Collection:
NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection Collection NASA Planetary Photo Journal Collection Collection
Title:
Giant Landslide on Iapetus Title Giant Landslide on Iapetus Title
Original Caption Released with Image:
A spectacular landslide within the low-brightness region of Iapetus's surface known as Cassini Regio is visible in this image from Cassini. Iapetus is one of the moons of Saturn. The landslide material appears to have collapsed from a scarp 15 kilometers high (9 miles) that forms the rim of an ancient 600 kilometer (375 mile) impact basin. Unconsolidated rubble from the landslide extends halfway across a conspicuous, 120-kilometer diameter (75-mile) flat-floored impact crater that lies just inside the basin scarp. Landslides are common geological phenomena on many planetary bodies, including Earth and Mars. The appearance of this landslide on an icy satellite with low-brightness cratered terrain is reminiscent of landslide features that were observed during NASA's Galileo mission on the Jovian satellite Callisto. The fact that the Iapetus landslide traveled many kilometers from the basin scarp could indicate that the surface material is very fine-grained, and perhaps was fluffed by mechanical forces that allowed the landslide debris to flow extended distances. In this view, north is to the left of the picture and solar illumination is from the bottom of the frame. The image was obtained in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Dec. 31, 2004, at a distance of about 123,400 kilometers (76,677 miles) from Iapetus and at a Sun-Iapetus-spacecra ft, or phase, angle of 78 degrees. Resolution achieved in the original image was 740 meters (2,428 feet) per pixel. The image has been contrast-enhanced and magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. For images visit the Cassini imaging team home page http://ciclops.org. Original_Caption_Rel eased_with_Image A spectacular landslide within the low-brightness region of Iapetus's surface known as Cassini Regio is visible in this image from Cassini. Iapetus is one of the moons of Saturn. The landslide material appears to have collapsed from a scarp 15 kilometers high (9 miles) that forms the rim of an ancient 600 kilometer (375 mile) impact basin. Unconsolidated rubble from the landslide extends halfway across a conspicuous, 120-kilometer diameter (75-mile) flat-floored impact crater that lies just inside the basin scarp. Landslides are common geological phenomena on many planetary bodies, including Earth and Mars. The appearance of this landslide on an icy satellite with low-brightness cratered terrain is reminiscent of landslide features that were observed during NASA's Galileo mission on the Jovian satellite Callisto. The fact that the Iapetus landslide traveled many kilometers from the basin scarp could indicate that the surface material is very fine-grained, and perhaps was fluffed by mechanical forces that allowed the landslide debris to flow extended distances. In this view, north is to the left of the picture and solar illumination is from the bottom of the frame. The image was obtained in visible light with the Cassini spacecraft narrow angle camera on Dec. 31, 2004, at a distance of about 123,400 kilometers (76,677 miles) from Iapetus and at a Sun-Iapetus-spacecra ft, or phase, angle of 78 degrees. Resolution achieved in the original image was 740 meters (2,428 feet) per pixel. The image has been contrast-enhanced and magnified by a factor of two to aid visibility. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov. For images visit the Cassini imaging team home page http://ciclops.org. Original Caption Released with Image
Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute Image_Credit NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute Image Credit
Produced By:
CICLOPS/Space Science Institute Produced_By CICLOPS/Space Science Institute Produced By
Mission:
Cassini Mission Cassini Mission
Spacecraft:
Cassini Orbiter Spacecraft Cassini Orbiter Spacecraft
Target Name:
Iapetus Target_Name Iapetus Target Name
Is a satellite of:
Saturn Is_a_satellite_of Saturn Is a satellite of
Instrument:
Imaging Science Subsystem - Narrow Angle Instrument Imaging Science Subsystem - Narrow Angle Instrument
Product Size:
1000 samples x 750 lines Product_Size 1000 samples x 750 lines Product Size
Primary Data Set:
Cassini Primary_Data_Set Cassini Primary Data Set
facet_what:
Sun facet_what Sun facet_what
facet_what:
Crater facet_what Crater facet_what
facet_what:
Earth facet_what Earth facet_what
facet_what:
Galileo facet_what Galileo facet_what
facet_what:
Mars facet_what Mars facet_what
facet_what:
Saturn facet_what Saturn facet_what
facet_what:
Cassini facet_what Cassini facet_what
facet_what:
Callisto facet_what Callisto facet_what
facet_what:
Visible Light facet_what Visible Light facet_what
facet_what:
Iapetus facet_what Iapetus facet_what
facet_what:
Cassini Orbiter facet_what Cassini Orbiter facet_what
facet_what:
Huygens Probe facet_what Huygens Probe facet_what
facet_what:
Cassini-Huygens facet_what Cassini-Huygens facet_what
facet_what:
Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) facet_what Imaging Science Subsystem (ISS) facet_what
facet_where:
Mars facet_where Mars facet_where
facet_where:
Saturn facet_where Saturn facet_where
facet_where:
Callisto facet_where Callisto facet_where
facet_where:
California facet_where California facet_where
facet_where:
Washington facet_where Washington facet_where
facet_where:
Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) facet_where Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) facet_where
facet_where:
Washington, D.C. facet_where Washington, D.C. facet_where
Image #:
PIA06171 Image_# PIA06171 Image #
UID:
SPD-PHOTJ-PIA06171 UID SPD-PHOTJ-PIA06171 UID
orignial url:
http://photojournal… orignial_url http://photojournal… orignial url

Giant Landslide on Iapetus

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Giant Landslide on Iapetus