. | Taking advantage of Mars's closest approach to Earth in eight years, astronomers using NASA's Hubble Space Telescope have taken the space-based observatory's sharpest views yet of the Red Planet. NASA is releasing these images to commemorate the second anniversary of the Mars Pathfinder landing. The lander and its rover, Sojourner, touched down on the Red Planet's rolling hills on July 4, 1997, embarking on an historic three-month mission to gather information on the planet's atmosphere, climate, and geology.The telescope's Wide Field and Planetary Camera 2 snapped these images between April 27 and May 6, when Mars was 54 million miles (87 million kilometers) from Earth. From this distance the telescope could see Martian features as small as 12 miles (19 kilometers) wide.The telescope obtained four images, which, together, show the entire planet. Each view depicts the planet as it completes one quarter of its daily rotation. In these views the north polar cap is tilted toward the Earth and is visible prominently at the top of each picture. The images were taken in the middle of the Martian northern summer, when the polar cap had shrunk to its smallest size. During this season the Sun shines continuously on the polar cap. Previous telescopic and spacecraft observations have shown that this summertime "residual" polar cap is composed of water ice, just like Earth's polar caps.These Hubble telescope snapshots reveal that substantial changes in the bright and dark markings on Mars have occurred in the 20 years since the NASA Viking spacecraft missions first mapped the planet. The Martian surface is dynamic and ever changing. Some regions that were dark 20years ago are now bright red; some areas that were bright red are now dark. Winds move sand and dust from region to region, often in spectacular dust storms. Over long time scales many of the larger bright and dark markings remain stable, but smaller details come and go as they are covered and then uncovered by sand and dust.The upper-left image is centered near the location of the Pathfinder landing site. Dark sand dunes that surround the polar cap merge into a large, dark region called Acidalia. This area, as shown by images from the Hubble telescope and other spacecraft, is composed of dark, sand-sized grains of pulverized volcanic rock. Below and to the left of Acidalia are the massive Martian canyon systems of Valles Marineris, some of which form long linear markings that were once thought by some to be canals. Early morning clouds can be seen along the left limb of the planet, and a large cyclonic storm composed of water ice is churning near the polar cap. See also PIA01589.The upper-right image is centered on the region of the planet known as Tharsis, home of the largest volcanoes in the solar system. The bright, ring-like feature just to the left of center is the volcano Olympus Mons, which is more than 340 miles (550 kilometers) across and 17 miles(27 kilometers) high. Thick deposits of fine-grained, windblown dust cover most of this hemisphere. The colors indicate that the dust is heavily oxidized ("rusted"), and millions (or perhaps billions) of years of dust storms have homogenized its composition. Prominent late afternoon clouds along the right limb of the planet can be seen. See also PIA01590.The lower-left image is centered near another volcanic region known as Elysium. This area shows many small, dark markings that have been observed by the Hubble telescope and other spacecraft to change as a result of the movement of sand and dust across the Martian surface. In the upper left of this image, at high northern latitudes, a large chevron-shaped area of water ice clouds mark a storm front. Along the right limb, a large cloud system has formed around the Olympus Mons volcano. See also PIA01591.The lower-right image is centered on the dark feature known as Syrtis Major, first seen telescopically by the astronomer Christian Huygens in the 17th century. Many small, dark, circular impact craters can be seen in this region, attesting to the Hubble telescope's ability to reveal fine detail on the planet's surface. To the south of Syrtis a large circular feature called Hellas. Viking and more recently Mars Global Surveyor have revealed that Hellas is a large and deep impact crater. These Hubble telescope pictures show it to be filled with surface frost and water ice clouds. Along the right limb, late afternoon clouds have formed around the volcano Elysium. See also PIA01592.Shown here are color composites generated from data using three filters: blue (410 nanometers), green (502 nanometers), and red (673 nanometers). A total of 12 color filters, spanning ultraviolet to near-infrared wavelengths, were used in the observation. | |
Right angles are not common in nature. They are almost always formed by tectonic forces. This right angle on Mars is part of Sacra Fossae. This image is from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageRight angles are not common in nature. They are almost always formed by tectonic forces. This right angle on Mars is part of Sacra Fossae.Orbit Number: 44393 Latitude: 23.9419 Longitude: 290.183 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-12-17 14:32Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows an elongated depression from three merged craters. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThis image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows an elongated depression from three merged craters.The raised rims and ejecta indicate that these are impact craters rather than collapse or volcanic landforms. The pattern made by the ejecta and the craters suggest this was a highly oblique (low angle to the surface) impact, probably coming from the west.There may have been three major pieces flying in close formation to make this triple crater. Be sure to view the anaglyph for a more detailed look.This is a stereo pair with ESP_041350_1455.The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 26.1 centimeters (10.3 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 78 centimeters (30.7 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. | |
