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Mars of Washington and California and Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)
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Titan Vs. Mars
| Description |
Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn. |
| Full Description |
This image compares streaked terrain on Titan and Mars. At left is an image from Cassini of the region where the Huygens probe is expected to land. At right is a picture from NASA's Viking 1 orbiter, showing streaks on Mars caused by winds blowing from right to left. The streaks at the Huygens landing site were formed by some kind of fluid, possibly wind, moving from the upper left to lower right (west to east). The Cassini image was taken on Oct. 26, 2004, by the spacecraft's imaging science subsystem using near-infrared filters. North is 45 degrees to the right of vertical. The scale of this image is 0.83 kilometers (.52 miles) per pixel. 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 Cassini-Huygens 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 the latest news about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://www.nasa.gov/cassini. For more information about the mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org . Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
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Giant Landslide on Iapetus
| Description |
Giant Landslide on Iapetus |
| Full Description |
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-spacecraft, 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 . Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
January 7, 2005 |
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Scrutinizing Titan's Surface
| Description |
Scrutinizing Titan's Surface |
| Full Description |
The six close-up views of Titan's surface shown here are composed of images acquired by the Cassini spacecraft during flybys in October (see Titan Mosaic: October 2004) and December (see Titan Mosaic: December 2004) of 2004. These close-up views illustrate that a variety of processes have shaped the surface of Titan, just as diverse geologic processes are responsible for what we see on Earth's surface. Image (a) shows a prominent bright-dark boundary near the western edge of the Xanadu region which exhibits a sharp, angular edge between the materials. Three bright, discontinuous circles can be seen (two near the top of the image and another near the lower left). These may be large impact craters, the upper two are approximately 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) in diameter and the lower one is approximately 50 kilometers (20 miles) in diameter. Titan's thick atmosphere will screen out small projectiles, but if the surface were as old as Titan itself, it should have many more craters of these sizes. Therefore, Cassini scientists think that, like Earth's surface, Titan's surface has been modified more recently by other geologic processes. However, such processes on Titan may take much longer than on Earth, acting over hundreds of millions of years. Image (b) shows bright features that appear to be streamlined as if were they formed by winds in Titan's atmosphere moving from west to east. The landing site of the Huygens probe is in the upper left corner of this image (see Cassini's View of Titan Landing Site). Image (c) shows a bright feature surrounded by dark material. Several long, dark and narrow lines running through the bright area may be larger examples of the dark channels seen by the Huygens probe (see Mosaic of River Channel and Ridge Area on Titan). These lines are on the order of 2 kilometers (1 mile) wide, and tens of kilometers long. Image (d) shows dark material within the bright area to the west of Xanadu. The linear nature of these features suggests that they may have formed by faulting. They may be dark due to modification by other surface processes occurring on Titan, in the same way that on Earth, fault-lines can be enhanced by erosion and/or deposition of material by water and wind. Image (e) shows brightness variations in the region southeast of the Huygens landing site. The features indicated by arrows exhibit shapes that are similar to drainage patterns seen on Earth and Mars, where the source of the liquid is underground springs rather than rainfall. Image (f) shows a region near the northwestern edge of Xanadu where the boundary between the bright and dark materials is quite complicated. Here some of the bright patches appear as if they represent thin surface plates that have been broken apart and spread apart over underlying dark material. The white bars above each image are 200 kilometers (124 miles) long. Imaging Titan through its thick atmosphere is a challenge, and the narrow, straight lines within the images, are seams between individual images that have not been completely removed. North is to the top of each frame. 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 additional images visit the Cassini imaging team homepage http://ciclops.org . *Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute. |
| Date |
March 9, 2005 |
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Eyes on Iapetus!
| Description |
This map of the surface of Iapetus, generated from images taken by NASA's Cassini and Voyager spacecraft, illustrates the imaging coverage planned for Cassini's very close flyby of the two-toned moon on Sept. 10, 2007. |
| Full Description |
This map of the surface of Iapetus, generated from images taken by NASA's Cassini and Voyager spacecraft, illustrates the imaging coverage planned for Cassini's very close flyby of the two-toned moon on Sept. 10, 2007. This flyby will be Cassini's only close approach to Iapetus (1,468 kilometers, or 912 miles across) during the entire planned mission. At closest approach, Cassini will be 1,640 kilometers (1,020 miles) above the surface of Iapetus. The spacecraft will pass the moon at a speed of about 2.4 kilometers (1.5 miles) per second--a relatively leisurely pace that will allow plenty of time for the scientific instruments on board to collect massive amounts of data. Cassini's previous encounter with Iapetus, on Dec. 31, 2004, focused on the mysterious territory in Cassini Regio, the region blanketed by dark material that covers most of the moon's leading hemisphere. The upcoming encounter will be primarily concerned with terrain farther west, in the important transition region between Cassini Regio and the bright trailing hemisphere. Scientists hope to learn a great deal more about the composition of the materials that compose the surface of Iapetus during this encounter. Another area of focus is the large equatorial ridge that overlies the moon's equator (see Encountering Iapetus). The ridge reaches 20 kilometers (12 miles) high in some places and extends over 1,300 kilometers (808 miles) in length. No other moon in the solar system has a geological feature like this striking ridge. The tallest mountains on the ridge rival Olympus Mons on Mars, which is approximately three times the height of Mt. Everest. Such giant mountains are a surprising feature for such a small body as Iapetus, which is nearly five times smaller than Mars and nearly nine times smaller than Earth. Colored lines on the map enclose regions that will be covered at different imaging scales as Cassini encounters Iapetus. The highest expected resolution of Cassini images from this flyby is about 20 meters (65 feet) per pixel--significantly higher than the 2004 encounter. 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 operations center is based at the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo. For more information about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov . The Cassini imaging team homepage is at http://ciclops.org . *Credit:* NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute |
| Date |
September 5, 2007 |
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Pathfinder Panorama
| title |
Pathfinder Panorama |
| description |
This is a more recent 'geometrically improved, color enhanced' version of the 360-degree 'Gallery Pan', the first contiguous, uniform panorama taken by the Imager for Mars (IMP) over the course of Sols 8, 9, and 10. Different regions were imaged at different times over the three Martian days to acquire consistent lighting and shadow conditions for all areas of the panorama. In this version of the panorama, much of the discontinuity that was due to parallax has been corrected, particularly along thelower tiers of the mosaic containing the Lander features. Distortiondue to a 2.5 degree tilt in the IMP camera mast has been removed. The IMP is a stereo imaging system that, in its fully deployed configuration, stands 1.8 meters above the Martian surface, and has a resolution of two millimeters at a range of two meters. The IMP has color capability provided by 24 selectable filters -- twelve filters per 'eye'. Its red, green, and blue filters were used to take this panorama. The three color images were first digitally balanced according to the transmittance capabilities of a specific high-definition TV device at JPL, and then enhanced via changes to saturation and intensity while retaining the hue. A threshold was applied to avoid changes to the sky. An MTF filter was applied to sharpen feature edges. At left is a Lander petal and a metallic mast which is a portion of the low-gain antenna. On the horizon the double 'Twin Peaks' are visible, about 1-2 kilometers away. The rock 'Couch' is the dark, curved rock at right of Twin Peaks. Another Lander petal is at left-center, showing the fully deployed forward ramp at far left, and rear ramp at right, which rover Sojourner used to descend to the surface of Mars on July 5. Immediately to the left of the rear ramp is the rock 'Barnacle Bill', which scientistsfound be andesitic, possibly indicating that it is a volcanic rock (a true andesite) or a physical mixture of particles. Just beyond Barnacle Bill, rover tracks lead to Sojourner, shown using its Alpha ProtonX-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument to study the large rock 'Yogi'. Yogi, low in quartz content, appears to be more primitive than Barnacle Bill, and appears more like the common basalts found on Earth. The tracks and circular pattern in the soil leading up to Yogi werepart of Sojourner's soil mechanics experiments, in which varying amounts of pressure were applied to the wheels in order to determine physical properties of the soil. During its traverse to Yogi the roverstirred the soil and exposed material from several centimeters indepth. During one of the turns to deploy Sojourner's Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer, the wheels dug particularly deeply and exposed white material. Spectra of this white material show it is virtually identical to the rock 'Scooby Doo', and such white material may underlie much of the site. Deflated airbags are visible at the perimeter of all three Lander petals. Mars Pathfinder was the second in NASA's Discovery, program of low-costspacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet PropulsionLaboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfindermission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is anoperating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).The IMP was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and PlanetaryLaboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Mars Rover Panorama Shows Vi
