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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Phillips Crater and a small crater on its rim. Dark dunes occur within both craters, seen here with their winter frost covers beginning to disappear. | Context image for PIA09279Frosty DunesThis image shows part of Phillips Crater and a small crater on its rim. Dark dunes occur within both craters, seen here with their winter frost covers beginning to disappear.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -65.5N, Longitude 312.1E. 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Clasia Vallis, located in Terra Sabaea. Clasia Vallis is 125km long (77 miles). | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of Clasia Vallis, located in Terra Sabaea. Clasia Vallis is 125km long (77 miles).Orbit Number: 88720 Latitude: 33.6222 Longitude: 57.0277 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-12-14 12:25Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image acquired on August 2, 2020 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows dozens of dark, dust-free, streaks on slopes surrounding a crater. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionMeteorites hit Mars and create small craters like the one we've imaged here. Usually we spot these new craters in lower-resolution images from the Context Camera because the impact disturbs dust on the surface and creates a dark mark that's much bigger than the crater.This meteorite hit a dusty area and made a crater, but did something a little more special to the surrounding dust. We can see dozens of dark, dust-free, streaks on slopes surrounding the crater. These slope streaks form when dust slumps downhill and happen naturally on a regular basis.In this case though, the impact and explosion that made the crater seems to have set off many of these downhill slumps of dust simultaneously. This could have happened from the explosion's blast wave passing through the air or the shaking of the ground that it caused.The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 31.2 centimeters [12.3 inches] per pixel [with 1 x 1 binning]; objects on the order of 93 centimeters [36.6 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.This is a stereo pair with ESP_065360_1900.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. | |
Preparing for 'Lights Out' on Mars | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit takes a good look around at its surroundings high above Gusev Crater as mission planners prepare for solar conjunction on sol 244 (Sept. 9, 2004). On this day, and over the next 11 days, the rover will be out of reach as the Sun moves between Earth and Mars, blocking communications. Scientists are currently discussing potential light-duty assignments that may involve taking images of surrounding terrain, recording wind patterns in the dust, or completing scientific analysis of dust collected on the rover's magnets. Otherwise, Spirit will essentially be on vacation until sol 255 (Sept. 20, 2004).Dominating the left side of this image, to the east, is the high point of the "West Spur" region of the "Columbia Hills," where Spirit has been exploring rock outcrops since June. On the right side, northwest of the rover's present location, are Spirit's tracks leading up the slope. Dark areas show wheel tracks created when Spirit slipped a bit while negotiating the outcrops. Beyond that, sand dunes on the floor of Gusev Crater can be seen. About one-third of the way across the image from the right is the outcrop dubbed "Longhorn," above the rock dubbed "Clovis," where Spirit used its rock abrasion tool to grind the deepest hole to date on Mars. Just to the left of the middle of this image, a short distance beneath the summit, is a rock outcrop slanting to the left, or north. Spirit will spend the depth of the martian winter there with its solar panels oriented toward the Sun.Spirit's navigation camera took the images that make up this mosaic from a position labeled Site 86 on sols 228 to 230 (Aug. 23 to Aug. 25, 2004). The 360-degree view is presented in a cylindrical projection with geometrical seam correction. | |
This false-color image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the Aureum Chaos 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 was collected during Southern Fall and shows part of the Aureum Chaos. Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -3.6, Longitude 332.9 East (27.1 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 shows the location of the 150-micrometer sieve screen on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, a device used to remove larger particles from samples before delivery to science instruments. | Raw versionClick on the image for larger versionThis image shows the location of the 150-micrometer sieve screen on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity, a device used to remove larger particles from samples before delivery to science instruments. The sieve lies within the Collection and Handling for In-situ Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA) structure, which is on the end of the rover's turret, or arm. This picture was taken by the rover's Mast Camera on Sol 81, the 81st Martian day of the mission (October 28th 2012). The color has been white-balanced to show the scene as it would appear on Earth.Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, developed, built and operates Mastcam. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project and the mission's Curiosity rover for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed and assembled at JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows the edge of the clouds in a weather front in the northern latitudes. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows the edge of the clouds in a weather front in the northern latitudes.Orbit Number: 44895 Latitude: 73.6573 Longitude: 223.825 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-01-27 21:54Please 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. | |
This mosaic of images from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows surroundings of the rover's location. The terrain includes light-toned bedrock and darker ripples of wind-blown sand. | This mosaic of images from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows surroundings of the rover's location following an 100.7-meter (330-foot) drive during the 2,393rd Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's mission on Mars (Oct. 17, 2010). South is at the center; north at both ends.The camera took the component images for this 360-degree panorama during sols 2393 and 2394. The terrain includes light-toned bedrock and darker ripples of wind-blown sand. For scale, the distance between the parallel wheel tracks in the right half of the image is about 1 meter (about 40 inches).This view is presented as a cylindrical projection. | |
This graph shows the seasonal trend of air temperatures 100 meters (328 feet) above NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity from late summer to mid-winter of Mars' southern hemisphere. | This graph shows the seasonal trend of air temperatures 100 meters (328 feet) above NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity from late summer (left) to mid-winter (right) of Mars' southern hemisphere. The temperatures were measured with the rover's miniature thermal emission spectrometer. The colors represent different times of day: purple for early morning, green for midday, red for late afternoon. The measured temperatures range from about 200 Kelvin (minus 100 Fahrenheit) to 250 Kelvin (minus 10 Fahrenheit). The units of time along the horizontal axis are given in longitude of the Sun (Ls) as measured in a Mars-centered coordinate system, a way to reflect the elliptical nature of Mars' orbit. On this scale, Mars is farthest from the Sun at about 74, which also corresponds to late fall in the southern hemisphere.The same cooling trend as seen for the 100-meter height in this graph also has been measured for higher regions of the atmosphere. In particular, the changes at 5 to 10 kilometers (3 to 6 miles) high are such that water-ice clouds will form when Mars is farthest from the Sun. At other parts of the Mars year, if clouds form at all, they will be found generally above 25 kilometers (16 miles), where there is significantly less water vapor. | |
Spirit Looks Back on Sol 332 | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit looked back with its navigation camera during the rover's 332nd martian day, or sol (Dec. 8, 2004), and captured this image. Spirit had driven about 110 meters (120 yards) during the preceding six sols. The image has been corrected to counteract the tilt at which Spirit was standing when the image was taken. | |
This image NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft of the northwestern end of Gordii Dorsum shows both the dorsum material that has been eroded by the wind, and the edge of the dorsum where it meets Amazonis Planitia. | Context imageThis VIS image of the northwestern end of Gordii Dorsum shows both the dorsum material that has been eroded by the wind, and the edge of the dorsum where it meets Amazonis Planitia.Orbit Number: 44920 Latitude: 11.2633 Longitude: 211.567 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-01-29 23:39Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The group of hills in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft are located on the floor of a large unnamed depression in northern Arabia Terra. | Context imageThe group of hills in this VIS image are located on the floor of a large unnamed depression in northern Arabia Terra.Orbit Number: 54816 Latitude: 36.2303 Longitude: 13.2263 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-04-23 09:02Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows an area in Arabia Terra. | Context imageThis VIS image 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: -8.73294 Longitude: 352.802 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-11-27 14:36Please 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 group of dunes located on the floor of an unnamed crater in Terra Cimmeria. | Context image for PIA11265Crater DunesThis group of dunes is located on the floor of an unnamed crater in Terra Cimmeria.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -9.0N, Longitude 128.3E. 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a section of Shalbatana Vallis. Shalbatana Vallis is located in Xanthe Terra and is one of many channels that empty into Chryse Planitia. | Context imageThis VIS image shows a section of Shalbatana Vallis. Shalbatana Vallis is located in Xanthe Terra and is one of many channels that empty into Chryse Planitia.Orbit Number: 79639 Latitude: 8.5729 Longitude: 317.92 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-11-27 19:06Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Viking Orbiter 1 photomosaic of Olympus Mons summit caldera. The caldera comprises a series of craters formed by repeated collapses after eruptions. | Viking Orbiter 1 photomosaic of Olympus Mons summit caldera. The caldera comprises a series of craters formed by repeated collapses after eruptions. | |
Spirit's View on Sol 390 (polar) | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to capture this view during the rover's 390th martian day, or sol, (Feb. 6, 2005). The rover advanced about 13 meters (43 feet) driving backwards uphill on that sol. The view is uphill toward "Cumberland Ridge" on "Husband Hill." It is presented in a polar projection with geometric seam correction. | |
Stitched together from multiple images, this mosaic of the Jezero Crater's river delta was taken by the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard NASA's Perseverance rover on April 17, 2021. | Figure 1This mosaic featuring several of the escarpments, or scarps – long, steep slopes – of Jezero Crater's river delta was taken by the Mastcam-Z instrument aboard NASA's Perseverance rover on Apr. 17, 2021. The delta formed billions of years ago from sediment that an ancient river carried to the mouth of the lake that once existed in the crater. The images that stitched together to create the mosaic were taken from a distance of about 1.2 miles (2.2 kilometers).An annotated version of this image (Figure 1) indicates the location of four prominent scarps in the delta.The Mastcam-Z investigation is led and operated by Arizona State University in Tempe, working in collaboration with Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego, California, on the design, fabrication, testing, and operation of the cameras, and in collaboration with the Neils Bohr Institute of the University of Copenhagen on the design, fabrication, and testing of the calibration targets.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.For more information about Perseverance:mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/nasa.gov/perseverance | |
