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This mosaic of images from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows surroundings of the rover's location following a 104 meters (341 feet) drive on Jan. 15, 2009. 3D glasses are necessary. | Left-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11791Right-eye view of a color stereo pair for PIA11791NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this stereo, full-circle view of the rover's surroundings just after driving 104 meters (341 feet) on the 1,770th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (January 15, 2009). This view combines images from the left-eye and right-eye sides of the navigation camera. It appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left. Tracks from the drive extend northward across dark-toned sand ripples and light-toned patches of exposed bedrock in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches).Prior to the Sol 1770 drive, Opportunity had driven less than a meter since Sol 1713 (November 17, 2008), while it used the tools on its robotic arm first to examine a meteorite called "Santorini" during weeks of restricted communication while the sun was nearly in line between Mars and Earth, then to examine bedrock and soil targets near Santorini.The rover's position after the Sol 1770 drive was about 1.1 kilometer (two-thirds of a mile) south southwest of Victoria Crater. Cumulative odometry was 13.72 kilometers (8.53 miles) since landing in January 2004, including 1.94 kilometers (1.21 miles) since climbing out of Victoria Crater on the west side of the crater on Sol 1634 (August 28, 2008). This view is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric seam correction. | |
The large hills of sand in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft are located on western margin of Argyre Planitia on Mars. | Context imageThe large hills of sand in this VIS image are located on western margin of Argyre Planitia.Orbit Number: 51285 Latitude: -47.6237 Longitude: 303.753 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-07-06 18:21Please 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. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its panoramic camera (Pancam) to record a 360-degree vista, dubbed the 'Thanksgiving' panorama, from the northwestern side of 'Husband Hill' in late 2004. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | Click on the image for Stereo Version of Spirit's 'Thanksgiving' Panorama (QTVR)Left-eye view of a stereo pair for PIA08752Right-eye view of a stereo pair for PIA08752NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its panoramic camera (Pancam) to record a 360-degree vista, dubbed the "Thanksgiving" panorama, from the northwestern side of "Husband Hill" in late 2004. This view is a stereo anaglyph of the Thanksgiving panorama, showing it in three dimensions to viewers using red-blue stereo glasses. The images combined into this anaglyph were taken through the Pancam's infrared L2 and R2 filters during Spirit's 318th through 325th Martian days (Nov. 24 through Dec. 2, 2004). Geometric and brightness adjustments have been applied. The view is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with rover tilt removed.For additional information about the Thanksgiving panorama, see PIA07334. | |
Northern Plains | Image PSP_001475_2465 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on November 19, 2006. The complete image is centered at 66.2 degrees latitude, 122.4 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 316.3 km (197.7 miles). At this distance the image scale is 31.6 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~95 cm across are resolved. The image shown here has been map-projected to 25 cm/pixel. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:15 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 59 degrees, thus the sun was about 31 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 137.7 degrees, the season on Mars is Northern Summer.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
NASA's Mars Odyssey captured this image of Ulysses Fossae, located in the Tharsis Volcanic region. Cross cutting tectonic fractures indicate that this region underwent stresses in multiple directions. | Context imageUlysses Fossae is located in the Tharsis Volcanic region. Cross cutting tectonic fractures indicate that this region underwent stresses in multiple directions.Orbit Number: 38891 Latitude: 12.3879 Longitude: 237.298 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-09-20 15:12Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows the entirety of Hebes Chasma, including the central rise called Hebes Mensa. | Context imageToday's VIS image crosses the entirety of Hebes Chasma, including the central rise called Hebes Mensa. Located in the center of the image, Hebes Mensa is 7.5 km (4.7 miles) tall and 120 by 43 km (75 by 27 miles) wide. The surrounding Hebes Chasma is is 319 km long (east/west, 198 miles), 130 km wide (north/south, 81miles) and up to 8km (5 miles) deep. Hebes Chasma is an inclosed basin not connected to Valles Marineris. Hebes Mensa is a large deposit of layered materials, and the cliff faces are eroding in a very different way from the Hebes Chasma cliffs.Orbit Number: 85967 Latitude: -1.25893 Longitude: 283.562 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-05-01 19:55Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a small channel cutting into young volcanic lavas in a region where massive catastrophic flooding took place in the relatively recent past in the Athabasca Valles region. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThis image shows a small channel cutting into young volcanic lavas in a region where massive catastrophic flooding took place in the relatively recent past. The Athabasca Valles region includes a vast lava flow, thought to be the youngest on Mars, with even younger outflow channels that were carved by running water. The source of the water is believed to be the Cerberus Fossae valleys to the north, which may have penetrated to an over-pressurized aquifer in the subsurface.Nowadays, erosion by gravity, wind, and frost gradually wears down the rims of the outflow channels. In this scene, we see dark materials along the channel rim that were probably exposed by this erosion. The dark materials are less red than the surrounding surface and so they appear blue in this enhanced color picture. Viewed close up, the dark materials show ripples that suggest they are made up of mobile sand. It is possible that this sand originated elsewhere and simply collected where we see it today, but the fact that sand is not found elsewhere in the scene suggest to us that it is eroding out of the volcanic layers at the retreating rim of the channel.Sand sources are important because mobile sand grains have only a limited lifetime, wearing down and chipping apart each time they impact the surface. Erosion of the volcanic materials in this region may provide sands to replace those that are destroyed. Few such sand sources have so far been identified on Mars. 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. | |
A promontory nicknamed Cape Verde can be seen jutting out from the walls of Victoria Crater in this true-color picture taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on Oct. 20, 2007. | A promontory nicknamed "Cape Verde" can be seen jutting out from the walls of Victoria Crater in this approximate true-color picture taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The rover took this picture on martian day, or sol, 1329 (Oct. 20, 2007), more than a month after it began descending down the crater walls -- and just 9 sols shy of its second Martian birthday on sol 1338 (Oct. 29, 2007). Opportunity landed on the Red Planet on Jan. 25, 2004. That's nearly four years ago on Earth, but only two on Mars because Mars takes longer to travel around the sun than Earth. One Martian year equals 687 Earth days.The overall soft quality of the image, and the "haze" seen in the lower right portion, are the result of scattered light from dust on the front sapphire window of the rover's camera.This view was taken using three panoramic-camera filters, admitting light with wavelengths centered at 750 nanometers (near infrared), 530 nanometers (green) and 430 nanometers (violet). | |
This anaglyph view of 'Ender,' due south of the lander, was produced by NASA's Mars Pathfinder's Imager camera. 3D glasses are necessary to identify surface detail. | This view of the "Ender," due south of the lander, was produced by combining the "Super Panorama" frames from the IMP camera. Super resolution was applied to help to address questions about the texture of this rock and what it might tell us about its mode of origin.The composite color frames that make up this anaglyph were produced for both the right and left eye of the IMP. These composites consist of 7 frames in the right eye and 8 frames in the left eye, taken with different color filters that were enlarged by 500% and then co-added using Adobe Photoshop to produce, in effect, a super-resolution panchromatic frame that is sharper than an individual frame would be. These panchromatic frames were then colorized with the red, green, and blue filtered images from the same sequence. The color balance was adjusted to approximate the true color of Mars.The anaglyph view was produced by combining the left with the right eye color composite frames by assigning the left eye composite view to the red color plane and the right eye composite view to the green and blue color planes (cyan), to produce a stereo anaglyph mosaic. This mosaic can be viewed in 3-D on your computer monitor or in color print form by wearing red-blue 3-D glasses.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 left eye and right eye panoramas from which this anaglyph was created is available atPIA02405 andPIA02406.
