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'McMurdo' Panorama from Spir
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| title |
'McMurdo' Panorama from Spirit's 'Winter Haven' |
| description |
This 360-degree view, called the "McMurdo" panorama, comes from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. From April through October 2006, Spirit has stayed on a small hill known as "Low Ridge." There, the rover's solar panels are tilted toward the sun to maintain enough solar power for Spirit to keep making scientific observations throughout the winter on southern Mars. This view of the surroundings from Spirit's "Winter Haven" is presented in approximately true color. Oct. 26, 2006, marks Spirit's 1,000th sol of what was planned as a 90-sol mission. (A sol is a Martian day, which lasts 24 hours, 39 minutes, 35 seconds). The rover has lived through the most challenging part of its second Martian winter. Its solar power levels are rising again. Spring in the southern hemisphere of Mars will begin in early 2007. Before that, the rover team hopes to start driving Spirit again toward scientifically interesting places in the "Inner Basin" and "Columbia Hills" inside Gusev crater. The McMurdo panorama is providing team members with key pieces of scientific and topographic information for choosing where to continue Spirit's exploration adventure. The Pancam began shooting component images of this panorama during Spirit's sol 814 (April 18, 2006) and completed the part shown here on sol 932 (Aug. 17, 2006). The panorama was acquired using all 13 of the Pancam's color filters, using lossless compression for the red and blue stereo filters, and only modest levels of compression on the remaining filters. The overall panorama consists of 1,449 Pancam images and represents a raw data volume of nearly 500 megabytes. It is thus the largest, highest-fidelity view of Mars acquired from either rover. Additional photo coverage of the parts of the rover deck not shown here was completed on sol 980 (Oct. 5 , 2006). The team is completing the processing and mosaicking of those final pieces of the panorama, and that image will be released on the Web shortly to augment this McMurdo panorama view. This beautiful scene reveals a tremendous amount of detail in Spirit's surroundings. Many dark, porous-textured volcanic rocks can be seen around the rover, including many on Low Ridge. Two rocks to the right of center, brighter and smoother-looking in this image and more reflective in infrared observations by Spirit's miniature thermal emission spectrometer, are thought to be meteorites. On the right, "Husband Hill" on the horizon, the rippled "El Dorado" sand dune field near the base of that hill, and lighter-toned "Home Plate" below the dunes provide context for Spirit's travels since mid-2005. Left of center, tracks and a trench dug by Spirit's right-front wheel, which no longer rotates, have exposed bright underlying material. This bright material is evidence of sulfur-rich salty minerals in the subsurface, which may provide clues about the watery past of this part of Gusev Crater. Spirit has stayed busy at Winter Haven during the past, six months even without driving. In addition to acquiring this spectacular panorama, the rover team has also acquired significant new assessments of the elemental chemistry and mineralogy of rocks and soil targets within reach of the rover's arm. The team plans soon to have Spirit drive to a very nearby spot on Low Ridge to access different rock and soil samples while maintaining a good solar panel tilt toward the sun for the rest of the Martian winter. Despite the long span of time needed for acquiring this 360-degree view -- a few images at a time every few sols over a total of 119 sols because the available power was so low -- the lighting and color remain remarkably uniform across the mosaic. This fact attests to the repeatability of wintertime sols on Mars in the southern hemisphere. |
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Getting a Sense of Scale
| title |
Getting a Sense of Scale |
| date |
10.06.2006 |
| description |
This photo composite shows an aerial view of FedEx Field in Landover, Md., home of the Washington Redskins, superimposed on Mars' Victoria Crater to give a sense of the crater's scale. Image Credit: FedEx Field: Screenshot (c) Google Inc. and reproduced with permission. Victoria Crater: NASA/JPL/UA |
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Victoria Crater' at Meridian
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| title |
Victoria Crater' at Meridiani Planum |
| date |
10.06.2006 |
| description |
This image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows "Victoria crater," an impact crater at Meridiani Planum, near the equator of Mars. The crater is approximately 800 meters (half a mile) in diameter. It has a distinctive scalloped shape to its rim, caused by erosion and downhill movement of crater wall material. Layered sedimentary rocks are exposed along the inner wall of the crater, and boulders that have fallen from the crater wall are visible on the crater floor. The floor of the crater is occupied by a striking field of sand dunes. Since January 2004, the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has been operating at Meridiani Planum. Five days before this image was taken, Opportunity arrived at the rim of Victoria crater, after a drive of more than 9 kilometers (over 5 miles). The rover can be seen in this image, at roughly the "ten o'clock" position along the rim of the crater. This view is a portion of an image taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on Oct. 3, 2006. The complete image is centered at minus7.8 degrees latitude, 279.5 degrees East longitude. The range to the target site was 297 kilometers (185.6 miles). At this distance the image scale is 29.7 centimeters (12 inches) per pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects about 89 centimeters (35 inches) across are resolved. The image shown here has been map-projected to 25 centimeters (10 inches) per pixel and north is up. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:30 PM and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 59.7 degrees, thus the sun was about 30.3 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 113.6 degrees, the season on Mars is northern summer. This is an enhanced-color view generated from images acquired by the HiRISE camera using its red filter and blue-green filter. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mroor 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 & Technologies Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/UA |
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Gullies in Sirenum Terra, Ma
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| title |
Gullies in Sirenum Terra, Mars |
| date |
10.03.2006 |
| description |
This enhanced-color view shows gullies in an unnamed crater in the Terra Sirenum region of Mars. It is a sub-image from a larger view imaged by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter on Oct. 3, 2006. This scene is about 254 meters (about 830 feet) wide. The upper and left regions of this scene are in shadow, yet color variations are still apparent. The high signal to noise ratio of the HiRISE camera allows for colors to be distinguished in shadows. This allows dark features to be identified as true albedo features versus topographical features. Image credit: NASA/JPL/Univ. of Arizona |
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Hubble Images of Asteroids H
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| Title |
Hubble Images of Asteroids Help Astronomers Prepare for Spacecraft Visit |
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| Description |
Figure C: The third picture shows a small crater on the rim of a larger crater. Only a small portion of the wall of this larger crater is captured in the image. Immediately beneath the small crater occurs a group of gullies. The presence of these gullies also supports the groundwater hypothesis because impacting meteors will fracture the rocks into which they form a crater. In this case, there would be an initial set of subsurface fractures caused by the large impact that created the original, large crater. Then, when the smaller crater formed, it would have created additional fractures in its vicinity. These extra fractures would then have provided pathways, or conduits, through which ground water would come to the surface on the wall of the larger crater, thus creating the gullies observed. One might speculate that the group of gullies was formed by the impact that made the small crater, because of the heat and fracturing of rock during the impact process. However, the gullies are much younger than the small crater, the ejecta from the small crater has been largely eroded away or buried, and the crater partially filled, while the gullies appear sharp, crisp and fresh. This is a portion of an image located near 33.9 degrees south latitude, 160 degrees west longitude, acquired on March 31, 2006. The Mars Global Surveyor mission is managed for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., a division of the California Institute of Technology, also in Pasadena. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, developed and operates the spacecraft. Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., built and operates the Mars Orbiter Camera. For more information about images from the Mars Orbiter Camera, see http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html [ http://www.msss.com/mgs/moc/index.html ]. |
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Landscape West of Bosporos R
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| title |
Landscape West of Bosporos Rupes |
| Description |
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. Image AEB_000001_0050_Red 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 [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona |
