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NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity broke its own record for the deepest hole ground into a rock on another planet with a 7.2-millimeter (about 0.28-inch) grind on the rock 'Pilbara,' on the rover's 86th sol on Mars. | The Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity broke its own record for the deepest hole ground into a rock on another planet with a 7.2-millimeter (about 0.28-inch) grind on the rock "Pilbara," on the rover's 86th sol on Mars.This image is a panoramic camera picture highlighting the hole left by the rock abrasion tool after two hours and 16 minutes of grinding. The hole is 7.2 millimeters (about 0.28 inches) deep and 4.5 centimeters (about 1.8 inches) in diameter. The tool swept the hole clean after grinding, leaving the ring of cuttings around the hole. When this image was taken, the abraded area was mostly shaded by the rover, with the sun peeking through the joint that connects the front solar panel to the body of the rover.The team has developed a new approach to commanding the rock abrasion tool that allows for more aggressive grinding parameters. The tool is now programmed, in the event of a stall, to retreat from its target and attempt to grind again. This allows the grinder to essentially reset itself instead of aborting its sequence altogether and waiting for further commands from rover planners. | |
This image, captured by NASA's Mars Odyssey on May 23, 2010 of Daedalia Planum, shows various lava flows from Arsia Mons. | Context imageThis VIS image of Daedalia Planum shows various lava flows from Arsia Mons.Orbit Number: 37432 Latitude: -20.3128 Longitude: 233.112 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-05-23 10:09Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
On this map of Mars, spectrometers on spacecraft orbiting Mars have detected clay minerals (green) and hydrated minerals-- clays, sulfates and others (blue). | On this map of Mars, areas indicated in green are where spectrometers on spacecraft orbiting Mars have detected clay minerals and areas indicated in blue are where those spectrometers have detected hydrated minerals (clays, sulfates and others). Both clay and sulfate minerals are important for understanding past environmental conditions on Mars. Detections mapped here were made by the OMEGA visible and infrared mineralogical mapping spectrometer (Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces et l'Activité) on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter and by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, reported by Bethany Ehlmann and François Poulet of the Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, Orsay, France, and Janice Bishop of the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center, Mountain View, Calif.Observations by these spectrometers identified the hydrated minerals, including clays, after NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity had landed in January 2004, but the rover is still active, and is now close to exposures seen from orbit of each of these types of minerals.The base map is shaded topography based on data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter. | |
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 some of the plains of Margaritifer Terra. | Context image The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows some of the plains of Margaritifer Terra.Orbit Number: 51484 Latitude: -19.1306 Longitude: 331.896 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-07-23 03:11Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Part of the western wall of Shalbatana Vallis on Mars has collapsed and formed a landslide as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey. | Context image for PIA08083Wall FailurePart of the western wall of Shalbatana Vallis has collapsed and formed a landslide.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 5.3N, Longitude 316.3E. 18 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images. Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows dark sand dunes near the center of Schaeberle Crater on Mars. Steep slopes on the dunes point northwest. | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-391, 14 June 2003This March 2003 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dark sand dunes near the center of Schaeberle Crater, located at 24.6°S, 310.3°W. The steepest slopes on the dunes point toward the left/upper left (northwest), indicating that, when the dunes were active, the dominant regional winds blew from the right/lower right (southeast). The dunes today, however, have a somewhat stunted and sculpted appearance, which suggests that in the most recent part of their history, they have been somewhat eroded. This image covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and is illuminated from the upper left. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a section of Bahram Vallis. This channel is located in northern Lunae Planum, south of Kasei Valles. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a section of Bahram Vallis. This channel is located in northern Lunae Planum, south of Kasei Valles. Bharam Vallis drains from the higher elevations of Lunae Planum towards the Chryse Planitia basin. This channel is over 300km long (186miles).Orbit Number: 94826 Latitude: 21.4639 Longitude: 303.82 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2023-05-01 06:44Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Lighter colors represent higher elevation in this image of Jezero Crater on Mars, the landing site for NASA's Mars 2020 mission. The oval indicates the landing ellipse, where the rover will be touching down on Mars. | Lighter colors represent higher elevation in this image of Jezero Crater on Mars, the landing site for NASA's Mars 2020 mission. The oval indicates the landing ellipse, where the rover will be touching down on Mars. The color added to this image helps the crater rim stand out clearly, and makes it easier to spot the shoreline of a lake that dried up billions of years ago.Scientists want to visit this shoreline because it may have preserved fossilized microbial life, if any ever formed on Mars.The image was created using data from a combination of instruments and spacecraft: NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and its Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA); NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and its Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) and Context Camera (CTX); and the European Space Agency's Mars Express and its High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC).The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, led the work to build the CRISM instrument and operates CRISM in coordination with an international team of researchers from universities, government and the private sector. Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego built and operates CTX. MOLA was built and operated by a team headed at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows apart of the rim of an unnamed crater in Terra Sirenum. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of the rim of an unnamed crater in Terra Sirenum. A group of channels dissect the rim in the center of the image. These channels are called gullies due to being on a steep slope rather than a flat river plain. In some images it is possible to see a boundary layer between the upper incised gully and a lower deposition region. The boundary marks a change in slope, the steep upper portion supports fast moving fluid that carves into the rim eroding materials. The change to a flatter slope causes the fluid to slow down and as it slows the materials carried by the fluid are deposited.Orbit Number: 91136 Latitude: -43.5736 Longitude: 206.861 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-07-01 10:26Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows dark slope streaks on the inner rim of an unnamed crater in Amazonis Planitia. | Context imageThis VIS image shows dark slope streaks on the inner rim of an unnamed crater in Amazonis Planitia.Orbit Number: 56152 Latitude: 13.5003 Longitude: 200.567 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-08-11 07:33Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a channel within a region of chaos NW of Nili Fossae; on Mars, the term 'chaos' terrain is given to regions where areas of the surface are broken up into multiple mesas divided by low valleys. | Context imageOn Mars, the term 'chaos' terrain is given to regions where areas of the surface are broken up into multiple mesas divided by low valleys. Channels in regions of chaos indicate that fluids played a part in the formation of these regions. Today's VIS image shows a channel within a region of chaos NW of Nili Fossae.Orbit Number: 38485 Latitude: 28.4626 Longitude: 72.64 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-08-11 12:42:46Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Arcadia Planitia, shown in this NASA Mars Odyssey image, occupies a region just north of Amazonis Planitia, one of the brightest and dustiest regions on Mars. | Arcadia Planitia occupies a region just north of Amazonis Planitia, one of the brightest and dustiest regions on Mars. Along the boundary between these two regions is a dark splotch roughly 600 km long that is relatively free of dust. This THEMIS image straddles the border of the dark splotch, producing the dramatic change in brightness from north to south. Note that many of the small craters in the dark portion of the image contain bright material on their floor. It may be that a mantle of dust has been stripped back revealing the dark surface of the splotch but the crater floors have retained the dust. Alternatively, the bright material may represent a more resistant unit that once covered the area and is difficult to erode from the crater floors. Either way, the presence of the bright material in so many craters produces a scene that is quite unusual for the surface of Mars.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Mawrth Valles, a channel carved by giant floods billions of years ago. | Context imageAll this week, the THEMIS Image of the Day is following on the real Mars the path taken by fictional astronaut Mark Watney, stranded on the Red Planet in the book and movie, The Martian.Today's image shows part of Mawrth Valles, a channel carved by giant floods billions of years ago. The highlands lying to the south and west of the channel are under consideration as a potential landing site for NASA's Mars 2020 rover. Remote-sensing observations from orbit show widespread exposures of clay minerals, indicating alteration by water early in Martian history. These might preserve traces of ancient life, if there was any.For astronaut Mark Watney, driving in a pressurized and solar-powered rover vehicle, Mawrth Valles offers a gentle slope and an easy-to-follow route up from Acidalia's low-lying plains into the Arabia Terra highlands. At this point in his journey, he has driven about 750 kilometers (470 miles).Orbit Number: 38563 Latitude: 24.4297 Longitude: 341.726 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-08-24 14:56Please 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. | |
The unusual texture seen in this image of Galle Crater is likely layered deposits that have been eroded. Small dune and windstreak features in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft, indicate that winds are part of the erosive process. | Context imageThe unusual texture seen in this image of Galle Crater is likely layered deposits that have been eroded. There are small dune and windstreak features in this image, indicating that winds are part of the erosive process.Orbit Number: 57733 Latitude: -51.7743 Longitude: 329.135 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-12-19 11:13Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
