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This engineering drawing shows the five devices that make up the turret at the end of the arm on NASA's Curiosity rover. These include: the drill for acquiring powdered samples from interiors of rocks. | This engineering drawing shows the five devices that make up the turret at the end of the arm on NASA's Curiosity rover. These include: the drill for acquiring powdered samples from interiors of rocks; the Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS); the sample processing subsystem named Collection and Handling for Interior Martian Rock Analysis (CHIMRA), which includes a scoop that can scoop up lose dirt from the Martian surface; the Dust Removal Tool (DRT) and the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI). | |
This 4.5 billion-year-old rock, labeled meteorite ALH84001, is one of 10 rocks from Mars in which researchers have found organic carbon compounds that originated on Mars without involvement of life. | This 4.5 billion-year-old rock, labeled meteorite ALH84001, is one of 10 rocks from Mars in which researchers have found organic carbon compounds that originated on Mars without involvement of life. Organic carbon compounds are chemical ingredients for life, but can be created by non-biological processes as well as by biological processes. The report of finding Martian organic carbon in this and nine other meteorites was published in May 2012.
This same meteorite, ALH84001, was earlier the subject of analysis that led to a report that it might contain fossils from Mars. That claim was subsequently strongly challenged. The rock is a portion of a meteorite that was dislodged from Mars by a huge impact about 16 million years ago and that fell to Earth in Antarctica approximately 13,000 years ago. The meteorite was found in Allan Hills ice field, Antarctica, by an annual expedition of the National Science Foundation's Antarctic Meteorite Program in 1984. It is preserved for study at the Johnson Space Center's Meteorite Processing Laboratory in Houston.
The rock is about 3.5 inches (9 centimeters) across. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows windstreaks located on lava flows from Arsia Mons on Mars. | Context image for PIA09464WindstreaksThese windstreaks are located on lava flows from Arsia Mons.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -14.3N, Longitude 220.1E. 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 captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a relatively young crater located on the northern plains of Arcadia Planitia. | Context imageThis relatively young crater is located on the northern plains of Arcadia Planitia.Orbit Number: 60388 Latitude: 61.6777 Longitude: 228.91 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-07-26 03:01Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows the central portion of Hephaestus Fossae. Hephaestus Fossae is a complex channel system in Utopia Planitia near Elysium Mons. | Context imageThis VIS image is located in the central portion of Hephaestus Fossae. Hephaestus Fossae is a complex channel system in Utopia Planitia near Elysium Mons. It has been proposed that the channel formed by the release of melted subsurface ice during the impact event that created a large crater south of this image. Additionally, the nearby Elysium volcanic center created subsurface heating that may have played a part in creating both Hephaestus Fossae and Hebrus Valles to the north.Orbit Number: 77487 Latitude: 18.8111 Longitude: 124.593 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-06-03 14:10Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on March 24, 2006, in the mid-latitudes of Mars' southern hemisphere near the giant Argyre impact basin. It is located just to the west of a prominent scarp known as Bosporos Rupes. | This image was taken in the mid-latitudes of Mars' southern hemisphere near the giant Argyre impact basin. It is located just to the west of a prominent scarp known as Bosporos Rupes. The left side of the image shows cratered plains. Some of the craters are heavily mantled and indistinct, whereas others exhibit sharp rims and dramatic topography. The largest crater in this half of the image is about 2.5 kilometers (1.5 miles) wide. Mounds and ridges, which may be remnants of an ice-rich deposit, are visible on its floor. Three sinuous valleys occupy the center of the image. Valleys such as these were first observed in data returned by the NASA Mariner 9 spacecraft, which reached Mars in 1971. The right side of the image shows part of an impact crater that is approximately 20 kilometers (12 miles) in diameter. The furrowed appearance of the crater's inner wall suggests that it has been extensively modified, perhaps by landslides and flowing water. Like other craters in the area, the floor of this crater has a rough and dissected texture that is often attributed to the loss of ice-rich material.This image was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on March 24, 2006. The image is centered at 40.64 degrees south latitude, 303.49 degrees east longitude. The image is oriented such that north is 7 degrees to the left of up. The range to the target was 2,044 kilometers (1,270 miles). At this distance the image scale is 2.04 meters (6.69 feet) per pixel, so objects as small as 6.1 meters (20 feet) are resolved. In total this image is 40.90 kilometers (25.41 miles) or 20,081 pixels wide and 11.22 kilometers (6.97 miles) or 5,523 pixels high. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:30 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 81.4 degrees, thus the sun was about 8.6 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 29 degrees (with Ls an indicator of Mars' position in its orbit around the sun), the season on Mars is southern autumn.Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov.JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. | |
This NASA Mars Odyssey image shows Dao Vallis, a large outflow channel that starts on the southeast flank of a large volcano called Hadriaca Patera and runs for 1,000 kilometers (about 620 miles) southwest into the Hellas impact basin. | This THEMIS visible image shows Dao Vallis, a large outflow channel that starts on the southeast flank of a large volcano called Hadriaca Patera and runs for 1000 kilometers southwest into the Hellas impact basin. The channel is up to 20 kilometers wide near its source, but narrows downstream. As can be seen in the context image, the part of Dao Vallis imaged by THEMIS is actually one of the most narrow.It is believed that Dao Vallis was carved by a combination of surface and subsurface flow. Evidence for both of these processes can be seen in this image. The size of the channel, its steep walls, and the lineations at the bottom of the channel indicate that it was carved by surface flow of water. The erosional morphology near the center of the image, on the northern edge of the channel indicates that groundwater sapping was also a minor process. Subsidence of the surface into the quasi-circular depressions seen in this image is indicative of this process.Because the source region of Dao Vallis is the flank of a volcano, it is most likely that the water that carved the channel erupted from the subsurface as geothermal heating by nearby magma melted large amounts of ground ice. Some of this water made it to the surface and carved the channel, while some water flowed below ground and caused the sapping features evident in this THEMIS image.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 mosaic from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera was taken from a rover position of the rim of | This image mosaic from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's panoramic camera was taken from a rover position approximately 70 meters (about 230 feet) from the rim of "Endurance Crater" on the rover's 93rd sol on Mars. The foreground highlights the now familiar ripples and dimples, common on the plains of Meridiani Planum. Some rock outcrop is seen emerging on the hill to the left, indicating that the rover is driving through the eroded remnants of the crater's ejecta blanket and is getting close to its rim. This light-colored outcrop is probably similar to the rocks seen at "Fram Crater" and "Anatolia," and studied in detail at "Eagle Crater." The Eagle Crater rocks are believed to have been deposited in an open body of water. The science team is intrigued by the darker rock on the far side of the crater wall. Just right of the center, on the far crater wall, rocks appear to form thick, massive layers, suggesting they may have been formed by a different geologic processes than the lighter rocks in the foreground. The greater thickness of layered rocks at Endurance Crater will provide the team with a longer record of geologic processes operating at Meridiani Planum. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a sand sheet with a surface dune form, which partly surrounds the central peak of this unnamed crater near the north pole. | Context imageA sand sheet with surface dune forms partly surrounds the central peak of this unnamed crater near the north pole.Orbit Number: 54218 Latitude: 71.9875 Longitude: 344.52 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-03-05 04:03Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This map shows the route driven by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from the location where it landed in August 2012 to its location in early March 2016, approaching a geological waypoint called Naukluft Plateau. | This map shows the route driven by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from the location where it landed in August 2012 to its location in early March 2016, approaching a geological waypoint called "Naukluft Plateau." Curiosity departed the "Gobabeb" waypoint, where it scooped samples from a sand dune for analysis, on Feb. 3, 2016, with a drive during the 1,243rd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars.The base image for the map is from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. North is up. Bagnold Dunes form a band of dark, wind-blown material at the foot of Mount Sharp.As the rover continues uphill on Mount Sharp, one category of researchers on its science team has been refreshed by the mission's second round of participating-scientist selections. NASA chose 28 participating scientists from 89 scientists who submitted proposals. They play active roles in the day-to-day science operations of the rover as members of a science team that also includes about 120 investigators and 320 collaborators. The scale bar at lower right represents two kilometers (1.2 miles). For broader-context images of the area, see PIA17355, PIA16064 and PIA16058.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. For more information about the Mars Science Laboratory mission and the mission's Curiosity rover, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows several windstreaks on lava plains southwest of Arsia Mons. The extensive lava flow field is called Daedalia Planum. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows several windstreaks on lava plains southwest of Arsia Mons. The extensive lava flow field is called Daedalia Planum.Orbit Number: 80603 Latitude: -14.064 Longitude: 230.438 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2020-02-15 03:58Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows that dust avalanches, also called slope streaks, occur on many Martian terrains. These dust avalanches occur on the slopes of Lycus Sulci near Olympus Mons. | Dust avalanches, also called slope streaks, occur on many Martian terrains. The deposition of airborne dust on surfaces causes a bright tone in the THEMIS VIS images. Any movement of the dust downhill, a dust avalanche, will leave behind a streak where the darker, dust-free surface is exposed. These dust avalanches occur on the slopes of Lycus Sulci near Olympus Mons.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 28.1, Longitude 220.4 East (139.6 West). 18 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows linear features called graben. Graben are formed when blocks of material move downward between parallel faults. | Context imageThe linear features in this VIS image are graben called Sirenum Fossae. Graben are formed when blocks of material move downward between parallel faults. The faults were created by tectonic stresses in this region. The ground is pulling apart and breaks into faults, continued stress moves the sides of the faults further apart and form the graben.Orbit Number: 75220 Latitude: -31.3869 Longitude: 208.356 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-11-28 20:39Please 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. | |
Spirit 360-Degree View on Sol 409 (polar) | NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit used its navigation camera to take the images combined into this 360-degree view of the rover's surroundings on Spirit's 409th martian day, or sol (Feb. 26, 2005). Spirit had driven 2 meters (7 feet) on this sol to get in position on "Cumberland Ridge" for looking into "Tennessee Valley" to the east. This location is catalogued as Spirit's Site 108. Rover-wheel tracks from climbing the ridge are visible on the right. The summit of "Husband Hill" is at the center, to the south. This view is presented in a polar projection with geometric and brightness seam correction. | |
This oblique view of Gale crater shows the landing site and the mound of layered rocks that NASA's Mars Science Laboratory will investigate. The landing site is in the smooth area in front of the mound. | Unannotated VersionFigure 2Click on an individual image for full resolution image
This oblique view of Gale Crater shows the landing site and the mound of layered rocks that NASA's Mars Science Laboratory will investigate. The landing site is in the smooth area in front of the mound.