This view of a rock called 'Rocknest 3' combines two images taken by the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on the NASA Mars rover Curiosity and indicates five spots where ChemCam had hit the rock with laser pulses to check its composition. | This view of a rock called "Rocknest 3" combines two images taken by the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on the NASA Mars rover Curiosity and indicates five spots where ChemCam had hit the rock with laser pulses to check its composition. It covers an area 3.9 inches (10 centimeters) across.ChemCam's remote micro-imager camera acquired the component images during the 57th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (Oct. 3, 2012), from a distance of 12 feet (3.7 meters). The images were downlinked to Earth using the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter as a relay, demonstrating the relay capability of that spacecraft as a backup to the two NASA orbiters that relay almost all data from Curiosity (the Mars Odyssey orbiter and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter). "Rocknest" is the name of a patch of windblown dust and sand where Curiosity stopped for a month to perform its first mobile laboratory analyses on scooped samples of soil. Rocknest 3 was a conveniently close rock target, about the size of a shoebox. A color image of the rock taken with Curiosity's Mast Camera is at PIA16452.ChemCam made more than 30 observations of Rocknest 3, totaling more than 1,500 laser shots. The same rock was later examined with Curiosity's arm-mounted Alpha Particle X-Ray Spectrometer instrument.JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the rover. More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
This image is the first view of Mars taken by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter Camera (MOC). It was acquired the afternoon of July 2, 1997 when the MGS spacecraft was 17.2 million kilometers (10.7 million miles) and 72 days from encounter. | This image is the first view of Mars taken by the Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter Camera (MOC). It was acquired the afternoon of July 2, 1997 when the MGS spacecraft was 17.2 million kilometers (10.7 million miles) and 72 days from encounter. At this distance, the MOC's resolution is about 64 km per picture element, and the 6800 km (4200 mile) diameter planet is 105 pixels across. The observation was designed to show the Mars Pathfinder landing site at 19.4 N, 33.1 W approximately 48 hours prior to landing. The image shows the north polar cap of Mars at the top of the image, the dark feature Acidalia Planitia in the center with the brighter Chryse plain immediately beneath it, and the highland areas along the Martian equator including the canyons of the Valles Marineris (which are bright in this image owing to atmospheric dust). The dark features Terra Meridiani and Terra Sabaea can be seen at the 4 o`clock position, and the south polar hood (atmospheric fog and hazes) can be seen at the bottom of the image. Launched on November 7, 1996, Mars Global Surveyor will enter Mars orbit on Thursday, September 11 shortly after 6:00 PM PDT. After Mars Orbit Insertion, the spacecraft will use atmospheric drag to reduce the size of its orbit, achieving a circular orbit only 400 km (248 mi) above the surface in early March 1998, when mapping operations will begin.The Mars Global Surveyor is operated by the Mars Surveyor Operations Project managed for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena CA. The Mars Orbiter Camera is a duplicate of one of the six instruments originally developed for the Mars Observer mission. It was built and is operated under contract to JPL by an industry/university team led by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, CA. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the Acidalia/Mare Erythraeum face of Mars in mid-February 2005. | 8 February 2005 This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 160° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 160° occurs in mid-February 2005. The picture shows the Acidalia/Mare Erythraeum face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°--the start of northern spring and southern summer.Season: Northern Summer/Southern Winter | |
This Mars Odyssey image of Pityusa Patera on Mars shows sandy material trapped in depressions and blown into dune forms. | Context imageCredit: NASA/JPL/MOLAThe daytime IR image of Pityusa Patera shows sandy material trapped in depressions and blown into dune forms.Image information: IR instrument. Latitude -66.4N, Longitude 36.7E. 110 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 captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the dune field near Meroe Patera. Winds are blowing the dunes across a rough surface of regional volcanic lava flows. | Context image This image shows part of the dune field near Meroe Patera. High resolution imaging by other spacecraft has revealed that the dunes in this region are moving. Winds are blowing the dunes across a rough surface of regional volcanic lava flows. The paterae are calderas on the volcanic complex called Syrtis Major Planum. Dunes are found in both Nili and Meroe Paterae and in the region between the two calderas.The 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: 8536 Latitude: 7.10227 Longitude: 68.0484 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2003-11-17 06:40Please 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 shows a portion of southern Auqakuh Vallis in northeastern Arabia Terra on Mars. The terrain surrounding the valley has been eroded such that only remnants of former craters and layered bedrock remain. | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-477, 8 September 2003This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of southern Auqakuh Vallis in northeastern Arabia Terra. The floor of this ancient valley--which might have been carved by a liquid such as water--is today covered by large, windblown, ripple-like bedforms. The terrain surrounding the valley has been eroded such that only remnants of former craters and layered bedrock remain. The valley was once much deeper, but material of hundreds, if not thousands, of meters thickness has been removed. This picture is located near 28.9°N, 299.9°W; it covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) across and is illuminated by sunlight from the lower left. | |
On Dec. 5, 2006, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity examined a section of the scalloped rim called Bottomless Bay in Victoria Crater on Mars. The upper portion of the crater wall contains a jumble of material. | As part of its investigation of "Victoria Crater," NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity examined a promontory called "Cape St. Mary" from the from the vantage point of "Cape Verde," the next promontory counterclockwise around the crater's deeply scalloped rim. This view of Cape St. Mary combines several exposures taken by the rover's panoramic camera into an approximately true-color mosaic with contrast adjusted to improve the visibility of details in shaded areas.The upper portion of the crater wall contains a jumble of material tossed outward by the impact that excavated the crater. This vertical cross-section through the blanket of ejected material surrounding the crater was exposed by erosion that expanded the crater outward from its original diameter, according to scientists' interpretation of the observations. Below the jumbled material in the upper part of the wall are layers that survive relatively intact from before the crater-causing impact. Near the base of the Cape St. Mary cliff are layers with a pattern called "crossbedding," intersecting with each other at angles, rather than parallel to each other. Large-scale crossbedding can result from material being deposited as wind-blown dunes.The images combined into this mosaic were taken during the 970th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's Mars-surface mission (Oct. 16, 2006). The panoramic camera took them through the camera's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters. | |
Sunlight was just starting to reach the high Northern latitudes in late winter when NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's HiRISE camera captured this image of part of the steep scarps around portions of the North Polar layered deposits. | Sunlight was just starting to reach the high Northern latitudes in late winter when HiRISE captured this image of part of the steep scarps around portions of the North Polar layered deposits.The sunlight is highly diffused by atmospheric scattering, with the sun less than 0.5 degrees above the horizon. This diffuse light gives the image a unique appearance, almost like a painting. The surface is entirely covered by carbon dioxide frost mixed with dust.HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the orbiter's HiRISE camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a small portion of Meridiani Planum on Mars. Bright rims and walls of the craters are, at least in part, exposures of sedimentary rock. | 26 December 2004A little over 11 months ago, the Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, landed on Meridiani Planum. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a small portion of Meridiani Planum -- too far from the rover for it to investigate--that has been peppered with small impact craters. The majority of craters, particularly those in the lower half of the image, are secondary impacts caused by the landing of rock and debris ejected from a much larger impact crater, located elsewhere in the region. The large, nearly circular depression at the top center of the image is the site of a much older crater that was filled and almost completely buried beneath the plains. As result of the rover's work in Meridiani Planum, it is now known that the bright rims and walls of the craters are, at least in part, exposures of sedimentary rock. The dark material covering the plains, according to rover results, is mostly very fine sand plus millimeter-sized granules. This picture covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across, and is located near 2.5°S, 3.3°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the left. | |
Full-Circle 'Bonestell' Panorama from Spirit (False Color) | This 360-degree panorama shows the vista from the location where NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has spent its third Martian southern-hemisphere winter inside Mars' Gusev Crater. The rover's overwintering location is on the northern edge of a low plateau informally called "Home Plate," which is about 80 meters or 260 feet in diameter.This view combines 246 different exposures taken with Spirit's panoramic camera (Pancam)—82 pointings, with three filters at each pointing. Spirit took the first of these frames during the mission's 1,477th Martian day, or sol, (February 28, 2008) two weeks after the rover made its last move to reach the location where it would stop driving for the winter. Solar energy at Gusev Crater is so limited during the Martian winter that Spirit does not generate enough electricity to drive, nor even enough to take many images per day. The last frame for this mosaic was taken on Sol 1691 (October 5, 2008). Spirit began moving again on Sol 1709 (October 23, 2008), inching uphill to adjust the angle of its solar panels for the last portion of the winter.The hill on the horizon at far right is Husband Hill, to the north. Spirit acquired a 360-degree panorama (see PIA03610) from the summit of Husband Hill during August 2005). The hill dominating the left portion of the image is McCool Hill. Husband and McCool hills are two of the seven principal hills in the Columbia Hills range within Gusev Crater. Home Plate is in the inner basin of the range.The northwestern edge of Home Plate is visible in the right foreground. The blockier, more sharply shadowed texture there is layered sandstone whose layering is tilted inward toward the edge of the Home Plate platform. The northeastern edge of Home Plate is visible in the left foreground. Spirit first climbed onto Home Plate on that region, in early 2006.Rover tracks from driving by Spirit are visible on Home Plate in the center and right of the image. These were made during Spirit's second exploration on top of the plateau, which began when Spirit climbed onto the southern edge of Home Plate in September 2007.In the center foreground, the turret of tools at the end of Spirit's robotic arm appears in duplicate because the arm was repositioned between the days when the images making up that part of the mosaic were taken. On the horizon above the turret, to the south, is a small hill capped with a light-toned outcrop. This hill is called "Von Braun," and it is a possible destination for Spirit during the upcoming Martian southern-hemisphere summer. The flat horizon in the right-hand portion of the panorama is the basaltic plain onto which Spirit landed on January 4, 2004 (Universal Time; January 3, 2004, Pacific Standard Time).This is a false-color, red-green-blue composite panorama generated from images taken through the Pancam's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters. The false color enhances visibility of differences among the types of rock and soil material in the image. | |
Gullies | Image PSP_001330_1395 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on November 8, 2006. The complete image is centered at -40.1 degrees latitude, 132.3 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 248.4 km (155.2 miles). At this distance the image scale is 49.7 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~149 cm across are resolved. The image shown here has been map-projected to 50 cm/pixel and north is up. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:39 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 78 degrees, thus the sun was about 12 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 132.2 degrees, the season on Mars is Northern Summer.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