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 cylindrical-projection mosaic was assembled from images taken by the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 107 (April 21, 2004) at a region dubbed 'site 32.' Spirit is sitting east of 'Missoula Crater' on the outer plains. | This cylindrical-perspective projection was assembled from images taken by the right navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 107 (April 21, 2004) at a region dubbed "site 32." Spirit is sitting east of "Missoula Crater," no longer in the crater's ejecta field, but on outer plains. Since landing, Spirit has traveled almost exclusively over ejecta fields. This new landscape looks different with fewer angular rocks and more rounded, vesicle-filled rocks. Spirit will continue another 1,900 meters (1.18 miles) along this terrain before reaching the western base of the "Columbia Hills."See PIA05809 for 3-D view and PIA05811 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective projection. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Coprates Chasma, which is just one part of the extensive Valles Marineris canyon system. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of Coprates Chasma, which is just one part of the extensive Valles Marineris canyon system.Orbit Number: 51348 Latitude: -12.7902 Longitude: 293.216 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-07-11 22:34Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This high-resolution scanning electron microscope image shows an unusual tube-like structural form that is less than 1/100th the width of a human hair in size found in meteorite ALH84001, a meteorite believed to be of Martian origin. | This high-resolution scanning electron microscope image shows an unusual tube-like structural form that is less than 1/100th the width of a human hair in size found in meteorite ALH84001, a meteorite believed to be of Martian origin. Although this structure is not part of the research published in the Aug. 16 issue of the journal Science, it is located in a similar carbonate glob in the meteorite. This structure will be the subject of future investigations that could confirm whether or not it is fossil evidence of primitive life on Mars 3.6 billion years ago. A NASA research team of scientists at the Johnson Space Center and at Stanford University has found evidence that strongly suggests primitive life may have existed on Mars more than 3.6 billion years ago. The NASA-funded team found the first organic molecules thought to be of Martian origin; several mineral features characteristic of biological activity; and possible microscopic fossils of primitive, bacteria-like organisms inside of an ancient Martian rock that fell to Earth as a meteorite. This array of indirect evidence of past life will be reported in the Aug. 16 issue of the journal Science, presenting the investigation to the scientific community at large to reach a future consensus that will either confirm or deny the team's conclusion. | |
Dunes of sand-sized materials have been trapped on the floors of many Martian craters, as seen in this view captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This is one example, from a crater in Noachis Terra, west of the giant Hellas impact basin. | Dunes of sand-sized materials have been trapped on the floors of many Martian craters. This is one example, from a crater in Noachis Terra, west of the giant Hellas impact basin.The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured this view on Dec. 28, 2009.The dunes here are linear, thought to be due to shifting wind directions. In places, each dune is remarkably similar to adjacent dunes, including a reddish (or dust colored) band on northeast-facing slopes. Large angular boulders litter the floor between dunes.The most extensive linear dune fields know in the solar system are on Saturn's large moon Titan. Titan has a very different environment and composition, so at meter-scale resolution they probably are very different from Martian dunes.This image covers a swath of ground about 1.2 kilometers (three-fourths of a mile) wide, centered at 42.7 degrees south latitude, 38.0 degrees east longitude. It is one product from HiRISE observation ESP_016036_1370. The season on Mars is southern-hemisphere autumn. Other image products from this observation are available at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_016036_1370. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the HiRISE camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. | |
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used its dual-camera Mastcam-Z imager to capture this image of Santa Cruz, a hill within Jezero Crater, on April 29, 2021. | Figure 1NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used its dual-camera Mastcam-Z imager to capture this image of "Santa Cruz," a hill about 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) away from the rover, on April 29, 2021, the 68th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The entire scene is inside of Mars' Jezero Crater; the crater's rim can be seen on the horizon line beyond the hill. The hill is around 164 feet (50 meters) tall.This scene is not white balanced; instead, it is displayed in a preliminary calibrated version of a natural-color composite, approximately simulating the colors of the scene as it would appear to a person on Mars. An enhanced color version is also included (Figure 1).Arizona State University in Tempe leads the operations of the Mastcam-Z instrument, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.For more about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ and nasa.gov/perseverance | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a large sand sheet with surface dune forms, located on the complex floor of Rabe Crater. | Context imageThe large sand sheet with surface dune forms seen in this VIS image is located on the complex floor of Rabe Crater. The sand is likely derived by erosion into the deposit that fills most of the crater floor, creating a pit which hosts the dunes. This crater morphology is unique to Rabe Crater. Rabe Crater is located in Noachis Terra and is 108km in diameter (67 miles).Orbit Number: 82045 Latitude: -43.8185 Longitude: 34.3876 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-06-12 21:24Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a small unnamed crater southwest of Kuiper Crater. The dunes in this image are completely free of frost. | Located in a small unnamed crater southwest of Kuiper Crater, the dunes in this image are completely free of frost. This state won't last long as southern summer has ended and the long dark of southern winter is soon to begin.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -59.3N, Longitude 198.2E. 17 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this image of the rock dubbed 'Mazatzal' taken after the rover's rock abrasion tool completed a grind to produce the hole on Mazatzal's surface. The wheel tracks are seen at the base of the rock. | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this image of the rock dubbed "Mazatzal" with its hazard-avoidance camera on sol 82. It was taken after the rover's rock abrasion tool completed a 3 hour and 45 minute grind to produce the hole on Mazatzal's surface. The wheel tracks that can be seen at the base of the rock are the result of rover positioning. | |
The southern rim of this unnamed crater in Tempe Terra is dissected by numerous gullies in this image captured by NASA's Mars Odyssey. | Context imageThe southern rim of this unnamed crater in Tempe Terra is dissected by numerous gullies.Orbit Number: 39101 Latitude: 32.4289 Longitude: 301.625 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-10-07 22:05Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Perseverance rover has been investigating rocks at the front of the delta in Mars' Jezero Crater along the path indicated in this annotated image taken by the agency's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). | Figure ANASA's Perseverance rover has been investigating rocks at the front of the delta in Mars' Jezero Crater along the path indicated in this annotated image taken by the agency's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The red star indicates the location of the rover in September 2022.Perseverance touched down at "Octavia E. Butler Landing" on the floor of Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021. It reached the delta in April 2022. The delta is a fan-shaped feature where, billions of years ago, a river flowed into a lake and deposited rocks and sediments. Scientists consider the delta one of the best places on Mars to search for potential signs of ancient microbial life.The annotations show the names of some of the key features Perseverance visited, such as "Enchanted Lake" and "Hogwallow Flats."Figure A additionally shows a potential location where the rover could deposit a group of sample tubes for future return to Earth. Sample tubes already filled with rock are currently stored in the rover's Sampling and Caching System. Perseverance will deposit select samples in designated locations.MRO took this overhead image with its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.For more about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/JPL manages MRO for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | 8 April 2004The Ariadnes Colles is a cluster of light-toned knobs, mesas, and hills in Terra Cimmeria near 35°S, 188°W. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an example of these landforms. They might be the eroded remnants of material deposited in an extremely ancient impact basin. The image covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. | |
This view taken from orbit around Mars shows the sand dune that will be the first to be visited by NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover along its route to higher layers of Mount Sharp. | This view taken from orbit around Mars shows the sand dune that will be the first to be visited by NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover along its route to higher layers of Mount Sharp.The view covers an area about 1,250 feet (about 380 meters) across, showing a site called "Dune 1" in the "Bagnold Dunes" dune field. It was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The image is in false color, combining information recorded by HiRISE in red, blue-green and infrared frequencies of light. 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 and Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
The aeroshell for Mars Exploration Rover 2 rests on end after rotation in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. | February 4, 2003The aeroshell for Mars Exploration Rover 2 rests on end after rotation in the Payload Hazardous Servicing Facility. Set to launch in 2003, the MER Mission will consist of two identical rovers designed to cover roughly 110 yards each Martian day. Each rover will carry five scientific instruments that will allow it to search for evidence of liquid water that may have been present in the planet's past. The rovers will be identical to each other, but will land at different regions of Mars. The first rover has a launch window opening May 30, and the second rover a window opening June 25, 2003. | |