Gale Crater is 96 miles (154 kilometers) in diameter and holds a layered mountain rising about 3 miles (5 kilometers) above the crater floor.
The landing site contains material washed down from the wall of the crater, which will provide scientists with the opportunity to investigate the rocks that form the bedrock in this area. The landing ellipse also contains a rock type that is very dense and very bright colored; it is unlike any rock type previously investigated on Mars. It may be an ancient playa lake deposit, and it will likely be the mission's first target in checking for the presence of organic molecules.
The area of top scientific interest for Mars Science Laboratory is at the base of the mound, just at the edge of the landing ellipse and beyond a dark dune field. Here, orbiting instruments have detected signatures of both clay minerals and sulfate salts. Scientists studying Mars have several important hypotheses about how these minerals reflect changes in the Martian environment, particularly changes in the amount of water on the surface of Mars. The Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, will use its full instrument suite to study these minerals and how they formed to give us insights into those ancient Martian environments. These rocks are also a prime target in checking for organic molecules, since these environments may have been habitable -- able to support microbial life.
Canyons were cut in the mound through the layers containing the clay minerals and sulfate salts after deposition of the layers. These canyons, much like the Grand Canyon in Arizona, expose layers of rock representing tens or hundreds of millions of years of environmental change. Over its two-year primary mission, the rover may be able to investigate these layers in a canyon close to the landing ellipse (shown by an example rover path), gaining access to a long history of environmental change on the planet. Above this region, the material on the mound has spectroscopic characteristics similar to dusty areas of Mars, indicating it may be composed of dust that has been cemented into rock.
This three-dimensional perspective view was created using visible-light imaging by the Thermal Emission Imaging System camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. Three-dimensional information was derived from observations by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, which flew on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter. Color information is derived from color imaging of portions of the scene by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The vertical dimension is not exaggerated.
The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft is being prepared for launch during the period Nov. 25 to Dec. 18, 2011. In a prime mission lasting one Martian year -- nearly two Earth years -- after landing, researchers will use the rover's tools to study whether the landing region has had environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and for preserving clues about whether life existed.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Arizona State University, Tempe, operates the Thermal Emission Imaging System. The Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter was operated by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the High Resolution Science Imaging Experiment. JPL manages Mars Odyssey and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. | |
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover imaged these drifting clouds on May 7, 2019, the 2,400th Martian day, or sol, of the mission, using its Navigation Cameras (Navcams). | Click here for animationNASA's Curiosity Mars rover imaged these drifting clouds on May 7, 2019, the 2,400th Martian day, or sol, of the mission, using its black-and-white Navigation Cameras (Navcams).These are likely water-ice clouds about 19 miles (31 kilometers) above the surface. They are also "noctilucent" clouds, meaning they are so high that they are still illuminated by the Sun, even when it's night at Mars' surface. Scientists can watch when light leaves the clouds and use this information to infer their altitude.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
A sea of dark dunes, sculpted by the wind into long lines, surrounds the northern polar cap covering an area as big as Texas in this false-color image from NASA's Mars Odyssey, the longest-working Mars spacecraft in history. | A sea of dark dunes, sculpted by the wind into long lines, surrounds the northern polar cap covering an area as big as Texas. In this false-color image, areas with cooler temperatures are recorded in bluer tints, while warmer features are depicted in yellows and oranges. Thus, the dark, sun-warmed dunes glow with a golden color. This image covers an area 30 kilometers (19 miles) wide.
This scene combines images taken during the period from December 2002 to November 2004 by the Thermal Emission Imaging System instrument on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter. It is part of a special set of images marking the occasion of Odyssey becoming the longest-working Mars spacecraft in history. The pictured location on Mars is 80.3 degrees north latitude, 172.1 degrees east longitude.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows Jovis Tholus, a small volcano in the Tharsis region of Mars. The western part of the volcano has collapsed. | Context image for PIA10344Jovis TholusJovis Tholus is a small volcano in the Tharsis region of Mars. The western part of the volcano has collapsed.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 18.3N, Longitude 242.2E. 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 | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-538, 8 November 2003This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a circular mesa in northeast Arabia Terra. The circularity suggests that this landform might be similar to other circular mesas, found elsewhere on Mars. In those other cases, the mesa was once a meteor impact crater. The crater was filled with sediment, the sediment was cemented to become rock, and later erosion removed all of the material surrounding the former crater, leaving it standing alone as a circular mesa. This image is located near 23.7°N, 319.0°W, and covers an area 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. The scene is illuminated by sunlight from the left. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows | 31 December 2003 This oblique Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) wide angle red image shows the Beagle 2 landing zone about 18 minutes after the probe was scheduled to touch down on 25 December 2003. Mars Global Surveyor passed to the west of the site shortly after touch-down, so this image was taken looking east. The white ellipse shows the approximate location of the landing site. The largest crater to the northwest (toward upper left) of the ellipse is about 28 km (17.4 mi) across. The image is streaked and has low contrast because of the combined effects of looking obliquely and the presence of a thin veil of dust that not only hung over this region, but over most of Mars on 25 December 2003. During the previous 2 weeks, a large dust storm, followed by several smaller regional-scale storms, lifted dust in the western hemisphere of Mars. This dust drifted over most of the planet, reducing contrast and degrading the quality of MGS MOC images such as this one. This MOC image is important because it shows that there were no dust storms or other weather phenomena happening at the landing site the day Beagle 2 arrived. The landing site is located in Isidis Planitia near 11°N, 269.7°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left.This and several other images processed by Malin Space Science Systems, Inc. were shown by the Beagle 2 team during a press conference on 29 December 2003. These and other Beagle 2 images can be seen at: http://www.beagle2.com/resources/landingphotos.htm. The Beagle 2 web site is at: http://www.beagle2.com. Weekly weather reports for the Beagle 2 and Mars Exploration Rover sites, based on MOC image analysis, can be seen at: http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/mer_weather. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of the floor of Kaiser Crater, including several sand dunes. Kaiser Crater is located in Noachis Terra. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of the floor of Kaiser Crater, including several sand dunes. Kaiser Crater is located in Noachis Terra.Orbit Number: 74559 Latitude: -46.4271 Longitude: 20.1136 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2018-10-05 10:35Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows Olympia Undae, a vast dune field in the north polar region of Mars. | Context imageThis VIS image of Olympia Undae was collected at the very end of north polar spring. As the season changes into summertime, the dune crests have lost all the winter frosts completely revealing the darker sand beneath. The density of dunes and the alignments of the dune crests varies with location, controlled by the amount of available sand and the predominant winds over time.Olympia Undae is a vast dune field in the north polar region of Mars. It consists of a broad sand sea or erg that partly rings the north polar cap from about 120° to 240°E longitude and 78° to 83°N latitude. The dune field covers an area of approximately 470,000 km2 (bigger than California, smaller than Texas). Olympia Undae is the largest continuous dune field on Mars. Olympia Undae is not the only dune field near the north polar cap, several other smaller fields exist in the same latitude, but in other ranges of longitude, e.g. Abolos and Siton Undae. Barchan and transverse dune forms are the most common. In regions with limited available sand individual barchan dunes will form, the surface beneath and between the dunes is visible. In regions with large sand supplies, the sand sheet covers the underlying surface, and dune forms are found modifying the surface of the sand sheet. In this case transverse dunes are more common. Barchan dunes "point" down wind, transverse dunes are more linear and form parallel to the wind direction. The "square" shaped transverse dunes in Olympia Undae are due to two prevailing wind directions.Orbit Number: 78980 Latitude: 80.645 Longitude: 225.957 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-10-04 13:10Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows an unnamed channel in northern Terra Sabaea. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows an unnamed channel in northern Terra Sabaea. The regional boundary between the highlands of Terra Sabaea and lowlands of Utopia Planitia is heavily dissected by both fluid flow channels and extensive faulting.Orbit Number: 86125 Latitude: 38.054 Longitude: 39.8599 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-05-14 20:22Please 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 region of Xanthe Terra has mostly been contracted due to thrust faulting, but this local region shows evidence of extensional faulting, also called normal faulting. This observation is from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThis region of Xanthe Terra has mostly been contracted due to thrust faulting, but this local region shows evidence of extensional faulting, also called normal faulting.When two normal faults face each other, they create a bathtub-like depression called a "graben."This is a stereo pair with ESP_046064_1800.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a crater interior on Mars filled by a thick accumulation of material. The fill is now undergoing removal, exposing the floor beneath the material. | This crater interior was filled by a thick accumulation of material. The fill is now undergoing removal, exposing the floor beneath the material. The way the surface layer is breaking up and eroding indicates that volatiles, such as ice, may be present in the upper layer. Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 36, Longitude 351.9 East (8.1 West). 18 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 route of NASA's Perseverance Mars rover is shown in this annotated image composed of overhead views from the agency's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). | The route of NASA's Perseverance Mars rover – from its landing site on the floor of Jezero Crater to the ancient river delta, which it is currently exploring – is shown in this annotated image composed of overhead views from the agency's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO). The red star indicates the location of the rover in September 2022.Perseverance touched down at "Octavia E. Butler Landing" on Feb. 18, 2021, and explored formations (abbreviated "fm" in the annotation) known as "Séítah" and "Máaz" on the floor of Jezero Crater before driving toward the delta region. The delta, which Perseverance reached in April 2022, is a fan-shaped area where, billions of years ago, a river once flowed into a lake and deposited rocks and sediment. Scientists consider it one of the best places on Mars to search for potential signs of ancient microbial life.For this image, the Perseverance team and the U.S. Geological Survey collaborated on the base map, combining multiple images from the High Resolution Imaging Experiment (HiRISE) camera with color from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), both instruments aboard MRO. The HiRISE images used span a period from 2007 to 2017.A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, which is managed for the agency by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.For more about Perseverance: mars.nasa.gov/mars2020/JPL manages MRO for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. Johns Hopkins University's Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, built and leads the CRISM instrument. | |