Lutefisk' Rock | Figure 1NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its panoramic camera to take this image of a rock called "Lutefisk" on the rover's 286th martian day (Oct. 22, 2004). The surface of the rock is studded with rounded granules of apparently more-resistant material up to several millimeters (0.1 inch) or more across. The visible portion of Lutefisk is about 25 centimeters (10 inches) across. | |
Tempe Terra is criss-crossed with numerous fracture systems. This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a region where the fractures are intersecting, | Context imageTempe Terra is criss-crossed with numerous fracture systems. This VIS image shows a region where the fractures are intersecting,Orbit Number: 38166 Latitude: 45.9586 Longitude: 278.735 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-07-22 22:01Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a dust-mantled plain streaked by spring and summertime dust devils in southern Noachis Terra. | 5 January 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a dust-mantled plain streaked by spring and summertime dust devils in southern Noachis Terra.Location near: 57.4°S, 336.2°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Summer | |
This spectrum of the soil at NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's landing site, Meridiani Planum, shows the presence of the shiny green mineral called olivine also seen at the rover's landing site, Gusev Crater. | This spectrum of the soil at the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's landing site, Meridiani Planum, shows the presence of the shiny green mineral called olivine also seen at the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's landing site, Gusev Crater. Based on this data, scientists believe the soil at Meridiani is made-up of in part of finely grained basalt, a type of volcanic rock. The spectrum was captured by Opportunity's Moessbauer spectrometer. | |
This is a sub-section of the 'geometrically improved, color enhanced' version of the 360-degree panorama heretofore known as the 'Gallery Pan,' taken by NASA's Imager for Mars Pathfinder over the course of Sols 8, 9, and 10. Sol 1 began on July 4, 1997. | This is a sub-section of the "geometrically improved, color enhanced" version of the 360-degree panorama heretofore known as the "Gallery Pan," the first contiguous, uniform panorama taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) over the course of Sols 8, 9, and 10. Different regions were imaged at different times over the three Martian days to acquire consistent lighting and shadow conditions for all areas of the panorama.The IMP is a stereo imaging system that, in its fully deployed configuration, stands 1.8 meters above the Martian surface, and has a resolution of two millimeters at a range of two meters. In this geometrically improved version of the panorama, distortion due to a 2.5 degree tilt in the IMP camera mast has been removed, effectively flattening the horizon.The IMP has color capability provided by 24 selectable filters -- twelve filters per "eye." Its red, green, and blue filters were used to take this image. The color was digitally balanced according to the color transmittance capability of a high-resolution TV at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and is dependent on that device. In this color enhanced version of the panorama, detail in surface features are brought out via changes to saturation and intensity, holding the original hue constant. A threshold was applied to avoid changes to the sky.On the horizon the double "Twin Peaks" are visible, about 1- 2 kilometers away. The rock "Couch" is the dark, curved rock at right of Twin Peaks. A Lander petal is visible on the left, showing the fully deployed rear ramp, which rover Sojourner used to descend to the surface of Mars on July 5. Immediately to the left of the rear ramp is the rock "Barnacle Bill," which scientists found to be andesitic, possibly indicating that it is a volcanic rock (a true andesite) or a physical mixture of particles. Just beyond Barnacle Bill, rover tracks lead to Sojourner, shown using its Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument to study the large rock "Yogi." Yogi, low in quartz content, appears to be more primitive than Barnacle Bill, and appears more like the common basalts found on Earth.The tracks and circular pattern in the soil leading up to Yogi were part of Sojourner's soil mechanics experiments, in which varying amounts of pressure were applied to the wheels in order to determine physical properties of the soil. During its traverse to Yogi the rover stirred the soil and exposed material from several centimeters in depth. During one of the turns to deploy Sojourner's Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer, the wheels dug particularly deeply and exposed white material. Spectra of this white material show it is virtually identical to the rock "Scooby Doo," and such white material may underlie much of the site. Deflated airbags are visible at the perimeter of the Lander petals.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 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. | |
This is a representation of sediment tails noted at NASA's Mars Pathfinder landing site.The detailed map was prepared by MPF scientists from Arizona State University on a base image created by MPF scientists from the NASA Ames research facility. | This is a representation of sediment tails noted at the Mars Pathfinder landing site. The arrows in the figure represent the inferred downwind direction, based on our understanding of the deposition of very fine sediment around surface rocks. The inferred wind direction therefore, is from the northeast blowing toward the southwest. This wind trend matched that of light and dark "streaks" of sediment in and around Martian craters in the region that have were seen by the Viking spacecraft. The detailed map was prepared by Mars Pathfinder scientists from Arizona State University on a base image created by MPF scientists from the NASA Ames research facility.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).