The unnamed channels in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft are located in Arabia Terra. | Context imageThe unnamed channels in this image are located in Arabia Terra.Orbit Number: 45364 Latitude: 35.2459 Longitude: 11.6714 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-03-06 12:38Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a portion of the hills that make up Phlegra Montes. | Context imageThis VIS image shows a portion of the hills that make up Phlegra Montes.Orbit Number: 61507 Latitude: 38.9897 Longitude: 164.896 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-10-26 06:06Please 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the Elysium/Mare Cimmerium face of Mars in mid-October 2005. | 25 October 2005This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 306° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 306° occurred in mid-October 2005. The picture shows the Elysium/Mare Cimmerium face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.Season: Northern Winter/Southern Summer | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Tempe Terra on Mars. The small, linear ridges at the top of the image are most likely exposed by erosion. | Context image for PIA10881Tempe TerraThis VIS image shows part of Tempe Terra. The small, linear ridges at the top of the image are most likely exposed by erosion.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 35.6N, Longitude 295.5E. 19 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
ForeSight, a fully functional, full-size model of NASA's InSight lander, practices deploying a model of the lander's Wind and Thermal Shield. This testing was done at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California. | ForeSight, a fully functional, full-size model of NASA's InSight lander, practices deploying a model of the lander's Wind and Thermal Shield while engineers Phil Bailey (left) and Jaime Singer (center) look on. The Wind and Thermal Shield protects InSight's seismometer. This testing was done at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.Bailey is wearing sunglasses to block the bright yellow lights in the test space, which mimic sunlight as it appears on Mars.JPL, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages InSight for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. The InSight spacecraft was built and tested by Lockheed Martin Space in Denver, Colorado.For more information about the mission, go to https://mars.nasa.gov/insight. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows many of the channel segments of Granicus Valles. Granicus Valles is a complex channel system located west of Elysium Mons. | Context imageThis VIS image shows many of the channel segments of Granicus Valles. Granicus Valles is a complex channel system located west of Elysium Mons. The system is approximately 750km long. It is likely that both water and lava played a part in creation of the feature.Orbit Number: 85972 Latitude: 27.7058 Longitude: 135.363 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-05-02 05:58Please 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 parallel channels seen in this image NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft captured by are dissecting the flanks of Apollinaris Mons, a large volcano north of Gusev Crater. | Context imageThe parallel channels seen in this image are dissecting the flanks of Apollinaris Mons, a large volcano north of Gusev Crater.Orbit Number: 44685 Latitude: -10.2833 Longitude: 174.128 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-01-10 13:33Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows an impact crater cut by troughs which formed after the crater formed. The crater and troughs have large windblown ripples on martian floors. | 1 September 2005This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an impact crater cut by troughs which formed after the crater formed. The crater and troughs have large windblown ripples on their floors. The ripples, troughs, craters, and other surfaces in this scene have all been mantled by dust. Dark streaks on slopes indicate areas where avalanches of dry dust have occurred. These features are located on Sacra Mena, a large mesa in the Kasei Valles region.Location near: 25.4°N, 66.8°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 the central region of Hebes Chasma. The floor of this closed basin filled with landslide deposits and other layered materials. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of the central region of Hebes Chasma. The floor of this closed basin filled with landslide deposits and other layered materials. The eastern margin of Hebes Mensa is just visible on the left center side of the image. Wind and water processes have eroded the floor materials.Orbit Number: 87427 Latitude: -1.35658 Longitude: 284.373 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-08-30 01:02Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This 360-degree mosaic of images from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the view from the western rim of 'Santa Maria' crater is presented as a vertical projection, with north at the top. | This 360-degree mosaic of images from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the view from the western rim of "Santa Maria" crater on the 2,454th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's work on Mars (Dec. 19, 2010).The crater is about 90 meters (295 feet) in diameter. This view is presented as a vertical projection, with north at the top. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
In this image from NASA's Curiosity rover, a rock outcrop called 'Link' pops out from a Martian surface that is elsewhere blanketed by reddish-brown dust. | In this image from NASA's Curiosity rover, a rock outcrop called Link pops out from a Martian surface that is elsewhere blanketed by reddish-brown dust. The fractured Link outcrop has blocks of exposed, clean surfaces. Rounded gravel fragments, or clasts, up to a couple inches (few centimeters) in size are in a matrix of white material. Many gravel-sized rocks have eroded out of the outcrop onto the surface, particularly in the left portion of the frame. The outcrop characteristics are consistent with a sedimentary conglomerate, or a rock that was formed by the deposition of water and is composed of many smaller rounded rocks cemented together. Water transport is the only process capable of producing the rounded shape of clasts of this size. The Link outcrop was imaged with the 100-millimeter Mast Camera on Sept. 2, 2012, which was the 27th sol, or Martian day of operations. The name Link is derived from a significant rock formation in the Northwest Territories of Canada, where there is also a lake with the same name.Scientists enhanced the color in this version to show the Martian scene as it would appear under the lighting conditions we have on Earth, which helps in analyzing the terrain. JPL manages the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed, developed and assembled at JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.For more about NASA's Curiosity mission, visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl, http://www.nasa.gov/mars, and http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows Olympus Mons on Mars featuring the volcano's scarp and massive aureole deposit that was produced by flank collapse. | Two views of Olympus Mons, shown as topography draped over a Viking image mosaic. MOLA's regional topography has shown that this volcano sits off to the west of the main Tharsis rise rather than on its western flank. The topography also clearly shows the relationship between the volcano's scarp and massive aureole deposit that was produced by flank collapse. The vertical exaggeration is 10:1. | |
This mosaic image taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit represents an overhead view of the rover as it prepares to roll off the lander and onto the martian surface. | This mosaic image taken by the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit represents an overhead view of the rover as it prepares to roll off the lander and onto the martian surface. The yellow arrow illustrates the direction the rover may take to roll safely off the lander. The rover was originally positioned to roll straight forward off the lander (south side of image). However, an airbag is blocking its path. To take this northeastern route, the rover must back up and perform what is likened to a 3-point turn in a cramped parking lot. | |
The fracture system in this image, captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey, is part of Galaxias Fossae, a series of fractures on the northern part of the Elysium Mons volcanic complex. | Context imageThe fracture system in this VIS image is part of Galaxias Fossae, a series of fractures on the northern part of the Elysium Mons volcanic complex.Orbit Number: 36461 Latitude: 33.0265 Longitude: 143.14 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-03-04 13:03Please 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 view from NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows a portion of the trench informally named 'Snow White,' with two holes near the top of the image. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | This view from the Surface Stereo Imager on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows a portion of the trench informally named "Snow White," with two holes near the top of the image that were produced by the first test use of Phoenix's rasp to collect a sample of icy soil.The test was conducted on July 15, 2008, during the 50th Martian day, or sol, since Phoenix landed, and the image was taken later the same day. The two holes are about one centimeter (0.4 inch) apart. The image appears three-dimensional when viewed through blue-red glasses.The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is led by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft shows a water-carved channel. The channel pattern, called dendritic because of its tree, like branching running down over the rim of an ancient impact basin across the basin floor. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionEarly in Martian history, liquid water energetically carved the surface, forming channel systems that look remarkably similar to river valleys and drainage networks on Earth. Exactly how these channels formed -- by rainfall, snowmelt, or seepage from underground springs -- is often debated.The answer has important ramifications about the early Martian climate. Clues about the source of the water may indicate the shape, layout, and scale of the various tributaries in a channel system.Our image shows an example of just such a water-carved channel. The channel pattern, called "dendritic" because of its tree-like branching, begins at the top of the image and runs down over the rim of an ancient impact basin across the basin floor.The soil surface overlying these channels, and indeed the entire landscape, has been changed and reworked over the intervening millions of years, by the combined actions of wind and ice. Over time, the original channels become muted or even erased. Nevertheless, some characteristics of the smallest tributary channels are still visible at scales seen by HiRISE. 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 was targeted for NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft to look at a candidate new crater on a lobate apron. Such aprons are often ice-rich, but the crater shows no bright material that would indicate ice. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionOne of MRO's ongoing campaigns is a search for new impact craters. At high latitudes, such craters often expose ice, which appears bright in HiRISE enhanced-color images. This image was targeted to look at a candidate new crater on a lobate apron. Such aprons are often ice-rich, but the crater shows no bright material that would indicate ice.Why not? The most likely reason is that the crater simply didn't dig deeply enough. This crater is barely visible with HiRISE, and probably only excavated down to 10 centimeters or so. At this latitude, ice is often much deeper, first appearing tens of centimeters (a foot or more) below the surface. Near the poles, colder temperatures cause ice to be shallower, as NASA's Phoenix mission discovered in 2008.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 cylindrical-projection mosaic was created by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 93 (April 7, 2004). It reveals the martian view from Spirit's position during the four-sol flight software update that began on sol 94. | This right eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 93 (April 7, 2004). It reveals the martian view from Spirit's position during the four-sol flight software update that began on sol 94.See PIA05765 for 3-D view and PIA05766 for left eye view of this right eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic. | |
