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This image, taken by NASA's Viking 1 orbiter in 1976, has been used by scientists to pinpoint the location of the Sagan Memorial Station. The lander is positioned at the center of the blue 'rays,' and North is at the top. | This image, taken by the Viking 1 orbiter in 1976, has been used by scientists to pinpoint the location of the Sagan Memorial Station. The lander is positioned at the center of the blue "rays," and North is at the top. The prominent twin hills dubbed "Twin Peaks" are west of the lander, and the prominent large crater dubbed "Big Crater" is at center. The small crater at the north border of Big Crater, dubbed "Rim Shot Crater," and "Little Crater" were features that helped scientists accurately identify the location of the lander on the Martian surface and are shown in the two insets. The spacecraft landed successfully within its original target ellipse, which measured 100 km (62 mi) by 200 km (124 mi).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. 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. 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 from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a portion of Kasei Valles. Kasei Valles is one of the largest outflow channel systems on Mars. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a portion of Kasei Valles. Kasei Valles is one of the largest outflow channel systems on Mars, in places up to 482 km (300 miles) wide and 1580 km (982 miles) long. For comparison, the Grand Canyon in Arizona is is only 29 km (18 miles) at its widest and only 446 km (277 miles) long. Kasei Valles flows eastward through Lunae Planum and empties into Chryse Planitia.Orbit Number: 85218 Latitude: 21.7275 Longitude: 288.166 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-03-01 03:56Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a field of sand dunes on the floor of this unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea. | Context imageA field of sand dunes is visible on the floor of this unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea.Orbit Number: 88046 Latitude: 26.5457 Longitude: 62.9214 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-10-20 00:25Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover took a selfie with nine of the 10 sample tubes it deposited at a sample depot created within an area of Jezero Crater nicknamed Three Forks. | NASA's Perseverance Mars rover took a selfie with nine of the 10 sample tubes it deposited at a sample depot created within an area of Jezero Crater nicknamed "Three Forks." This annotated version of the selfie points out the estimated locations of those nine tubes. The ninth tube dropped during the construction of the depot, containing the sample the science team refers to as "Atsah," can be seen in front of the rover. Other sample tubes are visible in the background, including "Skyland," which is labeled.The image was taken by the WATSON (Wide Angle Topographic Sensor for Operations and eNgineering) camera on the end of the rover's robotic arm on Jan. 22, 2023, the 684th Martian day, or sol, of the mission.The selfie is composed of 59 individual WATSON images that were stitched together once they were sent back to Earth. The Curiosity rover takes similar selfies using a camera on its robotic arm; videos explaining how the rovers take their selfies can be found here.The depot marks a crucial milestone in the NASA-ESA (European Space Agency) Mars Sample Return campaign that aims to bring Mars samples to Earth for closer study. The depot – completed when the 10th tube was dropped on Jan. 29, 2023 – will serve as a backup if Perseverance can't deliver its samples to a future robotic lander.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.WATSON was built by Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) in San Diego and is operated jointly by MSSS and JPL.For more about Perseverance:mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/nasa.gov/perseverance | |
This close-up view captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows darkened radial jets caused by the impact of Curiosity's sky crane, which helped deliver the rover to the surface of Mars. | This close-up view shows darkened radial jets caused by the impact of Curiosity's sky crane, which helped deliver the rover to the surface of Mars. The image was captured by the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter about 24 hours after landing. The radial jets from the impact are much like those from asteroids that hit the planetary surface at oblique angles. In fact, these scour marks make an arrow pointing to Curiosity. As the sky crane hit the surface, bright dust was kicked up, exposing darker material underneath.This image was acquired from a special 41-degree roll of MRO, larger than the normal 30-degree limit. It rolled towards the west and towards the sun, which increases visible scattering by atmospheric dust as well as the amount of atmosphere the orbiter has to look through, thereby reducing the contrast of surface features. Future images will show the hardware in greater detail. Our view is tilted about 45 degrees from the surface (more than the 41-degree roll due to planetary curvature), like a view out of an airplane window. Tilt the images 90 degrees clockwise to see the surface better from this perspective. The views are primarily of the shadowed side of the rover and other objects.The image scale is 39 centimeters (15.3 inches) per pixel.Complete HiRISE image products are available at: http://uahirise.org/releases/msl-descent.php.HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the orbiter's HiRISE camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Terra Sabaea. | 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 Sabaea. Dark blue in this filter combination is usually basalt sand.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: 94160 Latitude: 18.2445 Longitude: 77.6595 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2023-03-07 10:37Please 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. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit looks toward the northwest and shows some of the targets examined by Spirit after the rover became embedded at this site. | Click on image for larger annotated imageThis image taken by the front hazard avoidance camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit looks toward the northwest and shows some of the targets examined by Spirit after the rover became embedded at this site."Ulysses" is the area where Spirit's left wheels broke through a crust and stirred up poorly sorted, weakly cohesive sands. "Sandals" are two small rocks to the northwest of Ulysses. "Cyclops Eye" and "Polyphemus Eye" are two locations in which Spirit's rock abrasion tool was used to bore into the subsurface for detailed textural, compositional, and mineralogical measurements. Ulysses has the highest sulfate content measured by either Spirit or Opportunity. Cyclops Eye also has sulfate minerals beneath the surface whereas Polyphemus Eye does not. Thus Spirit must be sitting over a geologic boundary where materials are different to the west as opposed to the east.Spirit took this image during the 1,998th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission on Mars (Aug. 16, 2009). | |
The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple many ways to create a false color image. This false color image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows Iani Chaos. | Context imageThe THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows Iani Chaos. The material appearing as dark blue is likely sand that has been caught in the surface furrows.Orbit Number: 10050 Latitude: -0.796182 Longitude: 341.51 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2004-03-20 20:24Please 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 dark slope streaks located within a small unnamed crater on the southern rim of Tikhonravov Crater. | These dark slope streaks are located within a small unnamed crater on the southern rim of Tikhonravov Crater.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 10.6N, Longitude 37.5E. 18 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows dark dunes located on the floor of the unnamed crater just off the eastern margin of Terra Sabaea. | Context image for PIA11294Crater DunesDark dunes are located on the floor of the unnamed crater just off the eastern margin of Terra Sabaea.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 36.9N, Longitude 59.6E. 19 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This view from the left Navigation Camera (Navcam) of NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity looks back at wheel tracks made during the first drive away from the last science target in the 'Glenelg' area. | This view from the left Navigation Camera (Navcam) of NASA's Mars Rover Curiosity looks back at wheel tracks made during the first drive away from the last science target in the "Glenelg" area. The drive commenced a long trek toward the mission's long-term destination: Mount Sharp. Curiosity drove 59 feet (18 meters) on the 324th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars. It took this image that same sol, looking back toward the target sedimentary outcrop called "Shaler." Wheel tracks in the right foreground of the image were left by Curiosity's earlier passage through this area on its way toward Glenelg targets seven months earlier.The trek to the entry point for lower layers of Mount Sharp, about 5 miles (8 kilometers) away, will take many months. While working at targets near Shaler in the "Glenelg" area during the first half of 2013, Curiosity found evidence of a past Martian environment with conditions favorable for microbial life. The mission's main destination remains the lower layers of Mount Sharp, where researchers anticipate finding evidence about how the ancient Martian environment changed and evolved.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows the Tharsis plains contains numerous channels, which were likely created by the flow of lava. | Context imageThis VIS image of the Tharsis plains contains numerous channels, which were likely created by the flow of lava.Orbit Number: 47503 Latitude: 25.2002 Longitude: 245.303 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-08-29 14:07Please 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 image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a sand sheet with dune forms on its surface. | Context imageThis VIS image shows a sand sheet with dune forms on its surface.Orbit Number: 39546 Latitude: 26.8169 Longitude: 62.7481 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-11-13 13:31Please 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. | |