This mosaic, composed of 52 individual images from NASA's InSight lander, shows the workspace where the spacecraft will eventually set its science instruments. | Unannotated ImageClick on the image for larger versionThis mosaic, made of 52 individual images from NASA's InSight lander, shows the workspace where the spacecraft will eventually set its science instruments. The workspace is roughly 14 by 7 feet (4 by 2 meters). The lavender annotation shows where InSight's seismometer (called the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure, or SEIS) and heat flow probe (called the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package, or HP3) can be placed.An unannotated version is also available.JPL manages InSight for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. InSight is part of NASA's Discovery Program, managed by the agency's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Lockheed Martin Space in Denver built the InSight spacecraft, including its cruise stage and lander, and supports spacecraft operations for the mission.A number of European partners, including France's Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), are supporting the InSight mission. CNES and the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP) provided the Seismic Experiment for Interior Structure (SEIS) instrument, with significant contributions from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research (MPS) in Germany, the Swiss Institute of Technology (ETH) in Switzerland, Imperial College and Oxford University in the United Kingdom, and JPL. DLR provided the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) instrument, with significant contributions from the Space Research Center (CBK) of the Polish Academy of Sciences and Astronika in Poland. Spain's Centro de Astrobiología (CAB) supplied the wind sensors.For more information about the mission, go to https://mars.nasa.gov/insight. | |
This is a false color image of Rabe Crater captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. In this combination of filters 'blue' typically means basaltic sand. Rabe Crater is 108 km (67 miles) across. | Context image This is a false color image of Rabe Crater. In this combination of filters "blue" typically means basaltic sand.Rabe Crater is 108 km (67 miles) across. Craters of similar size often have flat floors. Rabe Crater has some areas of flat floor, but also has a large complex pit occupying a substantial part of the floor. The interior fill of the crater is thought to be layered sediments created by wind and or water action. The pit is eroded into this material. The eroded materials appear to have stayed within the crater forming a large sand sheet with surface dune forms as well as individual dunes where the crater floor is visible. The dunes also appear to be moving from the upper floor level into the pit.The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image.The Odyssey spacecraft has spent over 15 years in orbit around Mars, circling the planet more than 69000 times. It holds the record for longest working spacecraft at Mars. THEMIS, the IR/VIS camera system, has collected data for the entire mission and provides images covering all seasons and lighting conditions. Over the years many features of interest have received repeated imaging, building up a suite of images covering the entire feature. From the deepest chasma to the tallest volcano, individual dunes inside craters and dune fields that encircle the north pole, channels carved by water and lava, and a variety of other feature, THEMIS has imaged them all. For the next several months the image of the day will focus on the Tharsis volcanoes, the various chasmata of Valles Marineris, and the major dunes fields. We hope you enjoy these images!Orbit Number: 51157 Latitude: -43.6787 Longitude: 34.3985 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-06-26 05:33Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
In the distance stand the east hills, which are closest to NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit in comparison to other hill ranges seen on the martian horizon. | Click on the image for In the Far East (QTVR)In the distance stand the east hills, which are closest to the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit in comparison to other hill ranges seen on the martian horizon. The top of the east hills are approximately 2 to 3 kilometers (1 to 2 miles) away from the rover's approximate location. This image was taken on Mars by the rover's panoramic camera. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows an island in Tiu Valles. The impact crater divided the flow along both sides, wearing away the upstream ejecta and depositing a tail of material downstream. | Context image for PIA10027Crater IslandThis VIS image contains an island in Tiu Valles. The impact crater divided the flow along both sides, wearing away the upstream ejecta and depositing a "tail" of material downstream.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 20.3N, Longitude 328.8E. 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. | |
Lahontan Crater Looms | This cylindrical-projection 120-degree image mosaic was created from three navigation camera images that NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit acquired on sol 120 (May 5, 2004). The image highlights a crater approximately 70 meters (230 feet) in diameter that scientists have informally named "Lahontan." This image also reveals a wind-ripple feature in the foreground and a distant look at the Columbia Hills on the Horizon, Spirit's planned final destination. | |
This annotated image from NASA's Perseverance Mars rover shows its wheel tracks in Jezero Crater. | This annotated image from NASA's Perseverance Mars rover shows its wheel tracks in Jezero Crater and a distant view of the first potential location it could deposit a group of sample tubes for possible future return to Earth. The image was taken on Aug. 29, 2022, the 542nd Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission, by Perseverance's navigation camera.Sample tubes already filled with rock are currently stored in the rover's Sampling and Caching System. Perseverance will deposit select samples in designated locations.Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis as part of the Mars Sample Return campaign.This image has been linearized to remove optical lens distortion effects.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).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/For more about Mars Sample Return: https://mars.nasa.gov/msr/ | |
Spirit's Extended-Mission Destination | The drive route planned for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during its extended mission is represented by the green line in this traverse map. The gold line traces the path Spirit drove during its prime mission of 90 sols.One objective for the rover's extended mission is to continue eastward to reach the high ground named "Columbia Hills," still about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) away at the beginning of the extended mission. The base image for this map was taken from orbit by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. The entire area is within Gusev Crater. | |
This mosaic is a view from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity of 'Yankee Clipper' crater which carries the name of the command and service module of NASA's 1969 Apollo 12 mission to the moon. | "Yankee Clipper" crater on Mars carries the name of the command and service module of NASA's 1969 Apollo 12 mission to the moon. NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity recorded this view of the crater during a pause in a 102-meter (365-foot) drive during the 2,410th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (Nov. 4, 2010).This view is a mosaic of three frames taken by the left eye of Opportunity's navigation camera. Yankee Clipper crater is about 10 meters (33 feet) in diameter. The rover science team uses a convention of assigning the names of historic ships of exploration as the informal names for craters seen by Opportunity. Apollo 12's Yankee Clipper orbited Earth's moon while the mission's lunar module carried two astronauts to the lunar surface on Nov. 19, 1969, and later brought all three of the mission's astronauts back to Earth, arriving Nov. 24, 1969. A dramatic view of Earth rising over a lunar horizon, taken from Apollo 12's Yankee Clipper, is online at http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/images/apollo/apollo12/html/as12-47-6891.html. | |
At the bottom of this image from NASA's Mars Odyssey is the cliff-face that is the sidewall of Ophir Chasma. Layering is easily visible in the upper cliff wall, with the thickness of the surface clearly visible. | Context imageAt the bottom of this VIS image is the cliff-face that is the sidewall of Ophir Chasma. Layering is easily visible in the upper cliff wall, with the thickness of the surface clearly visible. Such images give important information about the formation of the surface of Mars today.Orbit Number: 40787 Latitude: -2.52583 Longitude: 286.269 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-02-23 16:06Please 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. | |
Numerous channels dissect both sides of this high spot south of Solis Planum in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context imageNumerous channels dissect both sides of this high spot south of Solis Planum.Orbit Number: 49950 Latitude: -37.8404 Longitude: 272.402 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-03-18 21:43Please 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 two-part illustration shows the context of the erosion-resistant, raised vein, called 'Catabola,' in an image from NASA's Curiosity's Mast Camera. The highest concentration of boron measured on Mars. | The highest concentration of boron measured on Mars, as of late 2016, is in this mineral vein, called "Catabola," examined with the Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument on NASA's Curiosity rover on Aug, 25, 2016, during Sol 1441 of the mission.This two-part illustration shows the context of the erosion-resistant, raised vein, in an image from Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam), and a detailed inset image from ChemCam's remote micro-imager. The inset includes indicators of the boron content measured at 10 points along the vein that were analyzed with ChemCam's laser-firing spectrometer. The vein's main component is calcium sulfate. The highest boron content identified is less than one-tenth of one percent. The heights of the orange bars at each point indicate relative abundance of boron, compared with boron content at other points.The scale bar for the inset is 9.2 millimeters, or about 0.36 inch. The ChemCam image is enhanced with color information from Mastcam.Mastcam and ChemCam are two of 10 instruments in Curiosity's science payload. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, developed and operates Mastcam. The U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory, in Los Alamos, New Mexico, developed ChemCam in partnership with scientists and engineers funded by the French national space agency (CNES), the University of Toulouse and the French national research agency (CNRS). ChemCam is one of 10 instruments in Curiosity's science payload. The U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory, in Los Alamos, New Mexico, developed ChemCam in partnership with scientists and engineers funded by the French national space agency (CNES), the University of Toulouse and the French national research agency (CNRS). More information about ChemCam is available at http://www.msl-chemcam.com/. Presented at the 2016 AGU Fall Meeting on Dec. 13. in San Francisco, CA.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project and Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.For more information about Curiosity, visit http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. | |