Dark narrow streaks, called 'recurring slope lineae,' emanate from the walls of Garni Crater on Mars, in this view constructed from observations by the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. | Dark narrow streaks, called "recurring slope lineae," emanate from the walls of Garni Crater on Mars, in this view constructed from observations by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.The dark streaks here are up to few hundred yards, or meters, long. They are hypothesized to be formed by flow of briny liquid water on Mars. The image was produced by first creating a 3-D computer model (a digital terrain map) of the area based on stereo information from two HiRISE observations, and then draping an image over the land-shape model. The vertical dimension is exaggerated by a factor of 1.5 compared to horizontal dimensions. The draped image is a red waveband (monochrome) product from HiRISE observation ESP_031059_1685, taken on March 12, 2013 at 11.5 degrees south latitude, 290.3 degrees east longitude. Other image products from this observation are at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_031059_1685.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project and Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This anaglyph, acquired by NASA's Phoenix Lander on Jun. 7, 2008, shows a stereoscopic 3D view of the Martian surface near the lander. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | This anaglyph, acquired by NASA's Phoenix Lander's Surface Stereo Imager on Sol 13, the 13th Martian day of the mission (June 7, 2008), shows a stereoscopic 3D view of the Martian surface near the lander.The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter. | |
In this region of Lyot Crater, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a field of classic barchan dunes. Sand dunes often accumulate in the floors of craters on Mars. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionSand dunes often accumulate in the floors of craters. In this region of Lyot Crater NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) shows a field of classic barchan dunes.Just to the south of the group of barchan dunes is one large dune with a more complex structure. This particular dune, appearing like turquoise blue in enhanced color (false color), is made of finer material and/or has a different composition than the surrounding.The map is projected above at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 34.7 centimeters (13.7 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 104 centimeters (40.9 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.This is a stereo pair with ESP_053406_2295.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image acquired on January 2, 2023 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows expanded craters with an unusually bumpy texture in the outer apron where sublimation occurred. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionExpanded craters on Mars are thought to occur when the upper slopes of an impact crater in an ice-rich target sublimate (going directly from a solid to a gaseous state). The vaporizing ice makes the walls retreat while the lower slopes are armored by dust and debris, resulting in a funnel-shaped formation.The expanded craters in this image have an unusually bumpy texture in the outer apron where the sublimation occurred. The bumps are too large to be boulders. This suggests that the ice had concentrations of other material.The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 59.6 centimeters [23.5 inches] per pixel [with 2 x 2 binning]; objects on the order of 179 centimeters [70.5 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.The University of Arizona, 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. | |
The three landslides in this image are located within an unnamed crater in Noachis Terra on Mars as seen by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image for PIA09131 LandslidesThe three landslides in this image are located within an unnamed crater in Noachis Terra.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -31.3N, Longitude 349.0E. 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. | |
As the sun warms the surface and more frost is removed, the dunes and other features near the north pole of Mars are revealed. This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows that the inter-dune areas are complex. | Context imageAs the sun warms the surface and more frost is removed, the dunes and other features near the north pole of Mars are revealed. This VIS image shows that the inter-dune areas are complex.Orbit Number: 38296 Latitude: 79.184 Longitude: 143.729 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-08-02 14:58Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Ross Crater. Located in Aonia Terra, the impact crater is 82 km (51 miles) in diameter. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of Ross Crater. Located in Aonia Terra, the impact crater is 82 km (51 miles) in diameter. In addition to the dunes on the crater floor, the crater rim is dissected with numerous gullies, one of which is visible at top of the image.Orbit Number: 83304 Latitude: -57.1209 Longitude: 251.822 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-09-24 12:56Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows lava flow in the lower portion shown is confined within the fault block walls of a graben. The graben are an extension of Sirenum Fossae into Daedalia Planum. | Context image for PIA10163Confined FlowThe lava flow in the lower portion on this VIS image is confined within the fault block walls of a graben. The graben are an extension of Sirenum Fossae into Daedalia Planum.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -23.7N, Longitude 223.0E. 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor of Newton Crater, a large basin formed by an asteroid impact that probably occurred on Mars more than 3 billion years ago. | Newton Crater is a large basin formed by an asteroid impact that probably occurred more than 3 billion years ago. It is approximately 287 kilometers (178 miles) across. The picture shown here (top) highlights the north wall of a specific, smaller crater located in the southwestern quarter of Newton Crater (above). The crater of interest was also formed by an impact; it is about 7 km (4.4 mi) across, which is about 7 times bigger than the famous Meteor Crater in northern Arizona in North America.The north wall of the small crater has many narrow gullies eroded into it. These are hypothesized to have been formed by flowing water and debris flows. Debris transported with the water created lobed and finger-like deposits at the base of the crater wall where it intersects the floor (bottom center top image). Many of the finger-like deposits have small channels indicating that a liquid--most likely water--flowed in these areas. Hundreds of individual water and debris flow events might have occurred to create the scene shown here. Each outburst of water from higher upon the crater slopes would have constituted a competition between evaporation, freezing, and gravity.The individual deposits at the ends of channels in this MOC image mosaic were used to get a rough estimate of the minimum amount of water that might be involved in each flow event. This is done first by assuming that the deposits are like debris flows on Earth. In a debris flow, no less than about 10% (and no more than 30%) of their volume is water. Second, the volume of an apron deposit is estimated by measuring the area covered in the MOC image and multiplying it by a conservative estimate of thickness, 2 meters (6.5 feet). For a flow containing only 10% water, these estimates conservatively suggest that about 2.5 million liters (660,000 gallons) of water are involved in each event; this is enough to fill about 7 community-sized swimming pools or enough to supply 20 people with their water needs for a year.The MOC high resolution view is located near 41.1°S, 159.8°W and is a mosaic of three different pictures acquired between January and May 2000. The MOC scene is illuminated from the left; north is up. The context picture was acquired in 1977 by the Viking 1 orbiter and is illuminated from the upper right. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the eastern plains that stretch beyond the small crater where the rover landed. In the distance, the rim of a larger crater dubbed 'Endurance' can be seen. | This image taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera shows the eastern plains that stretch beyond the small crater where the rover landed. In the distance, the rim of a larger crater dubbed "Endurance" can be seen.This color mosaic was taken on the 32nd martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission and spans 20 degrees of the horizon. It was taken while Opportunity was parked at the north end of the outcrop, in front of the rock region dubbed "El Capitan" and facing east.The features seen at the horizon are the near and far rims of "Endurance," the largest crater within about 6 kilometers (4 miles) of the lander. Using orbital data from the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, scientists estimated the crater to be 160 meters (175 yards) in diameter, and about 720 meters (half a mile) away from the lander.The highest point visible on "Endurance" is the highest point on the far wall of the crater; the sun is illuminating the inside of the far wall.Between the location where the image was taken at "El Capitan" and "Endurance" are the flat, smooth Meridiani plains, which scientists believe are blanketed in the iron-bearing mineral called hematite. The dark horizontal feature near the bottom of the picture is a small, five-meter (16-feet) crater, only 50 meters (164 feet) from Opportunity's present position. When the rover leaves the crater some 2 to 3 weeks from now, "Endurance" is one of several potential destinations. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a small portion of the immense lava flows that originated from Arsia Mons. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a small portion of the immense lava flows that originated from Arsia Mons. Arsia Mons is the southernmost of the three large aligned volcanoes in the Tharsis region. Arsia Mons' last eruption was 10s of million years ago. The different surface textures are created by differences in the lava viscosity and cooling rates. The lobate margins of each flow can be traced back to the start of each flow — or to the point where they are covered by younger flows. Flows in Daedalia Planum can be as long as 180 km (111 miles).For comparison the longest Hawaiian lava flow is only 51 km (˜31 miles) long. The total area of Daedalia Planum is 2.9 million square km – more than four times the size of Texas.Orbit Number: 87778 Latitude: -14.0489 Longitude: 240.029 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-09-27 22:36Please 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 small region of hills appears to be forming from the fractured material just south of it. This material is the northern extension of Zephyria Planum. This image is from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageThis small region of hills appears to be forming from the fractured material just south of it. This material is the northern extension of Zephyria Planum.Orbit Number: 45796 Latitude: 2.48871 Longitude: 148.892 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-04-11 02:12Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the northern flank of Hecates Tholus, which is located on the northern part of the Elysium Volcanic Complex. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of the northern flank of Hecates Tholus, which is located on the northern part of the Elysium Volcanic Complex.Orbit Number: 54574 Latitude: 33.2631 Longitude: 149.882 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-04-03 11:25Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the floor of Kaiser Crater. | Context imageThe THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of the floor of Kaiser Crater. Kaiser Crater is 207 km (129 miles) in diameter and is located in Noachis Terra west of Hellas Planitia. This sand dune field is one of several regions of sand dunes located on the southern part of the crater floor. The image also shows the complex crater floor beneath the dunes. These dunes are composed of basaltic sand that has collected in the bottom of the crater. The topographic depression of the crater forms a sand trap that prevents the sand from escaping. Dune fields are common in the bottoms of craters on Mars and appear as dark splotches that often lean up against the downwind walls of the craters. Dunes are useful for studying both the geology and meteorology of Mars. The sand forms by erosion of larger rocks, but it is unclear when and where this erosion took place on Mars or how such large volumes of sand could be formed. The dunes also indicate the local wind directions by their morphology.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: 90294 Latitude: -46.9314 Longitude: 18.9731 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-04-23 02:29Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Possible Meteorites in the Martian Hills | From its winter outpost at "Low Ridge" inside Gusev Crater, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit took this spectacular, color mosaic of hilly, sandy terrain and two potential iron meteorites. The two light-colored, smooth rocks about two-thirds of the way up from the bottom of the frame have been labeled "Zhong Shan" and "Allan Hills."The two rocks' informal names are in keeping with the rover science team's campaign to nickname rocks and soils in the area after locations in Antarctica. Zhong Shang is an Antarctic base that the People's Republic of China opened on Feb. 26, 1989, at the Larsemann Hills in Prydz Bay in East Antarctica. Allan Hills is a location where researchers have found many Martian meteorites, including the controversial ALH84001, which achieved fame in 1996 when NASA scientists suggested that it might contain evidence for fossilized extraterrestrial life. Zhong Shan was the given name of Dr. Sun Yat-sen (1866-1925), known as the "Father of Modern China." Born to a peasant family in Guangdong, Sun moved to live with his brother in Honolulu at age 13 and later became a medical doctor. He led a series of uprisings against the Qing dynasty that began in 1894 and eventually succeeded in 1911. Sun served as the first provisional president when the Republic of China was founded in 1912.The Zhong Shan and Allan Hills rocks, at the left and right, respectively, have unusual morphologies and miniature thermal emission spectrometer signatures that resemble those of a rock known as "Heat Shield" at the Meridiani site explored by Spirit's twin, Opportunity. Opportunity's analyses revealed Heat Shield to be an iron meteorite.Spirit acquired this approximately true-color image on the rover's 872nd Martian day, or sol (June 16, 2006), using exposures taken through three of the panoramic camera's filters, centered on wavelengths of 600 nanometers, 530 nanometers, and 480 nanometers. | |