Gullies and... Gullies? in Terra Sirenum | Figure 1Click on image for larger versionThis HiRISE image (PSP_001697_1390) shows part of an unnamed crater, itself located inside the much larger Newton Crater, in Terra Sirenum. This unnamed crater is approximately 7 km in diameter (over 4 miles) and some 700 m (760 yards) deep. Numerous gully systems are visible on the east- and south-facing walls of the crater; their characteristics are astonishingly diverse, though.The image's subset (figure 1) covers an area of nearly 610 x 740 m (670 x 800 yards). Downhill is toward the bottom of the image, north is up; illumination is from the northwest. This subset depicts several gullies or troughs carved in the southwest-facing wall of the crater. These troughs are extremely rectilinear, lack tributaries, and do not seem to have terminal fan deposits: they terminate rather abruptly, some of them in a spatula-like shape. Their characteristics contrast sharply with those of gully systems elsewhere in this same crater, which are sinuous, have numerous tributaries, and show distinct fan deposits.HiRISE is unveiling the large diversity exhibited by Martian gully systems, thanks to its high-resolution, stereo, and color capabilities. The diverse types of gullies observed may have been produced by different mechanisms. Current leading hypotheses explaining the origin of gullies include erosion from seepage or eruption of water from a subsurface aquifer, melting of ground ice, or surface snow; and dry landslides.Observation GeometryAcquisition date: 12 December 2006Local Mars time: 3:40 PMDegrees latitude (centered): -40.8 °Degrees longitude (East): 200.2 °Range to target site: 256.4 km (160.3 miles) Original image scale range: 51.3 cm/pixel(with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~154 cm across are resolvedMap-projected scale: 50 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAREmission angle: 9.0 °Phase angle: 81.6 °Solar incidence angle: 74 °, with the Sun about 16 ° above the horizonSolar longitude: 146.3 °, Northern SummerNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows an unusual layer of smooth material covering the flanks of the volcano Peneus Patera just south of the Hellas Basin. | Context imageAn unusual layer of smooth material covers the flanks of the volcano Peneus Patera just south of the Hellas Basin, seen here in a crater on the patera rim. Though smooth on its upper surface, the layer is pitted by a process of erosion that produces steep scarps facing the south pole and more gentle slopes in the direction of the equator. The style of erosion of the smooth layer suggests that ice of some form plays a role in shaping this terrain.Orbit Number: 84409 Latitude: -57.5964 Longitude: 54.2339 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-12-24 12:31Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | 25 December 2003This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows gullies carved into a slope in southern Galle Crater, east of Argyre Planitia. These may have been carved by a liquid such as water. The slopes are part of the inner ring of rocky mountains uplifted by the asteroid or comet impact that formed Galle Crater. The crater is extremely ancient; the gullies are much more recent landforms. The picture is located near 51.8°S, 31.2°W, and covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. | |
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 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 (see PIA01587), which, together, show the entire planet.This image is centered near a 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.This color composite is generated from data using three filters: blue (410 nanometers), green (502 nanometers), and red (673 nanometers). | |
This image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows rugged terrain in the northern plains. The circular features are old, buried impact craters. | 17 September 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows rugged terrain in the northern plains. The circular features are old, buried impact craters. The bright spots are small patches of the seasonal frost that has been almost entirely removed from the area by sublimation (turning from solid to gas).Location near: 70.7°N, 271.0°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Northern Spring | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a portion one a graben where it intersects a crater in Sirenum Fossae on Mars. Several landslides are evident. | Context image for PIA10036Sirenum FossaeSirenum Fossae is a group of NE/SW trending graben [parallel faults with a central down-dropped block]. This VIS image of a portion one of the graben where it intersects a crater. Several landslides are present in this image.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -25.8N, Longitude 220.1E. 35 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Dark streaks mark the steep slopes of this ridge located east of Mangala Valles as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageDark streaks mark the steep slopes of this ridge located east of Mangala Valles. One theory about the creation of this feature is that downslope movement of a rock "clears" the brighter dust revealing the darker surface below.Orbit Number: 51688 Latitude: -17.0589 Longitude: 211.394 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-08-08 22:02Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images. | |
Imaged by MRO's NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Context Camera, this observation shows one of two odd, rounded mesas with a knobby, pitted texture. | Also imaged by MRO's Context Camera, this observation shows one of two odd, rounded mesas with a knobby/pitted texture.This mesa may be the last remnants of a formerly more extensive geologic unit. Given the particular pitted texture, this formation could be ice-rich.some connection with ice and sublimation degradation processes.High resolution images can greatly help to characterize the surface texture and allow us to compare other mid-latitude-type landforms, which may have some connection with ice and sublimation degradation processes.HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the orbiter's HiRISE camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
NASA's Opportunity rover, working on Mars since January 2004, passed 25 miles of total driving on the July 27, 2014. The gold line on this map shows Opportunity's route from the landing site inside Eagle Crater, in upper left. | Figure 1Click on the image for larger versionNASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, working on Mars since January 2004, passed 25 miles of total driving on the mission's 3,735th Martian day, or sol (July 27, 2014). A drive of 157 feet (48 meters) on Sol 3735 brought Opportunity's total odometry to 25.01 miles (40.25 kilometers).The gold line on this image shows Opportunity's route from the landing site inside Eagle Crater, in upper left, to its location after the Sol 3735 drive. The mission has been investigating on the western rim of Endeavour Crater since August 2011. This crater spans about 14 miles (22 kilometers) in diameter. The mapped area is all within the Meridiani Planum region of equatorial Mars, which was chosen as Opportunity's landing area because of earlier detection of the mineral hematite from orbit. North is up.Opportunity now holds our solar system's distance record for off-Earth driving. The previous record holder was the Soviet Union's Lunokhod 2 rover, which landed on Earth's moon on Jan. 15, 1973, a successor to the first Lunokhod mission in 1970. Lunokhod 2 drove about 24.2 miles (39 kilometers) in less than five months (five lunar days). As Opportunity approached the 1973 mission's mileage record earlier this year, the rover team chose the name "Lunokhod 2" for a crater about 20 feet (6 meters) in diameter on the outer slope of Endeavour's rim on Mars. If Opportunity keeps working long enough to match the distance of a marathon footrace -- 26.2 miles (about 42.2 kilometers) -- it will be getting near the next major investigation site that the mission's scientists have chosen: "Marathon Valley."The base image for the map is a mosaic of images taken by the Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. An earlier version of this map, with other features labeled, is at PIA17558. Figure 1 is an unlabeled version of the map.Opportunity completed its three-month prime mission in April 2004 and has continued operations in bonus extended missions. It has found several types of evidence of ancient environments with abundant liquid water. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reached Mars in 2006, completed its prime mission in 2010, and is also working in an extended mission.This traverse map was made at the New Mexico Museum of Natural History & Science, Albuquerque. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates the orbiter's Context Camera. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the summit calera of Arsia Mons. There are numerous small volcanic constructs with lava flows in the image. | This VIS image shows part of the summit calera of Arsia Mons. There are numerous small volcanic constructs with lava flows in the image. The vents of these small volcanoes fall along the NE alignment of the large volcanoes.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -9, Longitude 239.8 East (120.2 West). 17 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Portions of the rock dubbed 'Yogi' are at the top of this color image, taken by NASA's Imager for Mars Pathfinder on July 8, 1997. The light areas of soil directly below Yogi may be composed of salts. | Portions of the rock dubbed "Yogi" are at the top of this color image, taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder on Sol 4. The light areas of soil directly below Yogi may be composed of salts.Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.