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Landscape Northeast of Halle
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| title |
Landscape Northeast of Halley Crater |
| Description |
. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona, This image shows a landscape west of Mars' Argyre impact basin and northeast of Halley Crater. The large but faint circular feature near the center of the image is an unnamed impact crater about 7.5 kilometers (4.7 miles) in diameter. It has been all but erased by geological (and probably ice-related) processes. In fact, the majority of impact craters in this image have been modified from their original shapes, some undoubtedly beyond recognition. Only a few small craters remain pristine. The most prevalent surface type in this image is rough, dissected terrain, which is characterized by a complex pattern of knobs, pits, ridges and valleys. In places the rough terrain has been covered by a younger material that appears flat, smooth and nearly featureless. The smooth material may have been emplaced as muddy or icy debris. It filled low-lying areas (most notably craters) and surrounded higher features, preserving islands of rough terrain. Wind-formed dunes have formed atop some of the smooth material, and diagonal streaks on the right side of the image may be due to the winds. Images such as this show the importance of water (liquid and/or ice), wind, and impacts in shaping the surface of Mars. Image AEB_000001_0100_Red 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 47.14 degrees south latitude, 302.00 degrees east longitude. It is oriented such that north is 7 degrees to the left of up. The range to the target was 1,699 kilometers (1,056 miles). At this distance the image scale is 1.70 meter (5.58 feet) per pixel in the center portion of the image, so objects as small as 5.1 meter (16.7 feet) are resolved. In the side regions the pixels were binned 2x2 to a scale of 3.4 meters (11.2 feet) per pixel. The camera has a total of 10 red-bandpass CCD detectors, and in this image the first 4 CCDs on the left and the last 3 on the right were binned 2x2, while 3 in the middle returned data at full resolution. In total this image is 34.08 kilometers (21.18 miles) or 20,081 pixels wide and 8.50 kilometers (5.28 miles) or 5,164 pixels high. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:27 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 84.5 degrees, thus the sun was about 5.5 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 [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ] |
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First HiRISE image of Mars
| title |
First HiRISE image of Mars |
| Description |
. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona, The first image of Mars by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a story of geologic change in the eastern Bosporos Planum region. Old stream valleys cut into the flanks of a gently sloping mountain range in the center of the image. Layers of smooth-textured deposits have mantled the stream valleys and many impact craters. Wind and sublimation of water or carbon dioxide ice have partially eroded patches of the smooth-textured deposits, leaving behind areas of layered and hummocky terrain. A prominent ridge that extends from the top to the bottom of the image dominates the scene. This ridge formed above a thrust fault, a type of fault that occurs when the surface of a planet is compressed. On planetary surfaces, such fault-related ridges are termed "wrinkle ridges." They are commonly observed on Mars, as well as on Earth's moon and on Venus and Mercury. The wrinkle ridge imaged here is named Ogygis Rupes. This wrinkle ridge has deformed several valleys and impact craters. Throughout the scene, geologically young sand dunes are present within stream valleys and some impact craters. The area is also sprinkled with many small young impact craters, which are distinguished by sharp crater rims and bright or dark halos of ejected material. This image demonstrates how a single HiRISE image can capture a multitude of geologic processes. Image AEB_000001_0000_Red was taken by HiRISE on March 24, 2006. The image is centered at 33.65 degrees south latitude, 305.07 degrees east longitude. It is oriented such that north is 7 degrees to the left of up. The range to the target was 2,493 kilometers (1,549 miles). At this distance the image scale is 2.49 meters (8.17 feet) per pixel, so objects as small as 7.5 meters (24.6 feet) are resolved. In total this image is 49.92 kilometers (31.02 miles) or 20,081 pixels wide and 23.66 kilometers (14.70 miles) or 9,523 pixels long. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:33 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 78 degrees, thus the sun was 12 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 [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ] |
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Twilight Imaging of Kepler C
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| title |
Twilight Imaging of Kepler Crater Floor |
| Description |
This image of the floor of Kepler crater in early morning twilight highlights the quality of images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera even under extremely minimal lighting conditions. At the time that this image was acquired, the sun had just barely risen over the horizon. This faint illumination reveals a terrain dotted by numerous exhumed impact craters. These impact craters once dominated the landscape of this region until they were buried under a blanket of soil. Subsequent wind action and perhaps sublimation of subsurface water and carbon-dioxide ice has etched pits and grooves into the blanket of soil, revealing the older impact craters below. These exhumed impact craters can be recognized as circular depressions or plateaus. Also present in this scene are multitudes of dunes that have formed as sand has blown across the terrain. Dunes have accumulated in depressions, such as the pits and grooves associated with the exhumed impact craters, as well as on the floors of some of the larger craters. Image AEB_000002_0100_Red was taken by HiRISE camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on March 25, 2006. The image is centered at 47.14 degrees south latitude, 142.90 degrees east longitude. It is oriented such that north is 7 degrees to the left of up. The range to the target was 1,694 kilometers (1,053 miles). Because the image was acquired by mixing the resolution levels of HiRISE detectors, the scale of the image is 6.76 meters (22.18 feet) per pixel, so objects as small as 27.04 meters (88.71 feet) are resolved. In total this image is 33.88 kilometers (21.05 miles) or 5,017 pixels wide and 37.18 kilometers (23.10 miles) or 5,636 pixels long. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:25 and the scene is illuminated from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 85.1 degrees, thus the sun was about 4.9 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 30 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 [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona |
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Sample of Mid-latitude South
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| title |
Sample of Mid-latitude Southern Highlands |
| Description |
http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona, This image shows terrain northeast of Martz Crater in the southern highlands of Mars. It is a landscape dominated by impact craters, scarps and ridges. The plethora of craters and the overprinting of younger craters on older craters indicate that this is an ancient surface. Curvilinear ridges called "wrinkle ridges" are common landforms on Mars. They form when layers of rock and sediment break and fold under compression. Multiple wrinkle ridges are captured in this image, the most prominent of which is a curving structure oriented approximately north-south. A 2.8-kilometer-wide (1.7-mile-wide) impact crater is superimposed on this north-south wrinkle ridge. Gullies, perhaps carved by water or muddy debris, are visible inside this crater. They are partly in shadow, but can be shown clearly by adjusting the contrast of the full-resolution image. Several of the smaller craters in this image contain dune fields, which attest to the presence of wind-blown sediments. In the lower portion of the image a few cliffs or scarps can be seen. While their origin is uncertain, they may have formed by some combination of flowing water and mass wasting. If one looks carefully at this image, it is possible to find horizontal blurred zones about 100 pixels tall. During these times the spacecraft was executing a test of how much the motion of another instrument would shake the spacecraft. These blurred regions also introduce geometric distortions, so the match between the three CCD images utilized for this observation is sometimes poor. The MRO spacecraft includes a high-stability mode that should minimize these problems. Image AEB_000002_0000_Red was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on March 25, 2006. The image is centered at 33.66 degrees south latitude, 145.97 degrees east longitude. It is oriented such that north is 7 degrees to the left of up. The range to the target was 2,485 kilometers (1,544 miles). At this distance the image scale is 2.49 meters (8.17 feet) per pixel, so objects as small as 7.5 meters (24.6 feet) are resolved. In total this image is 15.01 kilometers (9.33 miles) or 6,045 pixels wide and 57.27 kilometers (35.59 miles) or 23,024 pixels long. 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 78.7 degrees, thus the sun was about 11.3 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 30 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 [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: |
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First Mars Image from Newly
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| title |
First Mars Image from Newly Arrived Camera |
| Description |