This image of the east end of Coprates Chasma on Mars contains several dune fields. The dunes in the center of the image are larger and darker than the dunes at the bottom as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey. | Context image for PIA02173Dune VarietyThis image of the east end of Coprates Chasma contains several dune fields. The dunes in the center of the image are larger and darker than the dunes at the bottom.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -14.8N, Longitude 304.3E. 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. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a dark slope streak located on the rim material of an unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea. | Context imageCredit: NASA/JPL/MOLAThe dark slope streak in this VIS image are located on the rim material of an unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea. These streaks are formed when gravity causes material to move downslope, revealing the darker material beneath the dust cover.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 8.6N, Longitude 20.2E. 23 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 global map of Mars taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft shows a growing dust storm as of June 6, 2018. The blue dot shows the approximate location of Opportunity. | This global map of Mars shows a growing dust storm as of June 6, 2018. The map was produced by the Mars Color Imager (MARCI) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. The blue dot shows the approximate location of Opportunity.The storm was first detected on June 1. The MARCI camera has been used to monitor the storm ever since.Full dust storms like this one are not surprising, but are infrequent. They can crop up suddenly but last weeks, even months. During southern summer, sunlight warms dust particles, lifting them higher into the atmosphere and creating more wind. That wind kicks up yet more dust, creating a feedback loop that NASA scientists still seek to understand.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. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows the interior of an unnamed crater near Nili Fossae. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows the interior of an unnamed crater near Nili Fossae. The central feature of the crater is a peak with a central low pit that was created by rebound of material at the time impact. Small dunes are also visible towards the bottom of the image.Orbit Number: 62421 Latitude: 24.5864 Longitude: 74.6129 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2016-01-09 12:35Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Curiosity rover used its Sample Analysis at Mars to detect seasonal changes in atmospheric methane in Gale Crater. The methane signal has been observed for nearly three Martian years (nearly six Earth years), peaking each summer. | NASA's Curiosity rover used an instrument called SAM (Sample Analysis at Mars) to detect seasonal changes in atmospheric methane in Gale Crater. The methane signal has been observed for nearly three Martian years (nearly six Earth years), peaking each summer.This work was funded by NASA's Mars Exploration Program for the agency's Science Mission Directorate (SMD) in Washington. Goddard provided the SAM instrument. JPL built the rover and manages the project for SMD.More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
On September 21, 1997, NASA's Mars Global Surveyor captured this view of Nirgal Vallis, one of a number of canyons called valley networks or runoff channels. | This image is a subsection of the MGS Nirgal Vallis "B" image (PIA00942).This subsection of frame P006_05 is shown here at reduced resolution because the full image is almost 7 MBytes in size. Because the MOC acquires its images one line at a time, the cant angle towards the sun-lit portion of the planet, the spacecraft orbital velocity, and the spacecraft rotational velocity combined to significantly distort the image. However, even in this reduced resolution version, dunes can be seen in the canyon and in areas on the upland surface around the canyon.Nirgal Vallis is one of a number of canyons called valley networks or runoff channels. Much of the debate concerning the origin of these valleys centers on whether they were formed by water flowing across the surface, or by collapse and upslope erosion associated with groundwater processes. At the resolution of this image, it is just barely possible to discern an interwoven pattern of lines on the highland surrounding the valley, but it is not possible to tell whether this is a pattern of surficial debris (sand or dust), as might be expected with the amount of crater burial seen, or a pattern of drainage channels. With 4X better resolution from its mapping orbit, MOC should easily be able to tell the difference between these two possibilities.Launched on November 7, 1996, Mars Global Surveyor entered Mars orbit on Thursday, September 11, 1997. The spacecraft has been using atmospheric drag to reduce the size of its orbit for the past three weeks, and will achieve a circular orbit only 400 km (248 mi) above the surface early next year. Mapping operations begin in March 1998. At that time, MOC narrow angle images will be 5-10 times higher resolution than these pictures.Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. | |
A region known as 'Cape York' on the western rim of Endeavour Crater, where the Opportunity rover worked for 20 months, is highlighted in these images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. | A region known as "Cape York" on the western rim of Endeavour Crater, where NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity worked for 20 months, is highlighted in these images.The inset at upper left is a portion of a false-color image taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The black outline shows the "Matijevic Hill" region, enlarged in the central image. Initial traverses accomplished by Opportunity to evaluate the geologic setting of the region are noted. The Opportunity team was interested in this region because the Compact Reconnaissance Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter showed a specific type of clay mineral called a ferric smectite. This type of clay mineral originally formed in groundwater along fractures in which the water was only mildly acidic. The lower left inset shows a portion of CRISM data centered on Cape York. The red region delineates where CRISM spectra show features diagnostic of the smectite clay mineral. This image is from a portion of a HiRISE observation catalogued as ESP_032573_1775 . Other products from the same observation are availableat http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_032573_1775.HiRISE is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson. The instrument was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. CRISM was built and is operated by the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University, Md. NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Project, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project and Mars Science Laboratory Project are managed for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This patch of windblown sand and dust downhill from a cluster of dark rocks is the 'Rocknest' site, which has been selected as the likely location for first use of the scoop on the arm of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity. | This patch of windblown sand and dust downhill from a cluster of dark rocks is the "Rocknest" site, which has been selected as the likely location for first use of the scoop on the arm of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity. This view is a mosaic of images taken by the telephoto right-eye camera of the Mast Camera (Mastcam) during the 52nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission (Sept. 28, 2012), four sols before the rover arrived at Rocknest. The Rocknest patch is about 8 feet by 16 feet (1.5 meters by 5 meters).Scientists white-balanced the color in this view to show the Martian scene as it would appear under the lighting conditions we have on Earth, which helps in analyzing the terrain. JPL manages the Mars Science Laboratory/Curiosity for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. The rover was designed, developed and assembled at JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.For more about NASA's Curiosity mission, visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl, http://www.nasa.gov/mars, and http://marsprogram.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows Mars' north polar layered deposits are a thick stack of dusty water ice layers. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on the image for larger versionThe North Polar layered deposits are a 3-kilometer thick stack of dusty water ice layers that are about 1000 kilometers across. The layers record information about climate stretching back a few million years into Martian history.In many locations erosion has created scarps and troughs that expose this layering. The tan colored layers are the dusty water ice of the polar layered deposits; however a section of bluish layers are is visible below them. These bluish layers contain sand-sized rock fragments that likely formed a large polar dunefield before the overlying dusty ice was deposited.The lack of a polar ice cap in this past epoch attests to the variability of the Martian climate, which undergoes larger changes over time than that of the Earth.The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.6 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 63.6 centimeters (25 inches) per pixel (with 2 x 2 binning); objects on the order of 191 centimeters (75.2 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a portion of Angustus Labyrinthus, a region of intersecting linear ridges near the south pole of Mars. | This VIS image shows a portion of Angustus Labyrinthus, a region of intersecting linear ridges near the south pole of Mars.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -81.7N, Longitude 296.8E. 17 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Ingenuity Mars chief pilot Håvard Grip records data of the first flight of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter into the official pilot's logbook for the project. | Ingenuity Mars chief pilot Håvard Grip records data of the first flight of the Ingenuity Mars Helicopter into the official pilot's logbook for the project — the "Nominal Pilot's Logbook for Planets and Moons." The image was taken at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California on April 19, 2021. Pilot logbooks are used by aviators to provide a record of their flights, including current and accumulated flight time, number and locations of takeoffs and landings, as well as unique operating conditions and certifications. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows the north polar region of Mars in mid-March 2005. | 29 March 2005 This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 176° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 176° occurred in mid-March 2005. The picture shows the north polar region of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.Season: Northern Summer/Southern Winter | |