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. | |
This image acquired on October 24, 2021 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows a flat plain with various low, lumpy mounds, suggesting that they are made up of a different type of material. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionThis HiRISE image shows a flat plain with various low, lumpy mounds. Some of them have distinct colors and tones unlike the surrounding plains, suggesting that they are made up of a different type of material.While the origin of these mounds is not certain, one idea that seems to fit best is that they are deposits left after eruptions of wet sediments onto the surface. This can happen when thick deposits of wet sand and mud are shaken, say from a meteorite impact, and the ground briefly loses its strength, allowing dirty water to be expelled from the deposit. On Earth, this process of "liquefaction" can happen during earthquakes.If this hypothesis is correct, it means that these mounds provide samples of a potentially habitable environment that we would otherwise need massive drills to reach.The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 30.7 centimeters [12.1 inches] per pixel [with 1 x 1 binning]; objects on the order of 92 centimeters [36.2 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.This is a stereo pair with ESP_071528_2245.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. | |
Layers with Boulders in Aeolis Region | Image PSP_001448_1735 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on November 17, 2006. The complete image is centered at -6.3 degrees latitude, 149.3 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 266.0 km (166.2 miles). At this distance the image scale ranges from 26.6 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 106.4 cm/pixel (with 4 x 4 binning). The image shown here has been map-projected to 25 cm/pixel and north is up. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:34 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 58 degrees, thus the sun was about 32 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 136.6 degrees, the season on Mars is Northern Summer.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
This pair of images released on June 17, 2004 from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows a comparison of daytime and nighttime of part of a small channel on Mars. | Released 17 June 2004This pair of images shows part of a small channel.Day/Night Infrared PairsThe image pairs presented focus on a single surface feature as seen in both the daytime and nighttime by the infrared THEMIS camera. The nighttime image (right) has been rotated 180 degrees to place north at the top. Infrared image interpretationDaytime:Infrared images taken during the daytime exhibit both the morphological and thermophysical properties of the surface of Mars. Morphologic details are visible due to the effect of sun-facing slopes receiving more energy than antisun-facing slopes. This creates a warm (bright) slope and cool (dark) slope appearance that mimics the light and shadows of a visible wavelength image. Thermophysical properties are seen in that dust heats up more quickly than rocks. Thus dusty areas are bright and rocky areas are dark. Nighttime:Infrared images taken during the nighttime exhibit only the thermophysical properties of the surface of Mars. The effect of sun-facing versus non-sun-facing energy dissipates quickly at night. Thermophysical effects dominate as different surfaces cool at different rates through the nighttime hours. Rocks cool slowly, and are therefore relatively bright at night (remember that rocks are dark during the day). Dust and other fine grained materials cool very quickly and are dark in nighttime infrared images.Image information: IR instrument. Latitude 19.8, Longitude 141.5 East (218.5 West). 100 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows ight-toned dust devil streaks on the southern floor of Schiaparelli Crater on Mars. | 4 March 2005 In honor of Giovanni V. Schiaparelli's 170th birthday, we present this Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image showing light-toned dust devil streaks on the southern floor of Schiaparelli Crater.Location near: 5.3°S, 343.3°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Autumn | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the floor of Rabe Crater. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of the floor of Rabe Crater. Located in Noachis Terra, Rabe Crater is 108 km (67 miles) across. Dunes cover only the very upper left of this image of Rabe Crater. The sand is likely derived by erosion into the deposit that fills most of the crater floor, creating a pit which hosts the dunes. The lower elevations at the top of this image are the eroded pit. As the dunes are created by wind action the forms of the dunes record the wind direction. Dunes will have a long low angle component and a short high angle side. The steep side is called the slip face. The wind blows up the long side of the dune. In this VIS image the slip faces are illuminated less than the longer side.Craters of similar size as Rabe Crater often have flat floors. Rabe Crater has some areas of flat floor, but also has a large complex pit occupying a substantial part of the floor. The interior fill of the crater is thought to be layered sediments created by wind and or water action. The pit is eroded into this material. The eroded materials appear to have stayed within the crater forming sand dunes. Several other craters in this region have complex floors with pits.Orbit Number: 91404 Latitude: -43.8048 Longitude: 35.2382 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-07-23 12:03Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a strip of ground in the Daedalia Planum region of the giant volcanic province of Tharsis. The lava flows come from the Arsia Mons volcano on Mars. | Context image for PIA092861200th IOTD - 5/4/07This Image of the Day is the 1,200th posted since the series began March 27, 2002. It shows a strip of ground in the Daedalia Planum region of the giant volcanic province of Tharsis.The lava flows come from the Arsia Mons volcano. Its summit lies about 300 miles (500 kilometers) to the right of the image, which measures 11 miles (18 kilometers) wide by 39 miles (63 km) long.The rough textured lava surface traps dust and sand, while the impact craters act as obstacles to the wind. The combination of readily available dust and turbulent winds passing the craters creates the bright and dark 'tails' extending to the west of the craters. These wind streaks indicate the wind was blowing from east to west (right to left).Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -11.1N, Longitude 231.8E. 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | 9 April 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows lava flows and leveed lava channels on the lower northeast flank of the giant volcano, Olympus Mons. The image is located near 20.9°N, 130.5°W, and covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left. |
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