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| title |
Mars Rover Panorama Shows Vista From 'Lookout' Point |
| date |
04.29.2005 |
| description |
From a ridgeline vantage point overlooking slopes, valleys and plains, NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit has returned its latest color panorama of the martian landscape. The approximately true color image shows a full 360-degree view from a site informally named "Larry's Lookout," about halfway up "Husband Hill." Dr. Jim Bell of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., lead scientist for the panoramic cameras on both the Spirit and Opportunity Mars rovers, said, "Spirit and the rover team worked hard over many weeks to get to this vantage point along the flanks of Husband Hill. The rugged ridge and valley terrain seen here is similar in some respects to the view seen months earlier at the 'West Spur,' but the chemistry and mineralogy here are significantly different. Specifically, some of the areas seen here amid the outcrop rocks and in places where the subsurface was exposed by the rover wheels contain the highest sulfur abundances ever measured by Spirit." The view includes the summit of Husband Hill about 200 meters (about 660 feet) southward and about 45 meters (about 150 feet) higher. As Spirit continues uphill, scientists are looking for evidence about whether the intensity of water- related alteration increases with elevation or whether there are pockets of more heavily altered rocks and soils scattered throughout the hills. Spirit's panoramic camera took more than 300 individual frames between Feb. 27 and March 2 that are combined into the big picture. Downloading the frames to Earth took several weeks, and processing took additional time. Imaging specialists at Cornell and at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., calibrated the color and assembled the image. Spirit and its twin, Opportunity, successfully completed three-month primary missions a year ago. In extended missions since then, they have been exploring at increasing distances from their landing sites. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages NASA's Mars Exploration Rover project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Spirit's "Lookout" panorama is also available online at http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/mer_main.html [ http://www.nasa.gov/vision/universe/solarsystem/mer_main.html ]and http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov [ http://marsrovers.jpl.nasa.gov/ ] . |
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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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Radar Slice Through Subsurfa
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| title |
Radar Slice Through Subsurface of Equatorial Deposits on Mars |
| description |
This image combining a topographic map viewed obliquely (color portion of image) with a radargram of the subsurface (monochrome portion) shows features of mysterious Martian deposits named the Medusae Fossae Formation. The westward-looking view includes the divide between Martian highlands on the south and lowlands on the north, spanning a range from about 12 degrees south latitude (left edge of image) to 5 degrees north latitude (right edge of image). The deposits of the Medusae Fossae Formation are found in the lowlands along the divide, in the center foreground. The radar sounder on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter has revealed echoes from what is interpreted as a boundary between the overlying deposits and underlying lowland plains buried by these deposits. The radar information presented here is from downward-looking radar observations by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS, jointly funded by NASA and the Italian Space Agency) as Mars Express flew a south-to-north path at about 188 degrees east longitude. The topographic map, using 1990s data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter instrument on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter, extends from that transect to about 135 degrees east longitude. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages NASA's roles in Mars Express for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ESA/Italian Space Agency/Univ. of Rome/Smithsonian |
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Close-Up of Sol 24 Sunset
| title |
Close-Up of Sol 24 Sunset |
| description |
This is a close-up of the sunset on Sol 24 as seen by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder. The red sky in the background and the blue around the Sun are approximately as they would appear to the human eye. The color of the Sun itself is not correct -- the Sun was overexposed in each of the 3 color images that were used to make this picture. The true color of the Sun itself may be near white or slightly bluish. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Newly Deployed Sojourner Rov
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| title |
Newly Deployed Sojourner Rover |
| description |
This 8-image mosaic was acquired during the late afternoon (near 5pm LST, note the long shadows) on Sol 2 as part of the predeploy "insurance panorama" and shows the newly deployed rover sitting on the Martian surface. This color image was generated from images acquired at 530,600, and 750 nm. The insurance panorama was designed as "insurance" against camera failure upon deployment. Had the camera failed, the losslessly-compressed, multispectral insurance panorama would have been the main source of image data from the IMP. However, the camera deployment was successful, leaving the insurance panorama to be downlinked to Earth several weeks later. Ironically enough, the insurance panorama contains some of the best quality image data because of the lossless data compression and relatively dust-free state of the camera and associated lander/rover hardware on Sol 2. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The IMP was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal investigator. *Image Credit*: NASA |
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Odyssey over Mars' South Pol
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| title |
Odyssey over Mars' South Pole |
| description |
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft passes above Mars' south pole in this artist's concept illustration. The spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since October 24, 2001. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Mars Odyssey mission for the NASA Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Investigators at Arizona State University in Tempe, the University of Arizona in Tucson, and NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, operate the science instruments. The gamma-ray spectrometer was provided by the University of Arizona in collaboration with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency and Institute for Space Research, which provided the high-energy neutron detector, and the Los Alamos National Laboratories, New Mexico, which provided the neutron spectrometer. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. *Image Credit*: NASA/JPL |
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360 Degree Panorama Mars Pat
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| Title |
360 Degree Panorama Mars Pathfinder Landing Site |
| Full Description |
This is the first contiguous, uniform 360-degree color panorama taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) over the course of sols 8, 9, and 10 (Martian days). Different regions were imaged at different times over the three Martian days to acquire consistent lighting and shadow conditions for all areas of the panorama. At left is a lander petal and a metallic mast which is a portion of the low-gain antenna. On the horizon the double "Twin Peaks" are visible, about 1-2 kilometers away. The rock "Couch" is the dark, curved rock at right of Twin Peaks. Another lander petal is at left-center, showing the fully deployed forward ramp at far left, and rear ramp at right, which rover Sojourner used to descend to the surface of Mars on July 5. Immediately to the left of the rear ramp is the rock Barnacle Bill, which scientists found to be andesitic, possibly indicating that it is a volcanic rock (a true andesite) or a physical mixture of particles. Just beyond Barnacle Bill, rover tracks lead to Sojourner, shown using its Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument to study the large rock Yogi. Yogi, low in quartz content, appears to be more primitive than Barnacle Bill, and appeared more like the common basalts found on Earth. The tracks and circular pattern in the soil leading up to Yogi were part of Sojourner's soil mechanics experiments, in which varying amounts of pressure were applied to the wheels in order to determine physical properties of the soil. During its traverse to Yogi the rover stirred the soil and exposed material from several centimeters in depth. During one of the turns to deploy Sojourner's Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer, the wheels dug particularly deeply and exposed white material. Spectra of this white material show it is virtually identical to the rock Scooby Doo, and such white material may underlie much of the site. Deflated airbags are visible at the perimeter of all three lander petals. The IMP is a stereo imaging system with color capability provided by 24 selectable filters, twelve filters per "eye." Its red, green, and blue filters were used to take this image. The IMP, in its fully deployed configuration, stands 1.8 meters above the Martian surface, and has a resolution of two millimeters at a range of two meters. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator. |
| Date |
07/18/1997 |
| NASA Center |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
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Mars Climate Orbiter
| Title |
Mars Climate Orbiter |
| Full Description |
The Mars Surveyor '98 Climate Orbiter is shown here during acoustic tests that simulate launch conditions. The orbiter was to conduct a two year primary mission to profile the Martian atmosphere and map the surface. To carry out these scientific objectives, the spacecraft carried a rebuilt version of the pressure modulated infrared radiometer, lost with the Mars Observer spacecraft, and a miniaturized dual camera system the size of a pair of binoculars, provided by Malin Space Science Systems, Inc., San Diego, California. During its primary mission, the orbiter was to monitor Mars atmosphere and surface globally on a daily basis for one Martian year (two Earth years), observing the appearance and movement of atmospheric dust and water vapor, as well as characterizing seasonal changes of the planet's surface. Imaging of the surface morphology would also provide important clues about the planet's climate in its early history. The mission was part of NASA's Mars Surveyor program, a sustained program of robotic exploration of the red planet, managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, DC. Lockheed Martin Astronautics was NASA's industrial partner in the mission. Unfortunately, Mars Climate Orbiter burned up in the Martian atmosphere on September 23, 1999, due to a metric conversion error that caused the spacecraft to be off course. |