This image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows gullies near the edge of Hale crater on southern Mars. | This image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows gullies near the edge of Hale crater on southern Mars. The view covers an area about 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) across and was taken on Aug. 3, 2009.Martian gullies carved into hill slopes and the walls of impact craters were discovered several years ago. Scientists are excited to study these features because, on Earth, they usually form through the action of liquid water -- long thought to be absent on the Martian surface. Whether liquid water carves gullies under today's cold and dry conditions on Mars is a major question that planetary scientists are trying to answer.The gullies pictured here are examples of what a typical Martian gully looks like. You can see wide V-shaped channels running downhill (from top to bottom) where the material that carved the gully flowed. At the bottom of the channel this material empties out onto a fan-shaped mound. The fans from each gully overlap one other in complicated ways. At the tops of the channels, large amphitheater-shaped alcoves are carved in the rock. The material removed from these alcoves likely flowed downhill to the aprons through the gullies.The terrain in this image is at 36.5 degrees south latitude, 322.7 degrees east longitude.Gullies at this site are especially interesting because scientists recently discovered actively changing examples at similar locations. Images separated by several years showed changes in the appearance of some of these gullies. Today, planetary scientists are using the HiRISE camera to examine gullies such as the one in this image for change that might provide a clue about whether liquid water occurs on the surface of Mars.Full-frame images from this HiRISE observation, catalogued as ESP_014153_1430, are at http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_014153_1430. The image was taken at 2:21 p.m. local Mars time, with the sun 54 degrees above the horizon. The season was summer in the southern hemisphere of Mars.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
These ridges and channeled lows are part of Sulci Gordii on Mars as seen by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image for PIA08720Sulci GordiiThese ridges and channeled lows are part of Sulci Gordii.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 18.6N, Longitude 233.8E. 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. | |
Many prominent rocks near the Sagan Memorial Station are featured in this image, from NASA's Mars Pathfinder. 'Shark', 'Half-Dome', and 'Pumpkin', 'Flat Top' and 'Frog' are at center 3D glasses are necessary to identify surface detail. | Many prominent rocks near the Sagan Memorial Station are featured in this image, taken in stereo by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) on Sol 3. 3D glasses are necessary to identify surface detail. "Shark," "Half-Dome," "Pumpkin," "Flat Top" and "Frog" are at center. Little Flat Top is at right. The horizon in the distance is one to two kilometers away.Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator.Click below to see the left and right views individually.LeftRight
Photojournal note: Sojourner spent 83 days of a planned seven-day mission exploring the Martian terrain, acquiring images, and taking chemical, atmospheric and other measurements. The final data transmission received from Pathfinder was at 10:23 UTC on September 27, 1997. Although mission managers tried to restore full communications during the following five months, the successful mission was terminated on March 10, 1998. | |
The hills and mesas in this image seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft are part of Echus Chaos. | Context imageThe hills and mesas in today's VIS image are part of Echus Chaos.Orbit Number: 257.061 Latitude: 10.6967 Longitude: 285.189 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2012-09-01 15:15Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This scene combines three frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the 1,866th Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's mission on Mars (April 3, 2009). It spans 120 degrees, with south at the center. | This scene combines three frames taken by the navigation camera on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit during the 1,866th Martian day, or sol, of Spirit's mission on Mars (April 3, 2009). It spans 120 degrees, with south at the center.Spirit had driven 3 meters (10 feet) southward earlier in the day. The foreground of this view includes terrain that the rover covered in its next drive, when it progressed 17.5 meters (57 feet) farther southward on Sol 1868 (April 5, 2009).In the middle distance, the western edge of the low plateau called "Home Plate" is on the left and a ridge called "Tsiolkovsky" is on the right, with the rover's planned route between the two. By Sol 1899 (May 6, 2009) Spirit became embedded at a site dubbed "Troy," about as far south as the northern end of Tsiolkovsky.This view is presented as a cylindrical projection with geometric seam correction. | |
An unusual crater northeast of Ascraeus Mons on Mars displays an ejecta blanket that appears turned up around its edges, as seen in this image from NASA's Mars Odyssey. | Released 15 May 2003This unusual crater northeast of Ascraeus Mons displays an ejecta blanket that appears turned up around its edges. This may be a type of rampart crater, or may instead be a crater with its ejecta blanket buried by lava flows. These flows were later eroded away in places leaving behind the scarp. Numerous lava flows are seen in this image as well as sinuous channels. These features appear to be both volcanic (rilles) and fluvial channels.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 16.8, Longitude 257.4East (102.6). 19 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image shows the tracks and trench marks made by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The rover can be seen to the lower left of the lander. | This image shows the tracks and trench marks made by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity at Meridiani Planum, Mars. The rover can be seen to the lower left of the lander. The trench is visible to the upper left of the rover, which has traveled a total of 35.3 meters (116 feet) since leaving the lander on sol 7 (January 31, 2004). On sol 23 (February 16, 2004), the rover used one of its wheels to dig a trench measuring approximately 10 centimeters (4 inches) deep, 50 centimeters (20 inches) long, and 20 centimeters (8 inches) wide. This polar-projected image showing the horizon was created using a combination of images from the rover's navigation camera and hazard-avoidance cameras. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a section of Scamander Vallis. Scamander Vallis is located in northern Terra Sabaea. | Context imageToday's VIS image shows a section of Scamander Vallis. Scamander Vallis is located in northern Terra Sabaea. The channel is 269km (167 miles) long.Orbit Number: 87598 Latitude: 14.9414 Longitude: 28.9915 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-09-13 03:03Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows Olympica Fossae, a complex channel located on the volcanic plains between Alba Mons and Olympus Mons. | Context imageOlympica Fossae is a complex channel located on the volcanic plains between Alba Mons and Olympus Mons. The sinuosity of some of the channel sections in the the image indicates that liquid flow played a part creating these features. In this case the location and other surface features point to lava rather than water as the liquid. The interconnecting linear sections of depressions are most likely formed by the collapse of the surface into voids left by lava tubes.Orbit Number: 88152 Latitude: 24.3724 Longitude: 245.149 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-10-28 17:53Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The small crater in the middle of the image is at the upwind side of the dune field. There is a considerable amount of sand within the crater, with a relatively smooth surface and few dune forms. This image is from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image The small crater in the middle of the image is at the upwind side of the dune field. There is a considerable amount of sand within the crater, with a relatively smooth surface and few dune forms. It is likely that this crater provides a source of available sand for the large dune field.Located in eastern Arabia is an unnamed crater, 120 kilometers (75 miles) across. The floor of this crater contains a large exposure of rocky material, a field of dark sand dunes, and numerous patches of what is probably fine-grain sand. The shape of the dunes indicate that prevailing winds have come from different directions over the years.The Odyssey spacecraft has spent over 15 years in orbit around Mars, circling the planet more than 71,000 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: 39546 Latitude: 26.7963 Longitude: 62.7506 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-11-13 13:31Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows one of the many channels located in Lybia Montes, the highlands bordering the southern portion of Isidis Plainitia. | Context image for PIA10827ChannelThis image shows one of the many channels located in Lybia Montes, the highlands bordering the southern portion of Isidis Plainitia.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 0.7N, Longitude 89.3E. 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. | |
Many gullies are located on the northern rim of this unnamed crater in Noachis Terra as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. Small dunes are located on the floor of the crater (lower left side of image). | Context imageMany gullies are located on the northern rim of this unnamed crater in Noachis Terra. Small dunes are located on the floor of the crater (lower left side of image).Orbit Number: 52181 Latitude: -34.5275 Longitude: 37.2263 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-09-18 01:00Please 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 some of the mountains that make up the central peak region of Hale Crater on Mars. The central peak of a crater consists of rock brought up during the impact from below the crater floor. | 19 September 2004This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows some of the mountains that make up the central peak region of Hale Crater, located near 35.8°S, 36.5°W. Dark, smooth-surfaced sand dunes are seen to be climbing up the mountainous slopes. The central peak of a crater consists of rock brought up during the impact from below the crater floor. This autumn image is illuminated from the upper left and covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) across. | |
This image acquired on May 24, 2023 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows many of the Valles Marineris canyons, called chasmata, have kilometer-high, light-toned layered mounds made up of sulfate materials. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionMany of the Valles Marineris canyons, called chasmata, have kilometer-high, light-toned layered mounds made up of sulfate materials. Ius Chasma, near the western end of Valles Marineris, is an exception.The light-toned deposits here are thinner and occur along both the floor and walls, as we see in this HiRISE image. Additionally, the sulfates are mixed with other minerals like clays and hydrated silica. Scientists are trying to use the combination of mineralogy, morphology, and stratigraphy to understand how the deposits formed in Ius Chasma and why they differ from those found elsewhere in Valles Marineris.The map is projected here at a scale of 25 centimeters (9.8 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is from 26.4 centimeters [10.4 inches] per pixel [with 1 x 1 binning] to 52.9 centimeters [20.8 inches] per pixel [with 2 x 2 binning].) North is up.The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This huge (or mega) gully is part of Noctis Labyrinthus as seen by NASA's Mars Odyssey. Located on the western end of Valles Marineris, Noctis Labyrinthus is a huge region of tectonically controlled valleys. | Context imageThis huge (or mega) gully is part of Noctis Labyrinthus. Located on the western end of Valles Marineris, Noctis Labyrinthus is a huge region of tectonically controlled valleys. The valleys are not as deep as Valles Marineris.Orbit Number: 40376 Latitude: -11.8336 Longitude: 261.741 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2011-01-20 19:58Please 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 Meridiani Planum. | 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 Meridiani Planum.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: 87337 Latitude: 1.58709 Longitude: 0.436819 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-08-22 15:12Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