This view shows the ground covered in the first image of Mars taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The spacecraft, launched Aug. 12, 2005, began orbiting Mars on March 10, 2006. HiRISE took this first test image from orbit on March 24, 2006, from an altitude of 2,489 kilometers (1,547 miles). Images taken during the mission's main science phase, beginning in fall 2006, will be from an altitude about one-tenth as far from the ground, gaining even higher resolution. This image is a mosaic combining 10 side-by-side exposures taken through red filters, presented at greatly reduced scale. The full product would be 20,000 pixels wide by 9,500 pixels high. The white box at lower right indicates the position of a sample image [ http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/gallery/calibration/pia08013-AEB1-cut-full1.html ] offered in full resolution. The quality of this test image is spectacular, with no hint to the eye of any smear or blurring. A high signal-to-noise ratio reveals fine details even in the shadows. The scene covers an area 49.8 kilometers (30.9 miles) wide and 23.6 kilometers (14.7 miles) high, of landscape typical of Mars' mid-latitude southern highlands. The location is 34 degrees south latitude, 305 degrees east longitude. An old, muted crater lies at the middle of the scene, with sets of channels to the left and right. Superimposed on parts of this terrain is a much younger, layered mantle of debris. The debris mantle is smooth in places but rough in other areas where it may have partially sublimated. This suggests that the debris mantle is (or was) rich in volatiles such as ices of water, carbon dioxide or both. Also superimposed on the landscape are many small sharp-rimmed impact craters and wind-blown dunes. This image illustrates processes that may have involved water both on ancient Mars (channels and eroded craters) and much more recently in Mars' history (volatile-rich debris mantle). The radiometric and geometric processing of this image is very preliminary. In particular there are mismatches visible at full resolution along the seams between the 10 side-by-side images from separate CCDs (charge-coupled devices, which are electronic optical sensors). Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona |
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| Description |
Browse Image | Medium Image (129 kB) | Large (20.4 MB) Hi-Res (NASA's Planetary Photojournal) [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08813 ] |
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Gullied Crater
PIA08078
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Gullied Crater |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
17 April 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a 1.5 meters (~5 feet) per pixel view of a crater in the Terra Cimmeria region of Mars. Several gullies extend from near the top of the crater rim, downslope toward the floor of the crater. Liquid water might have played a role in their genesis. "Location near": 37.7°S, 191.6°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Summer |
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Bi-level Gullies
PIA02919
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Bi-level Gullies |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
15 March 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows two suites of gullies within a single impact crater in the Terra Cimmeria region. The gullies near the top of the image are located on the northern wall of the crater, while the lower suite resides on a lower bench in the crater's northern wall complex. Gully erosion has cut into the layered rock exposed on the crater wall. Water may have been involved in their formation. "Location near": 38.2°S, 190.6°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Summer |
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Northern Impact
PIA02009
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Northern Impact |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
19 March 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a partially-buried crater in the north polar region of Mars. The circular feature is surrounded and partly overlain by some of the many, many sand dunes in the area. The steepest slopes on each dune -- their slip faces -- face toward the southeast (lower right), indicating that the dominant winds responsible for sand transport in this region come from the northwest (upper left). In summer, the dunes in this scene would be darker than their surroundings, but in this northern springtime image, the dunes and everything else in the area are covered by carbon dioxide frost. The frost is left over from the winter which ended in January 2006. "Location near": 76.0°N, 82.2°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Northern Spring |
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Color Image of Layers in Hol
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PIA10072
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
| Title |
Color Image of Layers in Holden Crater, a Candidate MSL Landing Site |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Layers inside Holden Crater in the southern hemisphere of Mars are shown in enhanced color in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The image was taken on December 4, 2006, as part of a campaign to examine more than two dozen candidate landing sites for the NASA Mars Science Laboratory rover, which is scheduled for launch in 2009. Holden is one of the most interesting locations for scientists investigating the history of water on Mars because the crater contains deep gullies carved by running water, as well as excellent examples of likely lake beds and alluvial fans (sediment deposited by streams) on its floor. These deposits are about 3.7 billion years old and date back to a wetter period of early Martian history. Since that time the planet has generally been very cold and dry, and water has remained frozen in the polar regions or middle latitudes. The cliff shown in this frame is located on the southwestern part of the crater floor. Many of the bright, flat-lying, possible lake-bed deposits near the bottom of the cliff are each less than a meter or yard thick. After these lake beds were deposited, a massive flood entered Holden Crater from the southwest and deposited the layer of dark boulders and gravel that are now exposed near the top of the cliff. After the lake dried up, wind eroded the surface and formed the ripples and dunes seen in the valley. The circular pits are impact craters formed by meteorite strikes onto the ancient deposits. The area covered by this image is about 600 meters (about one-third of a mile) across, at 26.8 degrees south latitude, 34.7 degrees west longitude. North is up. The view is a composite of exposures that HiRISE took in the infrared, red and blue portions of the spectrum. Color is enhanced, a technique useful for analyzing landscapes. This is a portion of the full-frame color image catalogued as PSP_001666_1530 [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_001666_1530 ] in the HiRISE collection. It was taken at a local Mars time of 3:41 p.m. The scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 68 degrees, thus the sun was about 22 degrees above the horizon. The season on Mars was northern autumn. |
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South High-latitude Gullies
PIA02151
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
South High-latitude Gullies |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
1 February 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a suite of gullies on a scarp in Lyell Crater. "Location near": 69.7°S, 14.0°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Summer |
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Syrtis Crater
PIA02169
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Syrtis Crater |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
10 February 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a crater that is approximately 2 km in diameter in south central Syrtis Major Planum. The image also captures a portion of the light-toned wind streak formed in the lee (to the left) of the crater. The wind streak is likely composed of a thin coating of dust. "Location near": 1.9°N, 294.0°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Northern Summer |
|
Valentine 2006
PIA02179
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Valentine 2006 |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
14 February 2006 Happy Valentine's Day from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) team! This somewhat heart-shaped, eroded and partially-filled crater is located near the southeast wall of Columbus Crater in the Mare Sirenum region of Mars. North is toward the bottom/lower left. "Location near": 29.9°S, 165.2°W "Image width": 400 meter scale bar = ~1,312 feet "Illumination from": lower right "Season": Southern Autumn |
|
Chryse Plains
PIA02178
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Chryse Plains |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
13 February 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an impact crater in western Chryse Planitia that is approximately 850 meters (~2790 ft) in diameter, surrounded by a flat plain riddled by hundreds of smaller impact craters. "Location near": 27.6°N, 47.3°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Northern Winter |
|
D and D (Dunes and Devils)
PIA02161
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
D and D (Dunes and Devils) |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
3 February 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows streaks created by late spring and early summer dust devils on a field of dark sand dunes on the floor of Hooke Crater. "Location near": 45.0°S, 44.8°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Summer |
|
Kidney-Shaped Impact
PIA02199
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Kidney-Shaped Impact |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