| Date |
05/27/1998 |
| NASA Center |
Jet Propulsion Laboratory |
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Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
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| Title |
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Aerobraking |
| Description |
December 10, 2003 NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter dips into the thin martian atmosphere to adjust its orbit in this artist's concept illustration. NASA plans to launch this multipurpose spacecraft in August 2005 for arrival at Mars in March 2006. The plans call for controlled use of atmospheric friction in a process called aerobraking for about six months after arrival to change the initial, very elongated orbit into a rounder shape optimal for science operations. Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is designed to advance our understanding of Mars through detailed observation, to examine potential landing sites for future surface missions and to provide a high-data-rate communications relay for those missions. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for the NASA Office of Space Science, Washington. JPL's main industrial partner in the project, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, Colo., is building the spacecraft. |
| Date |
12.10.2003 |
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Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
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| Title |
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter over Nilosyrtis |
| Description |
December 10, 2003 NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter passes above a portion of the planet called Nilosyrtis Mensae in this artist's concept illustration. NASA plans to launch this multipurpose spacecraft in August 2005 to advance our understanding of Mars through detailed observation, to examine potential landing sites for future surface missions and to provide a high-data-rate communications relay for those missions. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for the NASA Office of Space Science, Washington. JPL's main industrial partner in the project, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, Colo., is building the spacecraft. |
| Date |
12.10.2003 |
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Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
…
| Title |
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter over Pole |
| Description |
December 10, 2003 NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter passes over the planet's south polar region in this artist's concept illustration. NASA plans to launch this multipurpose spacecraft in August 2005 to advance our understanding of Mars through detailed observation, to examine potential landing sites for future surface missions and to provide a high-data-rate communications relay for those missions. The orbiter's shallow radar experiment, one of six science instruments on board, is designed to probe the internal structure of Mars' polar ice caps, as well as to gather information planet-wide about underground layers of ice, rock and, perhaps, liquid water that might be accessible from the surface. Phobos, one of Mars' two moons, appears in the upper left corner of the illustration NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for the NASA Office of Space Science, Washington. JPL's main industrial partner in the project, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, Colo., is building the spacecraft. The Italian Space Agency is providing the radar instrument. |
| Date |
12.10.2003 |
|
Martian terrain & airbags -
…
| Title |
Martian terrain & airbags - 3D |
| Description |
Portions of the lander's deflated airbags and a petal are at the lower area of this image, taken in stereo by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) on Sol 3. 3D glasses are necessary to identify surface detail. This image is part of a 3D "monster" panorama of the area surrounding the landing site. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator. *Click below to see the left and right views individually.*[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Left [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Right |
| Date |
07.11.1997 |
|
Martian terrain - 3D
| Title |
Martian terrain - 3D |
| Description |
An area of rocky terrain near the landing site of the Sagan Memorial Station can be seen in this image, taken in stereo by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) on Sol 3. 3D glasses are necessary to identify surface detail. This image is part of a 3D "monster" panorama of the area surrounding the landing site. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator. *Click below to see the left and right views individually.*[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Left [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Right |
| Date |
07.11.1997 |
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ASI/MET - 3D
| Title |
ASI/MET - 3D |
| Description |
The Atmospheric Structure Instrument/Meteorology Package (ASI/MET) is the mast and windsocks at the center of this color image, taken in stereo by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) on Sol 3. The instrument appears in two different sections due to image parallax. The ASI/MET is an engineering subsytem that acquired atmospheric data during Pathfinder's descent, and will continue to get more data through the entire landed mission. The windsocks are seen pointing almost completely up, representing little wind movement at the three locations of the windsocks. A rock at left holds a shadow of the ASI/MET, indicating the sun's position is at the rear right. Portions of a lander petal and deflated airbag are visible, in addition to several rocks of varying sizes in the distance. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator. *Click below to see the left and right views individually.*[figure removed for brevity, see original site] Left [figure removed for brevity, see original site] Right |
| Date |
07.11.1997 |
|
Odyssey over Mars' South Pol
…
| Title |
Odyssey over Mars' South Pole |
| Description |
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft passes above Mars' south pole in this artist's concept illustration. The spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since October 24, 2001. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Mars Odyssey mission for the NASA Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Investigators at Arizona State University in Tempe, the University of Arizona in Tucson, and NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, operate the science instruments. The gamma-ray spectrometer was provided by the University of Arizona in collaboration with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency and Institute for Space Research, which provided the high-energy neutron detector, and the Los Alamos National Laboratories, New Mexico, which provided the neutron spectrometer. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. |
| Date |
10.28.2003 |
|
Odyssey over Mars' South Pol
…
| Title |
Odyssey over Mars' South Pole in 3-D |
| Description |
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft passes above Mars' south pole in this artist's concept illustration. This red-blue anaglyph artwork can be viewed in 3-D on your computer monitor or in color print form by wearing red-blue (cyan) 3-D glasses. The spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since October 24, 2001. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Mars Odyssey mission for the NASA Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Investigators at Arizona State University in Tempe, the University of Arizona in Tucson, and NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, operate the science instruments. The gamma-ray spectrometer was provided by the University of Arizona in collaboration with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency and Institute for Space Research, which provided the high-energy neutron detector, and the Los Alamos National Laboratories, New Mexico, which provided the neutron spectrometer. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. |
| Date |
10.28.2003 |
|
Odyssey over Martian Sunrise
| Title |
Odyssey over Martian Sunrise |
| Description |
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft passes above a portion of the planet that is rotating into the sunlight in this artist's concept illustration. The spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since October 24, 2001. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Mars Odyssey mission for the NASA Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Investigators at Arizona State University in Tempe, the University of Arizona in Tucson, and NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, operate the science instruments. The gamma-ray spectrometer was provided by the University of Arizona in collaboration with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency and Institute for Space Research, which provided the high-energy neutron detector, and the Los Alamos National Laboratories, New Mexico, which provided the neutron spectrometer. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. |
| Date |
10.28.2003 |
|
Odyssey over Martian Sunrise
…
| Title |
Odyssey over Martian Sunrise, 3-D |
| Description |
NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft passes above a portion of the planet that is rotating into the sunlight in this artist's concept illustration. This red-blue anaglyph artwork can be viewed in 3-D on your computer monitor or in color print form by wearing red-blue (cyan) 3-D glasses. The spacecraft has been orbiting Mars since October 24, 2001. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the Mars Odyssey mission for the NASA Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. Investigators at Arizona State University in Tempe, the University of Arizona in Tucson, and NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, operate the science instruments. The gamma-ray spectrometer was provided by the University of Arizona in collaboration with the Russian Aviation and Space Agency and Institute for Space Research, which provided the high-energy neutron detector, and the Los Alamos National Laboratories, New Mexico, which provided the neutron spectrometer. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. |
| Date |
10.28.2003 |
|
Phobos
| Title |
Phobos |
| Description |