The NASA Mars rover Curiosity used its Navigation Camera (Navcam) during the mission's 120th Martian day, or sol (Dec. 7, 2012), to record the seven images combined into this panoramic view. | The NASA Mars rover Curiosity used its Navigation Camera (Navcam) during the mission's 120th Martian day, or sol (Dec. 7, 2012), to record the seven images combined into this panoramic view.The scene spans from north-northwest at the left to south-southwest at the right, and is presented in a cylindrical projection. The layered outcrop in the foreground is called "Shaler." NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover.For more about NASA's Curiosity mission, visit: http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/msl, http://www.nasa.gov/mars, and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a crater on Mars. Dark streaks crisscrossing the scene were formed by passing dust devils. | 29 December 2004Craters on the northern plains of Mars are not usually found at the surface. Typically, they are filled and buried just beneath it. The crater shown in this Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image is an example. The crater is located near 50.3°N, 46.7°W. Dark streaks crisscrossing the scene were formed by passing dust devils. The picture covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide and is illuminated by sunlight from the lower left. | |
Nirgal Vallis is one of the largest and longest valley networks on Mars as seen by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. | Nirgal Vallis is one of the largest and longest valley networks on Mars (approximately 400 kilometers in length). Oriented roughly east-west and located north of the Argyre impact basin, its western region contains numerous short, theater-headed tributaries that merge into a long, sinuous, and deeply entrenched main valley that extends eastward to Uzboi Vallis.The area in this image (centered at -27.1730 latitude, 313.7340 longitude) is of the western most tributaries. Valley heads are steep and abrupt with blunt terminations. Although Nirgall Vallis formed long ago, likely by flowing water, abundant wind-blown sediments transformed into the dune fields that now line the valley floors. However, the distinctive valley pattern shape with steep walls and flat floors led many to propose that ground water flowed out to the surface along the valley heads and walls of the numerous tributaries. This process, known as sapping, begins with ground water flowing along subsurface fractures or permeable layers and carrying out sediments with it as it emerges at the cliff face.Eventually, the loss of support from beneath undermines the cliff face, causing it to slump into the valley. With continued sapping, tributaries grow progressively in a headward direction. This kind of erosion is common in the Colorado Plateau of the Southwestern United States and helped form the distinctive shape of the Grand Canyon. Wrinkle ridges intersecting several tributaries may have provided additional avenues for ground water flow into the valley system.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. | |
An animated GIF depicts the Martian surface below the Perseverance rover, showing the results of the Jan. 15, 2022, percussive drill test to clear cored-rock fragments from one of the rover's sample tubes. | Click here for animationThe robotic arm on NASA's Perseverance Mars rover used its percussive drill to eject fragments of cored rock from a sample tube on Jan. 15, 2022, the 322nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. One of the rover's hazard cameras (hazcam) obtained same-day, before-and-after images of the surface below the rover to help better understand the results of this operation.There are two versions of the image: Animation frame 1 shows the ground below Perseverance prior to the use of the rover's percussive drill on Jan. 15. Animation frame 2 shows the same ground later that same day, after the percussive drill was employed. In this second image, at least eight new pieces of rock fragments can be seen. A key objective for Perseverance's mission on Mars is astrobiology, including the search for signs of ancient microbial life. The rover will characterize the planet's geology and past climate, pave the way for human exploration of the Red Planet, and be the first mission to collect and cache Martian rock and regolith (broken rock and dust).Subsequent NASA missions, in cooperation with ESA (European Space Agency), would send spacecraft to Mars to collect these sealed samples from the surface and return them to Earth for in-depth analysis.The Mars 2020 Perseverance mission is part of NASA's Moon to Mars exploration approach, which includes Artemis missions to the Moon that will help prepare for human exploration of the Red Planet.JPL, which is managed for NASA by Caltech in Pasadena, California, built and manages operations of the Perseverance rover.For more about Perseverance:mars.nasa.gov/mars2020nasa.gov/perseverance | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a large dune field located on the floor of Lyot Crater. | Context image for PIA10876Lyot DunesThis large dune field is located on the floor of Lyot Crater.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 50.0N, Longitude 28.5E. 19 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image of Terra Cimmeria taken by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows channeling and dunes near Herschel Crater. | Context imageThis VIS image of Terra Cimmeria shows channeling and dunes near Herschel Crater.Orbit Number: 36325 Latitude: -10.2556 Longitude: 129.347 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-02-21 06:00Please 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 pair of images released on June 15, 2004 from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey shows a comparison of daytime and nighttime of part of the Ares Valles region on Mars. | Released 15 June 2004This pair of images shows part of the Ares Valles region.Day/Night Infrared PairsThe image pairs presented focus on a single surface feature as seen in both the daytime and nighttime by the infrared THEMIS camera. The nighttime image (right) has been rotated 180 degrees to place north at the top. Infrared image interpretationDaytime:Infrared images taken during the daytime exhibit both the morphological and thermophysical properties of the surface of Mars. Morphologic details are visible due to the effect of sun-facing slopes receiving more energy than antisun-facing slopes. This creates a warm (bright) slope and cool (dark) slope appearance that mimics the light and shadows of a visible wavelength image. Thermophysical properties are seen in that dust heats up more quickly than rocks. Thus dusty areas are bright and rocky areas are dark. Nighttime:Infrared images taken during the nighttime exhibit only the thermophysical properties of the surface of Mars. The effect of sun-facing versus non-sun-facing energy dissipates quickly at night. Thermophysical effects dominate as different surfaces cool at different rates through the nighttime hours. Rocks cool slowly, and are therefore relatively bright at night (remember that rocks are dark during the day). Dust and other fine grained materials cool very quickly and are dark in nighttime infrared images.Image information: IR instrument. Latitude 3.6, Longitude 339.9 East (20.1 West). 100 meter/pixel resolution.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows Mars' south polar cap exhibits an array of bizarre layers, arcuate scarps, and 'swiss cheese' holes and pits. | Extended mission operations for the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) has provided thousands of opportunities to image sites previously seen by the camera. Often, these are chances to see if anything on the planet has changed. The most surprising changes were documented starting in August 2001, when the south polar cap emerged from winter darkness. In 1999 MOC found that the south polar cap exhibits an array of bizarre layers, arcuate scarps, and "swiss cheese" holes and pits. How these formed was unknown. Once MOC began to re-image these areas in 2001, however, the team discovered that the polar scarps had changed. They had retreated approximately 3 meters (about 3 yards) in less than 1 Mars year (a Mars year is 687 Earth days long). In some places, small buttes completely disappeared (e.g., see arrow). In December 2001, MOC scientists reported that such rapid change could only have occurred if the south polar cap is composed mainly of frozen carbon dioxide. The image on the left, above, was taken on November 28, 1999. The picture on the right was obtained nearly 1 Mars year later on October 9, 2001. Both images are illuminated from the upper right and each covers an area 2 km (1.2 mi.) wide by 6.9 km (4.3 mi.) long.Since the initial discovery of scarp retreat in the south polar cap in August 2001, MOC Extended Mission operations have included observation of many changes that occurred since 1999, and acquisition of new data to see how the cap changes from Spring in late 2001 through Summer in early 2002. Additional images have been obtained to help document changes when the polar cap returns to Spring in 2003.Previous releases regarding changes in south polar cap Carbon Dioxide landforms: MOC Observes Changes in the South Polar Cap: Evidence for Recent Climate Change on Mars: PIA03179 MOC View of the Martian South Polar Residual Cap: PIA03180Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. | |
This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey released on Dec 4, 2003 shows a crater just south of the edge of the famous hematite-bearing surface. The dunes grade into a dark sand sheet with no coherent structure. | Released 4 December 2003This image shows a crater just south of the edge of the famous hematite-bearing surface, which is visible in the context image as a smooth area to the north. The crater has two features of immediate note. The first is a layered mound in the north part of the crater floor. This mound contains hematite, and it is an outlying remnant of the greater deposits to the north that have otherwise completely disappeared in this crater. The second feature is a dune field in the center of the crater floor, with dark dunes indicating winds from the northwest. The dunes grade into a dark sand sheet with no coherent structure, indicating that the sand layer thins out to the south and east.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -4.4, Longitude 357.3 East (2.7 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. | |
The side of this hill in Phlegra Montes appears darker than its surroundings. Covering material may have slumped off the steep slope due to gravity on Mars as seen by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image for PIA09148 Dark HillThe side of this hill in Phlegra Montes appears darker than its surroundings. Covering material may have slumped off the steep slope due to gravity.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 48.4N, Longitude 167.0E. 19 meter/pixel resolution.Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