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 the interior of Hale Crater. | Context image The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of the interior of Hale Crater.Orbit Number: 51172 Latitude: -35.4704 Longitude: 323.425 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-06-27 11:08Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The area where NASA's Curiosity rover will land on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT) has a geological diversity that scientists are eager to investigate, as seen in this false-color map based on data from NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. | The area where NASA's Curiosity rover will land on Aug. 5 PDT (Aug. 6 EDT) has a geological diversity that scientists are eager to investigate, as seen in this false-color map based on data from NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. The image was obtained by Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging System. It merges topographical data with thermal inertia data that record the ability of the surface to hold onto heat.The yellow oval shows the elliptical landing target for Curiosity's landing site.An alluvial fan is visible around a crater to the northwest of the landing area. A series of undulating lines traveling southeast from the crater indicates similar material moving down a slope. The material, which appears bluish-green in this image, also forms a fan shape.An area in red indicates a surface material that is more tightly cemented together than rocks around it and likely has a high concentration of minerals. An attractive interpretation for this texture is that water could have been present there some time in the past.Curiosity is expected to land within the large Gale Crater. The rim of a smaller crater (about a half mile, or 1 kilometer, in diameter) inside of Gale is visible at the bottom right of the image.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 subframe image from the left Mastcam on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the covers in place over two sample inlet funnels of the rover's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite. | This subframe image from the left Mast Camera (Mastcam) on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows the covers in place over two sample inlet funnels of the rover's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite.Curiosity delivered SAM's first soil sample on the day this image was taken, the 93rd Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Nov. 9, 2012).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. For more information about Curiosity and its mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. | |
This NASA Mars Odyssey image shows a portion of the summit region of Arsia Mons, one of the four giant volcanoes in the Tharsis region of Mars. This volcano stands more than 20 km above the surrounding plains, and is about 450 km in diameter at its base. | (Released 20 May 2002)The ScienceThis THEMIS visible image shows a portion of the summit region of Arsia Mons, one of the four giant volcanoes in the Tharsis region of Mars. This volcano stands over 20 km above the surrounding plains, and is approximately 450 km in diameter at its base. A large volcanic crater known as a "caldera" is located at the summit of all of the Tharsis volcanoes. These calderas are produced by massive volcanic explosions and collapse. The Arsia Mons summit caldera alone is over 120 km in diameter, making it larger than many volcanoes on Earth. The THEMIS image shows a portion of the eastern wall of the caldera, revealing the steep walls and linear features associated with the collapse that formed the caldera. The ridge with linear faults that extends from the lower left toward the center right was formed at some stage during a collapse event. Several circular pits are present, and several of these pits appear to have coalesced into a long, unusual trough. These pits and troughs likely formed when lava was removed from beneath them and the overlying surface collapsed. Numerous lava flows can be seen on the floor of the caldera. Many of these flows occurred after the collapse that formed the caldera crater, and have buried many of the pre-existing features. The faulted, pitted ridge appears to have been partially flooded by these lava flows, indicating that the caldera of Arsia Mons has undergone a complex history of numerous events. The wispy bright features throughout the image are water-ice clouds that commonly form over the volcano summits during the early northern spring when this image was acquired.The StoryWhen the Martian volcano Arsia Mons exploded long ago, it sent lava spewing out everywhere. With the removal of this molten material, the volcano then collapsed at its opening (the top of its cone) to form a sunken volcanic crater known as a caldera. You can see it more fully in the context image to the right.The eastern wall of the caldera is the pale white strip running diagonally across the bottom third of the image. By looking at this steep wall and the streaks running down its sides, you can imagine how all of the remaining material rushed down into the void left by expelled magma and ash to form the caldera depression. Numerous lava flows that occurred after the collapse texturize the floor of the caldera, and have buried many of its pre-existing features.These later lava flows might be a little harder to see, because wispy bright features blur this image slightly, giving it an almost marbled, hazy appearance. They are water-ice clouds that typically form over the volcano summits during the early northern spring. What they don't obscure very much is the raised ridge created during the collapse of the volcano's cone (running slightly north of the caldera wall along the same diagonal).Draped across the smoother caldera floor, this pitted ridge has been partially flooded by lava flows, indicating quite a complex history of geologic events has taken place here. Faults cut through the ridge, contributing to its streamer-like appearance. And, in a process somewhat like the formation of the caldera itself, all of the round and oblong pits and troughs in the ridge formed when lava was removed from underneath these areas, and the overlying surface then collapsed.Arsia Mons is one of the four giant Martian volcanoes found in a region called Tharsis. Arsia Mons is about 270 miles wide in diameter at its base, and rises 12 miles high above the surrounding plains. The caldera at its summit is more than 72 miles wide, making it larger than volcanoes on Earth. By comparison, the largest volcano on Earth is Mauna Loa on the island of Hawaii, which is about 6.3 miles high and 75 miles wide in diameter at its base. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows some of the rounded, wind-eroded sand dune features in a crater in the southern hemisphere of Mars. For such rounding to occur, the dune sand might need to be somewhat cemented. | 28 June 2004Looking somewhat like caterpillars, this April 2004 Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows some of the rounded, wind-eroded sand dune features in a crater in the southern hemisphere near 61.7°S, 160.3°W. For such rounding to occur, the dune sand might need to be somewhat cemented. The picture covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows an example of a central peak crater. This unnamed crater is located on the floor of Newton Crater in Terra Sirenum. | Context imageThis VIS image shows an example of a central peak crater. This unnamed crater is located on the floor of Newton Crater in Terra Sirenum.Orbit Number: 57962 Latitude: -42.1211 Longitude: 201.814 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-01-07 07:47Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows features in the Cydonia region of Mars. | The recent motion picture, "Mission to Mars," takes as part of its premise that certain features in the Cydonia region of Mars were constructed as monuments by ancient Martians. This idea--widely popularized in books, magazines, tabloids and other news/infotainment media--has its origin in the chance observation (in 1976) by one of the Viking Orbiter spacecraft of a face-like hill. On April 5, 1998, the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft performed a specially-planned maneuver to photograph the "Face on Mars." Having successfully imaged the "Face" on its first attempt, two additional maneuvers were used to observe other purported "artificial" features: the "City" (a cluster of small mountains west-southwest of the "Face") and the "City Square" (a group of four small hills surrounded by the larger mountains of the "City"). These special observations occurred during the Science Phasing Orbits period of the MGS mission, while the spacecraft was in a 12 hour, elliptical orbit. A year later, in March 1999, MGS attained its final, circular, polar Mapping Orbit, from which it has now subsequently observed the planet for a year. During this year of mapping, the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) has continued to make observations within the Cydonia region whenever the MGS spacecraft has flown over that area. Click on Image for larger viewThe above figure shows the location of all high resolution (narrow angle) MOC images of the Cydonia region that have been obtained to date, including the first three taken in 1998 (PIA01240, PIA01241, AND PIA01440). These images are superimposed upon a mosaic of Viking images taken during the 1970's. Images acquired during the Science Phasing Orbit period of 1998 slant from bottom left to top right; Mapping Phase images (from 1999 and 2000) slant from lower right to upper left. Owing to the nature of the orbit, and in particular to the limitations on controlling the location of the orbit, the longitudinal distribution of images (left/right in the images above) is distinctly non-uniform. An attempt to take a picture of a portion of the "Face" itself in mid-February 2000 was foiled when the MGS spacecraft experienced a sequencing error and most of that day's data were not returned to Earth. Only the first 97 lines were received; the image's planned footprint is shown as a dashed box. This image is one in a series of eight. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a north polar dust storm on March 7, 2003. White features at the top of the image are the water ice surfaces of Mar's north polar residual cap. | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-334, 18 April 2003This composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) wide angle daily global images shows a north polar dust storm on March 7, 2003. Similar late summer storms occurred nearly every day from late February well into April 2003; these were also seen in late summer in 1999 and 2001. The white features at the top of the image are the water ice surfaces of the north polar residual cap. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows terrain in northwestern Argyre Planitia on Mars during southern autumn in August 2004. Several mesas stand high above a rippled plain. | 26 October 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows terrain in northwestern Argyre Planitia during southern autumn in August 2004. Several mesas stand high above a rippled plain. Argyre is a very ancient and heavily modified impact basin. The ripple patterns were probably formed from windblown sediment. This image is located near 47.1°S, 45.6°W. The picture covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. | |
Mini Matterhorn' is a 3/4 meter rock immediately east-southeast of NASA's Mars Pathfinder lander. 3D glasses are necessary to identify surface detail. | "Mini Matterhorn" is a 3/4 meter rock immediately east-southeast of the Mars Pathfinder lander. This view was produced by combining the "Super Panorama" frames from the IMP camera. Super resolution was applied to help to address questions about the texture of this rock and what it might tell us about its mode of origin.The composite color frames that make up this anaglyph were produced for both the right and left eye of the IMP. These composites consist of 7 frames in the right eye and 8 frames in the left eye, taken with different color filters that were enlarged by 500% and then co-added using Adobe Photoshop to produce, in effect, a super-resolution panchromatic frame that is sharper than an individual frame would be. These panchromatic frames were then colorized with the red, green, and blue filtered images from the same sequence. The color balance was adjusted to approximate the true color of Mars.The anaglyph view was produced by combining the left with the right eye color composite frames by assigning the left eye composite view to the red color plane and the right eye composite view to the green and blue color planes (cyan), to produce a stereo anaglyph mosaic. This mosaic can be viewed in 3-D on your computer monitor or in color print form by wearing red-blue 3-D glasses.Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).The left eye and right eye panoramas from which this anaglyph was created is available at PIA02405 and PIA02406.