Mars' innermost natural satellite, Phobos, is seen from the planet's surface in this Pathfinder image taken at night on Sol 56. This picture was acquired by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) camera. Using IMP images of Phobos and its companion moon Deimos, the spectral characteristics of the satellites and properties of the Martian atmosphere are determined. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The IMP was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator. |
| Date |
11.03.1997 |
|
Deflated Airbags and Yogi
| Title |
Deflated Airbags and Yogi |
| Description |
The left portion of this image, taken by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) on Sol 3, shows the large rock nicknamed "Yogi." Portions of a petal and deflated airbag are in the foreground. Yogi has been an object of study for rover Sojourner's Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument. The APXS will help Pathfinder scientists learn more about the chemical composition of that rock. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator. |
| Date |
07.15.1997 |
|
Deimos
| Title |
Deimos |
| Description |
Mars' outermost natural satellite, Deimos, is seen from the planet's surface in this Pathfinder image taken at night on Sol 4. This picture was acquired by the Imager for Mars Pathfinder (IMP) camera. Using IMP images of Deimos and its companion moon Phobos, the spectral characteristics of the satellites and properties of the Martian atmosphere are determined. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The IMP was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator. |
| Date |
11.03.1997 |
|
Mars Science Laboratory Usin
…
| title |
Mars Science Laboratory Using Laser Instrument, Artist's Concept |
| Description |
This artist's conception of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory portrays use of the rover's ChemCam instrument to identify the chemical composition of a rock sample on the surface of Mars. ChemCam is innovative for planetary exploration in using a technique referred to as laser breakdown spectroscopy to determine the chemical composition of samples from distances of up to about 8 meters (25 feet) away. ChemCam is led by a team at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Centre d'Etude Spatiale des Rayonnements in Toulouse, France. Mars Science Laboratory, a mobile robot for investigating Mars' past or present ability to sustain microbial life, is in development at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory for a launch opportunity in 2009. The mission is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, Calif., for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech |
|
First THEMIS Image of Mars
| title |
First THEMIS Image of Mars |
| Description |
This thermal infrared image was acquired by Mars Odyssey's thermal emission imaging system on October 30, 2001, as the spacecraft orbited Mars on its ninth revolution around the planet. The image was taken as part of the calibration and testing process of the camera system. This image shows the temperature of Mars in one of the 10 thermal infrared filters. The spacecraft was approximately 22,000 kilometers (about 13,600 miles) above the planet looking down toward the south pole of Mars when this image was acquired. It is late spring in the martian southern hemisphere. The extremely cold, circular feature shown in blue is the martian south polar carbon dioxide ice cap at a temperature of about -120 °C (-184 ° F). The cap is more than 900 kilometers (540 miles) in diameter at this time and will continue to shrink as summer progresses. Clouds of cooler air blowing off the cap can be seen in orange extending across the image to the left of the cap. The cold region in the lower right portion of the image shows the nighttime temperatures of Mars, demonstrating the "night-vision" capability of the camera system to observe Mars even when the surface is in darkness. The warmest regions occur near local noontime. The ring of mountains surrounding the 900-kilometer (540-mile) diameter impact basin Argyre can be seen in the early afternoon in the upper portion of the image. The thin blue crescent along the upper limb of the planet is the martian atmosphere. This image covers a length of over 6,500 kilometers (3,900 miles) spanning the planet from limb to limb, with a resolution of approximately 5.5 kilometers per pixel (3.4 miles per pixel), or picture elements, at the point directly beneath the spacecraft. The Odyssey's infrared camera is planned to have a resolution of 100 meters per pixel (about 300 feet per pixel) from its mapping orbit. JPL manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The thermal emission imaging system was developed at Arizona State University, Tempe with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing, Santa Barbara, Calif. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo., is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Image credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Arizona State University. |
|
Flat Top's Pitted Surface
| title |
Flat Top's Pitted Surface |
| Description |
This image of the rock "Flat Top" was taken from one of the Sojourner rover's front cameras on Sol 42. Pits on the edge of the rock and a fluted surface are clearly visible. The rocks in the left background comprise the Rock Garden. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). |
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Rolling Stones Make New Boul
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| title |
Rolling Stones Make New Boulder Tracks |
| Description |
When a boulder rolls down a dusty slope, it can leave behind a trail of depressions. Usually known as boulder tracks, these features have been documented and studied on Earth, the Moon, and Mars. Geologists studying the Moon and Mars can use these tracks to learn about the physical properties of the fine-grained debris encountered by the boulder as it rolled down the slope. Because of the high-resolution capability (0.5 to 12 meters, 1.6 to 39 feet, per pixel) of the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, dozens of boulder track sites have been identified on the red planet. A Mars Orbiter Camera image of one set of boulder tracks in a south mid-latitude crater (located near 35.8 degrees south latitude, 158.4 degrees west longitude) was obtained on Nov. 14, 2003, (left). A second image of the same site, from Dec. 4, 2004, (right) shows that more than a dozen new boulder tracks formed on the crater wall during the intervening time. Mars is an active planet, with geologic changes occurring -- at some scale -- every day. In this case, some time between mid November 2003 and early December 2004, a suite of boulders became dislodged from the crater wall, then rolled and perhaps bounced their way to the crater floor. Wider context for the site can be seen in a mosaic of Mars Orbiter Camera wide-angle images acquired in May 1999 (insert MOC2-1213a). The white box indicates the location of the later, higher-resolution views. Why the new boulders slid down the slope is unknown. This is the product of a mass movement (landsliding) process. That is, gravity is the main culprit. Whether the boulder motion was triggered by something -- a seismic event ("Marsquake") or strong winds -- is not known. Also unknown is whether all of the new boulder tracks formed at the same time, in response to a single event, or rolled downhill one at a time over the nearly 13-month period. The Mars Orbiter Camera was built and is operated by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif. Mars Global Surveyor left Earth on Nov. 7, 1996, and began orbiting Mars on Sept. 12, 1997. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages Mars Global Surveyor for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS |
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Scarp at Head of Chasma Bore
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| title |
Scarp at Head of Chasma Boreale |
| Description |
This view shows sharp detail of a scarp at the head of Chasma Boreale, a large trough cut by erosion into the martian north polar cap and the layered material beneath the ice cap. The picture is a mosaic of two images acquired in January 2005 by the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor, using a resolution-enhancing technique called "compensated pitch and roll targeted observation." The camera team considers this the best pair of images yet acquired using that technique. During each northern summer on Mars, there occurs a narrow window in time of two to three months when conditions are ideal to image the north polar cap at high resolution. Throughout this period, the atmosphere is generally clear over the cap, and the seasonal carbon-dioxide frost from the previous winter and spring has sublimed away, permitting a good view of the surface geology. The two images in this mosaic were acquired during this brief period during the most recent northern summer. Within a few weeks of when these images were acquired, dust storm activity picked up in the north polar region, making the atmosphere too dusty to obtain any more detailed views until late 2006. Chasma Boreale is cut into the layered material that lies beneath the water ice of the north polar cap. For decades, these layered materials were assumed to consist of a mixture of ice and dust. Mars Orbiter Camera images obtained in 1999 and 2001 began to show that some of the layers are a source for windblown sand. The science objective for the two images shown in this mosaic was to look for boulders in the debris shed from the steep slopes cut into the north polar layers by Chasma Boreale. Finding boulders would imply that the layers that are the most resistant to erosion in the polar region are as competent as solid rock, perhaps giving a new insight into the nature of the polar layered materials. The pictured site is near 84.8 degrees north latitude, 356.4 degrees west longitude. Examination of the high-resolution mosaic shows that there are indeed some large boulders that have eroded out of the layered materials and rolled down the slopes. It is possible, therefore, that the north polar layers are not simply a mixture of ice, dust, and sand. Some layers may actually be rock, cemented by minerals rather than by ice. Alternatively, if the materials are cemented by ice, then a future high-resolution view might show that the boulders have become smaller over time. In addition to the observation of boulders eroding out of the polar layered materials, the mosaic also helps confirm that dark sand is eroding out of the polar layered materials, and that there are three different groups of layers under the polar ice. The upper unit is light-toned, finely layered, and more resistant to erosion (more competent, less easily destroyed by erosion) than the middle unit, which is rich in dark sand but also has several shelf-forming layers in it. Finally, below the dark, sandy layer is a third unit, that is light-toned and has a different appearance relative to the other two units. Some of its layers have surfaces that have been broken by shallow fractures into polygonal and linear forms, also implying that they are hard, resistant rock. The level of detail seen in the mosaic was made possible by the development of a resolution-enhancing technique for using the Mars Orbiter Camera. During 2003 and 2004, the Mars Orbiter Camera operations team at Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif., worked closely with the Mars Global Surveyor operations teams at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, Colo., to develop a new technique in which the spacecraft does a maneuver that permits the camera to acquire images at a higher spatial resolution than normal. Usually, Mars Orbiter Camera images have a resolution of about 1.5 meters (5 feet) per pixel, and the camera can be commanded to acquire lower resolution data when desired. To obtain a higher resolution, the whole spacecraft must be pitched at such a rate that the camera over-samples its view of the martian surface in the down-track direction. Called compensated pitch and roll targeted observation, or cPROTO, this technique allows Mars Orbiter Camera to obtain images that have a resolution of about 50 centimeters (20 inches) per pixel in the down-track direction, and 150 centimeters (5 feet) per pixel in the cross-track dimension. The Mars Orbiter Camera was built and is operated by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif. Mars Global Surveyor left Earth on Nov. 7, 1996, and began orbiting Mars on Sept. 12, 1997. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages Mars Global Surveyor for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS |
|
Eberswalde Delta in High Res
…
| title |
Eberswalde Delta in High Resolution |
| Description |
Scientifically, perhaps the most important result from use of the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor during that spacecraft's extended mission has been the discovery and documentation of a fossil delta. The feature is located in a crater northeast of Holden Crater, near 24.0 degrees south latitude, 33.7 degrees west longitude. Since the announcement of the discovery of the delta in November 2003, the International Astronomical Union has provided a provisional name (pending final approval) for the crater in which the landforms occur. The crater has been named Eberswalde, for a town in Germany. This image offers a higher-resolution view of a portion of the fossil delta than any seen earlier. North is up. At the bottom of the frame, the image includes the north end of a looping, inverted, meandering channel. The image covers an area of about 3 by 3 kilometers (1.9 x 1.9 miles). It was produced using a technique called "compensated pitch and roll targeted observation," in which the rotation rate of the spacecraft is adjusted to match the ground speed under the camera. At full resolution, this map-projected image is at 50 centimeters (20 inches) per pixel. Additional images from Mars Orbiter Camera provide some context and show a nearby portion of the fossil delta's inverted channels at a spatial scale of 1.5 meters (about 5 feet) per pixel. The relative positions of these three images are indicated in a mosaic image of the entire delta, for which the unmarked version was released in November 2003. The first Mars Orbiter Camera narrow angle images of some of the landforms in the delta were acquired in 2000, during the Mars Global Surveyor primary mission, but those pictures did not show very well the unambiguous inverted channel forms. Not until the second Earth year of the orbiter's extended mission were the deltaic features recognized in Mars Orbiter Camera images obtained in March and June of 2002. Following the initial observations in 2002, the Mars Orbiter Camera team began a systematic effort to map the entire Eberswalde Crater delta. Most of this imaging required slewing the whole spacecraft in a technique called "roll only targeted observation" so that it pointed the camera toward the feature. In this way, the camera team was able to build up a mosaic of the delta much more quickly than would have been the case if the team had simply relied upon chance crossing of the delta by the orbiter's usual ground track. This technique was not employed during Mars Global Surveyor's primary mission, except in the search for Mars Polar Lander, but became a routine part of the tool kit during the extended mission. Even with the "roll only targeted observation" technique, it took more than one Earth year to build up a complete mosaic of images of the delta. In the meantime, the first data showing the deltaic landforms were archived and released to the public and scientific community, long before the Mars Orbiter Camera team's, analysis and mosaic were complete. Some scientists began independent analyses of the landform at that time. The initial analysis and announcement of the feature was finally published in November 2003. The Eberswalde delta provides the first clear, "smoking gun" evidence that some valleys on Mars experienced persistent flow of a liquid with the physical properties of water over an extended period of time, as do rivers on Earth. In addition, because the delta today is lithified -- that is, hardened to form rock -- it provided the first unambiguous evidence that some martian sedimentary rocks were deposited in a liquid (presumably, water) environment. The presence of meandering channels, a cut-off meander, and crisscrossing channels at different elevations (one above the other), provided the clear geologic evidence for these interpretations. After the sediments were deposited to form the delta, the material was further buried by other materials -- probably sediments -- that are no longer present. The entire package of buried material became cemented and hardened to form rock. Later, erosive processes such as wind stripped away the overlying rock, re-exposing the delta. Now preserved essentially as a fossil, the former floors of channels in the delta became inverted, to form ridges, by erosion. Channels can be inverted by erosion on both Earth and Mars. Usually this happens when the channel floor, or the material filling the channel, is harder to erode than the surrounding material into which the channel was cut. In some cases, the channels on Earth and Mars have been filled by lava to make them more resistant to erosion. In the case of Eberswalde, there are no lava flows, instead, the channel floors may have been rendered resistant to erosion either by being better-cemented than the surrounding material, or composed of coarser-grained sediment (such as sand and gravel as opposed to silt), or both. The Mars Orbiter Camera was built and is operated by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif. Mars Global Surveyor left Earth on Nov. 7, 1996, and began orbiting Mars on Sept. 12, 1997. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages Mars Global Surveyor for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS |
|
Poohbear Rock
| title |
Poohbear Rock |
| Description |
This image, taken by Sojourner's front right camera, was taken when the rover was next to Poohbear (rock at left) and Piglet (not seen) as it looked out toward Mermaid Dune. The textures differ from the foreground soil containing a sorted mix of small rocks, fines and clods, from the area a bit ahead of the rover where the surface is covered with a bright drift material. Soil experiments where the rover wheels dug in the soil revealed that the cloudy material exists underneath the drift. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). |
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Recently-Formed Impact Crate
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| title |
Recently-Formed Impact Crater |
| Description |
Scientists using the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft have discovered a crater that appears to have formed on Mars in the past 20 or so Earth years, and have used it and several other similar craters to estimate the present cratering rate on Mars. One of the basic tenets of planetary geology is that impact craters have accumulated on planetary surfaces at roughly a constant rate since the early history of the solar system. This appears to have been the case for small craters on the surface of the Moon, as shown by measurements of the length of time that lunar rocks created by small impacts have been exposed to cosmic rays, as determined by laboratory measurements of samples returned to Earth by the Apollo astronauts. This principle should permit the number of craters found on a planetary surface to be used to determine the age of that surface, if the rate at which new craters form is known. Scientists have previously estimated the cratering rate of Mars by scaling the lunar cratering rate based on the proximity of Mars to the asteroid belt, and by performing calculations based on orbital mechanics. Another way to establish the cratering rate of Mars would be to use long-term observations, say, from orbiting spacecraft, to actually locate new craters. The new crater is located on the southern rim of the summit crater, or caldera, of the intermediate-sized martian volcano, Ulysses Patera. The site was imaged by the Viking 2 orbiter in 1976 (left, an enlarged portion of the image) and in narrow-angle views by the Mars Orbiter Camera in 1999 (center) and 2005 (right). The new crater, about 25 meters (82 feet) across, is marked by a distinct dark, rayed pattern of ejected material, or ejecta, which is seen to have faded somewhat between 1999 and 2005. Ulysses Patera, a volcanic shield about 100 kilometers (62 miles) in diameter volcanic shield, located near 2.5 degrees north latitude, 121.3 degrees west longitude, is one of the Tharsis volcanoes and is partly buried by younger lava flows. The summit caldera is about 55 kilometers (34 miles) in diameter. The amount that the crater's rays faded between 1999 and 2005 can be used to help estimate how many years ago the crater formed. The actual contrast between the ejecta and the undisturbed volcano summit materials is actually much less than it appears to be in these processed images, and the amount of fading is also much less. Images of disturbed surfaces from various parts of Mars, such as dust devil tracks, dark slope streaks and rover tracks, indicate that disturbed surfaces on Mars are dark and that they lighten with time. Using these other examples to estimate how dark the ejecta from the Ulysses crater was originally, and how much it has faded in six years, suggests the crater formed in the early to mid 1980s. The rate at which dark surfaces lighten on Mars is not uniform over the whole planet, but scientists using the Mars Orbiter Camera have found a number, of other craters with dark ejecta that have faded during the Mars Global Surveyor mission. The scientists estimate that these craters probably formed within the past 100 years. Although the sample is very small (the Mars Orbiter Camera narrow angle camera has imaged barely 4 percent of Mars), it appears that the recent cratering rate for craters on Mars 25 to 100 meters (82 to 328 feet) in diameter is about 0.000000003 to 0.000000006 craters per square kilometer (0.39 square mile) per Earth year, which is about five times lower than previous estimates. The site of the new crater is shown in wider context in a comparison of the 1976 Viking image with wide-angle views taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera in 1999 and 2005 (insert MOC2-1214b), and in even wider context in a regional mosaic of Viking images (insert MOC2-1214c). The Mars Orbiter Camera was built and is operated by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif. Mars Global Surveyor left Earth on Nov. 7, 1996, and began orbiting Mars on Sept. 12, 1997. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages Mars Global Surveyor for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS/USGS |