Scalloped Depressions with Layers in the Northern Plains | Click on image for larger versionThis HiRISE image (PSP_002439_2265), of the northern plains of Mars, is marked by depressions in a layer of material that covers the region. The depressions, several of which have coalesced together, have scalloped edges and layers in their walls.Features such as these are most commonly found at approximately 55 degrees north and south latitude. Their presence has led to hypotheses of the removal of subsurface material, possibly ground ice, by sublimation (evaporation). This process is believed to be ongoing today.In this image, steeper scarps with layers consistently face the north pole while more gentle slopes without layers face in the direction of the equator. This is most likely due to differences in solar heating. Large boulders, some several meters in length, are scattered within the depressions and on the surrounding surface. Also on the surface surrounding the scalloped depressions is a polygonal pattern of fractures. This is commonly associated with "scalloped terrain," and indicates that the surface has undergone stress potentially caused by subsidence, desiccation, or thermal contraction.Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 2 February 2007Local Mars time: 3:23 PMDegrees latitude (centered): 46.0°Degrees longitude (East): 92.1°Range to target site: 310.7 km (194.2 miles)Original image scale range: from 31.1 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 62.2 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning)Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is upMap-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAREmission angle: 14.7°Phase angle: 77.0°Solar incidence angle: 63°, with the Sun about 27° above the horizonSolar longitude: 177.0°, Northern AutumnNASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows layered material exposed on a slope in the north polar region on Mars. An unconformity is visible in the middle/upper left of the image, where layers are abruptly truncated. | 26 August 2006This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows layered material exposed on a slope in the north polar region. An unconformity is visible in the middle/upper left of the image, where layers are abruptly truncated. Unconformities are indicators of drastic change in the region-the lower layers were deposited first, then eroded, then the upper layers were deposited.Location near: 81.1°N, 75.2°W Image width: ~3 km (~1.9 mi) Illumination from: lower left Season: Northern Spring | |
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired this image of the Opportunity rover on the southwest rim of 'Santa Maria' crater on New Year's Eve 2010. Opportunity is imaging the crater's interior to better reveal the geometry of rock layers. | Annotated VersionClick on the image for larger versionThe High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired this image of the Opportunity rover on the southwest rim of "Santa Maria" crater on New Year's Eve 2010, or Martian day (sol) 2466 of the rover's work on Mars.The rover is discernible at about the 8-o'clock position around the rim. A comparison with an earlier HiRISE image of this crater (PIA13706) shows the site before the rover's arrival. Opportunity is imaging the crater's interior to better reveal the geometry of rock layers as a means of defining the stratigraphy and the impact process. Santa Maria is a relatively young, 90-meter-diameter (295-foot-diameter) impact crater. Note the blocks of ejected material around the crater. It is old enough to collect sand dunes in its interior.Santa Maria crater, located in Meridiani Planum, is about 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the rim of the much larger Endeavour crater, Opportunity's long-term destination. The rim of Endeavour contains spectral indications of phyllosilicates, or clay bearing minerals believed to have formed in wet conditions that could have been more habitable than the later acidic conditions in which the sulfates Opportunity has been exploring formed. Data from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, which is also on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, show indications of hydrated sulfates on the southeast edge of the Santa Maria crater. The rover team plans to use Opportunity to investigate that area through the solar conjunction period in late January and early February. During that period, Mars is almost directly behind the sun from Earth's perspective, and commanding from Earth to Mars spacecraft is restricted. After that, Opportunity will traverse to the northwest rim of Endeavour crater, aided tremendously by HiRISE images like this for navigation and targeting interesting smaller craters along the way. | |
Overhead view of the area surrounding NASA's Mars Pathfinder lander illustrating the Sojourner traverse. Red rectangles are rover positions at the end of sols 1-30, 1997. | Overhead view of the area surrounding the Pathfinder lander illustrating the Sojourner traverse. Red rectangles are rover positions at the end of sols 1-30. Locations of soil mechanics experiments, wheel abrasion experiments, and APXS measurements are shown. The A numbers refer to APXS measurements as discussed in the paper by Rieder et al. (p. 1770, Science Magazine, see image note). Coordinates are given in the LL frame.The photorealistic, interactive, three-dimensional virtual reality (VR) terrain models were created from IMP images using a software package developed for Pathfinder by C. Stoker et al. as a participating science project. By matching features in the left and right camera, an automated machine vision algorithm produced dense range maps of the nearfield, which were projected into a three-dimensional model as a connected polygonal mesh. Distance and angle measurements can be made on features viewed in the model using a mouse-driven three-dimensional cursor and a point-and-click interface. The VR model also incorporates graphical representations of the lander and rover and the sequence and spatial locations at which rover data were taken. As the rover moved, graphical models of the rover were added for each position that could be uniquely determined using stereo images of the rover taken by the IMP. Images taken by the rover were projected into the model as two-dimensional "billboards" to show the proper perspective of these images.NOTE: original caption as published in Science magazineMars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Photojournal note: Sojourner spent 83 days of a planned seven-day mission exploring the Martian terrain, acquiring images, and taking chemical, atmospheric and other measurements. The final data transmission received from Pathfinder was at 10:23 UTC on September 27, 1997. Although mission managers tried to restore full communications during the following five months, the successful mission was terminated on March 10, 1998. | |
This is the second color image taken by NASA's Ingenuity helicopter. It was snapped on the helicopter's second flight on April 22, 2021 from an altitude of about 17 feet (5.2 meters). Tracks made by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover can be seen as well. | This is the second color image taken by NASA's Ingenuity helicopter. It was snapped on the helicopter's second flight, on April 22, 2021, from an altitude of about 17 feet (5.2 meters). Tracks made by NASA's Perseverance Mars rover can be seen as well. The Ingenuity Mars Helicopter was built by JPL, which also manages this technology demonstration project for NASA Headquarters. It is supported by NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate, and Space Technology Mission Directorate. NASA's Ames Research Center and Langley Research Center provided significant flight performance analysis and technical assistance during Ingenuity's development. AeroVironment Inc., Qualcomm, Snapdragon, and SolAero also provided design assistance and major vehicle components. The Mars Helicopter Delivery System was designed and manufactured by Lockheed Space Systems in Denver. | |
This image is from software used by engineers to drive NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit up toward the rim of the crater dubbed 'Bonneville.' The software simulates the rover's movements across the martian terrain, helping to plot a safe course. | This image shows a screenshot from software used by engineers to drive the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit up toward the rim of the crater dubbed "Bonneville." The software simulates the rover's movements across the martian terrain, helping to plot a safe course. The virtual 3-D world around the rover is built from images taken by Spirit's stereo navigation cameras. Regions for which the rover has not yet acquired 3-D data are represented in beige.In this picture, the rover is seen in its projected final position at the rim of the crater. Later today, Spirit will travel 16 more meters (52 feet) to reach the crater ledge. | |
Many types of craters exist on Mars. Most are generated by impacts of asteroids and comets. However, in this image captured by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, the craters may be due to steam explosions. | Many types of craters exist on Mars. Most are generated by impacts of asteroids and comets.In this area though, we think these craters may be due to steam explosions. This happens on the Earth when hot lava runs over icy ground.HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the orbiter's HiRISE camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a small section of Reull Vallis. | Context imageThis VIS image shows a small section of Reull Vallis.Orbit Number: 56742 Latitude: -39.4642 Longitude: 110.792 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2014-09-28 21:05Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
NASA's Hubble and Mars Global Surveyor shows the progress of a regional dust storm within the Valles Marineris canyons on Mars. | A comparison of images taken by the Hubble Space Telescope Wide Field/Planetary Camera (HST/WFPC) and the Mars Global Surveyor Orbiter Camera (MGS/MOC) shows the progress of a regional dust storm within the Valles Marineris canyons on Mars. The first HST image (left), taken in mid-May, shows no dust within the canyons. The most recent HST image (center), taken on 27 June in support of the Mars Pathfinder landing activities, shows a dust storm filling part of the canyon system and extending into the chaotic terrains at the eastern end of the canyons. The MGS/MOC image (right), acquired on July 2, shows that bright dust continues to fill the valleys. However, it does not appear to have moved significantly north of the previously observed position, suggesting that the storm remains confined to the canyon region, and does not appear to directly threaten the Pathfinder landing site (small black circle).The HST images shown here have been reduced in scale to match that of the MGS/MOC image. Although the HST is 10 times farther from Mars than MGS, its images are sharper because its resolving power is 15 times better than the MOC, and the light gathering area is almost 50 times greater. However, MGS is presently 45,000 times farther from Mars than it will be when the MOC begins its primary photography mission. At 400 km above the martian surface, the MOC wide angle camera will collect daily images at a resolution of 7.5 km/pixel, compared to HST's best of about 20 km/pixel. The narrow angle camera will observe portions of Mars at better than 1.5 m/pixel.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 complex erosional patterns that have developed on Mars' south polar cap, perhaps by a combination of sublimation, wind erosion, and ground-collapse. | The layered terrains of the polar regions of Mars are among the most exotic planetary landscapes in our Solar System. The layers exposed in the south polar residual cap, vividly shown in the top view, are thought to contain detailed records of Mars' climate history over the last 100 million years or so. The materials that comprise the south polar layers may include frozen carbon dioxide, water ice, and fine dust. The bottom picture shows complex erosional patterns that have developed on the south polar cap, perhaps by a combination of sublimation, wind erosion, and ground-collapse. Because the south polar terrains are so strange and new to human eyes, no one (yet) has entirely adequate explanations as to what is being seen.These images were acquired by the Mars Orbiter Camera aboard the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft during the southern spring season in October 1999. Each of these two pictures is a mosaic of many individual MOC images acquired at about 12 m/pixel scale that completely cover the highest latitude (87°S) visible to MOC on each orbital pass over the polar region. Both mosaics cover areas of about 10 x 4 kilometers (6.2 x 2.5 miles) near 87°S, 10°W in the central region of the permanent -- or residual -- south polar cap. They show features at the scale of a small house. Sunlight illuminates each scene from the left."Gaps" at the upper and lower right of the second mosaic, above, are areas that were not covered by MOC in October 1999. | |