23 February 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an unusally-shaped (not circular) impact crater in the Elysium region of Mars. A dark-toned lava flow surface is seen in the southern (lower) portion of the image. "Location near": 5.9°N, 220.0°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Northern Winter |
|
Martian Graffiti
PIA02887
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Martian Graffiti |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
9 March 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a variety of textures observed on a south middle-latitude plain east-southeast of Hellas Planitia. Dark streaks left by passing dust devils are practically ubiquitous across the scene, including the transition from the texturally-smooth area (the majority of the image) onto the circular, rough feature near the right (east) edge of the image. The circular feature might once have been the site of an impact crater, perhaps this is the remains of its floor, and the rest of the crater and the rock in which it formed was removed by erosion. "Location near": 60.4°S, 242.5°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Summer |
|
Craters and Layers
PIA02896
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Craters and Layers |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
11 March 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows some typical relations between impact craters and light-toned, layered rock on Mars. The larger circular feature at the north (top) end of the image marks the location of a filled, buried crater on intermountain terrain north of Hellas Planitia. The larger crater at the southeast (lower right) corner formed by meteor impact into the layered material in which the buried crater is encased. The layered rock, in this case, has a light tone similar to the sedimentary rocks being explored by the Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, thousands of kilometers away in Sinus Meridiani. "Location near": 24.9°S, 299.3°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Summer |
|
Martian Streaker
PIA02920
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Martian Streaker |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
16 March 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a dust devil producing a track among dozens of other, preexisting streaks on a dusty, south middle-latitude plain on Mars. The dust devil is located just above (north/northwest of) a small, dark-floored crater. "Location near": 58.7°S, 141.1°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Summer |
|
Becquerel's Layers
PIA03672
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Becquerel's Layers |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
14 January 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows light-toned, layered, sedimentary rock outcrops in Becquerel Crater in the western Arabia Terra region. The crater may once have hosted a lake, into which these sediments were deposited. Although the fine, detailed layering in Becquerel was not known until the MGS MOC first began to image these materials in 1999, the presence of a grossly-layered, light-toned feature was known from Viking orbiter images and was speculated from those data to possibly represent evidence for the presence of a former lake. "Location near": 21.5°N, 8.2°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Northern Winter |
|
Dunes in Brashear
PIA03656
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Dunes in Brashear |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
8 January 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a field of dark sand dunes on the northwestern floor of Brashear Crater. The dunes formed largely from winds that blew from the southeast (lower right). "Location near": 253.7°S, 119.4°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Summer |
|
Devil in Mendel
PIA03687
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Devil in Mendel |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
20 January 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a dust devil (right center) and a plethora of streaks created by previous dust devils, on the eastern floor of Mendel Crater. Dust devils are common at middle to high latitudes in the southern hemisphere during the spring and summer seasons. "Location near": 59.0°S, 198.4°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Summer |
|
Impact Crater
PIA03674
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Impact Crater |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
16 January 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows an impact crater, roughly the size of the famous Meteor Crater in northern Arizona, U.S.A., in western Elysium Planitia. Light-toned, windblown ripples of sediment have accumulated in subtle troughs and in the lee -- the downwind side -- of the crater. "Location near": 28.4°N, 247.9°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": lower left "Season": Northern Winter |
|
Terby's Rocks
PIA03698
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
Terby's Rocks |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
27 January 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows some of the light-toned, layered, sedimentary rock outcrops in northern Terby Crater. Terby is located along the north edge of Hellas Planitia. The sedimentary rocks might have been deposited in a greater, Hellas-filling sea -- or not. Today, the rocks are partly covered by dark-toned sediment and debris. "Location near": 27.2°S, 285.3°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Summer |
|
2 Years on Mars! Meridiani P
…
PIA03691
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
2 Years on Mars! Meridiani Planum Features Investigated by the Rover, Opportunity |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
24 January 2006 Two years ago, the Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, landed on Meridiani Planum. The rover marked its first Mars-year (687 Earth Days) anniversary in December 2005. Two pictures are shown here: the one on the right is the same as that on the left, except that key features have been labeled. Both pictures include a colored portion -- a 3-d (stereo) anaglyph which can be viewed using "3-d" glasses with a red left eye and a blue right eye. Figures 2 and 3 are MOC narrow angle non-stereo images. During the landing in January 2004, rockets were fired to slow the final descent, just before the inflated airbags (containing the folded-up lander and rover) were released. The rockets disturbed the sandy surface at the location labeled "blast effects." Following release, the airbags bounced and rolled until coming to rest inside Eagle Crater. The lander, in fact, can be seen as a bright spot near the center of Eagle Crater. Meanwhile, the jettisoned parachute and backshell landed to the southwest of Eagle, and the heatshield fell just southwest of Endurance Crater. Opportunity initially examined sedimentary rock outcrops and sandy, windblown regolith within Eagle Crater. Then it was driven by the rover team out of Eagle and on into Endurance Crater. By the end of 2004, Opportunity had left Endurance and was investigating the site where the heatshield impacted the surface. After that, the rover spent much of the year 2005 driving from the heatshield location down to the shallow Erebus Crater. Long-term plans call for driving Opportunity from Erebus to Victoria Crater, where a substantially thicker sequence of layered rock is expected to be found, relative to previous outcrops examined in the craters Endurance and Eagle. "Location near": 2.0°S, 5.6°W "Image width": 300 m scale bar = 984 ft "Illumination from": left |
|
2 Years on Mars! Meridiani P
…
PIA03691
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
2 Years on Mars! Meridiani Planum Features Investigated by the Rover, Opportunity |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
24 January 2006 Two years ago, the Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, landed on Meridiani Planum. The rover marked its first Mars-year (687 Earth Days) anniversary in December 2005. Two pictures are shown here: the one on the right is the same as that on the left, except that key features have been labeled. Both pictures include a colored portion -- a 3-d (stereo) anaglyph which can be viewed using "3-d" glasses with a red left eye and a blue right eye. Figures 2 and 3 are MOC narrow angle non-stereo images. During the landing in January 2004, rockets were fired to slow the final descent, just before the inflated airbags (containing the folded-up lander and rover) were released. The rockets disturbed the sandy surface at the location labeled "blast effects." Following release, the airbags bounced and rolled until coming to rest inside Eagle Crater. The lander, in fact, can be seen as a bright spot near the center of Eagle Crater. Meanwhile, the jettisoned parachute and backshell landed to the southwest of Eagle, and the heatshield fell just southwest of Endurance Crater. Opportunity initially examined sedimentary rock outcrops and sandy, windblown regolith within Eagle Crater. Then it was driven by the rover team out of Eagle and on into Endurance Crater. By the end of 2004, Opportunity had left Endurance and was investigating the site where the heatshield impacted the surface. After that, the rover spent much of the year 2005 driving from the heatshield location down to the shallow Erebus Crater. Long-term plans call for driving Opportunity from Erebus to Victoria Crater, where a substantially thicker sequence of layered rock is expected to be found, relative to previous outcrops examined in the craters Endurance and Eagle. "Location near": 2.0°S, 5.6°W "Image width": 300 m scale bar = 984 ft "Illumination from": left |
|
2 Years on Mars! Meridiani P
…
PIA03691
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
2 Years on Mars! Meridiani Planum Features Investigated by the Rover, Opportunity |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