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 captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a portion of one of many dust devils on Mars. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThere are many dust devils on Mars -- little twisters that raise dust from the surface. They have also cleaned dust off of the solar panels of the rovers Opportunity and Spirit, improving the solar power production. (Spirit became stuck in 2009 and ceased communication a year later.)HiRISE sees many dust-devil tracks on Mars, but rarely captures an active feature because the images cover such small areas and because the typical time of day near 3 p.m. is past the peak heating and dust-devil activity. In this 2008 image in the Amazonis region, we got lucky, although not lucky enough to capture the whole swirl in the color strip.The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 29.5 centimeters (11.6 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 58.9 centimeters (23.2 inches) per pixel (with 2 x 2 binning)]. North is up.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
Diagonal striping on this map of a portion of the Utopia Planitia region on Mars indicates the area where a large subsurface deposit rich in water ice was assessed using the Shallow Radar instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. | Diagonal striping on this map of a portion of the Utopia Planitia region on Mars indicates the area where a large subsurface deposit rich in water ice was assessed using the Shallow Radar (SHARAD) instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.The area is about halfway between the planet's equator and north pole, and the deposit is estimated to hold about as much water as what is in Lake Superior, largest of the Great Lakes. The scale bar at lower right indicates 140 kilometers (76 miles). The violet vertical bars show depth to the bottom of the ice-rich deposit, as estimated from SHARAD passes overhead. Darkest violet indicates a depth of about 550 feet (about 170 meters). Palest violet indicates a depth of about 33 feet (10 meters). The value of 2.8 plus-or-minus 0.8 in the upper right corner denotes the dielectric constant, a property related to radar reflectivity. The value of 14,300 cubic kilometers is an estimate of the volume of water in the deposit. SHARAD was provided by the Italian Space Agency. Its operations are led by Sapienza University of Rome, and its data are analyzed by a joint U.S.-Italian science team. The Planetary Science Institute, Tucson, Arizona, leads U.S. involvement in SHARAD. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the orbiter and supports its operations. | |
Deep Hole in 'Clovis' (False Color) | At a rock called "Clovis," the rock abrasion tool on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit cut a 9-millimeter (0.35-inch) hole during the rover's 216th martian day, or sol (Aug. 11, 2004). The hole is the deepest drilled in a rock on Mars so far. This false color view was made from images taken by Spirit's panoramic camera on sol 226 (Aug. 21, 2004) at around 12:50 p.m. local true solar time -- early afternoon in Gusev Crater on Mars. To the right is a "brush flower" of circles produced by scrubbing the surface of the rock with the abrasion tool's wire brush. Scientists used rover's Moessbauer spectrometer and alpha particle X-ray spectrometer to look for iron-bearing minerals and determine the elemental chemical composition of the rock. This composite combines images taken with the camera's 750-, 530-, and 430-nanometer filters. The grayish-blue hue in this image suggests that the interior of the rock contains iron minerals that are less oxidized than minerals on the surface. The diameter of the hole cut into the rock is 4.5 centimeters (1.8 inches). | |
Ada Crater is a fresh (recently-formed) impact crater formed close to the southern edge of Meridiani Planum, far to the southeast of NASA's Opportunity rover. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | Figure 1Figure 2Ada Crater is a fresh (recently-formed) impact crater formed close to the southern edge of Meridiani Planum, far to the southeast of the Opportunity rover. Shown here are two red-blue color anaglyphs in which you can view the topography with red-blue glasses (blue filter over your right eye). Figure 1 covers the crater and shows a relatively large area but with 3x reduction of spatial scale (75 cm/pixel). The crater looks extremely deep, but that impression is greatly exaggerated! We acquire stereo pairs with separation angles much greater than that of our own eyes, in order to extract for accurate measurements. But the effect on color anaglyphs is to exaggerate the relief, which can be vertigo-inducing over steep terrain. Figure 2 covers a portion of the ejecta blanket at full resolution. Here the vertical exaggeration is quite helpful to visualize the subtle undulations.(We previously released image PSP_001348_1770, but acquired a later image (PSP_1678_1770) over this same area but from a different viewing angle to provide stereo coverage. See PIA09372.)Observation GeometryImage PSP_001678_1770 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on 05-Dec-2006. The complete image is centered at -3.0 degrees latitude, 356.8 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 305.1 km (190.7 miles). At this distance the image scale is 30.5 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~92 cm across are resolved. The image shown here has been map-projected to 25 cm/pixel and north is up. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 03:44 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 58 degrees, thus the sun was about 32 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 145.6 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 graphic depicts Perseverance's entry into Séítah from both an orbital and subsurface perspective. | This annotated-composite graphic shows the entry of NASA's Perseverance rover into the "South Séítah" geologic unit from both an orbital and subsurface perspective.The annotated view from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbitor (MRO) depicts the route Perseverance took into Séítah. The image was provided by MRO's High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE).The graphic below the orbital image is the first "radargram" to be released by the Radar Imager for Mars' Subsurface Experiment (RIMFAX) instrument aboard Perseverance. It shows the subsurface as the rover drove across the "Artuby" ridgeline. The red lines link bright subsurface "reflectors" to erosion-resistant layers outcropping at the surface.The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.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.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California built and manages operations of the Mars 2020 Perseverance rover for NASA.For more information about the mission, go to:https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020https://mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/spacecraft/instruments/rimfax/ | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft show windstreaks found on Daedalia Planum. | Context imageThese windstreaks are found on Daedalia Planum.Orbit Number: 42349 Latitude: -10.9922 Longitude: 223.593 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-07-02 06:46Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image released on Dec 1, 2004 from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows Olympica Fossae. Located between Olympus Mons and Alba Patera on Mars, this entire region is comprised of volcanic flows. All the channels were created by volcanic activity. | Today's image is of Olympica Fossae. Located between Olympus Mons and Alba Patera, this entire region is comprised of volcanic flows. All the channels seen in this image were created by volcanic activity. Many shallow channels surround the deeper main channel.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 23.7, Longitude 244.2 East (115.8 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 spacecraft shows dunes in located on the floor of Lyot Crater. | Context imageThe dunes in today's image are located on the floor of Lyot Crater.Orbit Number: 44964 Latitude: 49.4482 Longitude: 29.8912 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-02-02 14:21Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This false-color image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a canyon wall located in Hebes Chasma, taken during Mars' southern fall season. | The THEMIS VIS camera is capable of capturing color images of the Martian surface using five different color filters. In this mode of operation, the spatial resolution and coverage of the image must be reduced to accommodate the additional data volume produced from using multiple filters. To make a color image, three of the five filter images (each in grayscale) are selected. Each is contrast enhanced and then converted to a red, green, or blue intensity image. These three images are then combined to produce a full color, single image. Because the THEMIS color filters don't span the full range of colors seen by the human eye, a color THEMIS image does not represent true color. Also, because each single-filter image is contrast enhanced before inclusion in the three-color image, the apparent color variation of the scene is exaggerated. Nevertheless, the color variation that does appear is representative of some change in color, however subtle, in the actual scene. Note that the long edges of THEMIS color images typically contain color artifacts that do not represent surface variation.This false color image of a canyon wall located in Hebes Chasma, was collected during the Southern Fall season. Hebes Chasma is located north of Valles Marineris.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -1.5, Longitude 284.5 East (75.5 West). 35 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a region on the north end of Gordii Dorsum. Wind is the main source of erosion in this region, so the unusual texture may indicate that the surface material in this region is different from nearby regions. | Context imageThis region on the north end of Gordii Dorsum has an odd texture. Wind is main source of erosion in this region, so the unusual texture may indicate that the surface material in this region is different from nearby regions.Orbit Number: 38742 Latitude: 9.71192 Longitude: 215.534 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-09-08 08:45Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
A football-field-size crater, informally named 'Santa Maria,' dominates the scene in this polar projection from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. | Originally released December 23, 2010A football-field-size crater, informally named "Santa Maria," dominates the scene in this 360-degree, stereo view from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.Following a 25-meter (82-foot) drive on the 2,451st Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (Dec. 16, 2010), Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the frames combined into this mosaic. The view is presented as a polar projection, with north at the top. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image acquired on October 23, 2022 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the northern plains of Arabia Terra, with craters that contain curious deposits with mysterious shapes and distribution. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionHiRISE images often raise more questions than answers. For example, this image of the northern plains of Arabia Terra shows craters that contain curious deposits with mysterious shapes and distribution.The deposits are found only in craters larger than 600 meters in diameter and are absent from craters measuring 450 meters and less. The deposits are located on the south sides of the craters but not in the north (although the cutout shows a crater that also has windblown deposits in the north). The deposits have horizontal laminations that could be layers or terraces. The deposits also have radial striations formed by small bright ridges.We suspect that these features formed by sublimation of ice-rich material. The terraces might represent different epochs of sublimation. Perhaps the larger craters penetrated to a water table between 45 and 60 meters below the surface and were flooded after formation.The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 59.3 centimeters [23.3 inches] per pixel [with 2 x 2 binning]; objects on the order of 178 centimeters [70.1 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image taken by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows strange-looking grooved terrain overlies lava flows off of the western flank of the giant shield volcano Arsia Mons on Mars. | Released 29 May 2003Strange-looking grooved terrain overlies lava flows off of the western flank of the giant shield volcano Arsia Mons. It has recently been speculated that the large, concentric ridges are glacial features called moraines, which were deposited as a dry-bottomed glacier receded and left sand and rocks behind.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -7.8, Longitude 230.4 East (129.6 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows portions of two massifs composed of light-toned, sedimentary rock in Ganges Chasma, part of the Valles Marineris trough system on Mars. | 13 November 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows portions of two massifs composed of light-toned, sedimentary rock in Ganges Chasma, part of the Valles Marineris trough system. On the steeper slopes in this vista, dry talus shed from the outcrop has formed a series of dark fans. Surrounded by dark, windblown sand, these landforms are located near 8.6°S, 46.8°W. The image covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) across and sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. | |