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Four Mars Years of South Pol
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| title |
Four Mars Years of South Polar Changes |
| Description |
One of the most profound discoveries that would not have been possible if NASA's Mars Global Surveyor mission had not been extended beyond its primary mission of one Mars year (687 Earth days) is that of dramatic changes that take place in the south polar residual ice cap each martian year. To make this discovery, the Mars Orbiter Camera on the spacecraft had to be employed during a second Mars year to repeat images of sites on the south polar cap that had been imaged during the primary mission. The initial discovery was made in 2001, when the camera team repeated images of portions of the south polar cap that had already been imaged in 1999. The goal of these images was to obtain stereo views, which would allow investigators to see the topography of the cap in three dimensions and to measure the thickness of the polar ice layers. It was not possible to produce the desired 3-D views. To the team's surprise, the landforms of the south polar cap had changed. The south polar residual cap -- that is, the portion of the ice cap that remains bright and retains ice throughout the southern summer season -- was seen in 1997 and 1999 images to have a complex terrain of broad, relatively flat mesas, small buttes, and many pits and troughs. Pits are generally circular and in some areas visually resemble a stack of thin slices of Swiss cheese. Very early in the Mars Global Surveyor mission, the Mars Orbiter Camera team speculated that these landforms must be carved into frozen carbon dioxide, because they look so unfamiliar and because Viking orbiter infrared measurements indicated that the south polar cap is cold enough consist of frozen carbon dioxide, even in summer. The observations made by Mars Orbiter Camera in 2001, during the first part of the extended mission, showed that the scarps and pit walls of the south polar cap had retreated at an average rate of about 3 meters (10 feet) since 1999. In other words, they were retreating 3 meters per Mars year (and, of course, most of that retreat takes place during the summer). In some places on the cap, the scarps retreat less than 3 meters a Mars year, and in others it can retreat as much as 8 meters (26 feet) per martian year. Of the two volatile materials one is likely to find in a frozen state on Mars -- water and carbon dioxide -- it is carbon dioxide that is volatile enough to permit scarp retreat rates like those observed by the Mars Orbiter Camera. Over time, south polar pits merge to become plains, mesas turn into buttes, and buttes vanish forever. Since 2001, two additional Mars years have elapsed. A scientific benefit of having a long extended mission for Mars Global Surveyor has been the opportunity to document how the polar cap is changing each year. Four images are shown here, plus an animation at left presenting the four frames in sequence. The location is near 86.3 degrees south latitude, 49.4 degrees west longitude, and the images show the same portion of the south polar residual, cap as it appeared in 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2005. Comparing the images or viewing the animation makes it evident that the landscape of the south polar cap has been changing rapidly over the past four martian years. Each year that Mars Global Surveyor has been in orbit, the landforms of the south polar residual cap have gotten smaller, and the carbon dioxide removed from the cap has not been re-deposited. The implication is that Mars presently has a warm (and possibly warming) climate, with new carbon dioxide going into the atmosphere every year. The other implication is that, at some time in the not-too-distant past, the planet had a colder climate, so that the layers of carbon dioxide could be deposited in the first place. If one takes the rate of scarp retreat and projects it backwards to fill in all of the pits and troughs with the carbon dioxide that has been removed from them, one finds that the colder climate might only have occurred a few centuries to a few tens of thousands of years ago. This kind of time scale is not unlike that of the climate changes that have been recorded on Earth, including the Ice Ages and the smaller fluctuations that have occurred since the last Ice Age (e.g., the "Little Ice Age" of the mid-14th through mid-19th centuries). After the discovery that the pits were enlarging and that we were not seeing carbon-dioxide deposition, it was suggested that interannual variations might be large enough to permit such deposition on a short timescale. However, two Mars years of additional observations show no large magnitude annual differences. Variations that would permit carbon dioxide deposition may require decades. And to see such variations may require many more Mars years of observations by orbiting spacecraft. The Mars Orbiter Camera was built and is operated by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif. Mars Global Surveyor left Earth on Nov. 7, 1996, and began orbiting Mars on Sept. 12, 1997. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages Mars Global Surveyor for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS |
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Repeated Clouds over Arsia M
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| title |
Repeated Clouds over Arsia Mons |
| Description |
Three wide angle views taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor at intervals approximately one Mars year apart show similar spiral dust clouds over a volcano named Arsia Mons. The upper-left image was taken on June 19, 2001, the first day of southern winter on Mars. The upper-right image was taken on April 24, 2003, in late southern autumn on Mars. The lower image was taken on Feb. 25, 2005, slightly earlier in late southern autumn on Mars. Some parts of Mars experience weather phenomena that repeat each year at about the same time. In some regions, the repeated event may be a dust storm that appears every year, like clockwork, in such a way that we can only wish the weather were so predictable on Earth. One of the repeated weather phenomena occurs each year near the start of southern winter over Arsia Mons, which is located near 9 degrees south latitude, 121 degrees west longitude. Just before southern winter begins, sunlight warms the air on the slopes of the volcano. This air rises, bringing small amounts of dust with it. Eventually, the rising air converges over the volcano's caldera, the large, circular depression at its summit. The fine sediment blown up from the volcano's slopes coalesces into a spiraling cloud of dust that is thick enough to actually observe from orbit. The spiral dust cloud over Arsia Mons repeats each year, but observations and computer calculations indicate it can only form during a short period of time each year. Similar spiral clouds have not been seen over the other large Tharsis volcanoes, but other types of clouds have been seen. The spiral dust cloud over Arsia Mons can tower 15 to 30 kilometers (9 to 19 miles) above the volcano. The white and bluish areas in the images are thin clouds of water ice. In the 2005 case, more water ice was present than in the previous years at the time the pictures were obtained. For scale, the caldera of Arsia Mons is about 110 kilometers (68 miles) across, and the summit of the volcano stands about 10 kilometers (6 miles) above its surrounding plains. The Mars Orbiter Camera was built and is operated by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif. Mars Global Surveyor left Earth on Nov. 7, 1996, and began orbiting Mars on Sept. 12, 1997. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages Mars Global Surveyor for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS |
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he third figure shows before
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he third figure shows before-and-after narrow-angle camera views of the impact site. |
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Figure C - Image credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems Browse Image | Large - annotated (120 Kb) | Large (120 Kb) Taken together, the Mars Odyssey and Mars Global Surveyor data indicate that this impact occurred some time between June 30, 2002, and May 7, 2003. 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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| 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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Rock Garden Mosaic
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Rock Garden Mosaic |
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This image mosaic of part of the "Rock Garden" was taken by the Sojourner rover's left front camera on Sol 71 (September 14). The rock "Shark" is at left center and 'Half Dome' is at right. Fine-scale textures on the rocks are clearly seen. Broken crust-like material is visible at bottom center. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). |
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New Gullies on Martian Sand
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New Gullies on Martian Sand Dune |
| Description |