In an activity called the 'mini drill test,' NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its drill to generate this ring of powdered rock for inspection in advance of the rover's first full drilling. | In an activity called the "mini drill test," NASA's Mars rover Curiosity used its drill to generate this ring of powdered rock for inspection in advance of the rover's first full drilling. Curiosity performed the mini drill test and used its Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera to record this image of the resulting hole and cuttings during the 180th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (Feb. 6, 2013).The hole is 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters) in diameter and about 0.8 (2 centimeters) deep. The location is on a patch of flat rock called "John Klein." If the cuttings are judged to be suitable for processing by the rover's sample handling mechanisms, the mission's first full drilling is planned for a nearby spot on John Klein. The full drilling will be the first rock drilling on Mars to collect a sample of material for analysis.Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, developed, built and operates MAHLI and the MAHLI engineering model. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project and the mission's Curiosity rover for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Curiosity and the mission's Vehicle System Test Bed rover were designed and built 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://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. | |
Martian Dichotomy Boundary | This HiRISE image crosses over a part of the hemispheric dichotomy boundary on Mars which separates low-lying northern plains from older southern highlands. In the northern part of the scene, much of the surface is covered with small boulders, most only 1-2 meters wide (1 meter is approximately 1 yard). In other areas, it appears that sand or dust has accumulated in depressions, forming light patches. These areas also show short sinuous or linear features, likely ripples formed from wind-blown material. The southern part contains an old valley, now mantled by later deposits, and has a pitted texture due to erosion. It has been proposed that the lowland was once filled by an ocean. In this case several arcuate or linear features along the boundary slope could be old shorelines, but this interpretation is still debated. The features have been modified by erosion, and in some cases appear to slope towards the highlands. Image PSP_001414_2165 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on November 14, 2006. The complete image is centered at 36.1 degrees latitude, 351.2 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 293.6 km (183.5 miles). At this distance the image scale is 58.7 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~176 cm across are resolved. The image shown here has been map-projected to 50 cm/pixel and north is up. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:24 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 49 degrees, thus the sun was about 41 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 135.3 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 Global Surveyor shows a small portion of the south polar cap as it appeared in mid-summer in January 2004. The dark areas may be places where the frozen carbon dioxide contains impurities, such as dust. | 13 April 2004The martian south polar residual ice cap is composed mainly of frozen carbon dioxide. Each summer, a little bit of this carbon dioxide sublimes away. Pits grow larger, and mesas get smaller, as this process continues from year to year. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a view of a small portion of the south polar cap as it appeared in mid-summer in January 2004. The dark areas may be places where the frozen carbon dioxide contains impurities, such as dust, or places where sublimation of ice has roughened the surface so that it appears darker because of small shadows cast by irregularities in the roughened surface. The image is located near 86.9°S, 7.6°W. The image covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. | |
Large landslide deposits dominate this image of Ius Chasma captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey. Dunes are visible at the bottom of the frame. | Context imageLarge landslide deposits dominate this VIS image of Ius Chasma. Dunes are visible at the bottom of the frame.Orbit Number: 36744 Latitude: -8.63044 Longitude: 282.232 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-03-27 18:32Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This map shows the location of 'Cumberland,' the second rock-drilling target for NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, in relation to the rover's first drilling target, 'John Klein,' within the southwestern lobe of a shallow depression called 'Yellowknife Bay.' | This map shows the location of "Cumberland," the second rock-drilling target for NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, in relation to the rover's first drilling target, "John Klein," within the southwestern lobe of a shallow depression called "Yellowknife Bay." Cumberland, like John Klein, is a patch of flat-lying bedrock with pale veins and bumpy surface texture. The bumpiness is due to erosion-resistant nodules within the rock, which have been identified as concretions resulting from the action of mineral-laden water.North is to the top of the map. The scale bar is 50 meters (164 feet). Cumberland lies about nine feet (2.75 meters) west of John Klein. The base map is part of an image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The mapped area is within Gale Crater and north of the mountain called Mount Sharp in the middle of the crater. After completion of investigations near the edge of Yellowknife Bay, the rover's main science destination will be on the lower reaches of Mount Sharp. For broader-context views of the area, see PIA16832, PIA16064 and PIA16058. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a group of sand dunes, covered by seasonal carbon dioxide frost, in the martian north polar region. The carbon dioxide frost sublimes away, slowly revealing the dark sand that makes up the dunes. | 17 June 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a group of sand dunes, covered by seasonal carbon dioxide frost, in the martian north polar region. Over the course of northern hemisphere spring, the carbon dioxide frost sublimes away, slowly revealing the dark sand that makes up the dunes. The dark spots in this image may be patches of freshly-exposed sand, or they could be places where the CO2 frost has changed, either becoming rougher, coarser-grained (larger crystals), or both. A rougher or coarser-grained surface will appear darker because of an increase in shadowing of the surface by the small-scale roughness elements.Location near: 75.2°N, 51.3°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Northern Spring | |
This false color image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows craters and a channel margin, in the region of southern Acidalia Planitia where Tiu and Ares Valles empty into the planitia. This image was collected during the northern spring season. | The THEMIS VIS camera is capable of capturing color images of the Martian surface using five different color filters. In this mode of operation, the spatial resolution and coverage of the image must be reduced to accommodate the additional data volume produced from using multiple filters. To make a color image, three of the five filter images (each in grayscale) are selected. Each is contrast enhanced and then converted to a red, green, or blue intensity image. These three images are then combined to produce a full color, single image. Because the THEMIS color filters don't span the full range of colors seen by the human eye, a color THEMIS image does not represent true color. Also, because each single-filter image is contrast enhanced before inclusion in the three-color image, the apparent color variation of the scene is exaggerated. Nevertheless, the color variation that does appear is representative of some change in color, however subtle, in the actual scene. Note that the long edges of THEMIS color images typically contain color artifacts that do not represent surface variation.This false color image shows craters and a channel margin, in the region of southern Acidalia Planitia where Tiu and Ares Valles empty into the planitia. This image was collected during the Northern Spring season.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 23.8, Longitude 327.5 East (32.5 West). 37 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The Answer is Blowing in the Wind | Every winter Mars' polar region is covered with a layer of seasonal carbon dioxide ice (dry ice). In the spring jets of gas carry dust from the ground up through openings in the ice. The dust gets carried downwind by the prevailing wind and falls on top of the seasonal ice layer in a fan-shaped deposit. Many jets appear to be active at the same time since numerous fans are all deposited in the same direction. This image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter appears to show several times at which jets were active. At the top of this image the fans are oriented in one direction while at the bottom they are going in a different direction. This suggests that as the ice layer thins, a set of gas jets becomes active, they die down, then further away another set starts up at a later time with a different prevailing wind direction.This is a reduced-resolution image from the HiRISE Observation observation catalogued as ESP_011934_0945, taken on Feb. 11, 2009. The observation is centered at 85.4 degrees south latitude, 104.0 degrees east longitude.The image was taken at a local Mars time of 6:12 p.m.and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 79 degrees, thus the sun was about 11 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 207.9 degrees, the season on Mars is northern autumn.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft spies what looks like a wishbone. | Context image Do you see what I see? Make a wish and then break the wishbone!Orbit Number: 54572 Latitude: 45.2725 Longitude: 209.706 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-04-03 07:24Please 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-518, 19 October 2003This April 2003 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows mesas and troughs in the northern Nilosyrtis Mensae region of Mars. The larger mesas are capped by boulders or small knobs which are probably the eroded remnants of a layer of rock. The picture is located near 37.8°N, 282.5°W and covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. The scene is illuminated by sunlight from the lower left. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a middle northern latitude crater in western Elysium Planitia near 33.7°N, 257.8°W. | 28 February 2004 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a middle northern latitude crater in western Elysium Planitia near 33.7°N, 257.8°W. The textured floor is a common feature at north and south middle latitudes, but its origin is not well understood. It is possible that sublimation of ice is a contributor to forming this texture, but it is just as possible that the processes do not involve ice or water in any form. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left; the picture covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. | |