24 January 2006 Two years ago, the Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, landed on Meridiani Planum. The rover marked its first Mars-year (687 Earth Days) anniversary in December 2005. Two pictures are shown here: the one on the right is the same as that on the left, except that key features have been labeled. Both pictures include a colored portion -- a 3-d (stereo) anaglyph which can be viewed using "3-d" glasses with a red left eye and a blue right eye. Figures 2 and 3 are MOC narrow angle non-stereo images. During the landing in January 2004, rockets were fired to slow the final descent, just before the inflated airbags (containing the folded-up lander and rover) were released. The rockets disturbed the sandy surface at the location labeled "blast effects." Following release, the airbags bounced and rolled until coming to rest inside Eagle Crater. The lander, in fact, can be seen as a bright spot near the center of Eagle Crater. Meanwhile, the jettisoned parachute and backshell landed to the southwest of Eagle, and the heatshield fell just southwest of Endurance Crater. Opportunity initially examined sedimentary rock outcrops and sandy, windblown regolith within Eagle Crater. Then it was driven by the rover team out of Eagle and on into Endurance Crater. By the end of 2004, Opportunity had left Endurance and was investigating the site where the heatshield impacted the surface. After that, the rover spent much of the year 2005 driving from the heatshield location down to the shallow Erebus Crater. Long-term plans call for driving Opportunity from Erebus to Victoria Crater, where a substantially thicker sequence of layered rock is expected to be found, relative to previous outcrops examined in the craters Endurance and Eagle. "Location near": 2.0°S, 5.6°W "Image width": 300 m scale bar = 984 ft "Illumination from": left |
|
2 Years on Mars! Meridiani P
…
PIA03691
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
2 Years on Mars! Meridiani Planum Features Investigated by the Rover, Opportunity |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
24 January 2006 Two years ago, the Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, landed on Meridiani Planum. The rover marked its first Mars-year (687 Earth Days) anniversary in December 2005. Two pictures are shown here: the one on the right is the same as that on the left, except that key features have been labeled. Both pictures include a colored portion -- a 3-d (stereo) anaglyph which can be viewed using "3-d" glasses with a red left eye and a blue right eye. Figures 2 and 3 are MOC narrow angle non-stereo images. During the landing in January 2004, rockets were fired to slow the final descent, just before the inflated airbags (containing the folded-up lander and rover) were released. The rockets disturbed the sandy surface at the location labeled "blast effects." Following release, the airbags bounced and rolled until coming to rest inside Eagle Crater. The lander, in fact, can be seen as a bright spot near the center of Eagle Crater. Meanwhile, the jettisoned parachute and backshell landed to the southwest of Eagle, and the heatshield fell just southwest of Endurance Crater. Opportunity initially examined sedimentary rock outcrops and sandy, windblown regolith within Eagle Crater. Then it was driven by the rover team out of Eagle and on into Endurance Crater. By the end of 2004, Opportunity had left Endurance and was investigating the site where the heatshield impacted the surface. After that, the rover spent much of the year 2005 driving from the heatshield location down to the shallow Erebus Crater. Long-term plans call for driving Opportunity from Erebus to Victoria Crater, where a substantially thicker sequence of layered rock is expected to be found, relative to previous outcrops examined in the craters Endurance and Eagle. "Location near": 2.0°S, 5.6°W "Image width": 300 m scale bar = 984 ft "Illumination from": left |
|
Duck Bay, Victoria Crater
PIA10007
Sol (our sun)
Panoramic Camera
| Title |
Duck Bay, Victoria Crater |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This image taken by the panoramic camera on the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows the view of Victoria Crater from Duck Bay. Opportunity reached Victoria Crater on Sol 951 (September 27, 2006) after traversing 9.28 kilometers (5.77 miles) since her landing site at Eagle Crater. Victoria Crater is roughly 800 meters (one-half mile) wide -- about five times wider than Endurance Crater, and 40 times as wide as Eagle crater. The south face of the 6 meter (20 foot) tall layered Cape Verde promontory can be seen in the left side of the inner crater wall, about 50 meters (about 165 feet) away from the rover at the time of the imaging. The north face of the 15 meter (50 foot) tall stack of layered rocks called Cabo Frio can be seen on the right side of the inner crater wall. This mosaic was taken on Sols 952 and 953 (September 28 and 29, 2006). There are 30 separate pointings through 6 different filters at each pointing. This mosaic was generated from Pancam's 753 nm, 535 nm, and 482 nm filters. Four versions are available at full resolution: this approximate true color rendering, a false color [ http://marswatch.astro.cornell.edu/pancam_instrument/duck_bay.html ] stretch to enhance subtle color differences in the scene, a stereo anaglyph [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08784 ], which appears three dimensional when viewed through red-blue glasses [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/Help/VendorList.html#Glasses ], and a black and white version presented as a cylindrical projection [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA08783 ] with geometric seam correction. |
|
South Polar Hills
PIA06103
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
South Polar Hills |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
28 January 2006 This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a summer scene from the south polar region of Mars. The circular feature in the northeast (upper right) corner of the image is an old meteor impact crater that has been partially filled and buried. The cone-shaped hill that occurs within the crater on its east (right) side is a remnant of material that once covered and completely buried the crater. Perhaps beneath the surfaces in the rest of the image there are other craters that have been filled and buried such that we cannot know, from an image, that they ever existed. The theme of filled, buried, and exhumed craters is one that repeats itself -- over and over again -- all over Mars. "Location near": 80.3°S, 286.1°W "Image width": ~3 km (~1.9 mi) "Illumination from": upper left "Season": Southern Summer |
|
A Few Good Barchans
PIA01317
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
| Title |
A Few Good Barchans |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows several small, dark sand dunes and a small crater (about 1 kilometer in diameter) within a much larger crater (not visible in this image). The floor of the larger crater is rough and has been eroded with time. The floor of the smaller crater contains windblown ripples. The steep faces of the dunes point to the east (right), indicating that the dominant winds blew from the west (left). This scene is located near 38.5°S, 347.1°W, and covers an area approximately 3 km (1.9 mi) wide. Sunlight illuminates the landscape from the upper left. This southern autumn image was acquired on 1 July 2006. |
|
Signs of Fluids and Ice in A
…
PIA09680
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
| Title |
Signs of Fluids and Ice in Acidalia Planitia |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
(500 x 600 m or 550 x 650 yards), with well developed alcoves, sinuous channels, and terminal fan deposits. These gullies seem to originate at the same height, suggesting that the carving agent may have emanated from one single layer exposed in the crater's wall. Contrastingly, no gullies are observed in the north-looking (or pole facing) wall of this crater. Terrestrial gullies very similar to the ones shown in this image are produced by surface water. The arrows in the cutout show fissures that may indicate detachment of surficial materials possibly held together by subsurface ice, sliding en masse down the crater's wall. The muted topography of the crater and its surroundings, the relatively shallow floor (300 m or 330 yards), the convex slope of its walls-all are consistent with ice being present under the surface, mixed with rocks and soil. Ice would have acted as a lubricant, facilitating the flow of rocks and soils and hence smoothing landscape's features such as ridges and craters' rims. The concentric and radial fissures in the crater's floor may indicate decrease of volume due to loss of underground ice. Piles of rocks aligned along these fissures and arranged forming polygons are similar to features observed in terrestrial periglacial regions such as Antarctica. Antarctica's features are produced by repeated expansion and contraction of subsurface soil and ice, due to seasonal temperature oscillations. The funnel-shaped depressions visible in the crater's floor could be collapse pits, further evidence of ice decay, alternatively, they could be smoothed-out impact craters. Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 12 December 2006 Local Mars time: 3:23 PM Degrees latitude (centered): 50.7° Degrees longitude (East): 341.6° Range to target site: 305.9 km (191.2 miles) Original image scale range: from 30.6 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 61.2 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR Emission angle: 1.9° Phase angle: 60.1° Solar incidence angle: 58°, with the Sun about 32° above the horizon Solar longitude: 156.1°, Northern Summer NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo., Click on image for larger version HiRISE image (PSP_001942_2310 [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_001942_2310 ]) shows a crater approximately 11 km (7 miles) in diameter, located in Acidalia Planitia, part of the Northern Plains. Several features in and around this crater are suggestive of fluids and ice at and near the surface. The south-looking (or equator facing) walls of this crater are cut by numerous gullies such as the ones shown in this image's cutout |