This image acquired on February 27, 2008 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows Winter on Mars with a blanket of carbon dioxide snow. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionWinter on Mars comes with a blanket of carbon dioxide snow. During the spring "thaw," this snow evaporates into the atmosphere, lingering longest in the shallow depressions such as the troughs of polygon patterned ground.Enhanced color shows the carbon dioxide snow as bluish-white patches among areas of rusty red bare ground. We took this image in 2008 as a possible landing site for the Phoenix Lander that arrived on Mars later that same year.The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 31.9 centimeters (12.6 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning); objects on the order of 96 centimeters (37.8 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows dark sand dunes on the floor of a crater in Noachis Terra on Mars. | 28 May 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dark sand dunes on the floor of a crater in Noachis Terra. The picture was acquired in early southern autumn in March 2004; it is located near 52.4°S, 336.9°W. The image covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) across; sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | 4 March 2004 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a spectacular suite of large and small polygons in the south polar region. On Earth, polygons such as these would be indicators of the presence of ground ice. Whether this is true for Mars remains to be determined, but it is interesting to note that these polygons do occur in a region identified by the Mars Odyssey Gamma Ray Spectrometer (GRS) team as a place with possible ground ice. The polygons are in an old impact crater located near 62.9°S, 281.4°W. This 1.5 meter (5 ft.) per pixel view covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and is illuminated by sunlight from the upper left. To see the smaller set of polygons, the reader must view the full-resolution image (click on picture, above). | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has extended its robotic arm for studying a light-toned rock target called 'Athens' in this March 25, 2015, image from the rover's front hazard avoidance camera. | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has extended its robotic arm for studying a light-toned rock target called "Athens" in this image from the rover's front hazard avoidance camera.The camera recorded this image during the 3,970th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's work on Mars (March 25, 2015). This camera is mounted low on the rover and has a wide-angle lens. 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 from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a Martian geologic deposit known as the Medusae Fossae Formation (the raised plateau in the upper two-thirds of the image), a soft, easily eroded deposit that extends for nearly 1,000 km along the equator of Mars. | (Released 10 April 2002)The ScienceThis THEMIS visible image was acquired near 7° S, 172° W (188° E) and shows a remarkable martian geologic deposit known as the Medusae Fossae Formation. This Formation, seen here as the raised plateau in the upper two-thirds of the image, is a soft, easily eroded deposit that extends for nearly 1,000 km along the equator of Mars. In this region the deposit has been heavily eroded by the wind to produce a series of linear ridges called yardangs. These parallel ridges point in direction of the prevailing winds that carved them, and demonstrate the power of martian winds to sculpt the dry landscape of Mars. The Medusae Fossae Formation has been completely stripped from the surface in the lower third of the image, revealing a harder layer below that is more resistant to wind erosion. The easily eroded nature of the Medusae Fossae Formation suggests that it is composed of weakly cemented particles, and was most likely formed by the deposition of wind-blown dust or volcanic ash. Several ancient craters that were once completely buried by this deposit are being exposed, or exhumed, as the overlying Medusae Formation is removed. Very few impact craters are visible on this Formation, indicating that the surface seen today is relatively young, and that the processes of erosion are likely to be actively occurring.The StoryMedusa of Greek mythology fame, the name-giver to this region, had snaky locks of hair that could turn a person to stone. Wild and unruly, this monster of the underworld could certainly wreak havoc on the world of the human imagination. As scary as she was, Medusa would have no advantage over the fierce, masterful winds blowing across Mars, which once carved the streaky, terrain at the top of this image. Wild and whipping, these winds have slowly eroded away the "topsoil," revealing ancient craters and other surface features they once covered. The loosely cemented particles of this "topsoil" are likely made up of dust or volcanic ash, and are thus more susceptible to windblown erosion. The Martian winds have actually been strong and relentless enough over time to strip the land in the bottom of this image of the material that once covered it, leaving it hard and bare to the eye. | |
This image shows a portion of Samara Valles as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a portion of Samara Valles.Orbit Number: 51159 Latitude: -22.3929 Longitude: 340.178 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-06-26 09:23Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired this microscopic imager view of its capture magnet on April 6, 2004. The magnets' primary purpose is to collect the martian magnetic dust so it can be analyzied with the rover's Moessbauer spectrometers. | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired this microscopic imager view of its capture magnet on sol 92 (April 6, 2004). Both Spirit and the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity are equipped with a number of magnets. The capture magnet, as seen here, has a stronger charge than its sidekick, the filter magnet. The lower-powered filter magnet captures only the most magnetic airborne dust with the strongest charges, while the capture magnet picks up all magnetic airborne dust.The magnets' primary purpose is to collect the martian magnetic dust so that scientists can analyze it with the rovers' Moessbauer spectrometers. While there is plenty of dust on the surface of Mars, it is difficult to confirm where it came from, and when it was last airborne. Because scientists are interested in learning about the properties of the dust in the atmosphere, they devised this dust-collection experiment.The capture magnet is about 4.5 centimeters (1.8 inches) in diameter and is constructed with a central cylinder and three rings, each with alternating orientations of magnetization. Scientists have been monitoring the continual accumulation of dust since the beginning of the mission with panoramic camera and microscopic imager images. They had to wait until enough dust accumulated before they could get a Moessbauer spectrometer analysis. The results of that analysis, performed on sol 92, have not been sent back to Earth yet. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows the flanks and summit of Pavonis Mons. | Context imageToday's VIS image crosses the flanks and summit of Pavonis Mons.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: 60818 Latitude: 0.573053 Longitude: 247.537 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-08-30 12:10Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of of Hebes Chasma. | 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 Hebes Chasma.Orbit Number: 14057 Latitude: -0.381134 Longitude: 283.166 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2005-02-13 20:13Please 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 arrows in this 360-degree panoramic view of the martian surface identify hills and craters on the martian horizon taken on Mars by the panoramic camera onboard NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. | Click on the image for Hills Over Yonder (QTVR)The arrows in this 360-degree panoramic view of the martian surface identify hills and craters on the martian horizon that scientists can easily find with orbiters Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey. The image was taken on Mars by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows Malea Planum,a polar region in the Southern hemisphere of Mars, directly south of Hellas Basin, which contains the lowest point of elevation on the planet. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThis image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows Malea Planum,a polar region in the Southern hemisphere of Mars, directly south of Hellas Basin, which contains the lowest point of elevation on the planet. The jagged saw-tooth dichotomy, over a grainy texture, seen in this close-up image. The region contains ancient volcanoes of a certain type, referred to as "paterae." Patera is the Latin word for a shallow drinking bowl, and was first applied to volcanic-looking features, with scalloped-edged calderas. Malea is also a low-lying plain, known to be covered in dust. These two pieces of information provide regional context that aid our understanding of the scene and features contained in our image. The area rises gradually to a ridge (which can be seen in this Context Camera image) and light-colored dust is blown away by gusts of the Martian wind, which accelerate up the slope to the ridge, leading to more sharp angles of contact between light and dark surface materials.The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 49.6 centimeters (19.5 inches) per pixel (with 2 x 2 binning); objects on the order of 149 centimeters (58.6 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 view was taken by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on April 27, 2006, as it continued to traverse from Erebus Crater toward Victoria Crater, the rover navigated along exposures of bedrock between large, wind-blown ripples. | As NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity continues to traverse from "Erebus Crater" toward "Victoria Crater," the rover navigates along exposures of bedrock between large, wind-blown ripples. Along the way, scientists have been studying fields of cobbles that sometimes appear on trough floors between ripples. They have also been studying the banding patterns seen in large ripples. This view, obtained by Opportunity's panoramic camera on the rover's 802nd Martian day (sol) of exploration (April 27, 2006), is a mosaic spanning about 30 degrees. It shows a field of cobbles nestled among wind-driven ripples that are about 20 centimeters (8 inches) high. The origin of cobble fields like this one is unknown. The cobbles may be a lag of coarser material left behind from one or more soil deposits whose finer particles have blown away. The cobbles may be eroded fragments of meteoritic material, secondary ejecta of Mars rock thrown here from craters elsewhere on the surface, weathering remnants of locally-derived bedrock, or a mixture of these. Scientists will use the panoramic camera's multiple filters to study the rock types, variability and origins of the cobbles.This is a false-color rendering that combines separate images taken through the panoramic camera's 753-nanometer, 535-nanometer and 432-nanometer filters. The false color is used to enhance differences between types of materials in the rocks and soil. | |