With a location roughly equidistant between two of the largest volcanic constructs on the planet, the fate of the approximately 50 km (31 mile) impact crater in this image from NASA's Mars Odyssey was sealed. It has been buried to the rim by lava flows. | With a location roughly equidistant between two of the largest volcanic constructs on the planet, the fate of the ~50 km impact crater in this image was sealed. It has been buried to the rim by lava flows. The MOLA context image shows pronounced flow lobes surrounding the crater, a clear indication of the most recent episode of volcanism that could have contributed to its infilling. Breaches in the rim are clearly evident in the image and suggest locations through which lavas could have flowed. These openings appear to be limited to the west side of the crater. Other craters in the area are nearly obliterated by the voluminous lava flows, further demonstrating one of the means by which Mars renews its surface.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. | |
Three-Frame 'Movie' of Opportunity Rover at 'Victoria Crater' | The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter imaged Opportunity on Oct. 3, Nov. 4 and Nov. 30, 2006. Each time the rover was in a different location as it progressed around "Victoria Crater." The remainder of the scene is unchanged, except that the shadows are slightly different given variations in the time of year and time of day between images. Also, each image was acquired with slightly different viewing geometries: the orbiter was pointed 3.84 degrees to the west for the first image, 16.3 degrees west for the second, and 1.76 degrees west for the third.All three images are shown here in their original geometry, not reprojected to map format.Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu.For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, http://www.nasa.gov.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 is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a field of sand dunes, visible on the floor of this unnamed crater. The crater is located in Terra Sirenum. | Context imageA field of sand dunes is visible on the floor of this unnamed crater. The crater is located in Terra Sirenum.Orbit Number: 75239 Latitude: -46.362 Longitude: 196.929 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-11-30 10:45Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows that layered deposits in Melas Basin may have been deposited during the growth of a delta complex. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionIn this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, a group of steeply inclined light-toned layers is bounded above and below by unconformities (sudden or irregular changes from one deposit to another) that indicate a "break" where erosion of pre-existing layers was taking place at a higher rate than deposition of new materials.The layered deposits in Melas Basin may have been deposited during the growth of a delta complex. This depositional sequence likely represents a period where materials were being deposited on the floor of a lake or running river.This is a stereo pair with PSP_007878_1700.The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 28.9 centimeters (11.4 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 87 centimeters (34.2 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a large dune found on the floor of an unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea. | Context image for PIA10829DuneThis large dune in found on the floor of an unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 26.3N, Longitude 57.2E. 19 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image acquired on October 11, 2020 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows a pit about 600 meters across that is bounded by a steep scarp on its northern side. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionThis enhanced color cutout shows a pit about 600 meters across that is bounded by a steep scarp on its northern side. Similar scarps in the southern mid-latitudes are known to expose water ice that extends to within a couple meters of the surface.The ice appears to be slowly sublimating into the atmosphere, causing the scarps to retreat towards the equator (up in the cutout) and enlarge the pits. This is the first HiRISE image of this particular scarp, acquired as part of an ongoing campaign to monitor the evolution of these formations that may provide an easily accessible source of water for future human explorers.The darker, bluer streaks extending away from the top of the scarp may have been caused by winds blowing sand out of the pit and/or removing brighter dust from the surface. The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 25.3 centimeters [10.0 inches] per pixel [with 1 x 1 binning]; objects on the order of 76 centimeters [29.9 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This false-color image shows a circular indentation in a flat-topped rock surface. Around the edge of the hole is a fine layer of reddish dust. The rock is light tan with a moderately cracked the surface. Around it is a layer of bluish sand and pebbles. | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity recently stopped to analyze an exposure of rock near "Beagle Crater," on a target nicknamed "Baltra." Nearly 100 sols, or Martian days, had passed since Opportunity had last analyzed one of the now-familiar rock exposures seen on the Plains of Meridiani. The rover ground a 3-millimeter-deep (0.12-inch-deep) hole in the rock using the rock abrasion tool on sol 893 (July 29, 2006) while stationed about 25 meters (82 feet) from the southwest rim of Beagle Crater.Scientists wanted to analyze the outcrop one more time before driving the rover onto the ring of smooth material surrounding "Victoria Crater." Opportunity's analysis showed the rock to be very similar in its elemental composition to other exposures encountered during the rover's southward trek across Meridiani Planum.Opportunity acquired the image data shown here shortly after noon on Mars on sol 896 (Aug. 1, 2006) with the panoramic camera (Pancam), after backing up 1 meter (3.3 feet) from Baltra to assure that the target was in sunlight. This is a false-color image, made using the Pancam's 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer, and 432-nanometer filters. The false color emphasizes differences in rock and soil materials. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a thick, massive outcrop of light-toned rock exposed within eastern Candor Chasma, part of the vast Valles Marineris trough system on Mars. Dark, windblown sand has banked against the lower outcrop slopes. | 24 September 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a thick, massive outcrop of light-toned rock exposed within eastern Candor Chasma, part of the vast Valles Marineris trough system. Dark, windblown sand has banked against the lower outcrop slopes. Outcrops such as this in the Valles Marineris chasms have been known since Mariner 9 images were obtained in 1972. However, the debate as to whether these represent sedimentary or igneous rocks has not been settled within the Mars science community. In either case, they have the physical properties of sedimentary rock (that is, they are formed of fine-grained materials), but some igneous rocks made up of volcanic ash may also exhibit these properties. This image is located near 7.8°S, 65.3°W, and covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) across. The scene is illuminated by sunlight from the lower left. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows linear depressions, part of Nili Fossae. Nili Fossae is a collection of curved faults and down-dropped blocks of crust between the faults called graben. | Context imageThe linear depressions in today's VIS image are part of Nili Fossae. Nili Fossae is a collection of curved faults and down-dropped blocks of crust between the faults called graben. The graben lie northeast of the large volcano Syrtis Major and northwest of the ancient impact basin Isidis Planitia. Graben are formed by extension of the crust and faulting. When large amounts of pressure or tension are applied to rocks on timescales that are fast enough that the rock cannot respond by deforming, the rock breaks along faults. In the case of a graben, two parallel faults are formed by extension of the crust and the rock in between the faults drops downward into the space created by the extension. The crustal deformation in this region was in response to the basin forming event that created Isidis Planitia. The Nili Fossae graben arc around the northwestern edge of the planitia. The graben occur in many different widths.Orbit Number: 88033 Latitude: 22.7248 Longitude: 78.5195 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-10-18 22:43Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image captured by NASA's Mars Odyssey shows the layers of a polar trough and several different surface textures. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows the layers of a polar trough and several different surface textures.Orbit Number: 40282 Latitude: -86.6993 Longitude: 20.2088 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-01-13 02:37Please 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 Global Surveyor shows Utopia Planitia, one of the most heavily-cratered areas on Mars. | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-365, 19 May 2003Beneath the northern plains of Mars are numerous buried meteor impact craters. One of the most heavily-cratered areas, although buried, occurs in Utopia Planitia, as shown in this Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image. The history of Mars is complex; impact craters provide a tool by which to understand some of that history. In this case, a very ancient, cratered surface was thinly-buried by younger material that is not cratered at all. This area is near 48.1°N, 228.2°W; less than 180 km (112 mi) west of the Viking 2 lander site. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left. | |