Photojournal note: Sojourner spent 83 days of a planned seven-day mission exploring the Martian terrain, acquiring images, and taking chemical, atmospheric and other measurements. The final data transmission received from Pathfinder was at 10:23 UTC on September 27, 1997. Although mission managers tried to restore full communications during the following five months, the successful mission was terminated on March 10, 1998. | |
This oblique, southward-looking view of Gale crater shows the mound of layered rocks that NASA's Mars Science Laboratory will investigate. The mission's selected landing site is just north of the mound inside the crater. | Unannotated imageClick on the image for larger viewThis oblique, southward-looking view of Gale crater shows the mound of layered rocks that NASA's Mars Science Laboratory will investigate. The mission's selected landing site is just north of the mound inside the crater.Gale crater is 96 miles (154 kilometers) in diameter and holds a layered mountain rising about 3 miles (5 kilometers) above the crater floor. The landing site contains material washed down from the wall of the crater, which will provide scientists with the opportunity to investigate the rocks that form the bedrock in this area. The landing ellipse also contains a rock type that is very dense and very bright colored; it is unlike any rock type previously investigated on Mars. It may be an ancient playa lake deposit, and it will likely be the mission's first target in checking for the presence of organic molecules.The area of top scientific interest for Mars Science Laboratory is at the base of the mound, just at the edge of the landing ellipse. Here, orbiting instruments have detected signatures of both clay minerals and sulfate salts. Scientists studying Mars have several important hypotheses about how these minerals reflect changes in the Martian environment, particularly changes in the amount of water on the surface of Mars. The Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, will use its full instrument suite to study these minerals and how they formed to give us insights into those ancient Martian environments. These rocks are also a prime target in checking for organic molecules.This three-dimensional perspective view was created using visible-light imaging by the Thermal Emission Imaging System camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. Three-dimensional information was derived from observations by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, which flew on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter. Color information is derived from color imaging of portions of the scene by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The vertical dimension is not exaggerated.The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft is being prepared for launch during the period Nov. 25 to Dec. 18, 2011. In a prime mission lasting one Martian year -- nearly two Earth years -- after landing, researchers will use the rover's tools to study whether the landing region has had environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and for preserving clues about whether life existed.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.Arizona State University, Tempe, operates the Thermal Emission Imaging System. The Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter was operated by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the High Resolution Science Imaging Experiment. JPL manages Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows large, light-toned, ripple-like windblown bedforms in a portion of the giant flood channel complex, Maja Valles. Ripples such as these are very common on Mars. | 8 October 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows large, light-toned, ripple-like windblown bedforms in a portion of the giant flood channel complex, Maja Valles. Ripples such as these are very common on Mars but not very well understood. They are larger than most ripples on Earth, and smaller than typical dunes. They are usually old, and probably immobile, features. Sometimes, larger, dark sand dunes are seen riding over them (although that is not the case here). If similarly-sized ripples were to be investigated by a Mars rover, they would probably provide critical information that would help determine the nature of bedforms like these all over Mars. The Maja Valles scene shown here is located near 17.7°N, 54.8°W, and covers an area about 1.4 km (0.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-509, 10 October 2003This April 2003 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dark sand dunes in a crater north of Syrtis Major near 27.1°N, 297.2°W. The steepest slopes on each dune face toward the bottom/lower left of the image, indicating that the dominant winds that influenced their formation came from the north (the top of the image). Layers are exposed in a butte at the lower right corner of the picture; this butte is a remnant of layered rock that once covered the entire crater floor on which the dunes occur. This picture covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and is illuminated by sunlight from the lower left. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | 23 April 2005 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a favorite among the MGS MOC operations team at Malin Space Science Systems, another example of the grooved dunes in Herschel Crater. The fine-scale grooves on the sand dune surfaces were formed by wind erosion. The sand dune surfaces have, over time, become crusted and the dunes immobilized. Wind now has to scour sand from the surfaces of these bedforms, creating small wind erosion features known as yardangs in the sand.Location near: 15.7°S, 228.9°WImage width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Winter | |
This image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a slope on a sand dune, the slipface, indicates the general direction that wind has been transporting sediment. | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-499b, 30 September 2003The steepest slope on a sand dune, the slipface, indicates the general direction that wind has been transporting sediment. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows several dark sand dunes in the north polar region. Sand transport in this case is from the lower left (southwest) toward the upper right (northeast). The picture is located near 76.5°N, 257.4°W, and covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left. | |
This annotated image of South Séítah region of Jezero Crater depicts the planned ground track of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter during its 15th flight at Mars. | This annotated image of the "South Séítah" region of Jezero Crater depicts the planned ground track of NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (light blue) during its 15th flight at Mars. The pale blue "X" in the upper left indicates the helicopter's location at takeoff; the pale blue dot at lower right indicates the anticipated landing site. The green lines indicate the expected sightlines that will be captured in the flight's 10 planned color images. The red "X" at upper center of the image marks the current location of NASA's Perseverance rover. The image's background terrain was generated using data collected by the HiRISE camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation, 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 in Washington.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 interesting tributary channel is located in the Deuteronilus region of Mars on Mars as seen by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image for PIA08711ChannelThis interesting tributary channel is located in the Deuteronilus region of Mars.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 37.8N, Longitude 19.7E. 19 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey is of an unnamed channel located in Xanthe Terra. | Context imageThis unnamed channel is located in Xanthe Terra.Orbit Number: 37004 Latitude: 7.15575 Longitude: 315.037 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-04-18 06:12Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the two holes that allowed scientists to peer into Meridiani Planum's wet past. The rover drilled the holes into rocks in the region dubbed 'El Capitan' with its rock abrasion tool. | This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the two holes that allowed scientists to peer into Meridiani Planum's wet past. The rover drilled the holes into rocks in the region dubbed "El Capitan" with its rock abrasion tool. By analyzing the freshly exposed rock with the rover's suite of scientific instruments, scientists gathered evidence that this part of Mars may have once been drenched in water. The lower hole, located on a target called "McKittrick," was made on the 30th martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's journey. The upper hole, located on a target called "Guadalupe" was made on the 34th sol of the rover's mission. This image was taken on the 35th martian day, or sol, by the rover's hazard-avoidance camera. The rock abrasion tool and scientific instruments are located on the rover's robotic arm. | |
Small dunes are located on the floor of this unnamed crater in Terra Cimmeria as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageSmall dunes are located on the floor of this unnamed crater in Terra Cimmeria.Orbit Number: 43188 Latitude: -16.2283 Longitude: 143.758 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-09-09 08:26Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows the top of the dust clouds and thin streamers of clouds during Mars' southern hemisphere dust storm season. | The southern hemisphere dust storm season is in full swing this year on Mars. This entire VIS image shows the top of the dust clouds and thin streamers of clouds near the bottom of the image.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -68.2N, Longitude 190.6E. 34 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The dunes in this image captured by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft are just a small portion of the dune field that encircles part of the north pole of Mars. | Context imageThe dunes in this VIS image are just a small portion of the dune field that encircles part of the north pole of Mars.Orbit Number: 46719 Latitude: 80.0896 Longitude: 194.191 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-06-26 01:07Please 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 is the left image of a stereo image pair showing NASA's Sojourner rover in the middle of the afternoon on Sol 66 (September 9). The rover has backed away from the rock 'Moe' after measuring its composition with the Alpha Proton X-Ray spectrometer. | This is the left image of a stereo image pair showing the Sojourner rover in the middle of the afternoon on Sol 66 (September 9). The rover has backed away from the rock "Moe" (to the right of the rover) after measuring its composition with the Alpha Proton X-Ray spectrometer. The next target for Sojourner, the rock "Stimpy," is in front of Moe.This image and PIA01561 (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. | |
This image shows two possible routes (blue and purple) to the fan-shaped deposit of sediments known as a delta for NASA's Perseverance rover on Mars. The yellow line marks a notional traverse exploring the Jezero delta. | This image shows two possible routes (blue and purple) to the fan-shaped deposit of sediments known as a delta for NASA's Perseverance rover, which landed at the spot marked with a white dot in Mars' Jezero Crater. The yellow line marks a notional traverse exploring the delta. The base image is from the High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).MRO's mission is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the spacecraft. The University of Arizona in Tucson provided and operates HiRISE.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.JPL built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.For more about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a dust devil in a cratered plain in southern Acidalia Planitia on Mars. | 8 September 2004Presently Mars is experiencing late spring in its northern hemisphere, and dust devil activity is picking up as summer approaches. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image of a cratered plain in southern Acidalia Planitia was acquired earlier this week on 5 September 2004. The arrow points to a dust devil observed that day. The image is located near 29.2°N, 30.3°W, and covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a digital elevation model of the Mars '98 Polar landing site corridor based on observations through the MGS Orbit Trim Maneuver-2 on June 10, 1999. | High resolution digital elevation model of the MPL landing site corridor based on observations through MGS Orbit Trim Maneuver-2 on June 10, 1999.See also MOLA profile coverage (P50482) in the MPL landing site corridor. This plot shows the distribution of data that was used to make the above high-resolution digital elevation model. | |