Dunes cover the floor of this unnamed crater in the northern lowlands in this image captured by NASA's Mars Odyssey. | Context imageDunes cover the floor of this unnamed crater in the northern lowlands.Orbit Number: 38850 Latitude: 70.3943 Longitude: 352.547 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-09-17 05:51Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows small ripples, about 10 meters apart, located in Her Desher Vallis. Her Desher is a small channel that shows evidence of phyllosilicates. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThis image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows small ripples, about 10 meters apart, located in Her Desher Vallis. Her Desher is a small channel that shows evidence of phyllosilicates -- silicates with a sheet-like structure, such as clay minerals.Much larger images of this area show that Her Desher Vallis appears isolated, with no obvious connections to craters or larger valleys. Her Desher, the ancient Egyptian name for Mars, translates to "the Red One."This is a stereo pair with ESP_013771_1550.The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 55.8 centimeters (21.9 inches) per pixel (with 2 x 2 binning); objects on the order of 167 centimeters (65.7 inches) across are resolved. North is up.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, 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. | |
Dark Dunes in Herschel Crater | Click on image for larger versionHiRISE image PSP_002860_1650 shows part of the floor of Herschel Crater, a roughly 300 kilometer wide impact basin located in the southern cratered highlands of Mars. The subimage is a close-up of a dark-toned sand dune field located on the crater floor. These dunes are "barchan" dunes, which are also commonly found on Earth. Barchan dunes are generally crescent-shaped, with their "horns" oriented in the downwind direction. They have a steep slip face (the downwind side of the dune).Barchan dunes form by winds that blow mostly in one direction and thus are good indicators of the dominant wind direction. In this case, the strongest winds blow approximately north to south. The surface of the dunes has a generally pitted and grooved texture and, in some places, is covered with smaller ripples. The grooved texture has led researchers in the past to believe the dune sands are "lithified," or cemented together. The rock that formed as a result has since been eroded and scoured by wind. These dark dunes in Herschel Crater are most likely composed of basaltic sand.Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 3 March 2007Local Mars time: 3:44 PMDegrees latitude (centered): -14.8°Degrees longitude (East): 127.9°Range to target site: 259.0 km (161.9 miles)Original image scale range: 25.9 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~78 cm across are resolvedMap-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAREmission angle: 2.3°Phase angle: 57.9°Solar incidence angle: 56°, with the Sun about 34° above the horizonSolar longitude: 195.9°, Northern AutumnNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Rubicon Valles, a complex region of channels found on the northwestern flank of Alba Mons. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of Rubicon Valles, a complex region of channels found on the northwestern flank of Alba Mons.Orbit Number: 54883 Latitude: 45.1688 Longitude: 243.263 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-04-28 21:40Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This is a stereoscopic version of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's 'Lookout' panorama, acquired on Feb. 27 to Mar. 2, 2005. The view is from a position known informally as 'Larry's Lookout.' 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | Figure 1Figure 2This is a stereoscopic version of the Spirit panoramic camera's "Lookout" panorama, acquired on the rover's 410th to 413th martian days, or sols (Feb. 27 to Mar. 2, 2005). The view is from a position known informally as "Larry's Lookout" along the drive up "Husband Hill." The summit of Husband Hill is the far peak near the center of this panorama and is about 200 meters (656 feet) away from the rover and about 45 meters (148 feet) higher in elevation. The bright rocky outcrop near the center of the panorama is part of the "Cumberland Ridge," and beyond that and to the left is the "Tennessee Valley." Spirit's tracks leading back from the "West Spur" region can be seen on the right side of the panorama. The region just beyond the area where the tracks made their last zig-zag is the area known as "Paso Robles," where Spirit discovered rock and soil deposits with very high sulfur abundances.This stereo anaglyph is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection with special "untilt" processing. The tilt of the rover (roll -14 degrees, pitch +13 degrees) has been removed by special processing of the images, resulting in a flat horizon (thus a more "natural" view) with very little vertical disparity. (Vertical disparity is one of the main things that give you a headache when looking at stereo images.) Geometric and brightness corrections have been applied.Figure 1 is the left-eye view of a stereo pair and Figure 2 is the right-eye view of a stereo pair. | |
The many small channels in this image are part of the larger Sabis Vallis on Mars as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image for PIA02685Sabis VallisThe many small channels in this image are part of the larger Sabis Vallis.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -0.7N, Longitude 35.8E. 18 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images. Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows small cone-shaped structures on lava flows in southern Elysium Planitia, Marte Valles, and northwestern Amazonis Planitia in the northern hemisphere of the red planet Mars. | High-resolution images from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) have revealed small cone-shaped structures on lava flows in southern Elysium Planitia, Marte Valles, and northwestern Amazonis Planitia in the northern hemisphere of the red planet. The most likely interpretation of these cones is that they may be volcanic features known as "pseudo craters" or "rootless cones." They share several key characteristics with pseudo craters on Earth: they are distributed in small clusters independent of structural patterns, are superimposed on fresh lava flows, and they do not appear to have erupted lavas themselves. The white box in the picture above left shows the location of one of the MOC images of possible pseudocraters on Mars. The white box is drawn upon a MOC red wide angle context image acquired at the same time as the high resolution view, shown on the right above. Located in northwestern Amazonis Planitia near 24.8°N, 171.3°W, both the context image and high-resolution view are illuminated from the lower left. The high resolution view shows several possible pseudocraters (cone-shaped features with holes or pits at their summits) that occur on top of a rough-textured lava plain. The context frame covers an area 115 km (71 mi) across, the high-resolution view is 3 km (1.9 mi) across.Pseudocraters form by explosions due to the interaction of molten lava with a water-rich surface. Possible martian pseudocraters are of interest because they may mark the locations of shallow water or ice at the time the lava was emplaced. Viking Orbiter images have shown structures in other regions of Mars that were interpreted to be pseudocraters, but the interpretations were uncertain because the morphology was poorly resolved, it was unclear if they occurred on volcanic surfaces, and they have diameters as much as a factor of 3 larger than terrestrial pseudocraters. The cone-shaped morphology is well resolved in the cones imaged by MOC, and they have basal diameters of less than 250 m (273 yards), consistent with terrestrial examples. The cones rest on a surface with a distinctive morphology consisting of ridged plates that have rafted apart, which MOC team members have interpreted as the surface of voluminous lava flows. The surface shown here (above right) looks relatively fresh and has very few impact craters on it, which suggests that the lava flows and the cones are both geologically young. However, MOC images in other areas reveal such apparently young surfaces being exhumed (presumably by wind erosion) from beneath a blanket of overlying material. Impact processes may harden the blanket, or cover it with materials that cannot be removed by wind, so the wind erosion leaves behind elevated "pedestalcraters." The cones shown here are not typical of pedestal craters, but it is important to consider this alternative interpretation.MGS MOC first began taking pictures of Mars in mid-September 1997. The planet that has been revealed by this camera is often strange, new, and exciting. The possibility that lava and water or ice have interacted to create features like pseudocraters indicates that Mars has had a diverse and complex past that researchers are only just beginning to understand. | |
On Dec. 18, 2004, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity was on its way from 'Endurance Crater' toward the spacecraft's jettisoned heat shield when the navigation camera took the images combined into this 360-degree vertical projection. | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity was on its way from "Endurance Crater" toward the spacecraft's jettisoned heat shield when the navigation camera took the images combined into this 360-degree panorama. Opportunity drove 60 meters (197 feet) on its 321st martian day, or sol (Dec. 18, 2004). These images were taken later that sol and on the following sol. The rover had spent 181 sols inside the crater. This view is presented in a vertical projection without seam correction. | |
Northern Plains | Image PSP_001445_2510 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on November 17, 2006. The complete image is centered at 70.5 degrees latitude, 216.9 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 314.3 km (196.4 miles). At this distance the image scale is 31.4 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~94 cm across are resolved. The image shown here has been map-projected to 25 cm/pixel. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:01 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 60 degrees, thus the sun was about 30 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 136.5 degrees, the season on Mars is Northern Summer.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft is from the region of Syrtis Major, which is dominated by a low-relief shield volcano and believed to be an area of vigorous aeolian activity with strong winds in the east-west direction. | (Released 1 May 2002)The ScienceThis image is from the region of Syrtis Major, which is dominated by a low-relief shield volcano. This area is believed to be an area of vigorous aeolian activity with strong winds in the east-west direction. The effects of these winds are observed as relatively bright streaks across the image, extending from topographic features such as craters. The brighter surface material probably indicates a smaller relative particle size in these areas, as finer particles have a higher albedo. The bright streaks seen off of craters are believed to have formed during dust storms. A raised crater rim can cause a reduction in the wind velocity directly behind it, which results in finer particles being preferentially deposited in this location. In the top half of the image, there is a large bright streak that crosses the entire image. There is no obvious topographic obstacle, therefore it is unclear whether it was formed in the same manner as described above. This image is located northwest of Nili Patera, a large caldera in Syrtis Major. Different flows from the caldera eruptions can be recognized as raised ridges, representing the edge of a flow lobe.The StoryIn the 17th century, Holland was in its Golden Age, a time of cultural greatness and immense political and economic influence in the world. In that time, lived a inquisitive person named Christian Huygens. As a boy, he loved to draw and to figure out problems in mathematics. As a man, he used these talents to make the first detailed drawings of the Martian surface - - only 50 years or so after Galileo first turned his telescope on Mars.Mars suddenly became something other than a small red dot in the sky. One of the drawings Huygens made was of a dark marking on the red planet's surface named Syrtis Major. Almost 350 years later, here we are with an orbiter that can show us this place in detail. Exploration lives!It's great we can study this area up close. In earlier periods of history, scientists were fascinated with Syrtis Major because this dark region varied so much through the seasons and years. Some people thought it might be a changing sea, and others thought it might be vegetation. Early spacecraft like Mariner and Viking revealed for the first time that the changes were caused by the wind blowing dust and sand across the surface.What we can see in this image is exactly that: evidence of a lot of wind action. Bright dust patches streak across this image, formed through wind interference from craters and other landforms. These wispy, bright streaks are spread on the surface by a vigorous, east-west wind that kicked up huge dust storms, scattering the fine particles of sand and dust in an almost etherial pattern. The bright streaks in the top part of the image might have formed in a slightly different way, because there is no landform standing in the wind's way.Beneath the bright surface dust are raised ridges that mark the edges of earlier lava flows from Nili Patera, a Martian "caldera." A caldera is a collapsed, bowl-shaped depression at the top of a volcano cone.Can you imagine how Christian Huygens would feel if he lived today and could see all of this knowledge unfold? Or how it would feel to be the first person to stand in this dark volcanic and cratered region, knowing how many discovers had paved the way to that moment? Yes, exploration lives! | |