|
Signs of Fluids and Ice in A
…
PIA09680
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
| Title |
Signs of Fluids and Ice in Acidalia Planitia |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
(500 x 600 m or 550 x 650 yards), with well developed alcoves, sinuous channels, and terminal fan deposits. These gullies seem to originate at the same height, suggesting that the carving agent may have emanated from one single layer exposed in the crater's wall. Contrastingly, no gullies are observed in the north-looking (or pole facing) wall of this crater. Terrestrial gullies very similar to the ones shown in this image are produced by surface water. The arrows in the cutout show fissures that may indicate detachment of surficial materials possibly held together by subsurface ice, sliding en masse down the crater's wall. The muted topography of the crater and its surroundings, the relatively shallow floor (300 m or 330 yards), the convex slope of its walls-all are consistent with ice being present under the surface, mixed with rocks and soil. Ice would have acted as a lubricant, facilitating the flow of rocks and soils and hence smoothing landscape's features such as ridges and craters' rims. The concentric and radial fissures in the crater's floor may indicate decrease of volume due to loss of underground ice. Piles of rocks aligned along these fissures and arranged forming polygons are similar to features observed in terrestrial periglacial regions such as Antarctica. Antarctica's features are produced by repeated expansion and contraction of subsurface soil and ice, due to seasonal temperature oscillations. The funnel-shaped depressions visible in the crater's floor could be collapse pits, further evidence of ice decay, alternatively, they could be smoothed-out impact craters. Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 12 December 2006 Local Mars time: 3:23 PM Degrees latitude (centered): 50.7° Degrees longitude (East): 341.6° Range to target site: 305.9 km (191.2 miles) Original image scale range: from 30.6 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 61.2 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR Emission angle: 1.9° Phase angle: 60.1° Solar incidence angle: 58°, with the Sun about 32° above the horizon Solar longitude: 156.1°, Northern Summer NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo., Click on image for larger version HiRISE image (PSP_001942_2310 [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_001942_2310 ]) shows a crater approximately 11 km (7 miles) in diameter, located in Acidalia Planitia, part of the Northern Plains. Several features in and around this crater are suggestive of fluids and ice at and near the surface. The south-looking (or equator facing) walls of this crater are cut by numerous gullies such as the ones shown in this image's cutout |
|
Signs of Fluids and Ice in A
…
PIA09680
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
| Title |
Signs of Fluids and Ice in Acidalia Planitia |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
(500 x 600 m or 550 x 650 yards), with well developed alcoves, sinuous channels, and terminal fan deposits. These gullies seem to originate at the same height, suggesting that the carving agent may have emanated from one single layer exposed in the crater's wall. Contrastingly, no gullies are observed in the north-looking (or pole facing) wall of this crater. Terrestrial gullies very similar to the ones shown in this image are produced by surface water. The arrows in the cutout show fissures that may indicate detachment of surficial materials possibly held together by subsurface ice, sliding en masse down the crater's wall. The muted topography of the crater and its surroundings, the relatively shallow floor (300 m or 330 yards), the convex slope of its walls-all are consistent with ice being present under the surface, mixed with rocks and soil. Ice would have acted as a lubricant, facilitating the flow of rocks and soils and hence smoothing landscape's features such as ridges and craters' rims. The concentric and radial fissures in the crater's floor may indicate decrease of volume due to loss of underground ice. Piles of rocks aligned along these fissures and arranged forming polygons are similar to features observed in terrestrial periglacial regions such as Antarctica. Antarctica's features are produced by repeated expansion and contraction of subsurface soil and ice, due to seasonal temperature oscillations. The funnel-shaped depressions visible in the crater's floor could be collapse pits, further evidence of ice decay, alternatively, they could be smoothed-out impact craters. Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 12 December 2006 Local Mars time: 3:23 PM Degrees latitude (centered): 50.7° Degrees longitude (East): 341.6° Range to target site: 305.9 km (191.2 miles) Original image scale range: from 30.6 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 61.2 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR Emission angle: 1.9° Phase angle: 60.1° Solar incidence angle: 58°, with the Sun about 32° above the horizon Solar longitude: 156.1°, Northern Summer NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo., Click on image for larger version HiRISE image (PSP_001942_2310 [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_001942_2310 ]) shows a crater approximately 11 km (7 miles) in diameter, located in Acidalia Planitia, part of the Northern Plains. Several features in and around this crater are suggestive of fluids and ice at and near the surface. The south-looking (or equator facing) walls of this crater are cut by numerous gullies such as the ones shown in this image's cutout |
|
Spokes, Creep, and Channels
…
PIA09659
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
| Title |
Spokes, Creep, and Channels in a Crater in Utopia Planitia |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
. Creep is slow downhill movement of slope soils that are held together somehow, maybe cemented by ice or some other agent. From the cross-cutting relationships seen in this subset, we infer there may have been several alternating episodes of creep and channel formation. Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 12 December 2006 Local Mars time: 3:24 PM Degrees latitude (centered): 41.2° Degrees longitude (East): 136.3° Range to target site: 303.1 km (189.4 miles) Original image scale range: 30.3 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~91 cm across are resolved Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR Emission angle: 7.5° Phase angle: 61.7° Solar incidence angle: 54°, with the Sun about 36° above the horizon Solar longitude: 154.8°, Northern Summer NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo., Click on image for larger version This HiRISE image (PSP_001910_2215 [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_001910_2215 ]) shows an unnamed impact crater located in Utopia Planitia, this crater is more than 10 km (6.25 miles) in diameter and 700 m (765 yards) deep. Different features in and around this crater may indicate fluid beneath the surface. Linear features radiating outward from the crater's rim are evident in the upper right and lower right parts of this image. Closer examination shows these features are formed by rocks and finer soils that are located along a straight line, they are "spokes" produced immediately after the impact by very fast outward-moving materials ejected from the impact. Because these ejecta came from deep under the crater, their composition will tell us what type of rocks are under the surface. A MOC context image [ http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/e13_e18/images/E16/E1600704.html ] of this crater shows its ejecta materials form an elevated "pedestal," shaped like a pancake. The pedestal is approximately 20 km (12.5 miles) in diameter. "Pedestal craters" such as this may have formed because ice beneath the surface melted when the impact occurred. This image's cutout (approximately 800 x 250 m, or 875 x 275 yards) shows a portion of the west-facing slope inside the crater, upslope is to the right (east). In this subimage, east-west channels, some of them 6 m (6.5 yards) wide, cut into the slope's soils. It is not clear if these channels were carved by dry landslides or by a fluid. The channels cut across relatively older, rock-rich, elongated ridges (e.g., location labeled "A" in the subimage) that are approximately perpendicular to the slope. By contrast, in location "B" relatively younger ridges are on top of channels, some of which have dunes in their floors. Elsewhere in this crater, ridges transition laterally to ripples and fissures of similar orientation. One possible explanation for these ridges, ripples, and fissures could be creep [ http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2004/3072/fs-2004-3072.html ] |
|
Spokes, Creep, and Channels
…
PIA09659
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
| Title |
Spokes, Creep, and Channels in a Crater in Utopia Planitia |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