The Mars Climate Sounder instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter maps the vertical distribution of temperatures, dust, water vapor and ice clouds in the Martian atmosphere as the orbiter flies a near-polar orbit. | The Mars Climate Sounder instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter maps the vertical distribution of temperatures, dust, water vapor and ice clouds in the Martian atmosphere as the orbiter flies a near-polar orbit.This example of data from the instrument shows 13 orbits of nighttime temperatures at altitudes of zero to 80 kilometers (50 miles) above the surface, presented as curtains along the orbital track. Temperatures range from 120 Kelvin (minus 244 degrees Fahrenheit), coded purple, to 200 Kelvin (minus 100 degrees Fahrenheit), coded green. The data are from March 1, 2008, which was during early spring on northern Mars. The globe of Mars depicted under the curtains is a Google Earth product using elevation data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor.The ExoMars Climate Sounder, selected in August 2010 as part of the science payload for the 2016 ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter mission, will resemble the Mars Climate Sounder and provide similar types of data sets. The 2016 mission is a collaboration of the European Space Agency and NASA.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., supplied and operates the Mars Climate Sounder for the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and will supply and operate the ExoMars Climate Sounder for the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter. JPL also manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter mission for the NASA Science Mission Directorate and manages NASA's roles in the 2016 mission. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows the northern portion of Hephaestus Fossae. Hephaestus Fossae is a complex channel system in Utopia Planitia near Elysium Mons. | Context imageThis VIS image is located in the northern portion of Hephaestus Fossae. Hephaestus Fossae is a complex channel system in Utopia Planitia near Elysium Mons. It has been proposed that the channels formed by the release of melted subsurface ice during the impact event that created a large crater southeast of this image. Additionally, the nearby Elysium volcanic center created subsurface heating that may have played a part in creating both Hephaestus Fossae and Hebrus Valles to the north. The right angle intersections indicate there is some tectonic activity in the region, and the circular depressions indicate surface collapse into subsurface voids. Hephaestus Fossae is a very complex set of features.Orbit Number: 88019 Latitude: 21.1587 Longitude: 122.646 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-10-17 19:02Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a dark region on the Gale crater floor of Mars made of sand. The dunes that encircle Mt. Sharp are most likely comprised of sand eroded from Mt. Sharp itself. | Context imageDuring the month of April Mars will be in conjunction relative to the Earth. This means the Sun is in the line-of-sight between Earth and Mars, and communication between the two planets is almost impossible. For conjunction, the rovers and orbiting spacecraft at Mars continue to operate, but do not send the data to Earth. This recorded data will be sent to Earth when Mars moves away from the sun and the line-of-sight between Earth and Mars is reestablished. During conjunction the THEMIS image of the day will be a visual tour of Gale Crater, the location of the newest rover Curiosity.Today's Gale image shows the region just slightly south of yesterday's image. The dark region on the crater floor is sand. The dunes that encircle Mt. Sharp are most likely comprised of sand eroded from Mt. Sharp itself.Orbit Number: 7411 Latitude: -5.49018 Longitude: 138.303 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2003-08-16 14:21Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This unnamed channel is located in Arabia Terra on Mars as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageThis unnamed channel is located in Arabia Terra.Orbit Number: 46125 Latitude: 30.6964 Longitude: 24.9032 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-05-08 03:58Please 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 composite graphic illustrates the use of the Shallow Radar instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for mapping underground ice-rich layers of the north polar layered terrain on Mars. | This composite graphic illustrates the use of the Shallow Radar instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for mapping underground ice-rich layers of the north polar layered terrain on Mars.Panel "a"_x009d_Annotated ImageNo AnnotationPanel "a" is a radargram from the instrument, showing a cross-section of Mars' north polar cap, based on time lags of radio-wave echoes returning from different layers. The penetrating radar reveals icy layered deposits overlying a basal unit in some areas. The vertical dimension in the cross section is exaggerated one-hundred-fold compared with the horizontal dimension. The vertical scale bar is one kilometer (3,281 feet). The horizontal scale bar is 100 kilometers (62 miles). Panel "b"_x009d_Annotated ImageNo AnnotationPanel "b" is an image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera, also on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It shows the layered deposits and the basal unit in outcrop exposed near the edge of the polar cap. The scale bar is 2 kilometers (1.24 miles). This is a cutout from an observation taken on taken Nov. 28, 2006, at 83.4 degrees north latitude and 118.8 degrees east longitude. Full-frame versions of the observation are available at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_001593_2635.Panel "c"_x009d_Annotated ImageNo AnnotationPanel "c" is a radar-generated map of the surface elevation of the polar region. The white line from A to A' is the ground track for the radargram in Panel "a." Yellow dashed lines show the extent of the basal unit (upper-left region) and of the layered deposits. The color-coded reference bar for elevations in panes "c" and "d" shows elevations ranging from yellow at 2.3 kilometers (1.4 miles) below the standard reference level for Mars to violet at 5.8 kilometers (3.6 miles) below that reference.Panel "d" is a radar-generated map of the elevation at the base of the layered deposits, showing no basal deflection in the lower-right region (despite the mass of overlying layers) and about 1 kilometer (0.6. mile) of basal unit deposits in the upper-left region.Panel "e"_x009d_Annotated ImageNo AnnotationPanel "e" is a radar-generated map of the thickness of the layered deposits, the difference between the surface elevations mapped in "c" and the base elevations mapped in "d." The total volume of the layered deposits is 821,000 cubic kilometers (197,000 cubic miles), about 30 percent that of Earth's Greenland ice sheet. The scale bar of 200 kilometers (124 miles) applies also to panes "c" and "d." The color-coded reference bar indicates thicknesses ranging from yellow at 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) to black at zero thickness.The illustration is adapted from a 2009 paper by Putzig et al. in the journal Icarus.The Shallow Radar instrument 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 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 & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
This false color image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the Nili Patera dune field. Winds are blowing the dunes across a rough surface of regional volcanic lava flows. | Context image This is a false color image of part of the Nili Patera dune field. High resolution imaging by other spacecraft has revealed that the dunes in this region are moving. Winds are blowing the dunes across a rough surface of regional volcanic lava flows. The paterae are calderas on the volcanic complex called Syrtis Major Planum. Dunes are found in both Nili and Meroe Paterae and in the region between the two calderas.The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image.The Odyssey spacecraft has spent over 15 years in orbit around Mars, circling the planet more than 69000 times. It holds the record for longest working spacecraft at Mars. THEMIS, the IR/VIS camera system, has collected data for the entire mission and provides images covering all seasons and lighting conditions. Over the years many features of interest have received repeated imaging, building up a suite of images covering the entire feature. From the deepest chasma to the tallest volcano, individual dunes inside craters and dune fields that encircle the north pole, channels carved by water and lava, and a variety of other feature, THEMIS has imaged them all. For the next several months the image of the day will focus on the Tharsis volcanoes, the various chasmata of Valles Marineris, and the major dunes fields. We hope you enjoy these images!Orbit Number: 48021 Latitude: 8.95091 Longitude: 67.3366 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-10-11 05:22Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image 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: 88162 Latitude: 8.96896 Longitude: 318.805 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-10-29 13:34Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The tilt of Mars' spin axis (obliquity) varies cyclically over hundreds of thousands of years, and affects the sunlight falling on the poles. | The tilt of Mars' spin axis (obliquity) varies cyclically over hundreds of thousands of years, and affects the sunlight falling on the poles. Because the landing site of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander is so near the north pole, higher sun and warmer temperatures during high obliquity lead to warmer, more humid surface environments, and perhaps thicker, more liquid-like films of water in soil. The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows more of Olympia Undae, a large dune field located near the north polar cap. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows more of Olympia Undae, a large dune field located near the north polar cap.Orbit Number: 55192 Latitude: 80.3803 Longitude: 136.098 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-05-24 07:42Please 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | 10 February 2004 This full-resolution Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows details on the floor of an ancient meteor crater in the northeastern part of Noachis Terra. After the crater formed, layers of material--perhaps sediment--were deposited in the crater. These materials became somewhat solidified, but later were eroded to form the patterns shown here. Many windblown ripples in the scene indicate the presence of coarse-grained sediment that was not completely stripped away by wind. The picture is located near 22.1°S, 307.0°W. Sunlight illuminates this scene from the left/upper left; the image covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the dune field located on the floor of Rabe Crater. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of the dune field located on the floor of Rabe Crater. Compare this image with the IR image from earlier this week.Orbit Number: 51669 Latitude: -43.6701 Longitude: 34.893 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-08-07 08:39Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
A three-dimensional color model created using data from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover's panoramic camera shows images of airbag drag marks on the martian surface. | A three-dimensional color model created using data from the Mars Exploration Rover's panoramic camera shows images of airbag drag marks on the martian surface. The triangular rock in the upper left corner is approximately 20 centimeters (8 inches) tall. The meatball-shaped rock in the upper right corner is approximately 10 centimeters (4 inches) tall. The dark portion of the surface, or "trough" is approximately 1 centimeter (0.4 inches) deep at its deepest point. This model is displayed using software developed by NASA's Ames Research Center. | |
This false-color image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows the wind eroded deposit in Pollack Crater called 'White Rock,' taken during Mars' southern fall 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 shows the wind eroded deposit in Pollack Crater called "White Rock." This image was collected during the Southern Fall Season.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -8, Longitude 25.2 East (334.8 West). 0 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 Reconnaisance Orbiter (MRO) shows a dune field in Chasma Boreale, which is a large trough that cuts into the North Polar ice cap. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThis image from NASA's Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter (MRO) shows a dune field in Chasma Boreale, which is a large trough that cuts into the North Polar ice cap. Some of the dunes in this image are quite long and sinuous with a slight bulge at one end like a "head," giving it the appearance of a snake.However, most of the dunes visible here are of the type referred to as "barchan," which are characterized by their crescent shape. For these types of dunes, the "mouth" of the crescent points in the downwind direction, indicating that the winds are traveling east-west. The diverse dune morphologies here suggest that the wind-direction changes over a very small area.Because Mars has a similar axial tilt to Earth, it also experiences seasons. When we took this image, Mars was in late spring. At this time of year, the dunes in this image are almost completely covered by frost. But this will soon change! Small portions of the underlying dark basaltic sands of these dunes are becoming increasingly visible with the active removal of their seasonal coating of ice. A look at a series of images demonstrates the transition from early to late spring, marked by defrosting and the gradual growth of dark spots. By summer, the dunes will be defrosted, and will appear completely black.