Multiple landslide deposits are visible in this image of Ganges Chasma captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageMultiple landslide deposits are visible in today's image of Ganges Chasma.Orbit Number: 45554 Latitude: -6.56695 Longitude: 315.299 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-03-22 02:13Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey image shows multiple landslides are visible in this daytime infrared image of Capri Chasma on Mars. | Context imageCredit: NASA/JPL/MOLAMultiple landslides are visible in this daytime infrared image of Capri Chasma.Image information: IR instrument. Latitude -10.4N, Longitude 318.3E. 114 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a trough that reveals the layered nature of the polar cap ice. | Context imageThe sun has risen over the south pole in this springtime VIS image. At the center of the image is a trough that reveals the layered nature of the polar cap ice.Orbit Number: 81700 Latitude: -85.4398 Longitude: 309.383 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-05-15 11:24Please 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. | |
Spirit's West Valley Panorama | NASA'S Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured this westward view from atop a low plateau where Sprit spent the closing months of 2007.After several months near the base of the plateau called "Home Plate" in the inner basin of the Columbia Hills range inside Gusev Crater, Spirit climbed onto the eastern edge of the plateau during the rover's 1,306th Martian day, or sol, (Sept. 5, 2007). It examined rocks and soils at several locations on the southern half of Home Plate during September and October. It was perched near the western edge of Home Plate when it used its panoramic camera (Pancam) to take the images used in this view on sols 1,366 through 1,369 (Nov. 6 through Nov. 9, 2007). With its daily solar-energy supply shrinking as Martian summer turned to fall, Spirit then drove to the northern edge of Home Plate for a favorable winter haven. The rover reached that northward-tilting site in December, in time for the fourth Earth-year anniversary of its landing on Mars. Spirit reached Mars on Jan. 4, 2004, Universal Time (Jan. 3, 2004, Pacific Standard Time). It landed at a site at about the center of the horizon in this image.This panorama covers a scene spanning left to right from southwest to northeast. The western edge of Home Plate is in the foreground, generally lighter in tone than the more distant parts of the scene. A rock-dotted hill in the middle distance across the left third of the image is "Tsiolkovski Ridge," about 30 meters or 100 feet from the edge of Home Plate and about that same distance across. A bump on the horizon above the left edge of Tsiolkovski Ridge is "Grissom Hill," about 8 kilometers or 5 miles away. At right, the highest point of the horizon is "Husband Hill," to the north and about 800 meters or half a mile away.This view combines separate images taken through Pancam filters centered on wavelengths of 753 nanometers, 535 nanometers and 432 nanometers to produce an approximately true-color panorama. | |
Opportunity Gets Ready to Roll | This image shows the site where NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity will carefully roll down into Victoria Crater on Mars. This particular alcove, nicknamed "Duck Bay," has gradual slopes of about 15 to 20 degrees and exposed bedrock, making it the safest place for the rover to enter the crater. Rover drivers plan to avoid a rippled portion of terrain near the rim of the crater, and to steer Opportunity down the smoothest bedrock with the gentlest slopes.This enhanced-color view was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on Oct. 3, 2006. This image was previously released (see PIA08812). | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows several channels dissecting the higher elevations of Claritas Fossae. | Context image This VIS image shows several channels dissecting the higher elevations of Claritas Fossae.Orbit Number: 65209 Latitude: -40.6523 Longitude: 266 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-08-26 03:33Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
In this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, layering within the light-toned sulfate deposit is the result of different states of hydration. Within Valles Marineris, Mars' large canyon system, there are big and thick sequences of sulfates. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionIn this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, layering within the light-toned sulfate deposit is the result of different states of hydration. Some of the layers have sulfates with little water (known as monohydrated sulfates) whereas other layers have higher amounts of water (called polyhydrated sulfates). The different amounts of water within the sulfates may reflect changes in the water chemistry during deposition of the sulfates, or may have occurred after the sulfates were laid down when heat or pressure forced the water out of some layers, causing a decrease in the hydration state.Many locations on Mars have sulfates, which are sedimentary rocks formed in water. Within Valles Marineris, the large canyon system that cuts across the planet, there are big and thick sequences of sulfates.The CRISM instrument on MRO is crucial for telling scientists which type of sulfate is associated with each layer, because each hydration state will produce a spectrum with absorptions at specific wavelengths depending upon the amount of water contained within the sulfate.
The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 26.4 centimeters (10.4 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 79 centimeters (31.1 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.
The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image was taken by the panoramic camera onboard NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit before it rolled off the lander shows the rocky surface of Mars in 2004. | This full-resolution image taken by the panoramic camera onboard the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit before it rolled off the lander shows the rocky surface of Mars. Scientists are eager to begin examining the rocks because, unlike soil, these "little time capsules" hold memories of the ancient processes that formed them. Data from the camera's red, green and blue filters were combined to create this approximate true color picture. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of two unnamed craters in Noachis Terra. | Context image This VIS images shows part of two unnamed craters in Noachis Terra. The younger of the two craters is at the bottom of the image with one side visible in the image. The older and much larger crater has just part of the rim and floor visible towards the top of the image. The overlapping of one crater on top of another allows for relative dating to be done. We don't know the exact ages of each crater, but we can define which came first.Orbit Number: 65804 Latitude: -49.4751 Longitude: 14.2708 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-10-14 03:52Please 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. | |
Kaiser Crater Dune Field | Click on image for larger versionThis HiRISE image (PSP_003141_1330) shows a sand dune field in Kaiser Crater, a 210 km (130 miles) wide impact basin in the Hellespontus region of Mars.Winds have trapped massive quantities of sand on the floors of broad craters in this region. The steepest slopes on each dune, the slip faces, point to the east indicating that the dominant wind direction in this part of the dune field is from west to east. Patches of seasonal frost can be seen in the low areas between the dunes.The subimage reveals smaller secondary dunes superimposed on the surface of the large dunes and even smaller ripples that appear between and perpendicular to the secondary dunes. Avalanching or mass movement of sand has left deep scars on the slip face of the large dune in the upper left portion of the subimage. This may indicate that the sand is not loose but is weakly cemented.Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 3 March 2007Local Mars time: 3:43 PMDegrees latitude (centered): -46.6°Degrees longitude (East): 19.3°Range to target site: 263.9 km (164.9 miles)Original image scale range: 26.4 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~79 cm across are resolvedMap-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAREmission angle: 17.5°Phase angle: 74.6°Solar incidence angle: 58°, with the Sun about 32° above the horizonSolar longitude: 209.0°, Northern AutumnNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
Dunes are found on the floor of this unnamed crater located on the margin between Arabia Terra and Terra Sabaea in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageDunes are found on the floor of this unnamed crater located on the margin between Arabia Terra and Terra Sabaea.Orbit Number: 52843 Latitude: 6.34777 Longitude: 10.1768 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-11-12 00:49Please 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. | |
Evidence of Multiple Episodes of Gully Formation | Figure 1Click on image for larger versionThis HiRISE image (PSP_001684_1410) shows gullies in a crater in Terra Sirenum. The gullies unusually emanate from different elevations along the crater wall. Several of the gullies are extremely developed and incised, while others have very narrow, shallow channels.Many of the gullies appear to have extensive debris aprons, but that could be deceiving. Based on their surroundings, the topography underlying the debris aprons is likely not flat or gently sloping. This might cause the debris apron material to cover a wider surface area, without being as large of a volume as it might appear visually, than it otherwise would.The subimage (figure 1) shows a gully with many channels. Several of the channels overlap or are overlapped by debris aprons suggesting that multiple flow episodes occurred here. In particular, there is a large channel that sticks out from underneath the main debris apron with a debris apron of its own. If this channel originated where the alcove currently is, then it is possible that the past flow contained more liquid and that the source of liquid to form the gullies in this region is now available in smaller amounts for an unknown reason.Observation GeometryAcquisition date: 12 December 2006Local Mars time: 3:45 PMDegrees latitude (centered): -38.9 °Degrees longitude (East): 196.0 °Range to target site: 253.2 km (158.3 miles) Original image scale range: 25.3 cm/pixel(with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~76 cm across are resolvedMap-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAREmission angle: 7.3 °Phase angle: 69.1 °Solar incidence angle: 74 °, with the Sun about 16 ° above the horizonSolar longitude: 145.8 °, Northern SummerNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
This false-color image, taken by the panoramic camera on NASA's rover Opportunity, shows the rock 'Chocolate Hills,' perched on the rim of the 10-meter (33-foot) wide 'Concepcion' crater. This rock has a thick, dark-colored coating resembling chocolate. | This false-color image shows the rock "Chocolate Hills," perched on the rim of the 10-meter (33-foot) wide "Concepcion" crater. This rock has a thick, dark-colored coating that is interesting to scientists because many of the rocks in the surrounding area have the same mysterious dark stuff. The coating could be remnants of a layer that was changed by the action of water and weather or, it could be a layer of rock that melted when a meteor (less than a foot across) impacted Mars, ejecting this rock and others and creating the crater "Concepcion." Knowing its origins will help them understand the history of Mars. Opportunity's mission is to figure out the "ingredients" of this morsel by studying the chemicals in it. Patches of unusual dark material can be seen on top of this rock and on several others in the scene.The image was acquired by the Opportunity rover's panoramic camera (Pancam) on its 2144th Martian day, or sol, on Mars (Feb. 3, 2010), using several of the panoramic camera's filters (at wavelengths of 750 nanometers, 530 nanometers, and 430 nanometers). The false-color enhancement increases the contrast between different rock and soil types on the Martian surface. | |