This pair of images from Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) provides a vista of martian gullies on the northern wall of a 7.4 mile-wide meteor impact crater east of the Gorgonum Chaos region on the red planet Mars. | Warning!This link leads to a very large image thatmay be too long for some web browsers (in these cases, you must save the link toyour desktop and view with other software)This suite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) pictures provides a vista of martian gullies on the northern wall of a 12 kilometer-(7.4 mile)-wide meteor impact crater east of the Gorgonum Chaos region on the red planet.The first picture (above left) is a composite of three different high resolution MOC views obtained in 1999 and 2000. The second picture (above right) shows the location of the high resolution views relative to the whole crater as it appeared in the highest resolution image previously acquired of the area, taken by the Viking 1 orbiter in 1978. The release image (top) shows a close-up of one of the channels and debris aprons found in the northwestern quarter of the impact crater.Some of the channels in this crater are deeply-entrenched and cut into lighter-toned deposits. The numerous channels and apron deposits indicate that many tens to hundreds of individual events involving the flow of water and debris have occurred here. The channels and aprons have very crisp, sharp relief and there are no small meteor impact craters on them, suggesting that these features are extremely young relative to the 4.5 billion year history of Mars. It is possible that these landforms are still being created by water seeping from the layered rock in the crater wall today.The crater has no name and it is located near 37.4°S, 168.0°W. The composite view in (above left) includes a picture taken by MOC on September 10, 1999, a picture obtained April 26, 2000, and another on May 22, 2000. The scene from left to right (including the dark gap between photos) covers an area approximately 7.6 kilometers (4.7 miles) wide by 18 km (11.1 mi) long. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. MOC high resolution images are taken black-and-white (grayscale); the color seen here has been synthesized from the colors of Mars observed by the MOC wide angle cameras and by the Viking Orbiters in the late 1970s. | |
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows its robotic arm took a second scoop full of soil revealing whitish material at the bottom of the dig area informally called the 'Knave of Hearts' on Mars. | The Robotic Arm took a second scoop full of soil and revealed whitish material at the bottom of the dig area informally called the "Knave of Hearts." The Science Team is debating whether this is a salt layer or the top of an ice table. Image was taken by the Surface Stereo Imager on the ninth day of the Mars mission, or Sol 9, (June 3, 2008) aboard the NASA Phoenix Mars Lander. The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter. | |
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover targeted the laser of the ChemCam instrument with remarkable accuracy for assessing the composition of the wall of a drilled hole and tailings that resulted from the drilling. | Figure 1Click on the image for larger versionNASA's Curiosity Mars rover targeted the laser of the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument with remarkable accuracy for assessing the composition of the wall of a drilled hole and tailings that resulted from the drilling. This graphic diagrams the pointing and shows the resulting pits created by the laser shots.On the 180th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Feb. 6, 2013), the rover performed a "mini drill test," followed on Sol 182 (Feb. 8, 2013) by the actual drilling to collect a sample from the interior of the rock. Both holes in the target rock "John Klein" are visible in the image at upper left, taken on Sol 182 by the rover's Navigation Camera (Navcam). Both the Navcam and the ChemCam are at the top of the Curiosity's remote-sensing mast. Each drilled hole is about 0.63 inch (1.6 centimeters) wide, and they are located about 8 feet (about 2.5 meters) away from the top of the mast. So small, so far away...On Sol 227 (March 26, 2013), ChemCam fired its laser 150 times (5 bursts of 30 shots, each burst at a different target point) on the drill tailings between the two holes and 300 times (10 bursts of 30 shots) in the drill hole itself. The same day, ChemCam's remote micro-imager (RMI) captured images of the laser pits: small craters in the loose tailing (center photo from RMI), and tiny scrapes on the hard surface of the hole walls (photo at right from RMI). Composition spectra from the ChemCam laser inspection are under investigation. Figure 1 is a composite of RMI images of the drilled hole. The photo on the right of the main image is a brightened version of the center portion of Figure 1.ChemCam was developed, built and tested by the U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory in partnership with scientists and engineers funded by France's national space agency, Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES) and research agency, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS).NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project, including Curiosity, for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the rover. More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
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 Aram Chaos. | 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 Aram Chaos.Orbit Number: 46064 Latitude: 2.04617 Longitude: 340.041 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-05-03 03:37Please 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 graphic tracks the maximum relative humidity and the temperature at which that maximum occurred each Martian day, or sol, for about one-fourth of a Martian year, as measured by REMS on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. | This graphic tracks the maximum relative humidity and the temperature at which that maximum occurred each Martian day, or sol, for about one-fourth of a Martian year, as measured by the Remote Environmental Monitoring Station (REMS) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. These are the first systematic measurements of humidity on Mars.The data are graphed by sol number (starting with Curiosity's landing day as Sol 0), for a period from mid-August 2012 to mid-February 2013, corresponding to late winter through late spring in Mars' southern hemisphere. Four vertical lines on the graph mark progress points of the rover's traverse. While air temperature is not strongly tied to the rover's location, REMS has measured significantly different relative humidity in the different terrain units where the rover has been. All of the sites along the rover's traverse are extremely dry compared with Earth.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the rover. More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
Clouds add drama to the sky above 'Endurance Crater' in this mosaic of frames taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on Nov. 16, 2004. The view spans an arc from east on the left to the southwest on the right. | Clouds add drama to the sky above "Endurance Crater" in this mosaic of frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity at about 9:30 a.m. on the rover's 290th sol (Nov. 16, 2004). The view spans an arc from east on the left to the southwest on the right. These clouds are part of a band that forms near the equator when Mars is near the part of its orbit that is farthest from the Sun. For Opportunity (and Spirit and the rest of the southern hemisphere), this occurs in late fall and early winter. During this period, atmospheric temperatures and the amount of water vapor combine to form large-scale clouds. These clouds look like Earth's cirrus clouds and share other similarities with cirrus clouds in that they are believed to be composed entirely of water-ice particles with sizes on the order of several micrometers (a few ten-thousandths of an inch). The images that are combined to produce this view have been processed to remove geometrical distortion associated with the camera's 45-degree field of view. In addition, special image processing has been applied to enhance the clouds and make them visible across the entire mosaic. The rim of Endurance was processed using the same technique, illustrating how much enhancement was done. Glare from the Sun washed out the clouds on the left in the original images; this glare was removed. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the remains of leveed lava channels cutting across (west to east) a dust-covered plain composed of overlapping lava flows east of Olympus Mons on Mars. | 6 July 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the remains of leveed lava channels cutting across (west to east) a dust-covered plain composed of overlapping lava flows east of Olympus Mons, a giant volcano in the Tharsis region of Mars.Location near: 22.3°N, 122.0°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Northern Winter | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the floor of Firsoff Crater. | Context imageThe THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of the floor of Firsoff Crater. Located in southern Arabia Terra, Firsoff Crater, and the neighboring Crommelin Crater, have large layered deposits on the crater floor. The circular feature at the bottom of the image is a smaller crater within Firsoff Crater. The layering of the interior deposit can be seen in the northern side of this smaller crater. Wind action has modified the large deposit. In this color combination dark blue typically indicates basaltic sand. Firsoff Crater is 90 km (56 miles) in diameter.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: 94812 Latitude: 2.77617 Longitude: 350.268 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2023-04-30 02:58Please 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. | |
Melas Chasma is part of the largest canyon system on Mars. This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows no dunes, but extensive outcrops of layered material. | Context image Melas Chasma is part of the largest canyon system on Mars, Valles Marineris. At only 563 km long (349 miles) it is not the longest canyon, but it is the widest. Located in the center of Valles Marineris, it has depths up to 9 km below the surrounding plains, and is the location of many large landslide deposits, as will as layered materials and sand dunes. There is evidence of both water and wind action as modes of formation for many of the interior deposits. Today's image is just a bit further to the west of yesterday's. Here there are no dunes, but extensive outcrops of layered material. It is possible that these layered deposits were formed by sediments settling in a lake.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: 4335 Latitude: -10.3718 Longitude: 285.195 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2002-12-06 09:30Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the location of a somewhat filled and buried meteor impact crater on the northern plains of Mars. The dark dots are boulders. | 10 December 2004The lower left (southwest) corner of this Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the location of a somewhat filled and buried meteor impact crater on the northern plains of Mars. The dark dots are boulders. A portion of a similar feature is seen in the upper right (northeast) corner of the image. This picture, showing landforms (including the odd mound north/northeast of the crater) that are typical of the martian northern lowland plains, was obtained as part of the MGS MOC effort to support the search for a landing site for the Phoenix Mars Scout lander. Phoenix will launch in 2007 and land on the northern plains in 2008. This image is located near 68.0°N, 227.4°W, and covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. The scene is illuminated by sunlight from the lower left. | |