The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 31.9 centimeters (12.6 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 96 centimeters (37.8 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.
The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This polar-projection mosaic was assembled from images taken by the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 107 (April 21, 2004) at a region dubbed 'site 32.' Spirit is sitting east of 'Missoula Crater' on the outer plains. | This polar projection was assembled from images taken by the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 107 (April 21, 2004) at a region dubbed "site 32." Spirit is sitting east of "Missoula Crater," no longer in the crater's ejecta field, but on outer plains. Since landing, Spirit has traveled almost exclusively over ejecta fields. This new landscape looks different with fewer angular rocks and more rounded, vesicle-filled rocks. Spirit will continue another 1,900 meters (1.18 miles) along this terrain before reaching the western base of the "Columbia Hills." | |
This image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a variety of textures observed on a south middle-latitude plain east-southeast of Hellas Planitia. Dark streaks left by passing dust devils are practically ubiquitous across the scene. | 10 March 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a variety of textures observed on a south middle-latitude plain east-southeast of Hellas Planitia. Dark streaks left by passing dust devils are practically ubiquitous across the scene, including the transition from the texturally-smooth area (the majority of the image) onto the circular, rough feature near the right (east) edge of the image. The circular feature might once have been the site of an impact crater; perhaps this is the remains of its floor, and the rest of the crater and the rock in which it formed was removed by erosion.Location near: 4.0°S, 348.0°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Autumn | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows Gordii Dorsum, part of the large Medusa Fossae Formation of wind eroded materials south and southwest of Olympus Mons. | Context image for PIA10053Gordii DorsumGordii Dorsum is part of the large Medusa Fossae Formation of wind eroded materials south and southwest of Olympus Mons. The nature of the material being eroded is not known, but may be ash fall from the large volcanoes in the region.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 2.7N, Longitude 216.4E. 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 2001 Mars Odyssey image of Capri Chasma shows multiple landslide deposits on Mars. | Context imageCredit: NASA/JPL/MOLAThis VIS image of Capri Chasma shows multiple landslide deposits. This is the same region shown in last Friday's IR image.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -8.1N, Longitude 318.6E. 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. | |
In this image from Oct. 26, 2019, InSight's heat probe is seen after backing about halfway out of the hole it had burrowed. | Click here for animationIn this image from Oct. 26, 2019 — the 325th Martian day, or sol, of the mission — InSight's heat probe, or "mole," is seen after backing about halfway out of the hole it had burrowed.JPL manages InSight for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the InSight spacecraft, including its cruise stage and lander, and supports spacecraft operations for the mission.A number of European partners, including France's Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are supporting the InSight mission. CNES and the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP) provided the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument, with significant contributions from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany, the Swiss Institute of Technology (ETH) in Switzerland, Imperial College 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 wind sensors.For more information about the mission, go to https://mars.nasa.gov/insight. | |
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover looks out at an expanse of boulders on the landscape in front of a location nicknamed Santa Cruz on Feb. 16, 2022, in this panorama made of 24 images taken by the rover's Mastcam-Z. | Figure 1NASA's Perseverance Mars rover looks out at an expanse of boulders on the landscape in front of a location nicknamed "Santa Cruz" on Feb. 16, 2022, the 353rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. This panorama is made up 24 individual images from the rover's Mastcam-Z camera system stitched together after they were sent back from Mars.Figure 1 shows a cropped version of the same image.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.The Mastcam-Z investigation is led and operated by Arizona State University in Tempe, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, California, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras, and in collaboration with the Neils Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen on the design, fabrication, and testing of the calibration targets.For more about Perseverance:mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/nasa.gov/perseverance | |
The sources of channels on the north rim of Hale Crater show fresh blue, green, purple and light toned exposures under the overlying reddish dust, captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionColor from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) instrument onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter can show mineralogical differences due to the near-infrared filter. The sources of channels on the north rim of Hale Crater show fresh blue, green, purple and light toned exposures under the overlying reddish dust.The causes and timing of activity in channels and gullies on Mars remains an active area of research. Geologists infer the timing of different events based on what are called "superposition relationships" between different landforms. Areas like this are a puzzle.The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 25.2 centimeters (9.9 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 76 centimeters (29.9 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Terra Cimmeria. | Context imageThe THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of Terra Cimmeria.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: 92204 Latitude: -30.7921 Longitude: 179.257 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-09-27 08:24Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows the eastern end of Hephaestus Fossae. Hephaestus Fossae is a channel system in Utopia Planitia near Elysium Mons. | Context imageThis VIS image is located at the eastern end of Hephaestus Fossae. Hephaestus Fossae is a channel system in Utopia Planitia near Elysium Mons. It has been proposed that the channel formed by the release of melted subsurface ice during the impact event that created a large crater west of this image. The method of formation for this complex feature at end of the channel is still unknown.Orbit Number: 72659 Latitude: 17.3167 Longitude: 126.988 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-05-01 22:42Please 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. | |
Two Radar Sounders Examine South Polar Layered Deposits on Mars | Two complementary radar sounder instruments work together to discover hidden Martian secrets. They are the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS) on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter and the Shallow Subsurface Radar (SHARAD) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. MARSIS was designed to penetrate deep and it has delivered on its promise. This figure shows the base of Mars' south polar layered deposits at the deepest recorded point of 3.7 kilometer (2.3 miles). In contrast, SHARAD was designed as a high-resolution radar for a maximum penetration of 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) has difficulty detecting the base of these layered deposits. MARSIS was funded by NASA and the Italian Space Agency and developed by the University of Rome, Italy, in partnership with NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Italy provided the instrument's digital processing system and integrated the parts. The University of Iowa, Iowa City, built the transmitter for the instrument, JPL built the receiver and Astro Aerospace, Carpinteria, Calif., built the antenna. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Additional information about Mars Express is at www.esa.int/marsexpress.SHARAD was provided by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Its operations are led by the University of Rome and its data are analyzed by a joint U.S.-Italian science team. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
Eroded, or 'etched' terrain dominates the field of view of this image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft, acquired over eastern Terra Meridiani. At the bottom of many craters and in other areas, dunes are present. | Eroded, or "etched" terrain dominates the field of view of this THEMIS visible image acquired over eastern Terra Meridiani. At the bottom of many craters and in other areas, dunes are present. On the left hand side of the image, a darker layer embays the etched terrain. Several knobs from the etched terrain can still be seen, though, indicating that this layer is rather thin.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 1.6, Longitude 5.5 East (354.5 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution. | |