This shear mountain cliff was only one of several outcrops that, together, indicating layering almost the entire depth of the canyon in Valles Marineris as seen by NASA's Mars Global Surveyor in 1997. | Most remarkable about this MOC image is the discovery of light and dark layers in the rock outcrops of the canyon walls. In the notable, triangular mountain face (at center), some 80 layers, typically alternating in brightness and varying in thickness from 5 to 50 meters (16 to 160 feet), are clearly visible. This shear mountain cliff, over 1000 m (3200 ft) tall, is only one of several outcrops that, together, indicate layering almost the entire depth of the canyon.This type of bedrock layering has never been seen before in Valles Marineris. It calls into question common views about the upper crust of Mars, for example, that there is a deep layer of rubble underlying most of the martian surface, and argues for a much more complex early history for the planet.Launched on November 7, 1996, Mars Global Surveyor entered Mars orbit on Thursday, September 11, 1997. The original mission plan called for using friction with the planet's atmosphere to reduce the orbital energy, leading to a two-year mapping mission from close, circular orbit (beginning in March 1998). Owing to difficulties with one of the two solar panels, aerobraking was suspended in mid-October and resumed in November 8. Many of the original objectives of the mission, and in particular those of the camera, are likely to be accomplished as the mission progresses.Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a section of Nanedi Valles. Located In Xanthe Terra, the channel system is more than 500 km (310 miles) long. | Context imageThis VIS image shows a section of Nanedi Valles. Located In Xanthe Terra, the channel system is more than 500 km (310 miles) long.Orbit Number: 79215 Latitude: 5.581 Longitude: 310.73 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2019-10-23 21:10Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This view combines more than 400 images taken during the first weeks after NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander arrived on an arctic plain on Mars in 2008. Polygonal patterning of ground in the landing area and trenches exposing subsurface material are visible. | This view combines more than 400 images taken during the first several weeks after NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander arrived on an arctic plain at 68.22 degrees north latitude, 234.25 degrees east longitude on Mars.The full-circle panorama in approximately true color shows the polygonal patterning of ground at the landing area, similar to patterns in permafrost areas on Earth. South is toward the top. Trenches where Phoenix's robotic arm has been exposing subsurface material are visible in the lower half of the image. The spacecraft's meteorology mast, topped by the telltale wind gauge, extends into the sky portion of the panorama.This view comprises more than 100 different camera pointings, with images taken through three different filters at each pointing. It is presented here as a polar projection.The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA_x0092_s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.Photojournal Note: As planned, the Phoenix lander, which landed May 25, 2008 23:53 UTC, ended communications in November 2008, about six months after landing, when its solar panels ceased operating in the dark Martian winter. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a plethora of dark streaks created by passing dust devils during early summer in the martian southern hemisphere. | MGS MOC Release No. MOC2-351, 5 May 2003This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image portrays a plethora of dark streaks created by passing dust devils during early summer in the martian southern hemisphere. The picture covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide near 40.2°S, 237.7°W. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. | |
NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used a new drill method to produce a hole on Feb. 26, 2018, in a target named Lake Orcadie. The hole marks the first operation of the rover's drill since a motor problem began acting up more than a year ago. | NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used a new drill method to produce a hole on Feb. 26, 2018, in a target named Lake Orcadie. The hole marks the first operation of the rover's drill since a motor problem began acting up more than a year ago.
An early test produced a hole about a half-inch (1-centimeter) deep at Lake Orcadie --- not enough for a full scientific sample, but enough to validate that the new method works mechanically. This was just the first in what will be a series of tests to determine how well the new drill method can collect samples.
A video is available here.
Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, built and operates the Mastcam. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Science Laboratory Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL designed and built the project's Curiosity rover. More information about Curiosity is online at http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/. | |
This image is from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey. Linear ridges on Mars cover this entire image - except for the interior of the craters. | Context image for PIA08484More SandLinear ridges cover this entire image - except for the interior of the craters.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 19.0N, Longitude 284.9E. 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 spacecraft shows the Kasei Vallis complex on Mars which contains two main channels that run east-west across Tempe Terra and empty into Chryse Planitia. | Kasei Vallis is our topic for the weeks of April 18 and 25. Originating on the margin of Lunae Planum, the Kasei Vallis complex contains two main channels that run east-west across Tempe Terra and empty into Chryse Planitia. During the week of April 18th we will concentrate on the northern branch of Kasei Vallis. The week of April 25 will be devoted to the southern branch.The formation of Kasei Vallis is still being studied and several theories exist. It is thought that volcanic subsurfaceing heating in the Tharsis/Lunae Planum region resulted in a release of water, which carved the channels and produced the landforms seen within the channels. One theory is that this was a one-time catastropic event, another theory speculates that several flooding events occurred over a long time period. Others have proposed that some of the landforms (especially scour marks and teardropshaped "islands") are the result of glacial flow rather than liquid flow. Teardrop shaped islands are common in terrestrial rivers, where the water is eroding material in the channel. A glacial feature called a drumlin has the exact sameshape, but is formed by deposition beneath continental glaciers.This VIS image shows that channels were cut down to many different depths, which may indicate several episodes of flooding. Note the variety of textures seen on the different surfaces.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 26.5, Longitude 289.9 East (70.1 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. | |
These relatively young lava flows are part of Arsia Mons on Mars as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. | Context image for PIA03658Lava FlowsThese relatively young lava flows are part of Arsia Mons.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -22.5N, Longitude 242.3E. 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. | |
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor shows a small area of layered outcrop in the floor of Coprates Chasma on Mars. | 10 July 2004Light-toned, layered rock outcrops occur in small patches as well as large regional exposures within the chasms of the Valles Marineris system. This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a small area of layered outcrop in the floor of Coprates Chasma. The image is located near 14.0°S, 64.0°W, and covers an area about 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. The scene is illuminated by sunlight from the left/upper left. | |
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a section of Bahram Vallis. | Context imageThis VIS image shows a section of Bahram Vallis.Orbit Number: 36106 Latitude: 20.6874 Longitude: 302.379 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2010-02-03 07:36Please 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 acquired on July 23, 2018 by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows the South Polar residual cap constantly changing shape through each Martian summer. | Map Projected Browse ImageClick on image for larger versionThe South Polar residual cap is composed of carbon dioxide ice that persists through each Martian summer. However, it is constantly changing shape.The slopes get more direct illumination at this polar location, so they warm up and sublimate, going directly from a solid state to a gaseous state. The gas then re-condenses as frost over flat areas, building new layers as the older layers are destroyed. This animation compares a small subarea to the same locale imaged in 2009. The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. [The original image scale is 49.0 centimeters (19.3 inches) per pixel (with 2 x 2 binning); objects on the order of 147 centimeters (57.9 inches) across are resolved.] North is up.The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Mutch Crater in Xanthe Terra. | Context imageToday's image shows part of Mutch Crater in Xanthe 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: 60816 Latitude: -0.290036 Longitude: 305.338 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-08-30 08:13Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows small dunes located on the rough floor of an unnamed crater next to the much larger Russell Crater. The bright material on the southern faces of the dunes is frost. | Context image for PIA09295Small DunesThese small dunes are located on the rough floor of an unnamed crater next to the much larger Russell Crater. The bright material on the southern faces of the dunes is frost.Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude -55.3N, Longitude 10.0E. 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 Odyssey shows part of the vast volcanic plains in the Tharsis region, in this case east of Pavonis Mons. | 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 vast volcanic plains in the Tharsis region, in this case east of Pavonis Mons. The mottled appearance of the image is being caused by high altitude cloud cover. These clouds will be primarily composed of ice rather than dust.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: 85818 Latitude: 6.41017 Longitude: 260.984 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-04-19 13:31Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. | |
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows part of Tempe Fossae. Tempe Fossae is a series of tectonic graben that cross Tempe Terra. The downward movement of blocks of material between bounding faults create a feature known as a graben. | Context imageThis VIS image shows part of Tempe Fossae. Tempe Fossae is a series of tectonic graben that cross Tempe Terra. The downward movement of blocks of material between bounding faults create a feature known as a graben.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: 61440 Latitude: 47.7189 Longitude: 296.122 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2015-10-20 17:44Please 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. |
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