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to take this 360-degree panorama on March 23, 2022. The team has informally described the wind-sharpened rocks seen here as gator-back rocks because of their scaly appearance. | NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Mast Camera, or Mastcam, to take this 360-degree panorama on March 23, 2022, the 3,423th Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The team has informally described the wind-sharpened rocks seen here as "gator-back" rocks because of their scaly appearance.Wind-sharpened rocks like these are called ventifacts, and are responsible for chewing up Curiosity's wheels earlier in the mission. Since then, rover engineers have found ways to slow wheel wear, including a traction control algorithm. They also plan rover routes that avoid driving over such rocks, including these latest ventifacts, which are made of sandstone – the hardest type of rock Curiosity has encountered on Mars.These rocks form the surface of the "Greenheugh Pediment," a broad, sloping plain in the foothills of Mount Sharp. The floor of Gale Crater is visible along the edges of the mosaic. When Curiosity's team saw the gator-back rocks, they ultimately decided to turn the rover around and take an alternative path to continue climbing Mount Sharp, a 3.4-mile-tall (5.5-kilometer-tall) mountain that Curiosity has been ascending since 2014. As it climbs, Curiosity is able to study different sedimentary layers shaped by water billions of years ago. These layers help scientists understand whether microscopic life could have survived in the ancient Martian environment.Curiosity was built by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California. Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages JPL for NASA. JPL manages Curiosity's mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego built and operates Mastcam.For more about Curiosity, visit http://mars.nasa.gov/msl or https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/index.html. | |
This image shows how dust has enveloped the Red Planet. NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows views of Valles Marineris chasms (left) and an autumn dust storm in Acidalia (right) and the early spring south polar cap. | Click on the image for larger animationSide-by-side movies shows how the 2018 global dust storm enveloped the Red Planet, courtesy of the Mars Color Imager (MARCI) camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). This global dust storm caused NASA's Opportunity rover to lose contact with Earth.The view from May shows Valles Marineris chasms (left), Meridiani center, an autumn dust storm in Acidalia (top) and the early spring south polar cap (bottom). The view from July shows the same regions, but most of the surface was obscured by the planet-encircling dust cloud and haze.Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, provided and operates MARCI. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
This 3-D cylindrical-perspective mosaic was created from navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit captured on on sol 115. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | This three-dimensional stereo anaglyph was created from several frames from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. It is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection. The rover acquired these frames during its 115th martian day, or "sol," in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars, on May 21, 2004. The rover was near the edge of "Endurance Crater," which dominates the right half of this view. The crater is about 130 meters (about 430 feet) in diameter.See PIA05986 for left eye view and PIA05987 for right eye view of this 3-D stereo anaglyph. | |
This 360-degree color view, called the 'McMurdo' panorama, comes from the panoramic camera aboard NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. From April through October 2006, Spirit has stayed on a small hill known as 'Low Ridge.' 3D glasses are necessary. | Left-eye view of a stereo pair for PIA01905Right-eye view of a stereo pair for PIA01905This 360-degree view, called the "McMurdo" panorama, comes from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. From April through October 2006, Spirit has stayed on a small hill known as "Low Ridge." There, the rover's solar panels are tilted toward the sun to maintain enough solar power for Spirit to keep making scientific observations throughout the winter on southern Mars. This view of the surroundings from Spirit's "Winter Haven" is presented as a stereo anaglyph to show the scene three-dimensionally when viewed through red-blue glasses (with the red lens on the left).Oct. 26, 2006, marks Spirit's 1,000th sol of what was planned as a 90-sol mission. (A sol is a Martian day, which lasts 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds). The rover has lived through the most challenging part of its second Martian winter. Its solar power levels are rising again. Spring in the southern hemisphere of Mars will begin in early 2007. Before that, the rover team hopes to start driving Spirit again toward scientifically interesting places in the "Inner Basin" and "Columbia Hills" inside Gusev crater. The McMurdo panorama is providing team members with key pieces of scientific and topographic information for choosing where to continue Spirit's exploration adventure.The Pancam began shooting component images of this panorama during Spirit's sol 814 (April 18, 2006) and completed the part shown here on sol 932 (Aug. 17, 2006). The panorama was acquired using all 13 of the Pancam's color filters, using lossless compression for the red and blue stereo filters, and only modest levels of compression on the remaining filters. The overall panorama consists of 1,449 Pancam images and represents a raw data volume of nearly 500 megabytes. It is thus the largest, highest-fidelity view of Mars acquired from either rover. Additional photo coverage of the parts of the rover deck not shown here was completed on sol 980 (Oct. 5, 2006). The team is completing the processing and mosaicking of those final pieces of the panorama, and that image will be released on the Web shortly to augment this McMurdo panorama view.This beautiful scene reveals a tremendous amount of detail in Spirit's surroundings. Many dark, porous-textured volcanic rocks can be seen around the rover, including many on Low Ridge. Two rocks to the right of center, brighter and smoother-looking in this image and more reflective in infrared observations by Spirit's miniature thermal emission spectrometer, are thought to be meteorites. On the right, "Husband Hill" on the horizon, the rippled "El Dorado" sand dune field near the base of that hill, and lighter-toned "Home Plate" below the dunes provide context for Spirit's travels since mid-2005. Left of center, tracks and a trench dug by Spirit's right-front wheel, which no longer rotates, have exposed bright underlying material. This bright material is evidence of sulfur-rich salty minerals in the subsurface, which may provide clues about the watery past of this part of Gusev Crater.Spirit has stayed busy at Winter Haven during the past six months even without driving. In addition to acquiring this spectacular panorama, the rover team has also acquired significant new assessments of the elemental chemistry and mineralogy of rocks and soil targets within reach of the rover's arm. The team plans soon to have Spirit drive to a very nearby spot on Low Ridge to access different rock and soil samples while maintaining a good solar panel tilt toward the sun for the rest of the Martian winter.Despite the long span of time needed for acquiring this 360-degree view -- a few images at a time every few sols over a total of 119 sols because the available power was so low -- the lighting and color remain remarkably uniform across the mosaic. This fact attests to the repeatability of wintertime sols on Mars in the southern hemisphere. This is the time of year when Mars is farthest from the sun, so there is much less dust storm and dust devil activity than at other times of the year.The left-eye and right-eye mosaics combined into this anaglyph were generated using the Pancam's 750-nanometer, 530-nanometer and 480-nanometer filters from the left camera and the 750-nanometer and 430-nanometer filters from the right camera, color balanced in such a way so that when the combination is fused by the viewer's eye and brain, the scene is perceived in three dimensions in natural or approximately true color. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of an unnamed crater in northern Arabia Terra. Numerous small channels surround the crater and some dissect the crater rim. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of an unnamed crater in northern Arabia Terra. Numerous small channels surround the crater and some dissect the crater rim. This crater is unusual due to the presence of the large block of material that rises above the crater floor in the upper half of the image.Orbit Number: 89433 Latitude: 35.3092 Longitude: 6.82587 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-02-11 05:27Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows multiple layers at the end of Mars' polar cap as summer ends at the south pole. | Context imageCredit: NASA/JPL/MOLAAs summer ends at the south pole the multiple layers are clearly visible at the end of the polar cap.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -82.5N, Longitude 88.0E. 44 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The Thermal and Electrical Conductivity Probe on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander detected small and variable amounts of water in the Martian soil. | The Thermal and Electrical Conductivity Probe on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander detected small and variable amounts of water in the Martian soil.In this schematic illustration, water molecules are represented in red and white; soil minerals are represented in green and blue. The water, neither liquid, vapor, nor solid, adheres in very thin films of molecules to the surfaces of soil minerals. The left half illustrates an interpretation of less water being adsorbed onto the soil-particle surface during a period when the tilt, or obliquity, of Mars' rotation axis is small, as it is in the present. The right half illustrates a thicker film of water during a time when the obliquity is greater, as it is during cycles on time scales of hundreds of thousands of years. As the humidity of the atmosphere increases, more water accumulates on mineral surfaces. Thicker films behave increasingly like liquid water.The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter. | |
On Mar. 8, 2005, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity drove 95 meters (312 feet) toward 'Vostok Crater' that sol before taking images. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image. | Figure 1Figure 2NASA'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 399th martian day, or sol, of its surface mission (March 8, 2005). Opportunity drove 35 meters (115 feet) that sol and reached the edge of "Vostok Crater" before taking the images. Sand has buried much of the crater. This location is catalogued as Opportunity's site 50. This three-dimensional view is presented as a cylindrical-perspective projection with geometric and brightness seam correction. Two angular marks in the right half of the image are artifacts of image-compression data loss.Figure 1 is the left-eye view of a stereo pair and Figure 2 is the right-eye view of a stereo pair. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows windstreaks located on lava flows from Arsia Mons. | Context image for PIA09427WindstreaksThese windstreaks are located on lava flows from Arsia Mons.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -10.9N, Longitude 225.3E. 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 | 18 February 2004 Many craters and troughs at middle latitudes on Mars have gullies carved into their slopes. These gullies often have banked or even meandering channels that indicate a fluid with the properties of water may have been involved. Indeed, it is possible that such gullies indicate places where liquid water seeped out to the martian surface, or formed from melting ice, in the not-too-distant past. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an example located in a crater in Terra Cimmeria near 37.7°S, 191.6°W. The picture was acquired only a few months ago in November 2003. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the left/upper left; the picture covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. | |