This diagram, superimposed on a photo of Martian landscape, illustrates a concept called 'adaptive caching,' which is in development for NASA's 2020 Mars rover mission. | This diagram, superimposed on a photo of Martian landscape, illustrates a concept called "adaptive caching," which is in development for NASA's 2020 Mars rover mission. In addition to the investigations that the Mars 2020 rover will conduct on Mars, the rover will collect carefully selected samples of Mars rock and soil and cache them to be available for possible return to Earth if a Mars sample-return mission is scheduled and flown.Each sample will be stored in a sealed tube. Adaptive caching would result in a set of samples, up to the maximum number of tubes carried on the rover, being placed on the surface at the discretion of the mission operators. The tubes holding the collected samples would not go into a surrounding container. In this illustration, green dots indicate "regions of interest," where samples might be collected. The green diamond indicates one region of interest serving as the depot for the cache. The green X at upper right represents the landing site. The solid black line indicates the rover's route during its prime mission, and the dashed black line indicates its route during an extension of the mission.The base image is a portion of the "Everest Panorama" taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit at the top of Husband Hill in 2005 (see PIA03095).NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages NASA's Mars Exploration Program for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a strangely-textured floor on Mars. The original crater has been somewhat eroded and much of its interior has been filled with sediment since it formed. | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-427, 20 July 2003Craters in the middle latitudes of Mars often have strangely-textured floors. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image of a crater near 40.2°N, 184.5°W provides an example. The original crater has been somewhat eroded and much of its interior has been filled with sediment since it formed. The origin of the strange texture is unknown; speculations about most mid-latitude textures tend to focus on the idea that, somehow, subliming ground ice may have been involved. The texture on the floor of the crater is similar to, but not quite the same as, the texture on the nearby surfaces to the north and south of the crater. This picture covers an area 1.4 km (0.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left. | |
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft captured this image in July 2003 of Meridiani Planum on Mars, which contains a mineral called hematite, usually forming in the presence of water. | Released 8 July 2003Yesterday a modified Delta II rocket successfully lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, sending the Mars Exploration Rover named Opportunity on its way to Mars. This THEMIS image covers part of the landing ellipse in Meridiani Planum, where the rover is expected to land in about seven months. The Meridiani Planum landing site was selected because of the detection by the Thermal Emission Spectrometer (TES) instrument on Mars Global Surveyor of a mineral called hematite, which usually forms in the presence of water. While this visible wavelength image cannot "see" hematite, what it does show is a relatively smooth (safe) area, which, in places, contains a brighter material. Because Opportunity will be able to travel dozens of meters per day, it will be able to sample both bright material and the darker material that takes up the majority of this scene. Understanding what each of these materials are and their relationship to each other will help scientists to get a better understanding of the history of water on this part of Mars.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -1.8, Longitude 354.7 East (5.3 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows a portion of Aram Chaos. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a portion of Aram Chaos.Orbit Number: 41196 Latitude: 3.70794 Longitude: 339.33 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-03-29 10:16Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander shows its descent thrusters and smooth surfaces cleared from overlying soil by the rocket exhaust during landing. | The Robotic Arm Camera on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander captured this image underneath the lander on the fifth Martian day, or sol, of the mission. Descent thrusters on the bottom of the lander are visible at the top of the image.This view from the north side of the lander toward the southern leg shows smooth surfaces cleared from overlying soil by the rocket exhaust during landing. One exposed edge of the underlying material was seen in Sol 4 images, but the newer image reveals a greater extent of it. The abundance of excavated smooth and level surfaces adds evidence to a hypothesis that the underlying material is an ice table covered by a thin blanket of soil.The bright-looking surface material in the center, where the image is partly overexposed, may not be inherently brighter than the foreground material in shadow.The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-559, 29 November 2003Both the north and south polar regions of Mars exhibit thick deposits of layered sediment. These have been known since the Mariner 9 (1972) and Viking (1976-1980) orbiter missions. The layered deposits are considered to contain a record of climate changes that occurred in the relatively recent martian past, but most of that record will have to wait until some time in the future when a lander or people can go there to study them. Meanwhile, pictures such as this from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) provide opportunities to view the layers where they are exposed on slopes. Here, numerous layers have been exposed by erosion in the south polar region. The picture was obtained in October 2003 and is located near 86.4°S, 112.4°W. The image covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide, and is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a cross section of Coprates Chasma. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a cross section of Coprates Chasma. In this region the chasma has two sections – a deep, flat floored canyon at the top of the image (the northern cliff face is not visible in this image), and the second section below that separated by a large ridge. Paralleling it to the south runs a narrower and shallower chain of linked pits and depressions called Coprates Catena. Landslide deposits, layered materials and sand dunes cover a large portion of the chasma floor. The brighter materials at the top of the image are layered deposits. It is unknown how deep these canyon deposits were when they formed. The layering is only visible due to erosion, making it difficult to estimate the original thickness. While layered deposits can be found on the floor of Coprates Chasma, they are most commonly found along the lower elevations and at the bottom of the cliff faces in the canyon. Coprates Chasma is one of the numerous canyons that make up Valles Marineris. The chasma stretches for 960 km (600 miles) from Melas Chasma to the west and Capri Chasma to the east.Orbit Number: 93111 Latitude: -14.0758 Longitude: 295.079 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-12-11 00:40Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows that gullies have formed on the side of this ridge in northwestern Argyre Planitia. | Context imageGullies have formed on the side of this ridge in northwestern Argyre Planitia.Orbit Number: 41073 Latitude: -46.5345 Longitude: 309.152 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-03-19 05:30Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a portion of Ma'adim Vallis, which is a large channel that enters Gusev Crater from the south. | Context imageThis VIS image shows a portion of Ma'adim Vallis, which is a large channel that enters Gusev Crater from the south. Gusev Crater is the "home" of the MER rover named Spirit.Orbit Number: 56128 Latitude: -18.5885 Longitude: 177.177 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-08-09 07:57Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This combination of images, taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, helped researchers analyze the youngest flood lava on Mars, which is in Athabasca Valles, in the Elysium Planitia region of equatorial Mars. | This combination of images helped researchers analyze the youngest flood lava on Mars, which is in Athabasca Valles, in the Elysium Planitia region of equatorial Mars. On the left, color coding indicates relative elevation, based on three dimensional modeling from stereo pairs of images taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The scale bar is 1 kilometer (0.62 mile). The reference key to the color coding is in meters relative to a zero index altitude for Mars (negative numbers, so lower elevations than the zero index). The range from highest (red) to lowest (dark blue) is about 170 meters (558 feet). The labels "A" and "B" indicate the locations of the two images on the right.The images on the right are made from stereo-paired HiRISE observations and appear three dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses. The features evident here are "phreatovolcanic cones" related to lava-water interactions. They can be used as indicators of where the lava flowed. The difference in elevation between "A" and "B" is more than 100 meters (328 feet), so the lava flow reached a peak depth of more than 100 meters in this area. It is also interesting that the cones are small where the lava was thin (B) and big where the lave was deeper (A). The scale bars are 50 meters (164 feet).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. | |