One of the many mysteries associated with martian geology is the origin of gullies found at latitudes poleward of 30 degrees latitude. Most of these gullies are found within craters or other depressions, and appear to be related to the bedrock. Several hypotheses have been proposed for their origin, including groundwater seepage and melting at the base of a dust-mantled snow pack. Some middle-latitude gullies are found on sand dunes. These gullies appear to be different from those found on the slopes of craters, but generally have been interpreted to form by similar processes. In the present martian environment, it is difficult to introduce water to the surface. The temperature and atmospheric pressure may permit water to exist, but the rate of heating of the ground and atmosphere, and the amount of energy available to warm the ground or melt snow, are not conducive to such processes. An alternative process of gully formation on these sand dunes involves frozen carbon dioxide trapped in the winter by windblown sand, then subliming rapidly enough for the escaping carbon-dioxide gas to make the sand flow as a gully-cutting fluid. As part of extended-mission science investigation using the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft, the camera team is re-imaging many locations where previous observations revealed gullies. The intent is to see if gully-forming processes are operating on Mars at the present time. The team has found one location where a new gully formed on a dune in an unnamed crater in the Hellespontus region of Mars, west of the Hellas Basin. This pair of narrow-angle images from the Mars Orbiter Camera shows the dune as it appeared on July 17, 2002, (left) and as it appeared on April 27, 2005, (right). The nearly three Earth years of intervening time amount to about 1.4 Mars years. During this period, a couple of gullies formed on the dune slip face. It is critical to recognize that the 2002 image was obtained at a time of year when the incident sunlight was coming in from a lower angle, relative to the horizon, than in the 2005 image. If the gullies had been present in 2002, their appearance would be sharper and more pronounced than they are in the 2005 image. The gullies simply did not exist on July 17, 2002. The steep walls of the gully alcove and channels suggests that the sand in this dune is somewhat cohesive, an observation common among martian sand dunes seen by the Mars Orbiter Camera over the past eight years. Wider context for the dune is shown in a mosaic of two images from the Thermal Emission Imaging System on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter (insert MOC2-1212a), encompassing the dark-toned sand dune field on the floor of a crater located near 49.8 degrees south latitude, 325.4 degrees west longitude. In this image, north is approximately up and sunlight illuminates the scene from the upper left. Based on earlier observations of other dune fields with gullies, camera-team scientists suspect that, these gullies form by a process other than water fluidization. An image of a dune in Russell Crater, taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera in March 2001, (insert MOC2-1212c) shows how the morphology of the dune's slip face changes with direction: Gullies form on pole-facing slopes (southwest in this case), while normal slip-face avalanche features ("avalanches" in the figure) are seen on the equator-facing slopes (northwest in this case). Most of the dunes that have gullies on them are located in the Hellespontus and Noachis regions, and are frost-covered during the winter. Based on experience in Antarctica and other cold regions on Earth, it is known that snow and ice can be incorporated into dunes during winter. An example is the layering of snow buried in a sand dune in Victoria Valley, Antarctica, seen in a photograph taken by Michael Malin during the austral summer of 1982-1983 (insert MOC2-1212d). Active sand dunes in cold regions such as Antarctica and northern Canada commonly incorporate wintertime snow as new sand avalanches down a slip face and covers the frozen material. A similar process might occur for middle and high latitude dunes on Mars, although in many cases the "snow" would consist mostly of carbon-dioxide frost, with minimal water ice. What would happen to carbon-dioxide frost incorporated into a martian sand dune? On surfaces that receive early and direct sunlight, the sand would heat and the carbon-dioxide frost would sublime over a period of time, undermining the slope and promoting normal sand sliding. On slopes that were initially shaded and later exposed to direct sunlight, heating would be delayed and the carbon dioxide frost would sublime rapidly. This rapid formation of carbon-dioxide gas may act to fluidize overlying sand, causing it to flow rather than avalanche, and thus create a gully. The Mars Orbiter Camera was built and is operated by Malin Space Science Systems, San Diego, Calif. Mars Global Surveyor left Earth on Nov. 7, 1996, and began orbiting Mars on Sept. 12, 1997. JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages Mars Global Surveyor for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS/ASU |
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First THEMIS Infrared and Vi
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First THEMIS Infrared and Visible Images of Mars |
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This picture shows both a visible and a thermal infrared image taken by the thermal emission imaging system on NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft on November 2, 2001. The images were taken as part of the ongoing calibration and testing of the camera system as the spacecraft orbited Mars on its 13th revolution of the planet. The visible wavelength image, shown on the right in black and white, was obtained using one of the instrument's five visible filters. The spacecraft was approximately 22,000 kilometers (about 13,600 miles) above Mars looking down toward the south pole when this image was acquired. It is late spring in the martian southern hemisphere. The thermal infrared image, center, shows the temperature of the surface in color. The circular feature seen in blue is the extremely cold martian south polar carbon dioxide ice cap. The instrument has measured a temperature of minus 120 degrees Celsius (minus184 degrees Fahrenheit) on the south polar ice cap. The polar cap is more than 900 kilometers (540 miles) in diameter at this time. The visible image shows additional details along the edge of the ice cap, as well as atmospheric hazes near the cap. The view of the surface appears hazy due to dust that still remains in the martian atmosphere from the massive martian dust storms that have occurred over the past several months. The infrared image covers a length of over 6,500 kilometers (3,900 miles) spanning the planet from limb to limb, with a resolution of approximately 5.5 kilometers per picture element, or pixel, (3.4 miles per pixel) at the point directly beneath the spacecraft. The visible image has a resolution of approximately 1 kilometer per pixel (.6 miles per pixel) and covers an area roughly the size of the states of Arizona and New Mexico combined. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington D.C. The thermal-emission imaging system was developed at Arizona State University, Tempe, with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing, Santa Barbara, Calif. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Image credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Arizona State University. |
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Close-up of Moe - Left Eye
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Close-up of Moe - Left Eye |
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A close-up view of the rock 'Moe' in the Rock Garden at the Pathfinder landing site. Moe is a meter-size boulder that, as seen from Sojourner, has a relatively smooth yet pitted texture upon close examination. Such a texture is seen on Earth on rocks that have been abraded by wind in a process that is analogous to sand blasting. This view of Moe shows two faces on the rock, one (left side of the rock) facing north-northeast and the other (right side) facing east. These two faces are thought to have been pitted and fluted by strong, 'sand'- carrying winds from the northeast. This image and PIA01565 [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01565 ] (right eye) make up a stereo pair. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). |
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Acheron Fossae in Visible Li
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Acheron Fossae in Visible Light |
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This visible-light image, taken by the thermal emission imaging system's camera on NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft, shows the highly fractured, faulted and deformed Acheron Fossae region of Mars. The scarps visible in this image are approximately one kilometer (3,300 feet) high, based on topography derived from the laser altimeter instrument on Mars Global Surveyor. Dark streaks only 50 meters (164 feet) across can be seen on some of the cliff faces. These streaks may be formed when the pervasive dust mantle covering this region gives way on steep slopes to create dust avalanches. The image also shows impact craters as small as 500 meters (1,640 feet) in diameter, as well as smooth and textured plains. Acheron Fossae is located 1,050 kilometers (650 miles) north of the large shield volcano Olympus Mons. This image covers an area about 18 by 9 kilometers (11 by 6 miles) centered at 37 degrees north, 131 degrees west. North is to the top of this image, which was acquired on February 19, 2002, at about 3:15 p.m. local Martian time. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The thermal emission imaging system was provided by Arizona State University, Tempe. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Photo Credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Arizona State University |
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Half Dome Rock - Left Eye
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Half Dome Rock - Left Eye |
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This image of the rock 'Half Dome' was taken by the Sojourner rover's left front camera on Sol 71 (September 14). Pits, linear textures, and pronounced topography on the rock are clearly visible. This image and PIA01567 (right eye) [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01567 ] make up a stereo pair. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). |
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Close-up View of Chimp - Rig
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Close-up View of Chimp - Right Eye |
| Description |
This view of the rock 'Chimp' was acquired by the Sojourner rover's right front camera on Sol 74 (September 17). A large crack, oriented from lower left to upper right, is visible in the rock. A dark crust appears to cover Chimp in some areas whereas other parts of the rock have a lighter shading. A boundary between the two regions is clearly seen in the upper left part of Chimp. This image and PIA01578 (left eye) [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01578 ] make up a stereo pair. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). |
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First THEMIS Image of Mars
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First THEMIS Image of Mars |
| Description |