. Creep is slow downhill movement of slope soils that are held together somehow, maybe cemented by ice or some other agent. From the cross-cutting relationships seen in this subset, we infer there may have been several alternating episodes of creep and channel formation. Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 12 December 2006 Local Mars time: 3:24 PM Degrees latitude (centered): 41.2° Degrees longitude (East): 136.3° Range to target site: 303.1 km (189.4 miles) Original image scale range: 30.3 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~91 cm across are resolved Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR Emission angle: 7.5° Phase angle: 61.7° Solar incidence angle: 54°, with the Sun about 36° above the horizon Solar longitude: 154.8°, Northern Summer NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo., Click on image for larger version This HiRISE image (PSP_001910_2215 [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_001910_2215 ]) shows an unnamed impact crater located in Utopia Planitia, this crater is more than 10 km (6.25 miles) in diameter and 700 m (765 yards) deep. Different features in and around this crater may indicate fluid beneath the surface. Linear features radiating outward from the crater's rim are evident in the upper right and lower right parts of this image. Closer examination shows these features are formed by rocks and finer soils that are located along a straight line, they are "spokes" produced immediately after the impact by very fast outward-moving materials ejected from the impact. Because these ejecta came from deep under the crater, their composition will tell us what type of rocks are under the surface. A MOC context image [ http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/e13_e18/images/E16/E1600704.html ] of this crater shows its ejecta materials form an elevated "pedestal," shaped like a pancake. The pedestal is approximately 20 km (12.5 miles) in diameter. "Pedestal craters" such as this may have formed because ice beneath the surface melted when the impact occurred. This image's cutout (approximately 800 x 250 m, or 875 x 275 yards) shows a portion of the west-facing slope inside the crater, upslope is to the right (east). In this subimage, east-west channels, some of them 6 m (6.5 yards) wide, cut into the slope's soils. It is not clear if these channels were carved by dry landslides or by a fluid. The channels cut across relatively older, rock-rich, elongated ridges (e.g., location labeled "A" in the subimage) that are approximately perpendicular to the slope. By contrast, in location "B" relatively younger ridges are on top of channels, some of which have dunes in their floors. Elsewhere in this crater, ridges transition laterally to ripples and fissures of similar orientation. One possible explanation for these ridges, ripples, and fissures could be creep [ http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2004/3072/fs-2004-3072.html ] |
|
Spokes, Creep, and Channels
…
PIA09659
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
| Title |
Spokes, Creep, and Channels in a Crater in Utopia Planitia |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
. Creep is slow downhill movement of slope soils that are held together somehow, maybe cemented by ice or some other agent. From the cross-cutting relationships seen in this subset, we infer there may have been several alternating episodes of creep and channel formation. Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 12 December 2006 Local Mars time: 3:24 PM Degrees latitude (centered): 41.2° Degrees longitude (East): 136.3° Range to target site: 303.1 km (189.4 miles) Original image scale range: 30.3 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~91 cm across are resolved Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR Emission angle: 7.5° Phase angle: 61.7° Solar incidence angle: 54°, with the Sun about 36° above the horizon Solar longitude: 154.8°, Northern Summer NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo., Click on image for larger version This HiRISE image (PSP_001910_2215 [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_001910_2215 ]) shows an unnamed impact crater located in Utopia Planitia, this crater is more than 10 km (6.25 miles) in diameter and 700 m (765 yards) deep. Different features in and around this crater may indicate fluid beneath the surface. Linear features radiating outward from the crater's rim are evident in the upper right and lower right parts of this image. Closer examination shows these features are formed by rocks and finer soils that are located along a straight line, they are "spokes" produced immediately after the impact by very fast outward-moving materials ejected from the impact. Because these ejecta came from deep under the crater, their composition will tell us what type of rocks are under the surface. A MOC context image [ http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/e13_e18/images/E16/E1600704.html ] of this crater shows its ejecta materials form an elevated "pedestal," shaped like a pancake. The pedestal is approximately 20 km (12.5 miles) in diameter. "Pedestal craters" such as this may have formed because ice beneath the surface melted when the impact occurred. This image's cutout (approximately 800 x 250 m, or 875 x 275 yards) shows a portion of the west-facing slope inside the crater, upslope is to the right (east). In this subimage, east-west channels, some of them 6 m (6.5 yards) wide, cut into the slope's soils. It is not clear if these channels were carved by dry landslides or by a fluid. The channels cut across relatively older, rock-rich, elongated ridges (e.g., location labeled "A" in the subimage) that are approximately perpendicular to the slope. By contrast, in location "B" relatively younger ridges are on top of channels, some of which have dunes in their floors. Elsewhere in this crater, ridges transition laterally to ripples and fissures of similar orientation. One possible explanation for these ridges, ripples, and fissures could be creep [ http://pubs.usgs.gov/fs/2004/3072/fs-2004-3072.html ] |
|
Scarp and Channels in a Crat
…
PIA09672
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
| Title |
Scarp and Channels in a Crater in Terra Cimmeria |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
(180 x 560 m, or 200 x 600 yards) shows a small portion of the crater's north-looking wall, downhill is up, illumination is from the left. In the lower part of the cutout a relatively harder, rocky layer protrudes from the crater's wall, some blocks broke up from it and fell down the slope. Loose soils accumulated behind these blocks (uphill), forming what looks like bright-colored tails. The crater's floor, in the upper part of the cutout, is covered here by elongated dunes. A channel 7 to 20 m (7.5 to 22 yards) wide cuts deeply into the crater's wall, it is unclear if this channel was carved by a fluid or by landslides. The channel is cut by a younger scarp (shown with yellow arrows pointing downhill) which approximately separates the crater's wall from its floor. This cliff can be followed for more than 3 km (2 miles) along the southern part of the crater's floor. Elsewhere in this image channels similar to the one shown here cut through (and, therefore, are younger than) the scarp, extending inside the crater's floor. This scarp may have been produced by settling of the crater's floor, maybe due to flow of ice, soil, and rocks towards the center of the crater, and/or to sublimation of underground ice. Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 12 December 2006 Local Mars time: 3:47 PM Degrees latitude (centered): -42.7° Degrees longitude (East): 158.5° Range to target site: 251.6 km (157.3 miles) Original image scale range: from 25.2 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 50.3 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR Emission angle: 2.4° Phase angle: 72.3° Solar incidence angle: 74°, with the Sun about 16° above the horizon Solar longitude: 155.9°, Northern Summer NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo., Click on image for larger version This HiRISE image (PSP_001936_1370 [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_001936_1370 ]) shows a crater in Terra Cimmeria, approximately 10 km (6 miles) in diameter. The roughly concentric ridges and throughs in this crater's floor are known as "concentric crater fill," and probably result from compression caused by viscous flow of a thick mixture of rocks, soils, and ice inward from the crater's walls. This and other examples of concentric crater fill (see (PIA09662 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09662 ]) occur at high latitudes, where theoretical calculations indicate that ice may exist under the surface, mixed with rocks and soil. This image's cutout |
|
Scarp and Channels in a Crat
…
PIA09672
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
| Title |
Scarp and Channels in a Crater in Terra Cimmeria |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
(180 x 560 m, or 200 x 600 yards) shows a small portion of the crater's north-looking wall, downhill is up, illumination is from the left. In the lower part of the cutout a relatively harder, rocky layer protrudes from the crater's wall, some blocks broke up from it and fell down the slope. Loose soils accumulated behind these blocks (uphill), forming what looks like bright-colored tails. The crater's floor, in the upper part of the cutout, is covered here by elongated dunes. A channel 7 to 20 m (7.5 to 22 yards) wide cuts deeply into the crater's wall, it is unclear if this channel was carved by a fluid or by landslides. The channel is cut by a younger scarp (shown with yellow arrows pointing downhill) which approximately separates the crater's wall from its floor. This cliff can be followed for more than 3 km (2 miles) along the southern part of the crater's floor. Elsewhere in this image channels similar to the one shown here cut through (and, therefore, are younger than) the scarp, extending inside the crater's floor. This scarp may have been produced by settling of the crater's floor, maybe due to flow of ice, soil, and rocks towards the center of the crater, and/or to sublimation of underground ice. Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 12 December 2006 Local Mars time: 3:47 PM Degrees latitude (centered): -42.7° Degrees longitude (East): 158.5° Range to target site: 251.6 km (157.3 miles) Original image scale range: from 25.2 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 50.3 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR Emission angle: 2.4° Phase angle: 72.3° Solar incidence angle: 74°, with the Sun about 16° above the horizon Solar longitude: 155.9°, Northern Summer NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo., Click on image for larger version This HiRISE image (PSP_001936_1370 [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_001936_1370 ]) shows a crater in Terra Cimmeria, approximately 10 km (6 miles) in diameter. The roughly concentric ridges and throughs in this crater's floor are known as "concentric crater fill," and probably result from compression caused by viscous flow of a thick mixture of rocks, soils, and ice inward from the crater's walls. This and other examples of concentric crater fill (see (PIA09662 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09662 ]) occur at high latitudes, where theoretical calculations indicate that ice may exist under the surface, mixed with rocks and soil. This image's cutout |