This observation from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows bright and dark slope streaks in craters in the Arabia Terra region. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThis observation shows bright and dark slope streaks in craters in the Arabia Terra region.Slope streak formation is among the few known processes currently active on Mars. The cause of slope streaks is still debated, and both dry and wet processes have been proposed to explain their formation. They are most commonly believed to form by gravity-driven movement of extremely dry sand or very fine-grained dust in an almost fluidlike manner (analogous to a terrestrial snow avalanche) exposing darker underlying material.The darkest slope streaks are the youngest and can be seen to cross cut and lie on top of the older and lighter-toned streaks. The lighter-toned streaks are believed to be dark streaks that are brightening with time as new dust is deposited on their surface. Where they occur, dark slope streaks are typically more plentiful than the bright streaks. However in this area, distinct bright slope streaks appear to be more plentiful, especially in the two smaller craters on either side of the larger crater in the center of the image.HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a central peak that is surrounded by a ring-like graben feature and relatively flat terrain. | This image shows a central peak that is surrounded by a ring-like graben feature and relatively flat terrain. Does the graben show evidence of what geologists call "differential compaction"?Compaction refers to sediment that is originally porous and is covered up by other sediment (called "loading") that reduces that porousness. In other words, sand particles are pushed closer and closer together. Differential compaction is when there is variation in the thickness of a given area that creates uneven surface and has different degrees of porosity. The presence of the graben might be a clue to the formation of such unevenness.HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the orbiter's HiRISE camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This cylindrical-projection mosaic was assembled from images taken by the navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 107 (April 21, 2004) at a region dubbed 'site 32.' Spirit is sitting east of 'Missoula Crater' on the outer plains. | This cylindrical-perspective projection was assembled from images taken by the left navigation camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit on sol 107 (April 21, 2004) at a region dubbed "site 32." Spirit is sitting east of "Missoula Crater," no longer in the crater's ejecta field, but on outer plains. Since landing, Spirit has traveled almost exclusively over ejecta fields. This new landscape looks different with fewer angular rocks and more rounded, vesicle-filled rocks. Spirit will continue another 1,900 meters (1.18 miles) along this terrain before reaching the western base of the "Columbia Hills."See PIA05809 for 3-D view and PIA05811 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Argentea Planum. The edge of the south polar cap is visible. | 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 Argentea Planum. The edge of the south polar cap is visible at the bottom of the image.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: 85035 Latitude: -82.5422 Longitude: 335.069 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-02-14 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor took this image in April, 2005, showing a high resolution view of a surface composed almost entirely of eroded, exposed sedimentary rock in the Sinus Meridiani region of Mars. | 27 April 2005This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a high resolution view of a surface composed almost entirely of eroded, exposed sedimentary rock in the Sinus Meridiani region of Mars. If one could vacuum up all of the dark sand and dust that covers the rocks at the Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, site, one might find a surface similar to that shown here. Note, just right of center, the occurrence of a circular feature. This is the site of a filled and buried meteor impact crater. Filled and buried craters are common among the sedimentary rocks of the Meridiani region.Location near: 1.5°N, 359.4°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Northern Summer | |
This rock, informally named 'Tisdale 2,' was the first rock NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity examined in detail on the rim of Endeavour crater. It has textures and composition unlike any rock the rover examined during its first 90 months on Mars. | Annotated versionClick on the image for larger viewThis rock, informally named "Tisdale 2," was the first rock the NASA's Mars Rover Opportunity examined in detail on the rim of Endeavour crater. It has textures and composition unlike any rock the rover examined during its first 90 months on Mars. Its characteristics are consistent with the rock being a breccia -- a type of rock fusing together broken fragments of older rocks.Tisdale 2 is about 12 inches (30 centimeters) tall. The black vertical line superimposed on the image indicates the work plane for Opportunity's robotic arm when the arm placed the rover's microscopic imager and alpha particle X-ray spectrometer at a series of locations from the top to the bottom of Tisdale 2. | |
Goofy ground patterns near the striking split between the Martian southern highlands and northern lowlands are seen in this image captured by NASA's Mars Odyssey. | Released 13 May 2003Goofy ground patterns near the striking split between the Martian southern highlands and northern lowlands.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -4.7, Longitude 211.7East (148.3). 19 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows Ismeniae Fossae, a large region located in northeastern Arabia Terra, containing irregular valleys. | Context imageIsmeniae Fossae is a large region containing irregular valleys. Located in northeastern Arabia Terra, it is 287 km (178 miles) across.Orbit Number: 85289 Latitude: 40.1789 Longitude: 37.1421 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-03-07 00:20Please 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. | |
As NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity was traversing southward toward 'Victoria Crater' in May, 2006, it periodically stopping to characterize exposed bedrock, using the contact instrument suite on the robotic arm. | As NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity is traversing southward toward "Victoria Crater," it is periodically stopping to characterize exposed bedrock, using the contact instrument suite on the robotic arm. Between Martian days (sols) 818 and 821 of the mission (May 13 to May 16), one such characterization was carried out on a rock target called "Cheyenne." The target was brushed by the rock abrasion tool, analyzed by the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and Moessbauer spectrometer, and photographed by the microscopic imager. This image is a mosaic of four frames taken by the microscopic imager after the brush had removed dust and sand grains from most of the area shown, exposing the underlying bedrock. The resolution is 30 microns per pixel and the entire mosaic is 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) square. Opportunity acquired the images on Sol 819 (May 14, 2006) while the target was fully shadowed.This rock surface exhibits relatively small spherical concretions compared to those observed in the vicinity of "Eagle Crater" and "Endurance Crater." Such small concretions, and in places apparent absence of concretions, have characterized the outcrops south of "Vostok Crater." Also visible in this image are small pits and grooves in the rock surface, including narrow, elongated void spaces different from any previously observed by Opportunity. Crystal-shaped and elongated void spaces that were seen in the vicinity of Eagle and Endurance Craters are interpreted as spaces left by dissolving of soluble salts. However, these features at Cheyenne have a significantly different appearance and the science team is considering a number of alternative hypotheses for their origin. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows 'blueberries' discovered on Mars. They are spherules that are the abundant spherical hematite inclusions. | Scientists are hunting down the recipe for the "blueberries" they've discovered on Mars with the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. For location of the area dubbed "Berry Bowl" see PIA05563.To figure out the chemical composition of the blueberries, scientists are currently analyzing the area shown in the microscopic image with the rover's alpha particle X-ray spectrometer and Moessbauer spectrometer. The field of view for the alpha particle X-ray spectrometer is about equal to the field of view of the microscopic image and the field of view for the Moessbauer spectrometer is about half the size of the microscopic image, so the spectrometers will observe a mix of sand, rock, and blueberries. The blueberries are too small to analyze alone. Scientists will discern the blueberry spectra from the observed blend of spectra by subtracting out the known sand and rock spectra. Basically, finding the blueberry recipe is like making a recipe in reverse. Chemical measurements of the sand were taken earlier, and a measurement of the same rock in an area clear of the blueberries will be taken with the spectrometers on sol 48.The "triple berry" seen in the center of the microscopic image is intriguing to scientists because it reveals a clue about how the blueberries formed. Spheres formed from impacts or volcanoes do not tend to mold together like the spheres seen in the microscopic image. Spheres from impacts or craters are usually round or teardrop-shaped from flying in the air and freezing before hitting the ground. Any droplets of magma that combine with other droplets usually grow into a single mass in a spherical, dumbbell, or teardrop shape. In contrast, concretions could form this triple berry shape. Concretions are spherical mineral structures formed by groundwater percolating through porous rocks. On Earth, as concretions grow in close proximity to each other, their outer edges often intersect each other, giving an appearance like a triple soap bubble. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows layered material surrounding an unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea. | Context imageLayered material surrounds in this unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea.Orbit Number: 39497 Latitude: 13.011 Longitude: 34.4256 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-11-09 12:46Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The bright landing platform left behind by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity in 2004 is visible inside Eagle Crater, at upper right in this April 8, 2015, observation by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. | Figure 1Click on the image for larger version