The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. Data from different filters can be combined in many ways to create a false color image. This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a rim of material between two unnamed craters in Tyrrhena Terra. | Context imageThe THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows a rim of material between two unnamed craters in Tyrrhena Terra.Orbit Number: 8986 Latitude: -14.7069 Longitude: 73.1867 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2003-12-24 05:59Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows gullies on martian crater walls that may be carved by liquid water melting from remnant snow packs. | This image, taken by the Mars orbiter camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, shows gullies on martian crater walls that may be carved by liquid water melting from remnant snow packs. Numerous gullies are seen, with a remnant of the snow pack (arrow) proposed to be the source of water that eroded the gullies. This Mars orbiter camera image (number M09-2875) covers an area of 2.8 kilometers (1.7 miles) by 4.5 kilometers (2.8 miles) and is located at 33.3 degrees south, 92.9 degrees east. North is toward the top, and illumination is from the left.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Mars Global Surveyor mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Mars orbiter camera was provided by Malin Space Science Systems. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a field of dark dunes located on the western floor of Hale Crater. | Context image for PIA10067DunesThis field of dark dunes is located on the western floor of Hale Crater.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -35.8N, Longitude 322.8E. 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. | |
Tectonic fractures within the Candor Chasma region of Valles Marineris, Mars, retain ridge-like shapes as the surrounding bedrock erodes away | Tectonic fractures within the Candor Chasma region of Valles Marineris, Mars, retain ridge-like shapes as the surrounding bedrock erodes away. This points to past episodes of fluid alteration along the fractures and reveals clues into past fluid flow and geochemical conditions below the surface.The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter took this image on Dec. 2, 2006. The image is approximately 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) across. Illumination from the upper left.This view is a portion of the camera's image catalogued as PSP_001641_1735. A full resolution file of this image is available for download by clicking here (69 MB). NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a region of plateaus and depressions near the south polar cap. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a region of plateaus and depressions near the south polar cap.Orbit Number: 56400 Latitude: -81.4521 Longitude: 278.286 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-08-31 17:04Please 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 Mars' south polar cap, collected at the start of southern spring. The low sun angle highlights the different surface textures. | Context image for PIA09165South Polar SpringThis image of the south polar cap was collected at the start of southern spring. The low sun angle highlights the different surface textures.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -86.8N, Longitude 276.4E. 17 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The prominent tear-shaped features in this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) are erosional features called yardangs. Yardangs are composed of sand grains that have clumped together. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThe prominent tear-shaped features in this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) are erosional features called yardangs. Yardangs are composed of sand grains that have clumped together and have become more resistant to erosion than their surrounding materials.As the winds of Mars blow and erode away at the landscape, the more cohesive rock is left behind as a standing feature. (This Context Camera image shows several examples of yardangs that overlie the darker iron-rich material that makes up the lava plains in the southern portion of Elysium Planitia.) Resistant as they may be, the yardangs are not permanent, and will eventually be eroded away by the persistence of the Martian winds.For scientists observing the Red Planet, yardangs serve as a useful indicator of regional prevailing wind direction. The sandy structures are slowly eroded down and carved into elongated shapes that point in the downwind direction, like giant weathervanes. In this instance, the yardangs are all aligned, pointing towards north-northwest. This shows that the winds in this area generally gust in that direction.The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 55.8 centimeters (21 inches) per pixel (with 2 x 2 binning); objects on the order of 167 centimeters (65.7 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image captured by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) shows the area dubbed as 'the snow leopard,' a dune field located at 61.5°S, 18.9°W, as it appeared on July 1, 1999. | The patterns created by dark spots on defrosting south polar dunes are often strange and beautiful. This picture, which the Mars Orbiter Camera team has dubbed, "the snow leopard," shows a dune field located at 61.5°S, 18.9°W, as it appeared on July 1, 1999. The spots are areas where dark sand has been exposed from beneath bright frost as the south polar winter cap begins to retreat. Many of the spots have a diffuse, bright ring around them this is thought to be fresh frost that was re-precipitated after being removed from the dark spot. The spots seen on defrosting polar dunes are a new phenomenon that was not observed by previous spacecraft missions to Mars. Thus, there is much about these features that remains unknown. For example, no one yet knows why the dunes become defrosted by forming small spots that grow and grow over time. No one knows for sure if the bright rings around the dark spots are actually composed of re-precipitated frost. And no one knows for sure why some dune show spots that appear to be "lined-up" (as they do in the picture shown here).This Mars Global Surveyor Mars Orbiter Camera image is illuminated from the upper left. North is toward the upper right. The scale bar indicates a distance of 200 meters (656 feet).Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the southern cliffside of Melas Chasma. Melas Chasma is part of the largest canyon system on Mars, Valles Marineris. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of the southern cliffside of Melas Chasma. Melas Chasma is part of the largest canyon system on Mars, Valles Marineris. At only 563 km long (349 miles) it is not the longest canyon, but it is the widest. Located in the center of Valles Marineris, it has depths up to 9 km below the surrounding plains, and is the location of many large landslide deposits, as will as layered materials and sand dunes. There is evidence of both water and wind action as modes of formation for many of the interior deposits.Orbit Number: 81537 Latitude: -11.3482 Longitude: 284.901 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-05-02 01:42Please 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. | |
This image taken by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey of Ganges Chasma shows where a large portion of the canyon wall has given way and formed a landslide deposit. | Context imageThis VIS image of Ganges Chasma shows where a large portion of the canyon wall has given way and formed a landslide deposit. Large landslides deposits are common features in Valles Marineris and the surrounding chasmata.Orbit Number: 36481 Latitude: -7.40399 Longitude: 309.452 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-03-06 02:49Please 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 section of Mamers Valles where it enters into Ismenius Cavus. The channel is nearly 1000 km long (600 miles). | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a section of Mamers Valles where it enters into Ismenius Cavus. The channel is nearly 1000 km long (600 miles). Mamers Valles originates near Cerulli Crater in northern Arabia Terra, and after a short section near the crater where flow is to the south, flows northward to empty in Deuteronilus Mensae. The steep walls of Mamers Valles can reach heights of 1200 m (4000 feet).Orbit Number: 93619 Latitude: 33.35 Longitude: 17.3572 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2023-01-21 22:16Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter covers some high-standing topography just outside the rim of an impact crater about 30 kilometers (19 miles) in diameter near a Martian hill named Zephyria Tholus. | This image covers some high-standing topography just outside the rim of an impact crater about 30 kilometers (19 miles) in diameter near a Martian hill named Zephyria Tholus.The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recorded this image on March 9, 2010. The target for this HiRISE observation was a suggestion submitted through the camera team's HiWish public-suggestion program. For more information about how to submit target suggestions, see http://uahirise.org/hiwish/.What formed this hill? Could it be a volcano? That was hypothesized to be the case in a paper published in 2001, and this suggestion was entered to test that idea, perhaps from seeing internal layering exposed by the crater. This is an example of what we regard as an excellent science justification for a target suggestion: following up on a testable hypothesis with specific observational goals. It was entered by eminent blogospherian Emily Lakdawalla of the Planetary Society. If you're thinking we chose to acquire this image early because we want her to blog nice things about HiRISE and HiWISH, you're right! But it's also a good suggestion.So what does the HiRISE image show us? Mostly it shows a dust mantle, hiding the bedrock it was intended to study. Bummer! The dustiness is especially apparent from the uniformity of the color data. Much of Mars is covered by dust, so we often favor the relatively dust-free patches for HiRISE imaging. You can usually tell whether a surface is dusty by looking at dust index maps and the nighttime infrared mosaic available at http://www.mars.asu.edu/data/ from the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. We hope to get the nighttime infrared map entered as a layer of HiWISH to help image suggesters. The night-infrared bright (warm) stuff is rocky or sandy, and dark (cool) stuff is probably dusty. Dust cools off rapidly at night while rocks store and slowly release heat. If the dust is thin, HiRISE images can still show the underlying meter-scale morphology. Maybe someone will want to study the dust-related processes on Mars, which are actually not well understood. Also, dusty surfaces are where we can find new impact craters that disturb the dust and make easy-to-see dark spots. We'll see if Emily finds something interesting in this image. This image covers a swath of ground about 1 kilometer (about two-thirds of a mile) wide. It is a portion of HiRISE observation ESP_016954_1590, which is centered at 20.65 degrees south latitude, 173.19 degrees east longitude. The season on Mars is southern-hemisphere autumn. Other image products from this observation are available at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_016954_1590.Color images from HiRISE combine information from detectors with three different color filters: red, infrared, and blue-green. Thus they include information from part of the spectrum human eyes cannot see and are not true color as the eye would see. The resulting false color helps to show differences among surface materials. 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, built the spacecraft. | |