Thorium is a naturally radioactive element that exists in rocks and soils in extremely small amounts. The region of highest thorium content, shown in red on this gamma ray spectrometer map from NASA's Mars Odyssey, is in northern Acidalia Planitia. | This gamma ray spectrometer map of the mid-latitude region of Mars is based on gamma-rays from the element thorium. Thorium is a naturally radioactive element that exists in rocks and soils in extremely small amounts. The region of highest thorium content, shown in red, is found in the northern part of Acidalia Planitia (50 degrees latitude, -30 degrees longitude). Areas of low thorium content, shown in blue, are spread widely across the planet with significant low abundances located to the north of Olympus Mons (near 55 degrees latitude, -155 degrees longitude), to the east of the Tharsis volcanoes (-10 degrees latitude, -80 degrees longitude) and to the south and east of Elysium Mons (20 degrees latitude, 160 degrees longitude). Contours of constant surface elevation are also shown. The long continuous contour line running from east to west marks the approximate separation of the younger lowlands in the north from the older highlands in the south.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The gamma ray spectrometer was provided by the University of Arizona, Tucson. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo., is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Deposits in Electris Region | Image PSP_001394_1425 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on November 13, 2006. The complete image is centered at -37.3 degrees latitude, 185.7 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 250.2 km (156.4 miles). At this distance the image scale is 50.1 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) so objects ~150 cm across are resolved. The image shown here has been map-projected to 50 cm/pixel and north is up. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:37 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 75 degrees, thus the sun was about 15 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 134.6 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. | |
Shown here is a representation of the 21 sample tubes that have been sealed to date by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. Red dots indicate the locations where each sample was collected. | Figure AShown here is a representation of the 21 sample tubes (containing rock, regolith, atmosphere, and witness materials) that have been sealed to date by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover. Red dots indicate the locations where each sample was collected.Squares outlined in red show the texture of an area about 2 inches (5 centimeters) across on a particular rock sample after it was worn down by the rover's abrasion tool (with the exception of "Observation Mountain," which is an image of the surface of a pile of regolith, or broken rock and dust). The one or two squares immediately to the right of each red-outlined square shows an image of the top of each sample tube after the sample was acquired.Figure A is the same image, but the 10 samples highlighted in green have been selected for deposit in Perseverance's first depot, located at the "Three Forks" area of Jezero Crater.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.For more about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/ | |
This image of Santa Maria Crater was taken by HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter where NASA's rover Opportunity approached Santa Maria Crater in December 2010. | Annotated imageClick on the image for larger versionNASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity approached Santa Maria Crater in December 2010. With a diameter of about 90 meters (295 feet), this crater is slightly smaller than Endurance Crater, which Opportunity explored for about half a year in 2004.This image of Santa Maria Crater was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.The rover team plans to use Opportunity for investigating Santa Maria for a few weeks before resuming the rover's long-term trek toward Endeavour Crater. One planned target area is at Santa Maria's southeast rim. The red circle marked there on Figure 1 indicates the pixel size and location of an observation by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter that has piqued researchers' interest. The spectrum recorded by CRISM for this spot, unlike the spectrum recorded for the place indicated by the blue circle on the floor of the crater, suggests what might be a water-bearing sulfate mineral. Although Opportunity has detected such minerals on the surface during its nearly seven years on Mars, none have been detected from orbit at a place visited by Opportunity. | |
The red line on this image traces NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's route as of March 23, 2005. | Opportunity's Traverse from Landing through Sol 413 Opportunity's Fast Progress Southward As of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's 413th martian day, or sol, (March 23, 2005), the robot had driven a total of 4.62 kilometers (2.87 miles) since. The red line on this image traces the rover's route. The base image is a mosaic combining images from the Mars Observer Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter, the Thermal Emission Imaging System on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter, and Opportunity's own Descent Image Motion Estimation System. The rover has been making rapid progress southward since it finished examining its jettisoned heat shield on sol 357 (Jan. 24, 2005, one year after landing). Scientists are eager for Opportunity to reach an area to the south called the "Etched Terrain," which appears mottled in the map's base images and might offer access to different layers of bedrock than what the rover has seen so far. See figure 1.As of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's 414th martian day, or sol, (March 24, 2005), the robot had driven a total of 4.81 kilometers (2.99 miles) since landing. In this two-month period, Opportunity drove 2.69 kilometers (1.67 miles). As landmarks along the route, it used craters that the rover team informally named for ships of historic voyages of exploration. See figure 2.Figures 1 and 2 are traverse maps overlaid on a mosaic of images from NASA's Mars Global Surveyor and Mars Odyssey orbiters and from Opportunity's descent camera. The scale bar in figure 1 at lower left is 2 kilometers (1.24 miles) long and the scale bar in figure 2 is 1 kilometer (0.62 mile) long. | |
The Martian north polar layered deposits are an ice sheet much like the Greenland ice sheet on the Earth in this image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This Martian ice sheet contains many layers that record variations in the Martian climate. | The Martian north polar layered deposits are an ice sheet much like the Greenland ice sheet on the Earth. Just as with the ice sheet in Greenland this Martian ice sheet contains many layers that record variations in the Martian climate. Sometimes icy layers can be ablated away during warm climates. Later the ice sheet can be buried by new ice layers and grow in size again. It's likely that many of these cycles have occurred over the ice sheet's history.The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recorded this image of north polar layered deposits on March 11, 2010. The target for this observation was a suggestion submitted by Greg Clements through the camera team's HiWish public-suggestion program. For more information about how to submit target suggestions, see http://uahirise.org/hiwish/.Fluctuations in the thickness of the ice sheet are most pronounced at the edges of the sheet, where this HiRISE image was taken. The ice sheet ends here in a gentle scarp that slopes about eight degrees downhill from bottom to top in this image. The layering within the ice is exposed on this sloping surface. The thickness of the ice here is about 1 kilometer (about 3300 feet). Scientists are analyzing these layers to see what information they might hold regarding previous Martian climates.This image covers a swath of ground about 1 kilometer (about two-thirds of a mile) wide. It is a portion of HiRISE observation ESP_016973_2595, which is centered at 79.30 degrees north latitude, 351.46 degrees east longitude. The season on Mars is northern-hemisphere spring. Other image products from this observation are available at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_016973_2595.Color images from HiRISE combine information from detectors with three different color filters: red, infrared, and blue-green. Thus they include information from part of the spectrum human eyes cannot see and are not true color as the eye would see. The resulting false color helps to show differences among surface materials. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the HiRISE camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, built the spacecraft. | |
This mosaic, taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows the planned route (in yellow) of NASA's Curiosity rover from 'Pahrump Hills' at the base of Mount Sharp, through the 'Murray Formation.' | This mosaic, taken with the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows the planned route (in yellow) of NASA's Curiosity rover from "Pahrump Hills" at the base of Mount Sharp, through the "Murray Formation," and south to the hematite ridge further up the flank of Mount Sharp. 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 and Mars Science Laboratory projects for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a section of Cerberus Fossae. Cerberus Fossae are located in Elysium Planitia, southeast of the Elysium Mons volcanic complex. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a section of Cerberus Fossae. Cerberus Fossae are located in Elysium Planitia, southeast of the Elysium Mons volcanic complex. The linear features in the image are tectonic graben. Graben are formed by extension of the crust and faulting. When large amounts of pressure or tension are applied to rocks on timescales that are fast enough that the rock cannot respond by deforming, the rock breaks along faults. In the case of a graben, two parallel faults are formed by extension of the crust and the rock in between the faults drops downward into the space created by the extension. Numerous sets of graben are visible in this THEMIS image, trending from north-northwest to south-southeast. Because the faults defining the graben are formed perpendicular to the direction of the applied stress, we know that extensional forces were pulling the crust apart in the east-northeast/west-southwest direction. The Cerberus Fossae graben are sources of both channels and significant volcanic flows. Cerberus Fossae cuts across features such as hills, indicating the relative youth of the tectonic activity.Orbit Number: 94781 Latitude: 8.95114 Longitude: 163.746 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2023-04-27 13:44Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This daytime IR image shows part of Nanedi Vallis as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageToday's daytime IR image shows part of Nanedi Vallis.Orbit Number: 51284 Latitude: 7.72187 Longitude: 312.091 Instrument: IR Captured: 2013-07-06 18:02Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a landslide deposit within a complex crater (note the ejecta to the top and bottom of the image). There is a smaller complex crater on the ejecta to the north of the larger crater. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a landslide deposit within a complex crater (note the ejecta to the top and bottom of the image). There is a smaller complex crater on the ejecta to the north of the larger crater. This "doublet" crater with the linear interior rim is formed when two impactors hit the surface simultaneously. The impactors are initially all part of the same meteor. The larger crater may have formed from multiple impactors.Orbit Number: 56056 Latitude: -19.0844 Longitude: 93.6361 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-08-03 09:43Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows Curiosity at the 'Rocknest' site where the rover scooped up samples of windblown dust and sand. | This image is a scaled-down version of a full-circle view which combined nearly 900 images taken by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. The Full-Res TIFF and Full-Res JPEG provided in the top right legend are smaller resolution versions of the 1.3 billion pixel version for easier browser viewing and downloading. Viewers can explore the full-circle image with pan and zoom controls at http://mars.nasa.gov/bp1/.The view is centered toward the south, with north at both ends. It shows Curiosity at the "Rocknest" site where the rover scooped up samples of windblown dust and sand. Curiosity used three cameras to take the component images on several different days between Oct. 5 and Nov. 16, 2012. This first NASA-produced gigapixel image from the surface of Mars is a mosaic using 850 frames from the telephoto camera of Curiosity's Mast Camera instrument, supplemented with 21 frames from the Mastcam's wider-angle camera and 25 black-and-white frames -- mostly of the rover itself -- from the Navigation Camera. It was produced by the Multiple-Mission Image Processing Laboratory (MIPL) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. This version of the panorama has been white-balanced to show what the scene would look like under Earth lighting conditions, which is helpful in distinguishing and recognizing materials in the rocks and soil. A raw-color version is available at PIA16919. The view shows illumination effects from variations in the time of day for pieces of the mosaic. It also shows variations in the clarity of the atmosphere due to variable dustiness during the month while the images were acquired.NASA's Mars Science Laboratory project is using Curiosity and the rover's 10 science instruments to investigate the environmental history within Gale Crater, a location where the project has found that conditions were long ago favorable for microbial life. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates Curiosity's Mastcam. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington and built the Navigation Camera and the rover. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a small section of Shalbatana Vallis. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a small section of Shalbatana Vallis. Located in Xanthe Terra, Shalbatana Vallis is an outflow channel carved by massive floods of escaping groundwater whose source lies far to the south of this image. This channel, and all others in this region, drain into Chryse Planitia. Shalbatana Vallis is 1029km long (639 miles). A small tributary channel is located on the right side of the image. The flat lying bench on the side of the main channel may be a delta deposit created by the tributary channel.Orbit Number: 85866 Latitude: 3.02377 Longitude: 316.732 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-04-23 12:22Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image shows an example of the terrain that is present at the boundary between the southern highlands and the northern lowlands of Elysium Planitia. This image was captured by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft in November 2003. | Released 19 November 2003This image shows an example of the terrain that is present at the boundary between the southern highlands and the northern lowlands (the famous "dichotomy boundary"). This image is located on that boundary in Elysium Planitia, not too far north of Gusev Crater. The high ground appears to be eroding away, breaking into blocks that almost look like they are disintegrating.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -3, Longitude 168.8 East (191.2 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a polar stereographic projection of topography from latitude 55° S to the pole on Mars. | Polar stereographic projection of topography from latitude 55° S to the pole. | |