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Scarp and Channels in a Crat
…
PIA09672
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
| Title |
Scarp and Channels in a Crater in Terra Cimmeria |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
(180 x 560 m, or 200 x 600 yards) shows a small portion of the crater's north-looking wall, downhill is up, illumination is from the left. In the lower part of the cutout a relatively harder, rocky layer protrudes from the crater's wall, some blocks broke up from it and fell down the slope. Loose soils accumulated behind these blocks (uphill), forming what looks like bright-colored tails. The crater's floor, in the upper part of the cutout, is covered here by elongated dunes. A channel 7 to 20 m (7.5 to 22 yards) wide cuts deeply into the crater's wall, it is unclear if this channel was carved by a fluid or by landslides. The channel is cut by a younger scarp (shown with yellow arrows pointing downhill) which approximately separates the crater's wall from its floor. This cliff can be followed for more than 3 km (2 miles) along the southern part of the crater's floor. Elsewhere in this image channels similar to the one shown here cut through (and, therefore, are younger than) the scarp, extending inside the crater's floor. This scarp may have been produced by settling of the crater's floor, maybe due to flow of ice, soil, and rocks towards the center of the crater, and/or to sublimation of underground ice. Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 12 December 2006 Local Mars time: 3:47 PM Degrees latitude (centered): -42.7° Degrees longitude (East): 158.5° Range to target site: 251.6 km (157.3 miles) Original image scale range: from 25.2 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) to 50.3 cm/pixel (with 2 x 2 binning) Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR Emission angle: 2.4° Phase angle: 72.3° Solar incidence angle: 74°, with the Sun about 16° above the horizon Solar longitude: 155.9°, Northern Summer NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo., Click on image for larger version This HiRISE image (PSP_001936_1370 [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_001936_1370 ]) shows a crater in Terra Cimmeria, approximately 10 km (6 miles) in diameter. The roughly concentric ridges and throughs in this crater's floor are known as "concentric crater fill," and probably result from compression caused by viscous flow of a thick mixture of rocks, soils, and ice inward from the crater's walls. This and other examples of concentric crater fill (see (PIA09662 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09662 ]) occur at high latitudes, where theoretical calculations indicate that ice may exist under the surface, mixed with rocks and soil. This image's cutout |
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Concentric Crater Fill in th
…
PIA09662
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
| Title |
Concentric Crater Fill in the Northern Plains |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Click on image for larger version This HiRISE image (PSP_001926_2185 [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_001926_2185 ]) shows part of an unnamed crater located in the Northern Plains. The intriguing landforms in the floor of this crater are known as "concentric crater fill." Such landforms are found at high latitudes (approximately above 30o from the equator), where theoretical calculations indicate that ice may exist under the surface, mixed with rocks and soil. Examples of concentric crater fill were first observed in the 1970s, in images acquired by cameras on board the Viking orbiters. The roughly concentric ridges and throughs in the crater's floor are believed to result from compression caused by viscous flow of a thick mixture of rocks, soils, and ice inward from the crater's walls. Impact craters with concentric fill are usually shallower than other craters. The crater shown here is approximately 12 km (7.5 miles) in diameter, and 200-400 m (220-440 yards) deep, other Martian craters (see PIA09659 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09659 ]) of similar diameter but without concentric fill may be as deep as 700 m (765 yards). Unlike in "regular" craters, the slopes of the walls of craters with concentric fill tend to be convex, and the crater's rim is more rounded. All these characteristics are consistent with deformation of an ice-rock mixture similar to what's observed in rock glaciers on Earth. Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 12 December 2006 Local Mars time: 3:28 PM Degrees latitude (centered): 38.3° Degrees longitude (East): 60.5° Range to target site: 295.0 km (184.4 miles) Original image scale range: 29.5 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~89 cm across are resolved Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR Emission angle: 1.2° Phase angle: 55.4° Solar incidence angle: 54°, with the Sun about 36° above the horizon Solar longitude: 155.5°, Northern Autumn NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. |
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Concentric Crater Fill in th
…
PIA09662
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
| Title |
Concentric Crater Fill in the Northern Plains |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
Click on image for larger version This HiRISE image (PSP_001926_2185 [ http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/PSP_001926_2185 ]) shows part of an unnamed crater located in the Northern Plains. The intriguing landforms in the floor of this crater are known as "concentric crater fill." Such landforms are found at high latitudes (approximately above 30o from the equator), where theoretical calculations indicate that ice may exist under the surface, mixed with rocks and soil. Examples of concentric crater fill were first observed in the 1970s, in images acquired by cameras on board the Viking orbiters. The roughly concentric ridges and throughs in the crater's floor are believed to result from compression caused by viscous flow of a thick mixture of rocks, soils, and ice inward from the crater's walls. Impact craters with concentric fill are usually shallower than other craters. The crater shown here is approximately 12 km (7.5 miles) in diameter, and 200-400 m (220-440 yards) deep, other Martian craters (see PIA09659 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA09659 ]) of similar diameter but without concentric fill may be as deep as 700 m (765 yards). Unlike in "regular" craters, the slopes of the walls of craters with concentric fill tend to be convex, and the crater's rim is more rounded. All these characteristics are consistent with deformation of an ice-rock mixture similar to what's observed in rock glaciers on Earth. Observation Toolbox Acquisition date: 12 December 2006 Local Mars time: 3:28 PM Degrees latitude (centered): 38.3° Degrees longitude (East): 60.5° Range to target site: 295.0 km (184.4 miles) Original image scale range: 29.5 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~89 cm across are resolved Map-projected scale: 25 cm/pixel and north is up Map-projection: EQUIRECTANGULAR Emission angle: 1.2° Phase angle: 55.4° Solar incidence angle: 54°, with the Sun about 36° above the horizon Solar longitude: 155.5°, Northern Autumn NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. |
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Bright Soil Near 'McCool': S
…
PIA08012
Sol (our sun)
Navigation Camera
| Title |
Bright Soil Near 'McCool': Salty Deja Vu? |
| Original Caption Released with Image |
While driving eastward toward the northwestern flank of "McCool Hill," the wheels of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit churned up the largest amount of bright soil discovered so far in the mission. This image from Spirit's navigation camera, taken on the rover's 787th Martian day, or sol, of exploration (March 21, 2006), shows the strikingly light tone and large extent of the deposit. A few days earlier, Spirit's wheels unearthed a small patch of light-toned material informally named "Tyrone." In images from Spirit's panoramic camera, "Tyrone" strongly resembled both "Arad" and "Paso Robles," two patches of light-toned soils discovered earlier in the mission. Spirit found "Paso Robles" in 2005 while climbing "Cumberland Ridge" on the western slope of "Husband Hill." In early January 2006, the rover discovered "Arad" on the basin floor just south of "Husband Hill." Spirit's instruments confirmed that those soils had a salty chemistry dominated by iron-bearing sulfates. Spirit's miniature thermal emission spectrometer is analyzing this most recent discovery, and researchers will compare it with those other deposits. These discoveries indicate that light-toned soil deposits might be widely distributed on the flanks and valley floors of the "Columbia Hills" region in Gusev Crater on Mars. The salts may record the past presence of water, as they are easily mobilized and concentrated in liquid solution. |
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