The bright landing platform left behind by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity in 2004 is visible inside Eagle Crater, at upper right in this April 8, 2017, observation by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter arrived at Mars in March 2006, more than two years after Opportunity's landing on Jan. 25, 2004, Universal Time (Jan. 24, PDT). This is the first image of Eagle Crater from the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera, which has optics that include the most powerful telescope ever sent to Mars. Eagle Crater is about 72 feet (22 meters) in diameter, at 1.95 degrees south latitude, 354.47 degrees east longitude, in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. The airbag-cushioned lander, with Opportunity folded-up inside, first hit Martian ground near the crater, then bounced and rolled right into the crater. The lander structure was four triangles, folded into a tetrahedron until after the airbags deflated. The triangular petals then opened, exposing the rover. A week later, the rover drove off (see PIA05214), and the landing platform's job was done.The spacecraft's backshell and parachute, jettisoned during final descent, are visible near the lower left corner of this scene. The blue tint of the backshell is an effect of exaggerated color, because HiRISE combines color information from red, blue-green and infrared portions of the spectrum, rather than three different visible-light colors, so its color images are not true color.Figure 1 is an annotated version covering a broader area from the same HiRISE observation, ESP_050177_1780.Opportunity examined Eagle Crater for more than half of the rover's originally planned three-month mission, before driving east and south to larger craters. At Eagle, it found headline-making evidence that water once flowed over the surface and soaked the subsurface of the area. By the time this orbital image of the landing site was taken, about 13 years after the rover departed Eagle, Opportunity had driven more than 27 miles (44 kilometers) and was actively exploring the rim of Endeavour Crater, which is about 1,000 times as wide as Eagle. Before leaving its lander platform out of sight, Opportunity took a memorable look-back image of Eagle Crater, online at PIA05755 .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 and Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows the complete length of two channels in northern Terra Sirenum. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows the complete length of two channels in northern Terra Sirenum. As with all channels in this region – including Mangala Valles – the flow is northward into the low elevation region south of Amazonis Mensa. Abus Vallis is on the left and is 66 km long (41 miles). Senus Vallis is on the right and is 22 km long (13 miles).Orbit Number: 92178 Latitude: -5.63635 Longitude: 212.823 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-09-25 04:53Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the floor of Rutherford Crater. Blue tones in false color images are indicative of basaltic sand. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of the floor of Rutherford Crater. Blue tones in false color images are indicative of basaltic sand. Rutherford Crater is approximately 107 km (66 miles) in diameter. This crater is located in Arabia Terra.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: 61900 Latitude: 18.9562 Longitude: 349.107 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-11-27 14:45Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Claritas Fossae. These graben filled highlands are bounded by Solis Planum to the northeast and Icaria Planum to the southwest. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of Claritas Fossae. These graben filled highlands are bounded by Solis Planum to the northeast and Icaria Planum to the southwest. The linear features (fossae) are graben, a tectonic feature created when blocks of material subside between paired faults. Extensional tectonic forces are responsible for graben formation. While close to the Tharsis region, it is thought that Claritas Fossae formed prior to the large lava flows located north of this image.Orbit Number: 83503 Latitude: -40.434 Longitude: 274.364 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-10-10 22:06Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
These dunes are moving along the hard volcanic surface Nili Patera in Syrtis Major. This image was captured by NASA's Mars Odyssey. | Context imageThese dunes are moving along the hard volcanic surface Nili Patera in Syrtis Major.Orbit Number: 40881 Latitude: 8.90698 Longitude: 67.2638 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-03-03 11:45Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Mamers Valles is a long sinuous canyon beginning in Arabia Terra and ending in the Northern lowlands of Deuteronilus Mensae. This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter features the southern facing slope of the canyon wall. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionMamers Valles is a long (approximately 1000 kilometers) sinuous canyon beginning in Arabia Terra and ending in the Northern lowlands of Deuteronilus Mensae. This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) features the southern facing slope of the canyon wall.The northern half (top) has a rough, pitted texture with numerous impact craters, while the middle section shows the steep canyon wall. Streaks of slightly different colors show slope material eroding onto the canyon floor. Though the canyon itself was formed long ago, the material deposited on the canyon floor has been laid down over time, creating a much younger surface.The difference in age of the surfaces can also be indicated by the presence or absence of impact craters. The longer a surface has been exposed, the more impact craters it will accumulate. Counting craters to determine age estimates of planetary surfaces has been used throughout the solar system. This method is based on the assumption that the youngest, freshly formed surfaces will have no impact craters, and as time progresses crater impacts will accumulate at a predictable rate. This concept has been calibrated using crater counts on the Moon and the measured age of the rocks brought back by the Apollo missions. The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 59.2 centimeters (22.4 inches) per pixel (with 2 x 2 binning); objects on the order of 178 centimeters (33.8 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the surface of the south polar cap. Collected at the end of southern summer, most of the ice is frost free and different textures are readily apparent. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of the surface of the south polar cap. Collected at the end of southern summer, most of the ice is frost free and different textures are readily apparent. The dark bands are troughs. There are areas that resemble holes and other regions with tightly packed ridges.Orbit Number: 76261 Latitude: -86.681 Longitude: 293.775 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-02-22 14:31Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows the layering of the north polar cap. | Context imageThis VIS image shows the layering of the north polar cap.Orbit Number: 55224 Latitude: 82.3714 Longitude: 287.856 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-05-26 22:55Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This large landslide deposit is located in an unnamed crater southwest of Holden Crater. This image was captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageThis large landslide deposit is located in an unnamed crater southwest of Holden Crater.Orbit Number: 44093 Latitude: -27.7189 Longitude: 322.959 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-11-22 20:15Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows Noctis Labyrinthus, a large valley system at the western end of the Valles Marineris canyon system notable for a pattern of intersecting valleys, which give it a maze-like appearance when viewed from above. | (Released 26 April 2002)The ScienceThis image shows a portion of Noctis Labyrinthus, a large valley system at the western end of the Valles Marineris canyon system. Noctis Labyrinthus is notable for its unusual pattern of intersecting valleys, which give the region a maze-like appearance when viewed from above. The walls of these valleys are very high (~5 km) and quite steep, with slopes approaching 35°. Dust covers most of this region, leading to its rather uniform appearance. At the tops of the ridgelines, small dark streaks can be observed trailing downslope; these streaks suggest that the sediments covering this area occasionally become unstable and slide. Ridges of resistant material also can be observed in the highest terrains. In the lower half of the image, a small linear feature appears to cut across the generally NE/SW-trending slopes. This feature is not continuous, indicating that geologic activity has disrupted it since its formation. The northeastern termination of the feature is on a mesa, where it is joined by a less pronounced but similar feature that trends NE/SW. These small features may have originated in several ways: they may be ridges formed by compression, they may be small fault scarps, or they may represent the edges of ancient lava flows that have been disrupted by the formation of the valley system.The StoryThe smoothly sculpted surface in this close-up image belies the bizarre and twisted Martian landscape of which it is a part (seen at a larger scale in the context image). Labyrinths have long been in the human imagination, and it's no wonder that this area conjured up for early viewers all of the legends of antiquity, of a land where a Minotaur hides and a conquering hero needs a spool of thread to guide him through an inner maze.As writer Jorge Luis Borges might say, this Martian region is a real-life example of a geological "garden of forking paths," a dangerous-seeming place where "the paths of the labyrinth converge." Noctis Labyrinthus, as it's called, is an area of sprawling, intersecting valleys on Mars, and like a Borgesian story, holds within it elusive truths about the passage of time and a multi-layered landscape of possibility.At the western end of Valles Marineris, the largest canyon in the solar system, Noctis Labyrinthus holds the secrets to long-term geologic change in the area. It would be easy to lose oneself on a wandering path through the terrain. The walls of this Martian valley maze rise swiftly and steeply to their three-mile heights, and a layer of long-settled dust deceives the eye, making everything look the same. (Well, almost everything. Look closely, and some of realities of the labyrinth are revealed.)From the tops of ridge lines, small, dark streaks trail down the sides, leaving scant but clear evidence of the sediment that once slid downslope. A long, jagged slash cuts the land (lower third of the image), but is broken in the middle by some unknown geologic force that moved the land through it, "erasing it" sometime later. And then the mysteries: what are the features seen in this image and how did they come to be? Ridges formed by compression? Small cliff lines ("scarps") caused by faults? Or perhaps the edges of ancient lava flows, disrupted by the formation of the valley system?Whatever they are, they represent well the strange and misleading passageways of legend and lore, where the way to the truth of the matter and back again is hard to find. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity to this vertical projection 360-degree view of the its surroundings on Oct. 22, 2008 southwest of Victoria Crater on Mars. | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this 360-degree view of the rover's surroundings on the 1,687th Martian day, or sol, of its surface mission (Oct. 22, 2008). Opportunity had driven 133 meters (436 feet) that sol, crossing sand ripples up to about 10 centimeters (4 inches) tall. The tracks visible in the foreground are in the east-northeast direction.Opportunity's position on Sol 1687 was about 300 meters southwest of Victoria Crater. The rover was beginning a long trek toward a much larger crater, Endeavour, about 12 kilometers (7 miles) to the southeast.This view is presented as a vertical projection with geometric seam correction. | |
King George Island' Brushed | Annotated VersionThis mosaic was made from frames acquired by the microscopic imager on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during Spirit's 1,031 Martian day, or sol, on the red planet (Nov. 27, 2006). It shows a rock target called "King George Island" after the target was brushed by the rover's rock abrasion tool. The mosaic covers approximately 6 centimeters (2.4 inches) across and shows the granular nature of the rock exposure. The grains are typically about 1 millimeter (.04 inches) wide. Data from the rover's Moessbauer spectrometer provides evidence that they have an enhanced amount of the mineral hematite relative to surrounding soils. | |
Sunset over Ares Vallis, taken by NASA's Mars Pathfinder in 1997. | Every several days, Mars Pathfinder will image the sunrise and sunset on Mars. Future images will show a larger area -- we have a higher data rate than we expected when we planned this image, so we can get more information. Images taken at sunset, like this, and up to two hours later, will be used to investigate the distribution of dust within the Martian atmosphere. Already, we can see some dust layers in the images. By seeing how the twilight fades with time -- it lasts for over two hours -- we can determine that the dust extends high into the atmosphere.