This graphic offers comparisons between the amount of an organic chemical named chlorobenzene detected in the 'Cumberland' rock sample and amounts of it in samples from three other Martian surface targets analyzed by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover. | This graphic offers comparisons between the amount of an organic chemical named chlorobenzene detected in the "Cumberland" rock sample and amounts of the same compound in samples from three other Martian surface targets analyzed by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover.The amounts of chlorobenzene that Curiosity's Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) laboratory detected in samples from the "Rocknest" Martian soil target and the "John Klein" and "Confidence Hills" rock targets were at or below the background level in the instrument. The amount in Cumberland is much higher than all the others, as indicated in the green bars on a vertical scale of picomoles measured with SAM's gas chromatograph mass spectrometer system (GCMS). The lower portion of the graphic shows images from the scoop divot at Rocknest and drill holes at the rock targets. The inset graph shows how the mass spectrum of the chemical found by SAM in the Cumberland sample closely matches that of a chlorobenzene laboratory standard from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) database.The chlorobenzene may have resulted from reaction of Martian organic chemicals with Martian perchlorate during the process of heating the sample in SAM, so the precursor identities of Martian organic molecules in the rock remain to be determined.Analysis of the Cumberland sample by SAM yielded the first definitive detection of any Martian organic chemicals in material on the surface of Mars. Organic chemicals, which contain carbon and usually hydrogen, are molecular building blocks of life, although they can be made without life's presence. Martian organics could have been produced on Mars or delivered to Mars aboard meteorites.NASA's Mars Science Laboratory Project is using Curiosity to assess ancient habitable environments and major changes in Martian environmental conditions. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, built the rover and manages the project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, built and operates SAM.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
These ridges near the south polar cap are called Angustus Labyrinthus, as shown in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageThese ridges near the south polar cap are called Angustus Labyrinthus.Orbit Number: 50298 Latitude: -81.2293 Longitude: 297.523 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-04-16 13:17Please 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 of part of Aram Chaos on Mars shows two different surface textures with distinctly different brightnesses. The lighter layer appears to be on top (therefore younger) than the darker surface as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey. | Context image for PIA02175Surface VarietyThis image of part of Aram Chaos shows two different surface textures with distinctly different brightnesses. The lighter layer appears to be on top (therefore younger) than the darker surface.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 2.1N, Longitude 338.7E. 17 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The upper portion of this map is from an observation by the Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of a field of dark sand dunes in the Nili Patera region of Mars. | The upper portion of this map is from an observation by the Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter of a field of dark sand dunes in the Nili Patera region of Mars. The white inscribed rectangles show overlapping footprints of observations made by the same orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera 15 months apart. The black inscribed boxes show locations of two portions of the image seen in magnified view below, "b" on the left and "c" on the right.The map serves to show the context and location of images comparing before and after views to identify changes in the ripples on the dunes (PIA12860), the edges of the dunes (PIA12859) and the slip face of a dune (PIA12858).The site is at 9 degrees north latitude, 67 degrees east longitude. The white scale bar in the top image is 1 kilometer (0.62 mile) long. The scale bars in the two bottom images are 150 meters (492 feet) long. North is toward the top in all three images.Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, provided and operates the Context Camera. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the spacecraft development and integration contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. | |
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity reveals the scene of the rover's heat shield impact that protected it while hurtling through the martian atmosphere. This image was taken on Dec. 19, 2004. | This image from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity reveals the scene of the rover's heat shield impact. In this view, Opportunity is approximately 130 meters (427 feet) away from the device that protected it while hurtling through the martian atmosphere.The rover spent 36 sols investigating how the severe heating during entry through the atmosphere affected the heat shield. The most obvious is the fact that the heat shield inverted upon impact.This is the panoramic camera team's best current attempt at generating a true-color view of what this scene would look like if viewed by a human on Mars. It was generated from a mathematical combination of six calibrated, left-eye panoramic camera images acquired around 1:50 p.m. local solar time on Opportunity's sol 322 (Dec. 19, 2004) using filters ranging in wavelengths from 430 to 750 nanometers. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Buvinda Vallis, located just outside the northeastern flank of Hecates Tholus. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows part of Buvinda Vallis, located just outside the northeastern flank of Hecates Tholus.Orbit Number: 54037 Latitude: 33.2014 Longitude: 151.998 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-02-18 06:47Please 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 captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a portion of Kasei Valles. | Context imageThis VIS image shows a portion of Kasei Valles. Kasei Valles is a large channel system that drained from the Tharsis volcanic highlands to the lower elevation Chryse Plainitia. At the top of the image is a deeper section of the channel with a tear-drop shaped central island. The direction of fluid flow is identified by the shape of the island, with the narrow "tail" on the down hill end.Orbit Number: 64185 Latitude: 26.0042 Longitude: 289.472 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-06-02 19:34Please 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. | |
Color coding in this image of Mars represents differences in elevation, measured by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. While surface liquid water is rare and ephermal on modern Mars. | Color coding in this image of Mars represents differences in elevation, measured by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. While surface liquid water is rare and ephermal on modern Mars, the topography of Mars reveals large, ancient valley networks and outflow channels. These are evidence that liquid water was more common and played a much more important role in Mars' past. | |
This image shows NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars, on May 21, 2004. The rover was near the edge of 'Endurance Crater.' | This is the left-eye view of a stereo pair created from several frames from the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. It is presented in a cylindrical-perspective projection. The rover acquired these frames during its 115th martian day, or "sol," in the Meridiani Planum region of Mars, on May 21, 2004. The rover was near the edge of "Endurance Crater," which dominates the right half of this view. The crater is about 130 meters (about 430 feet) in diameter. See PIA05985 for 3-D view and PIA05987 for right eye view of this left eye cylindrical-perspective projection. | |
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows densely fractured light-toned rock in the vicinity of the Nili Fossae. The light-toned material is finely layered; these layers can be seen in cross-section along a scarp face at the bottom of the image. | Figure 1Click on image for larger versionThe HiRISE sub-image (figure 1) shows (near center) densely fractured light-toned rock in the vicinity of the Nili Fossae.The light-toned material is finely layered; these layers can be seen in cross-section along a scarp face at the bottom of the image. At full resolution, the light-toned layered materials resemble those seen in other HiRISE images of Nili Fossae and its surroundings, some of which have been identified on the basis of their infrared spectra by Observatoire pour la Mineralogie, l'Eau, les Glaces et l'Activité (OMEGA) and the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) as containing phyllosilicates (clays), which require the presence of water to form. These layers likely formed very early in Martian history, but must have been rapidly buried due to the lack of overprinting impact craters.Presently, the light-toned materials are being exhumed as the overlying material is eroded away by wind.In this image, the light-toned layers are overlain by a darker, densely pitted, rubbly layer (top of image). The areal extent of this darker layer, which has no apparent internal layering, can be seen in the full image. The dark layer may represent lava flows, possibly extruded from the Nili Fossae fissures or from the Syrtis Major volcano, 1000 kilometers (~620 miles) to the southwest.In the full image, the large valleys cutting into the dark material and its underlying layers may have formed by groundwater seepage and erosion, or by tectonic processes related to the opening of the Nili Fossae fissure system, to which the valleys connect just southeast of this image.South of the large area capped by dark material is a complex terrain of irregularly shaped pits and mesas, some of which are also capped by dark, pitted rock. The lighter, layered, densely fractured material is well exposed here. The pits are filled with relatively dark-toned, fine-grained material, and lighter wind-blown ripples are also present in some cases. Large boulder-sized fragments of light-toned rock are also visible in some pits, especially near the eroding scarp face highlighted in the sub-image above.Observation GeometryImage PSP_002176_2025 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on 13-Jan-2007. The complete image is centered at 22.2 degrees latitude, 77.1 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 282.5 km (176.5 miles). At this distance the image scale ranges from 28.3 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 56.5 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning). The image shown here has been map-projected to 25 cm/pixel and north is up. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 03:33 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 54 degrees, thus the sun was about 36 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 165.8 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. |
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