This thermal infrared image was acquired by Mars Odyssey's thermal emission imaging system on October 30, 2001, as the spacecraft orbited Mars on its ninth revolution around the planet. The image was taken as part of the calibration and testing process of the camera system. This image shows the temperature of Mars in one of the 10 thermal infrared filters. The spacecraft was approximately 22,000 kilometers (about 13,600 miles) above the planet looking down toward the south pole of Mars when this image was acquired. It is late spring in the martian southern hemisphere. The extremely cold, circular feature shown in blue is the martian south polar carbon dioxide ice cap at a temperature of about -120 °C (-184 ° F). The cap is more than 900 kilometers (540 miles) in diameter at this time and will continue to shrink as summer progresses. Clouds of cooler air blowing off the cap can be seen in orange extending across the image to the left of the cap. The cold region in the lower right portion of the image shows the nighttime temperatures of Mars, demonstrating the "night-vision" capability of the camera system to observe Mars even when the surface is in darkness. The warmest regions occur near local noontime. The ring of mountains surrounding the 900-kilometer (540-mile) diameter impact basin Argyre can be seen in the early afternoon in the upper portion of the image. The thin blue crescent along the upper limb of the planet is the martian atmosphere. This image covers a length of over 6,500 kilometers (3,900 miles) spanning the planet from limb to limb, with a resolution of approximately 5.5 kilometers per pixel (3.4 miles per pixel), or picture elements, at the point directly beneath the spacecraft. The Odyssey's infrared camera is planned to have a resolution of 100 meters per pixel (about 300 feet per pixel) from its mapping orbit. JPL manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The thermal emission imaging system was developed at Arizona State University, Tempe with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing, Santa Barbara, Calif. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, Colo., is the prime contractor for the project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Image credit: NASA/Jet Propulsion Laboratory/Arizona State University. |
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Twin Peaks in Super Resoluti
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Twin Peaks in Super Resolution - Left Eye |
| Description |
The Twin Peaks are modest-size hills to the southwest of the Mars Pathfinder landing site. They were discovered on the first panoramas taken by the IMP camera on the 4th of July, 1997, and subsequently identified in Viking Orbiter images taken over 20 years ago. The peaks are approximately 30-35 meters (-100 feet) tall. North Twin is approximately 860 meters (2800 feet) from the lander, and South Twin is about a kilometer away (3300 feet). The scene includes bouldery ridges and swales or 'hummocks' of flood debris that range from a few tens of meters away from the lander to the distance of the South Twin Peak. The composite color frames that make up this 'left-eye' image consist of 8 frames, taken with different color filters that were enlarged by 500% and then co- added using Adobe Photoshop to produce, in effect, a super-resolution panchromatic frame that is sharper than an individual frame would be. This panchromatic frame was then colorized with the red, green, and blue filtered images from the same sequence. The color balance was adjusted to approximate the true color of Mars. This image and PIA02406 (right eye) [ http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA02406 ] make up a stereo pair. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The IMP was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator. |
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Improved MPF 360-degree Colo
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Improved MPF 360-degree Color Panorama |
| Description |
Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is an operating division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech). The IMP was developed by the University of Arizona Lunar and Planetary Laboratory under contract to JPL. Peter Smith is the Principal Investigator., This is a more recent 'geometrically improved, color enhanced' version of the 360-degree 'Gallery Pan', the first contiguous, uniform panorama taken by the Imager for Mars (IMP) over the course of Sols 8, 9, and 10. Different regions were imaged at different times over the three Martian days to acquire consistent lighting and shadow conditions for all areas of the panorama. In this version of the panorama, much of the discontinuity that was due to parallax has been corrected, particularly along the lower tiers of the mosaic containing the Lander features. Distortion due to a 2.5 degree tilt in the IMP camera mast has been removed. The IMP is a stereo imaging system that, in its fully deployed configuration, stands 1.8 meters above the Martian surface, and has a resolution of two millimeters at a range of two meters. The IMP has color capability provided by 24 selectable filters -- twelve filters per 'eye'. Its red, green, and blue filters were used to take this panorama. The three color images were first digitally balanced according to the transmittance capabilities of a specific high-definition TV device at JPL, and then enhanced via changes to saturation and intensity while retaining the hue. A threshold was applied to avoid changes to the sky. An MTF filter was applied to sharpen feature edges. At left is a Lander petal and a metallic mast which is a portion of the low-gain antenna. On the horizon the double 'Twin Peaks' are visible, about 1-2 kilometers away. The rock 'Couch' is the dark, curved rock at right of Twin Peaks. Another Lander petal is at left-center, showing the fully deployed forward ramp at far left, and rear ramp at right, which rover Sojourner used to descend to the surface of Mars on July 5. Immediately to the left of the rear ramp is the rock 'Barnacle Bill', which scientists found be andesitic, possibly indicating that it is a volcanic rock (a true andesite) or a physical mixture of particles. Just beyond Barnacle Bill, rover tracks lead to Sojourner, shown using its Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer (APXS) instrument to study the large rock 'Yogi'. Yogi, low in quartz content, appears to be more primitive than Barnacle Bill, and appears more like the common basalts found on Earth. The tracks and circular pattern in the soil leading up to Yogi were part of Sojourner's soil mechanics experiments, in which varying amounts of pressure were applied to the wheels in order to determine physical properties of the soil. During its traverse to Yogi the rover stirred the soil and exposed material from several centimeters in depth. During one of the turns to deploy Sojourner's Alpha Proton X-Ray Spectrometer, the wheels dug particularly deeply and exposed white material. Spectra of this white material show it is virtually identical to the rock 'Scooby Doo', and such white material may underlie much of the site. Deflated airbags are visible at the perimeter of all three Lander petals. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's |
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New Mars Camera's First Imag
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New Mars Camera's First Image of Mars from Mapping Orbit |
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The high resolution camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter captured its first image of Mars in the mapping orbit, demonstrating the full resolution capability, on Sept. 29, 2006. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) acquired this image at 8:16 AM (Pacific Time), and parts of the image became available to the HiRISE team at 1:30 PM. With the spacecraft at an altitude of 280 kilometers (174 miles), the image scale is 29.7 centimeters per pixel (about 12 inches per pixel). This sub-image covers a small portion of the floor of Ius Chasma, one branch of the giant Valles Marineris system of canyons. The image illustrates a variety of processes that have shaped the Martian surface. There are bedrock exposures of layered materials, which could be sedimentary rocks deposited in water or from the air. Some of the bedrock has been faulted and folded, perhaps the result of large-scale forces in the crust or from a giant landslide. The darker unit of material at right includes many rocks. The image resolves rocks as small as small as 90 centimeters (3 feet) in diameter. At bottom right are a few dunes or ridges of windblown sand. If a person was located on this part of Mars, he or she would just barely be visible in this image. Image TRA_000823_1720 was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on September 29, 2006. Shown here is a small portion of the full image. The full image is centered at minus 7.8 degrees latitude, 279.5 degrees East longitude. The image is oriented such that north is to the top. The range to the target site was 297 kilometers (185.6 miles). At this distance the image scale is 29.7 centimeters per pixel (with one-by-one binning) so objects about 89 centimeters (35 inches) across are resolved. 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 an LsubS of 113.6 degrees, the season on Mars is Northern Summer / Southern Winter. 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 Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. Credit: NASA/JPL/UA |
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2003 Rover
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2003 Rover |
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This artist's rendering shows a view of NASA's Mars 2003 Rover as it sets off roam the surface of the red planet. The rover is scheduled for launch in June 2003 and will arrive in January 2004, shielded in its landing by an airbag shell. The airbag/lander structure, which has no scientific instruments of its own, is shown to the right in this image, behind the rover. The rover will carry five scientific instruments and rock abrading device. The Panoramic Camera and the Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer are located on the large mast shown on the front of the rover. The camera will be supplied by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and the spectrometer will be supplied by Arizona State University in Tempe. The payload also includes magnetic targets, provided by the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark, that will collect magnetic dust for further study by the science instruments. The Rock Abrasion Tool is located on a robotic arm that can be deployed to study rocks and soil.(In this view, the robotic arm is tucked under the front of the rover.) The tool, provided by Honeybee Robotics Ltd., New York, N.Y., will grind away the outer surfaces of rocks, which may be dusty and weathered, allowing the science instruments to determine the nature of rock interiors. The three instruments that will study the abraded rocks are a Mossbauer Spectrometer, provided by the Johannes Gutenberg- University Mainz, Germany, an Alpha-Proton X-ray Spectrometer provided by Max Planck Institute for Chemistry, also in Mainz, Germany, and a Microscopic Imager, supplied by JPL. The payload also includes magnetic targets, provided by the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, Denmark, that will collect magnetic dust for further study by the science instruments. In a landing similar to that of the 1997 Mars Pathfinder spacecraft, a parachute will deploy to slow the spacecraft down and airbags will inflate to cushion the landing. Petals of the landing structure will unfold to release the rover, which will drive off to begin its exploration. JPL manages the Mars 2003 Rover for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. Cornell University, Ithaca, NY is the lead institution for the science payload. |
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