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 Promethei Chasma, part of the South Pole. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of the South Pole. Promethei Chasma covers the left side of the image. Promethei and other chasmata are found in both the north and south polar caps. The chasmata are are regions that have no ice cover, revealing the surface below the ice cap. The layers that comprise the polar cap are readily visible along the side of the chasma.Orbit Number: 84226 Latitude: -82.4516 Longitude: 138.354 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-12-09 11:06Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Eleven years and two months after its landing on Mars, the total driving distance of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity surpassed the length of a marathon race: 26.219 miles (42.195 kilometers). | Eleven years and two months after its landing on Mars, the total driving distance of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity surpassed the length of a marathon race: 26.219 miles (42.195 kilometers).This map shows the southward path driven by Opportunity from late December 2014 until it passed marathon distance on March 24, 2015, during the 3,968th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars. Recent drives bring the vehicle close to a science destination called "Marathon Valley" on the west rim of Endeavour Crater. The rover team is using instruments on Opportunity to study "Spirit of St. Louis Crater" before entry into Marathon Valley.Opportunity reached the Sol 3881 location near the top of the map on Dec. 24, 2015. A map showing wider context of Opportunity's route from its January 2004 landing in Eagle Crater to Endeavour Crater is at PIA18404. A view from the Sol 3893 location at the summit of "Cape Tribulation," taken the following sol, is at PIA19109. The rover's traverse shown here has been mapped onto an image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Opportunity completed its three-month prime mission in April 2004 and has continued operations in bonus extended missions. It has found several types of evidence of ancient environments with abundant liquid water. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, built and operates Opportunity and manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project and the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. of Boulder, Colorado.JPL manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. For more information about Spirit and Opportunity, visit http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows the southern summit caldera of Ascraeus Mons. | Context imageThis VIS image shows the southern summit caldera of Ascraeus Mons.Orbit Number: 41461 Latitude: 10.7362 Longitude: 255.436 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-04-20 05:54Please 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. | |
Located near Amazonis Mensa, this region of Mars has undergone erosion by wind. Long linear hills being created by the wind are called yardangs in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey. | Context imageLocated near Amazonis Mensa, this region of Mars has undergone erosion by wind. Long linear hills being created by the wind are called yardangs.Orbit Number: 36634 Latitude: -3.42918 Longitude: 216.268 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-03-18 17:08Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows fractures at the top of this image of part of Mangala Fossae. The fractures in the lower half are part of the Memnonia Fossae system. | Context image for PIA09297FracturesThe fractures at the top of this image are part of Mangala Fossae. The fractures in the lower half are part of the Memnonia Fossae system.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -20.5N, Longitude 205.2E. 17 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Looking again at the southeastern flank of Mars' Ascraeus Mons, the narrow nature of the flows are visible in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image Looking again at the southeastern flank of the volcano the narrow nature of the flows are visible. Given the steep sides of the volcano, flows from the summit run as narrow "rivers" down the flank. The flows spread out into wider units when they encounter the flatter plains surrounding the volcano.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: 16791 Latitude: 9.07941 Longitude: 257.113 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2005-09-26 22:34Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows billowing clouds of dust rising from a storm southeast of Hellas Planitia on Mars. The dust storm in this case obscured the Mars Orbiter Camera's view of the martian surface. | 24 May 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows billowing clouds of dust rising from a storm southeast of Hellas Planitia. The dust storm in this case obscured the Mars Orbiter Camera's view of the martian surface.Location near: 62.2°S, 259.0°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: upper left Season: Southern Autumn | |
This image acquired on August 10, 2018 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows part of the steep wall of the caldera (a large volcanic crater) at the top of Ascraeus Mons, one of Mars' giant volcanoes. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionThis image shows part of the steep wall of the caldera (a large volcanic crater) at the top of Ascraeus Mons, one of Mars' giant volcanoes.We can see chutes carved into the soft dust that has built up on the slope, with some similarities to gully landforms elsewhere on the planet. The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 25.7 centimeters (10.1 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 77 centimeters (30.3 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
NASA's Viking Orbiter 2 shows Syria Planum-centered volcanism and tectonism produced fractures, narrow to broad grabens, large scarps, and broad fold and thrust ridges that deformed a basement complex. | Syria Planum-centered volcanism and tectonism produced fractures, narrow to broad grabens, large scarps, and broad fold and thrust ridges that deformed a basement complex. Picture is centered at latitude 29 degrees S., longitude 101 degree W. The region appears to have been mantled by materials of unknown origin. Colors seen in the enhanced color version (PIA00154) are due to variable proportions of dust and sand and possibly to different kinds of weathering or alterations. Viking Orbiter Picture Numbers 421A42 (violet), 421A48 (green), and 421A50 (red) at 106 m/pixel resolution. Picture width is 117 km. North is 101 degree clockwise from top. | |
The channels in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft are located in Elysium Planitia and were likely created by lava flow. | Context imageThe channels in this VIS image are located in Elysium Planitia and were likely created by lava flow.Orbit Number: 52601 Latitude: 12.7686 Longitude: 147.552 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-10-23 02:51Please 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. | |
Light material emplaced within darker vein material is seen in this view of a mineral vein at the 'Garden City' site on lower Mount Sharp, Mars. The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the arm of NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover took the image on April 4, 2015. | Light material emplaced within darker vein material is seen in this view of a mineral vein at the "Garden City" site on lower Mount Sharp, Mars. The Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) on the arm of NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover took the image on April 4, 2015, during the 946th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars. The area shown is roughly 0.4 inch (1 centimeter) wide. Differences in textures of light-toned veins in the Garden City complex of crisscrossing mineral veins are clues that these veins may result from distinct fluid events. This example shows where injection of light material into a prior dark vein suggests high fluid pressure.Differences in textures of light-toned veins in the Garden City complex of crisscrossing mineral veins are clues that these veins may result from distinct fluid events. This vein's texture shows indications of crystal growth, suggesting that crystallization may have exerted a force for opening the fracture filled by the vein. Different examples are at PIA19925 and PIA19927.Mineral veins often form where fluids move through fractured rocks, depositing minerals in the fractures and affecting chemistry of the surrounding rock. At Garden City, the veins have been more resistant to erosion than the surrounding host rock. The fluid movement through fractures at Garden City occurred later than wet environmental conditions in which the host rock formed, before it hardened and cracked.Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates MAHLI. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a small channel system dissecting the rim of this unnamed crater in Terra Sirenum. | Context imageA small channel system dissects the rim of this unnamed crater in Terra Sirenum.Orbit Number: 74466 Latitude: -39.9359 Longitude: 182.762 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-09-27 18:47Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image, acquired on May 29, 2019 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows the stack of layers at the North Pole of Mars known as the north polar layered deposits. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionEvery spring the sun shines on the side of the stack of layers at the North Pole of Mars known as the north polar layered deposits. The warmth destabilizes the ice and blocks break loose.When they reach the bottom of the more than 500 meter tall cliff face, the blocks kick up a cloud of dust. (In the cutout, the top layer of the north polar cap is to the lower left.) The layers beneath are different colors and textures depending on the amount of dust mixed with ice. The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 32.0 centimeters [12.6 inches] per pixel [with 1 x 1 binning]; objects on the order of 96 centimeters [37.8 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This 3-D stereo view from NASA's Mars rover Opportunity shows contrasting textures and colors of 'Hinners Point,' at the northern edge of 'Marathon Valley,' and swirling reddish zones on the valley floor to the left. | This stereo view from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows contrasting textures and tones of "Hinners Point," at the northern edge of "Marathon Valley," and brighter outcrop on the valley floor to the left.
The scene combines views from the left eye and right eye of Opportunity's panoramic camera (Pancam) to appear three-dimensional when seen through blue-red glasses with the red lens on the left. It is a mosaic of Pancam frames taken on Aug. 14, 2015, during the 4,108th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars.
The summit takes its informal name as a tribute to Noel Hinners (1935-2014). For NASA's Apollo program, Hinners played important roles in selection of landing sites on the moon and scientific training of astronauts. He then served as NASA associate administrator for space science, director of the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, director of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA chief scientist and associate deputy administrator of NASA. Subsequent to responsibility for the Viking Mars missions while at NASA, he spent the latter part of his career as vice president for flight systems at Lockheed Martin, where he had responsibility for the company's roles in development and operation of NASA's Mars Global Surveyor, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, Mars Odyssey, Phoenix Mars Lander, Stardust and Genesis missions.Marathon Valley cuts generally east-west through the western rim of Endeavour Crater. The valley's name refers to the distance Opportunity drove from its 2004 landing site to arrival at this location in 2014. The valley was a high-priority destination for the rover mission because observations from orbit detected clay minerals there. Dark rocks on Hinners Point show a pattern dipping downward toward the interior of Endeavour, to the right from this viewing angle. The strong dip may have resulted from the violence of the impact event that excavated the crater.Brighter rocks make up the valley floor. The reddish zones there may be areas where water has altered composition. Inspections by Opportunity have found compositions there are higher in silica and lower in iron than the typical composition of rocks on Endeavour's rim.The scene spans from west-southwest at left to northwest at right. The larger of two stones close to each other in the foreground left of center is about 5 inches (12 centimeters) wide. On bright bedrock to the right of those stones, Opportunity inspected a target informally named "Pvt. George Gibson." Another inspected target, "Pvt. Silas Goodrich," is on the valley floor near the left edge of this scene. The informal names for these targets refer to members of the Lewis and Clark expedition's Corps of Discovery. JPL manages the Mars Exploration Rover Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. For more about Opportunity's mission, see http://mars.nasa.gov/mer. |
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