Melas Chasma is part of the largest canyon system on Mars, Valles Marineris. This image of the southern section of the canyon captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a large region of sand dunes. | Context image Melas Chasma is part of the largest canyon system on Mars, Valles Marineris. At only 563 km long (349 miles) it is not the longest canyon, but it is the widest. Located in the center of Valles Marineris, it has depths up to 9 km below the surrounding plains, and is the location of many large landslide deposits, as will as layered materials and sand dunes. There is evidence of both water and wind action as modes of formation for many of the interior deposits. Today's image of the southern section of the canyon shows a large region of sand dunes. The presence of dunes indicates wind action as the most recent geologic process modifying the canyon.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: 18513 Latitude: -12.752 Longitude: 288.597 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2006-02-15 15:24Please 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 captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the complex caldera at the summit of Ascraeus Mons. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of the complex caldera at the summit of Ascraeus Mons.Orbit Number: 44107 Latitude: 11.1124 Longitude: 255.821 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-11-24 01:40Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows clouds are a common occurrence over the south polar cap during southern summer. | Context imageDuring southern summer, clouds are a common occurrence over the south polar cap. These dust clouds started as small dust devils visible near the top right corner of this VIS image.Orbit Number: 74905 Latitude: -86.5764 Longitude: 176.548 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-11-02 22:20Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
In this image from NASA's Mars Odyssey of dunes near the north pole of Mars it appears that small individual dunes are coalescing into larger dune forms. | Context imageIn this image of dunes near the north pole of Mars it appears that small individual dunes are coalescing into larger dune forms.Orbit Number: 37623 Latitude: 78.6159 Longitude: 118.498 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-06-08 05:01Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the floor of Renaudot Crater, located on the margin between Terra Sabaea and Utopia Planitia. | Context imageToday's image shows part of the floor of Renaudot Crater, located on the margin between Terra Sabaea and Utopia Planitia. The small dark blue features at the top right corner of the image are sand dunes. Dark blue is this false color combination indicates that these dunes are comprised of basaltic sands.The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image.Orbit Number: 63594 Latitude: 41.6455 Longitude: 62.4624 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-04-15 03:21Please 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 Global Surveyor shows light-toned, layered rock outcrops in the central pit of an impact crater in the Thaumasia Planum region of Mars. The outcrops were tilted and broken-up by the extreme energy of the impact that formed the crater. | 14 April 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows light-toned, layered rock outcrops in the central pit of an impact crater in the Thaumasia Planum region of Mars. The outcrops were tilted and broken-up by the extreme energy of the impact that formed the crater in which they occur. These are layers of rock that were brought up by the impact from horizontal beds that lie below the floor of the crater.Location near: 21.7°S, 69.4°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Summer | |
Line graphs of laboratory spectra of typical minerals found in igneous rocks, which are rocks related to magma or volcanic activity. | In these line graphs of laboratory spectra, it is evident that different minerals have different spectra. The graph on the left shows the typical minerals found in igneous rocks, which are rocks related to magma or volcanic activity. The graph on the right shows iron-bearing candidates for further study and comparison to spectra from the Mars Exploration Rover panoramic cameras on Mars. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a region of Melas Chasma covered by several very large landslide deposits. | Context imageThis VIS image is located in Melas Chasma. The linear and arcuate features are on the surface of a large landslide. This region of Melas Chasma is covered by several very large landslide deposits. Melas Chasma is part of the largest canyon system on Mars, Valles Marineris. At only 563 km long (349 miles) Melas is not the longest canyon, but it is the widest. Located in the center of Valles Marineris, it has depths up to 9,000 meters (30,000 feet) from the surrounding plains. In addition to landslide deposits, there are layered materials and sand dunes. There is evidence of both water and wind action as modes of formation for many of the interior deposits.Orbit Number: 78255 Latitude: -10.9711 Longitude: 290.017 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-08-05 19:51Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
These two sets of bar graphs compare the elemental compositions of martian rocks 'Bounce,' located at Meridiani Planum; EETA79001-B, a martian meteorite found in Antarctica; a rock found at the Mars Pathfinder landing site; Shergotty, a martian meteorite. | These two sets of bar graphs compare the elemental compositions of six martian rocks: "Bounce," located at Meridiani Planum; EETA79001-B, a martian meteorite found in Antarctica in 1979; a rock found at the Mars Pathfinder landing site; Shergotty, a martian meteorite that landed in India in 1865; "Adirondack," located at Gusev Crater; and "Humphrey," also located at Gusev Crater. The graph on the left compares magnesium/iron ratios in the rocks, and the graph on the right compares aluminum/calcium ratios. The results illustrate the diversity of rocks on Mars and indicate that Bounce probably shares origins with the martian meterorite EETA79001-B. The Bounce data was taken on sol 68 by the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer on Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. | |
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander took this anaglyph on Oct. 21, 2008; the trench on the upper left is called 'Dodo-Goldilocks.' 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | The Surface Stereo Imager on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander took this anaglyph on Oct. 21, 2008, during the 145th Martian day, or sol. Phoenix landed on Mars' northern plains on May 25, 2008.The trench on the upper left, called "Dodo-Goldilocks," is about 38 centimeters (15 inches) long and 4 centimeters (1.5 inches) deep. The trench on the right, called "Upper Cupboard," is about 60 centimeters (24 inches) long and 3 centimeters (1 inch) deep. The trench in the lower middle is called "Stone Soup."The Phoenix mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a finger-like dune tendril at the intriguing dunes at the bottom of 'Endurance Crater' on Mars. | Figure 1Figure 2The intriguing dunes at the bottom of "Endurance Crater" presented a tantalizing target for the science team for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. After analyzing the soil near and around the dunes, however, the rover engineering team decided that it was too risky to send Opportunity any closer. The terrain between the rover and the dune tendril did not present clear evidence of rocky plates to give the rover sufficient traction. A finger-like dune tendril pictured here (left) is, essentially, pointing to the rover's current area of investigation. Opportunity rolled over the foreground rock, called "Puffin." During the past several sols the rover has been examining its new neighborhood, an area that includes the rocks "Ellesmere" and "Escher" (not pictured) and the soil targets "Shag" and "Auk" (also not pictured). Experiencing significant slippage, the rover did some unintended trenching and left deep tracks in this area. This view is a mosaic of two images taken by the rover's navigation camera on Opportunity's 206th sol on Mars (August 22, 2004) and presented in a perspective projection. Figure 1 is a cylindrical-perspective projection and Figure 2 is a cylindrical perspective. | |
This panorama mosaic of images was taken by the Surface Stereo Imager on board NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. This mosaic documents the midnight sun over Mars' polar cap during several days of the mission. | This panorama mosaic of images was taken by the Surface Stereo Imager on board NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander. This mosaic documents the midnight sun during several days of the mission.The foreground and sky images were taken on Sol 54, or the 54th Martian day of the mission (July 20, 2008). The solar images were taken between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., local solar time, during the nights of sols 46 to 56. During this period of 11 sols, the sun's path got slightly lower over the northern horizon, causing the lack of smoothness to the curve. This pan captures the polar nature of the Phoenix mission in its similarity to time lapse pictures taken above the Arctic Circle on Earth.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 from NASA's Mariner 9 taken on Dec. 17, 1971 is a view of a complex crater on the summit of 'north spot' volcano, Ascraeus Mons | Complex crater on the summit of "north spot" volcano, Ascraeus Mons, appears in this photograph taken Dec. 17, 1971. The darkest parts of the rim are most free of dust; lower lands of the mountain are obscured by bright dust clouds.
Ascraeus Mons is a large shield volcano located in the Tharsis region of the planet Mars. It is the northernmost and tallest of three shield volcanoes collectively known as the Tharsis Montes. Ascraeus Mons was discovered by the Mariner 9 spacecraft in 1971. The volcano was originally called North Spot because it was the northernmost of only four spots visible on the surface due to a global dust storm that was then enshrouding the planet. As the dust cleared, the spots were revealed to be extremely tall volcanoes whose summits had projected above the dust-laden, lower atmosphere. The volcano_x0092_s name officially became Ascraeus Mons in 1973.
Mariner 9 was launched on May 30, 1971 and arrived on November 14, 1971.