A large landslide deposit fills the bottom part of this image of Coprates Chasma captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageA large landslide deposit fills the bottom part of this VIS image of Coprates Chasma.Orbit Number: 49862 Latitude: -12.85 Longitude: 293.254 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-03-11 15:47Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows the western part of the smaller summit caldera on Pavonis Mons. Pavonis Mons is one of the three aligned Tharsis Volcanoes. | Context image This image shows the western part of the smaller summit caldera on Pavonis Mons. On this side of the caldera is a complex region of fault related collapse of the wall of the caldera. Several intersecting faults are visible to the top and center part of the image. The faults would have formed areas of weakness in the caldera wall, precipitating into gravity driven down slope movement of materials. This caldera is approximately 5km deep. In shield volcanoes calderas are typically formed where the surface collapses into the void formed by an emptied magma chamber.Pavonis Mons is one of the three aligned Tharsis Volcanoes. The four Tharsis volcanoes are Ascreaus Mons, Pavonis Mons, Arsia Mons, and Olympus Mars. All four are shield type volcanoes. Shield volcanoes are formed by lava flows originating near or at the summit, building up layers upon layers of lava. The Hawaiian islands on Earth are shield volcanoes. The three aligned volcanoes are located along a topographic rise in the Tharsis region. Along this trend there are increased tectonic features and additional lava flows. Pavonis Mons is the smallest of the four volcanoes, rising 14km above the mean Mars surface level with a width of 375km. It has a complex summit caldera, with the smallest caldera deeper than the larger caldera. Like most shield volcanoes the surface has a low profile. In the case of Pavonis Mons the average slope is only 4 degrees.The Odyssey spacecraft has spent over 15 years in orbit around Mars, circling the planet more than 69000 times. It holds the record for longest working spacecraft at Mars. THEMIS, the IR/VIS camera system, has collected data for the entire mission and provides images covering all seasons and lighting conditions. Over the years many features of interest have received repeated imaging, building up a suite of images covering the entire feature. From the deepest chasma to the tallest volcano, individual dunes inside craters and dune fields that encircle the north pole, channels carved by water and lava, and a variety of other feature, THEMIS has imaged them all. For the next several months the image of the day will focus on the Tharsis volcanoes, the various chasmata of Valles Marineris, and the major dunes fields. We hope you enjoy these images!Orbit Number: 36607 Latitude: 0.609285 Longitude: 246.862 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-03-16 13:44Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The THEMIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Lobo Vallis, which is part of the larger Kasei Valles. | 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 Lobo Vallis, which is part of the larger Kasei Valles. The dark blue material is most likely basaltic sand.Orbit Number: 43756 Latitude: 27.9304 Longitude: 299.541 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-10-26 04:14Please 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 the ridge forms that are typical of this region of Lycus Sulci, northwest of Olympus Mons. | Context imageLycus Sulci is a low lying area of ridges and valleys found to the northwest of Olympus Mons. It is not yet understood how this feature formed or how it relates to the formation of Olympus Mons itself. This VIS image shows the ridge forms that are typical of this region. Numerous dark streaks mark the slopes of the ridges. There are several suggested mechanisms to form these features. Two of the mechanisms are that the dusty surface has been altered to reveal darker rock beneath from motion of downward moving dust, or that the surface is darkening by fluid or other surface staining.Orbit Number: 86418 Latitude: 26.7889 Longitude: 228.953 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-06-07 23:18Please 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. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft provides another instance where the topography of the upper floor material affects the winds and dune formation. | Context image This VIS image provides another instance where the topography of the upper floor material affects the winds and dune formation. At the edges of the dune field, the dunes become smaller and more separated, revealing the harder surface that the dunes are moving across.Rabe Crater is 108 km (67 miles) across. Craters of similar size often have flat floors. Rabe Crater has some areas of flat floor, but also has a large complex pit occupying a substantial part of the floor. The interior fill of the crater is thought to be layered sediments created by wind and or water action. The pit is eroded into this material. The eroded materials appear to have stayed within the crater forming a large sand sheet with surface dune forms as well as individual dunes where the crater floor is visible. The dunes also appear to be moving from the upper floor level into the pit.The Odyssey spacecraft has spent over 15 years in orbit around Mars, circling the planet more than 69000 times. It holds the record for longest working spacecraft at Mars. THEMIS, the IR/VIS camera system, has collected data for the entire mission and provides images covering all seasons and lighting conditions. Over the years many features of interest have received repeated imaging, building up a suite of images covering the entire feature. From the deepest chasma to the tallest volcano, individual dunes inside craters and dune fields that encircle the north pole, channels carved by water and lava, and a variety of other feature, THEMIS has imaged them all. For the next several months the image of the day will focus on the Tharsis volcanoes, the various chasmata of Valles Marineris, and the major dunes fields. We hope you enjoy these images!Orbit Number: 57843 Latitude: -43.3482 Longitude: 34.6454 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-12-28 12:37Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows one of the channels that comprise Granicus Valles. Granicus Valles is a complex channel system located west of Elysium Mons. | Context imageThis VIS image shows one of the channels that comprise Granicus Valles. Granicus Valles is a complex channel system located west of Elysium Mons. The system is approximately 750km long (466 miles). It is likely that both water and lava played a part in creation of the feature.Orbit Number: 93946 Latitude: 28.3677 Longitude: 129.844 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2023-02-17 19:48Please 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows gullies on the pit walls of the Noachian Highlands on Mars. | A) Context ImageB) Gullies in M12-00595C) Layers and gullies in M09-00539, M15-00964Among the most exciting places that the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) has photographed during its three and a half years in orbit has been this crater in central Noachis Terra. Located at 47°S, 355°W, the crater appears to have been almost completely filled, and subsequently eroded in localized pits, by unknown processes. In this one place we see elements of the two most important results of the MOC investigation--the discovery of young gullies formed by fluid erosion and the occurrence of thick sequences of layered rock attesting to a martian past of substantial geologic activity.Picture A shows the location of the other two figures, which are sections of three of about a dozen images acquired of this crater. Picture B (M12-00595) shows examples of gullies on the pit walls. Their contributary pattern (including the angles at which they join) argues for fluid behavior during their creation; the dark floors suggest that they have been active recently (or else they, like the slopes around them and most of Mars, would be lighter-toned owing to the accumulation of dust). These gullies are formed well down on the pit wall, where a distinctive, boulder-rich layer is found. Figure C, a mosaic of two high resolution images (M09-00539 and M15-00964), shows an area somewhat higher in the sequence of layered material that fills the crater. This sequence clearly alternates between layers that either contain or erode to form boulders and layers that do not have boulders. Note in particular the overhanging layers near the top center--such overhangs are evidence of the strength of the material. Here, too, gullies appear to start at specific layers; these, however, may not be as young as those seen in (B), as they appear to have at least a thin covering of dust. How it is that this crater came to be filled with layers of material containing (or eroding to create) boulders is a mystery. | |
This graph shows that the rock dubbed 'Bounce' near NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's landing region at Meridiani Planum is not made up of the same minerals as surrounding soil. | This illustration shows that the rock dubbed "Bounce" near the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's landing region at Meridiani Planum is not made up of the same minerals as surrounding soil. Spectra from three soil samples taken outside of "Eagle Crater" are compared to that of Bounce (bottom). The dashed white line in the center of the spectra indicates where the "fingerprint" for triple-oxidized iron (Fe 3+) occurs. While the soil samples possess this feature, Bounce does not. The results suggest that Bounce did not originate in the plains of Meridiani Planum. These spectra were taken by the rover's Moessbauer spectrometer. Measurements of Bounce were made on sol 67. |
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