Photojournal Note: This caption was updated on January 9, 2017. The image title has also been changed to reflect the official volcano name of Ascraes Mons, correcting the previous Olympus Mons. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows one of many troughs located on the polar cap. | Context imageThis VIS image shows one of many troughs located on the polar cap.Orbit Number: 57189 Latitude: -86.6893 Longitude: 285.824 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-11-04 16:04Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This graphic depicts the Mars Climate Sounder instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter measuring the temperature of a cross section of the Martian atmosphere as the orbiter passes above the south polar region. | This graphic depicts the Mars Climate Sounder instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter measuring the temperature of a cross section of the Martian atmosphere as the orbiter passes above the south polar region. The Mars Climate Sounder is an infrared radiometer that can be pointed sideways for detecting temperatures at different elevations above the surface of the planet. Multiple measurements since MRO arrived at Mars in 2006 have provided a record of atmospheric temperatures at different times of day on both the sunlit (daytime) and dark (nighttime) portions of the planet.The data indicate that temperatures rise and fall not just once a day, as might be expected from simple warming by the sun, but twice, with a rise during the nighttime as well as during daytime. Researchers have identified the cause for this pattern to be the thin water-ice clouds that form in the equatorial region of Mars. The water-ice clouds absorb infrared light emitted from the Martian surface, and that absorption heats the middle atmosphere.In the graphic, orange and yellow represent higher temperature than green or blue. These results are described in a paper being published by the journal Geophysical Research Letters.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, provided the Mars Climate Sounder instrument and manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.For more about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mro. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Acidalia Colles. The term colles means hill. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of Acidalia Colles. The term colles means hill. Dark blue tones in this band configuration typically identify basaltic sands. This "blue" material is found on the plains, but also on some of the hill faces. Acidalia Colles in located in central Acidalia Planitia.The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image.Orbit Number: 61526 Latitude: 49.3311 Longitude: 334.82 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-10-27 19:43Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The craters in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft are located in a region of prolonged wind action. The ejecta of the craters on Mars is more resistant to the wind than the materials around it. | Context imageThe craters in this image are located in a region of prolonged wind action. The ejecta of the craters is more resistant to the wind than the materials around it, leaving the ejecta as a "platform" around each crater.Orbit Number: 46094 Latitude: 7.5534 Longitude: 195.651 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-05-05 14:51Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the south polar cap. The cap was created over millions of years with deposition of ice and dust during different seasons. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of the south polar cap. The cap was created over millions of years with deposition of ice and dust during different seasons. This image was collected during late summer time.Orbit Number: 84339 Latitude: -86.1557 Longitude: 147.82 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-12-18 18:22Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took this color image from an altitude of 33 feet (10 meters) during its fifth flight on May 7, 2021. | NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter took this color image from an altitude of 33 feet (10 meters) during its fifth flight on May 7, 2021. This was the helicopter's first one-way flight, and it settled down at a new landing location 423 feet (129 meters) south of its previous location at Wright Brothers Field. The contrast has been enhanced to show surface details.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 view from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows portions of the western rim of Endeavour Crater on Mars from a perspective looking toward the northwest. | This view shows portions of the western rim of Endeavour Crater on Mars from a perspective looking toward the northwest. The image exaggerates the landscape's vertical dimension five-fold compared with horizontal dimensions. The scene covers about 4 miles (6 kilometers) in length. Major portions of the rim are labeled.The view was generated by producing an elevation map from a stereo pair of images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, then draping one of the HiRISE images over the elevation model. Other image products from the HiRISE observations used in generating this view are at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_018701_1775 and http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_018846_1775. Elevation data were calculated by researchers at Ohio State University, Columbus.NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity examined targets in the Cape York area during the second half of 2011.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the HiRISE camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the orbiter. | |
This mosaic was produced from pictures taken with the microscopic imager on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on June 29, 2004. It shows one of a series of holes ground by the rover's rock abrasion tool in 'Endurance Crater' on Mars. | This mosaic was produced from pictures taken with the microscopic imager on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on sol 154 (June 29, 2004). It shows one of a series of holes ground by the rover's rock abrasion tool in "Endurance Crater." This time Opportunity stretched its arm, or instrument deployment device, out to a target called "Kettlestone." Grinding for just over two hours on sol 153, Opportunity successfully created a hole 4.5 centimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter and 4.17 millimeters (.16 inches) deep. | |
This 3-D cylindrical-perspective mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured on on sol 101. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | This 3-D cylindrical-perspective mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 101 (April 15, 2004). It reveals Spirit's view just before a stopping-point dubbed "Missoula Crater." The rover is on its way to the "Columbia Hills."See PIA05778 for left eye view and PIA05779 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic. | |
This color mosaic image of the protective cover of the lidar onboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander was taken by the Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) on Sol 35, or the 35th day of the mission, June 30, 2008. The lidar is part of the Canadian-built weather station. | This color mosaic image of the protective cover of the lidar onboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander was taken by the Surface Stereo Imager (SSI) on Sol 35, or the 35th day of the mission, June 30, 2008. The lidar is part of the Canadian-built weather station, contributed to the mission by the Canadian Space Agency.The SSI images are part of a panorama of the lander's deck and instruments.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. | |
These NASA Mars Odyssey images show layered deposits located on the floor of Ganges Chasma, part of the Valles Marineris canyon system, in both infrared (left) and visible (right) wavelengths. | These Mars Odyssey images show layered deposits located on the floor of Ganges Chasma, part of the Valles Marineris canyon system, in both infrared (left) and visible (right) wavelengths. The images were acquired simultaneously by the thermal emission imaging system on March 17, 2002. The box shows where the visible image is located within the infrared image. The infrared image displays variations in surface temperature where bright tones indicate warmer surfaces and dark tones are cooler ones. Dramatic layering can be seen throughout the central deposit in both the infrared and visible images. Different styles of erosion are shown in these different layers, suggesting that Mars was subject to changing environments during its history. The infrared image has a resolution of 100 meters (328 feet) per pixel and is 32 kilometers (20 miles) wide. The visible image has a resolution of 18 meters per pixel and is approximately 18 kilometers (11 miles) wide. Pixel brightness in the infrared image is controlled by the temperature of the surface, which is in turn depend on how much Sun the area gets. Hence, dark units will heat up during the day and appear bright in the infrared. Conversely, visibly bright areas will not heat up as much and will appear dark in the infrared image. The images are centered at 7.1 degrees south latitude and 310.4 degrees east longitude.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Dust devil tracks criss-cross the surface in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageDust devil tracks criss-cross the surface in this VIS image.Orbit Number: 42706 Latitude: -63.2503 Longitude: 355.276 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-07-31 16:26Please 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 color image taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's panoramic camera on Sol 40, 2004 is centered on an unusually flaky rock called 'Mimi' on Gusev Crater. | This color image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's panoramic camera on Sol 40 is centered on an unusually flaky rock called Mimi. Mimi is only one of many features in the area known as "Stone Council," but looks very different from any rock that scientists have seen at the Gusev crater site so far. Mimi's flaky appearance leads scientists to a number of hypotheses. Mimi could have been subjected to pressure either through burial or impact, or may have once been a dune that was cemented into flaky layers, a process that sometimes involves the action of water. | |
This cylindrical-projection mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 101 (April 15, 2004). It reveals Spirit's view just before a stopping-point dubbed 'Missoula Crater.' | This left eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 101 (April 15, 2004). It reveals Spirit's view just before a stopping-point dubbed "Missoula Crater." The rover is on its way to the "Columbia Hills."See PIA05777 for 3-D view and PIA05779 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective mosaic. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a portion of Lycus Sulci, a complex region of ridges located on the northern side of Olympus Mons. The term sulci means subparallel furrows and ridges. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a portion of Lycus Sulci, a complex region of ridges located on the northern side of Olympus Mons. The term sulci means subparallel furrows and ridges.Orbit Number: 54147 Latitude: 31.6354 Longitude: 220.399 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-02-27 08:03Please 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. | |
Small Secondary Craters | Image PSP_001342_1910 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on November 9, 2006. The complete image is centered at 10.7 degrees latitude, 158.5 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 274.3 km (171.4 miles). At this distance the image scale is 27.4 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~82 cm across are resolved. The image shown here has been map-projected to 25 cm/pixel and north is up. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:28 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 51 degrees, thus the sun was about 39 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 132.6 degrees, the season on Mars is Northern Summer.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a different part of Olympica Fossae. In this region lava channels dominate. The complex interaction of volcanic and tectonic processes is illustrated by the central feature in this image. | Context imageToday's VIS image is of a different part of Olympica Fossae from the previous image. In this region lava channels dominate. The complex interaction of volcanic and tectonic processes is illustrated by the central feature in this image. The linear (vertical) tectonic feature terminates and forms a volcanic channel heading to the left side of the image. The entire Tharsis region contains many examples of the complex interaction of volcanic and tectonic processes.Orbit Number: 62178 Latitude: 24.8408 Longitude: 246.5 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-12-20 12:16Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The Canadian-built lidar aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander produced this graphic of a profile of a Martian cloud on Sept. 3, 2008. The vertical streaks at the base of the cloud at right show ice crystals falling from the cloud, similar to snow. | The Canadian-built lidar aboard NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander produced this graphic of a profile of a Martian cloud on the 99th sol, or Martian day, of the mission (Sept. 3, 2008). The vertical streaks at the base of the cloud on the right of the image show ice crystals falling from the cloud, similar to snow. The streaks are curved as the winds are faster around 3 kilometers (almost 2 miles) than at higher altitudes. Scientists are able to determine that the snow is water-based and not carbon-dioxide snow, since temperatures on Mars are currently too warm to support the latter.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 shows a small portion of the extensive lava flows created by the large Tharsis volcanoes as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. These flows are located north east of Ascraeus Mons. | Context imageThis VIS image shows a small portion of the extensive lava flows created by the large Tharsis volcanoes. These flows are located north east of Ascraeus Mons.Orbit Number: 53296 Latitude: 16.4472 Longitude: 272.098 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-12-19 07:25Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
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. | 9 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: 60.4°S, 242.5°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Summer | |
Engineers in a Mars-like test area at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory try possible strategies to aid the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) on NASA's InSight lander, using engineering models of the lander, robotic arm and instrument. | Engineers in a Mars-like test area at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory try possible strategies to aid the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) on NASA's InSight lander, using engineering models of the lander, robotic arm and instrument. In this image, the model's robotic arm is lifting up part of HP3 to expose the self-hammering mole that is partially embedded in the testbed soil. Standing mid-ground are engineers Ashitey Trebi-Ollennu (left) and Troy Lee Hudson (right). Lights in the testbed intended to simulate Mars' lighting conditions give the image an orange tint. Engineers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR), which provided HP3, have also been working on strategies to help the probe. JPL manages InSight for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the InSight spacecraft, including its cruise stage and lander, and supports spacecraft operations for the mission.A number of European partners, including France's Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are supporting the InSight mission. CNES provided the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument to NASA, with the principal investigator at IPGP (Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris). Significant contributions for SEIS came from IPGP; the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany; the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich) in Switzerland; Imperial College London and Oxford University in the United Kingdom; and JPL. DLR provided the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument, with significant contributions from the Space Research Center (CBK) of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Astronika in Poland. Spain's Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) supplied the temperature and wind sensors.For more information about the mission, go to https://mars.nasa.gov/insight. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a field of sand dunes in an unnamed crater located in Margaritifer Terra. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a field of sand dunes in an unnamed crater located in Margaritifer Terra. Most sand dunes on Mars are made of dark basaltic sands.Orbit Number: 78228 Latitude: 6.60598 Longitude: 346.706 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-08-03 14:35Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This enhanced-color image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the Phoenix landing area viewed from orbit. With its solar panels deployed on the Martian surface, the spacecraft appears more blue than it would in reality. | This enhanced-color image from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera shows the Phoenix landing area viewed from orbit. The spacecraft appears more blue than it would in reality. From top to bottom are the Phoenix lander with its solar panels deployed on the Martian surface, the heat shield and bounce mark the heat shield made on the Martian surface, and the top of the Phoenix parachute attached to the bottom of the back shell.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 vertical projection image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows tracks from the drive extend northward across dark-toned sand ripples and light-toned patches of exposed bedrock in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this full-circle view of the rover's surroundings just after driving 111 meters (364 feet) on the 1,797th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's surface mission (Feb. 12, 2009). North is at the center; south at both ends.Tracks from the drive recede northward across dark-toned sand ripples in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. Patches of lighter-toned bedrock are visible on the left and right sides of the image. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks is about 1 meter (about 40 inches).This view is presented as a vertical projection with geometric seam correction. | |
This image of Martian soil was taken by the Phoenix Lander's atomic force microscope on May 25, 2008. This image of a flat, smooth-surfaced particle is consistent with the appearance of soil from Earth containing the mineral phyllosilicate. | This image of Martian soil was taken by the Phoenix Lander's atomic force microscope on Sol 74 of the mission, which began on May 25, 2008. This image of a flat, smooth-surfaced particle is consistent with the appearance of soil from Earth containing the mineral phyllosilicate.The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by JPL, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development was by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.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 full-resolution image shows one of the first views from NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 PDT (early morning hours Aug. 6 EDT). | This full-resolution image shows one of the first views from NASA's Curiosity rover, which landed on Mars the evening of Aug. 5 PDT (early morning hours Aug. 6 EDT). It was taken through a "fisheye" wide-angle lens on one of the rover's front Hazard-Avoidance cameras. These engineering cameras are located at the rover's base. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its panoramic camera to capture this false-color image of the interior of 'Endurance Crater' on the rover's 188th martian day (Aug. 4, 2004). | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its panoramic camera to capture this false-color image of the interior of "Endurance Crater" on the rover's 188th martian day (Aug. 4, 2004). The image data were relayed to Earth by the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter. The image was generated from separate frames using the cameras 750-, 530- and 480-nanometer filters. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a windstreak on lava plains southwest of Arsia Mons. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a windstreak on lava plains southwest of Arsia Mons. The extensive lava flow field is called Daedalia Planum. The dark and bright material forming the "tail" behind the crater were created by surface winds funneling over and around the crater. The raised rim and bowl of impact craters causes a complex interaction such that the wind vortex in the lee of the crater can both scour away the surface dust and deposit it back in the center of the lee. The "tail" shows the direction of the wind, in this case blowing from the right to the left.Orbit Number: 81564 Latitude: -15.0456 Longitude: 226.493 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-05-04 07:02Please 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. | |
NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used its abrasion tool to grind down the rock surface at this target, nicknamed Bellegarde, on August 29, 2021. | Figure 1NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used its abrasion tool to grind down the rock surface at this target, nicknamed "Bellegarde," on Aug. 29, 2021, the 188th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The abraded patch is 2 inches (5 centimeters) in diameter. The mission has nicknamed the rock itself "Rochette" and acquired its first two core samples from it. The rover abrades rocks using a tool on its robotic arm before drilling them in order to clear away dust and weathering rinds, allowing other instruments to study the rocks and determine if scientists want to grab a sample of them. This close-up image was produced by Perseverance's SuperCam instrument in natural color, as it would appear under daytime lighting conditions. A second image (Figure 1) is enhanced color. Besides imagery, SuperCam has a rock-vaporizing laser and spectrometer. By studying a rock's vapor after each laser zap, scientists can study the chemical composition of rocks from a distance.Perseverance landed in Mars' Jezero Crater on Feb. 18, 2021, and has been exploring the floor of the crater since. At the time these images were taken, Perseverance was in an area nicknamed the "Crater Floor Fractured Rough" area.SuperCam is led by Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where the instrument's Body Unit was developed. That part of the instrument includes several spectrometers as well as control electronics and software. The Mast Unit, including the Remote Microscopic Imager used for these images, was developed and built by several laboratories of the CNRS (the French research center) and French universities under the contracting authority of Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales (CNES, the French space agency).A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California built and manages operations of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover for NASA.For more about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ and nasa.gov/perseverance | |
This mosaic of images from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows surroundings of the rover's location following an 100.7-meter (330-foot) drive on Oct. 17, 2010. 3D glasses are necessary. | Left-eye view of a color stereo pairRight-eye view of a color stereo pairThis mosaic of images from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows surroundings of the rover's location following an 100.7-meter (330-foot) drive during the 2,393rd Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's mission on Mars (Oct. 17, 2010). South is at the center; north at both ends. The view appears three-dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses with the red lens on the left.The camera took the component images for this 360-degree panorama during sols 2393 and 2394. The terrain includes light-toned bedrock and darker ripples of wind-blown sand. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks in the right half of the image is about 1 meter (about 40 inches).This panorama combines right-eye and left-eye views presented as cylindrical-perspective projections. | |
The sand sheet and dune forms in this image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft are located on the floor of Rabe Crater. | Context imageThe sand sheet and dune forms in this VIS image are located on the floor of Rabe Crater.Orbit Number: 49671 Latitude: -43.6927 Longitude: 35.1712 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-02-23 22:43 Please 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. |
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