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2001 Mars Odyssey
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Odyssey_THEMIS3-PIA04910c.tif
Mars south polar layered deposits - December 8, 2003
Odyssey_THEMIS2-PIA04910b.tif
Mars south polar layered deposits - December 8, 2003
Odyssey_THEMIS1-PIA04910.tif
Mars south polar layered deposits - December 8, 2003
Odyssey_MARIE-PIA04909.tif
Radiation environment at Mars and Earth - December 8, 2003
Odyssey_NS-PIA04907.tif
Water mass map from neutron spectrometer - December 8, 2003
Odyssey_GRS-PIA04908.tif
North polar water ice by weight - December 8, 2003
This image is located near the boundary between Syrtis Major and Isidis Planitia. The top of the image shows rough material that has eroded away from the lower portion of the image, revealing an underlying surface that has many small craters. It also reveals an ancient flow lobe that is barely discernable, crossing the southern part of the image (this flow lobe is much easier to see as a smooth region in the context image).
Erosion and what it Reveals
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.
Odyssey over Mars' South Pole
The floor of this crater in Terra Sirenum contains layered material. The layered sedimentary material on Mars is arguably the most interesting and compelling material on the planet. These layers most likely contain the answers to fundamental questions about Martian geology, climate, and possibly even biology.
Terra Sirenum Crater
The dunes and dust devil tracks in this VIS image are located on the plains of Planum Chronium.
Dunes and dust devil tracks in Planum Chronium
This is a Mars Odyssey visible color image of an unnamed crater in western Arcadia Planitia (near 39 degrees N, 179 degrees E). The crater shows a number of interesting internal and external features that suggest that it has undergone substantial modification since it formed. These features include concentric layers and radial streaks of brighter, redder materials inside the crater, and a heavily degraded rim and ejecta blanket. The patterns inside the crater suggest that material has flowed or slumped towards the center. Other craters with features like this have been seen at both northern and southern mid latitudes The distribution of these kinds of craters suggests the possible influence of surface or subsurface ice in the formation of these enigmatic features. The image was taken on September 29, 2002 during late northern spring. This is an approximate true color image, generated from a long strip of visible red (654 nm), green (540 nm), and blue (425 nm) filter images that were calibrated using a combination of pre-flight measurements and Hubble images of Mars. The colors appear perhaps a bit darker than one might expect; this is most likely because the images were acquired in late afternoon (roughly 4:40 p.m. local solar time) and the low Sun angle results in an overall darker surface.
Western Arcadia Planitia
Planum Boreum crater
Planum Boreum crater
Hills abound in this portion of Mars located in the Vastitas Borealis region of the high northern plains. These hills are part of Scandia Colles. Note that some of the hills have aprons surrounding them. The northern part of Milankovic crater is visible in the lower portion of this image.
Bumpy Terrain in Vastitas Borealis
This THEMIS image of rounded hills and ridges in Arcadia Planitia shows a very intriguing geomorphic feature that may be attributed to the presence of an icy-rock mixture of material. Smooth aprons of material are observed to be preferentially located on the cold, north facing slopes of hills and extend further and beyond the deposits located on other sides. These smooth deposits are in stark contrast to the more rough surfaces that dominate the scene and it has been suggested that they represent a preserved mixture of ice and rock. How exactly this deposit forms still remains a mystery. They may have been "pasted" onto the slopes and preserved on the cold facing sides or they may represent the result of downslope motion of material that is enhanced by the presence of ground ice. In either case, this interesting observation suggests that ground ice may still play an important role in the formation and preservation of martian surface features.
Arcadia Planitia
This THEMIS visible image shows a close-up view of the ridged plains in Hesperia Planum. This region is the classic locality for martian surfaces that formed in the "middle ages" of martian history. The absolute age of these surfaces is not well known. However, using the abundance of impact craters, it is possible to determine that the Hesperian plains are younger than the ancient cratered terrains that dominate the southern hemisphere, and are older than low-lying plains of the northern hemisphere. In this image it is possible to see that this surface has a large number of 1-3 km diameter craters, indicating that this region is indeed very old and has subjected to a long period of bombardment. A large (80 km diameter) crater occurs just to the north (above) this image. The material that was thrown out onto the surface when the crater was formed ("crater ejecta") can be seen at the top of the THEMIS image. This ejecta material has been heavily eroded and modified since its formation, but there are hints of lobate flow features within the ejecta. Lobate ejecta deposits are thought to indicate that ice was present beneath the surface when the crater was formed, leading to these unusual lobate features. Many of the Hesperian plains are characterized by ridged surfaces. These ridges can be easily seen in the MOLA context image, and several can be seen cutting across the lower portion of the THEMIS image. These "wrinkle" ridges are thought to be the result of compression (squeezing) of the lavas that form these plains.
Hesperia Planum
Depth-of-ice.jpg
Cross-section of Icy Soil
polars_ext.jpg
Polar Maps of Thermal and Epithermal Neutrons
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Global Map of Thermal Neutrons
cover_epi.jpg
Global map of epithermal neutrons
This lunar-like scene occurs along the southeastern rim of the Isidis Planitia basin. The Isidis basin is an ancient impact crater some 1200 km across that is found along the boundary separating the heavily-cratered southern highland terrain of Mars from the northern lowlands. Elements of both terrains are evident in this image as an island of rugged highland terrain surrounded by smoother lowland terrain. The resurfacing of the Isidis basin produced a system of wrinkle ridges, some of which are seen on the lowland terrain in the image. Wrinkle ridges are a common feature on the surface of the moon and add to the lunar-like quality of this image. Layers are visible in the large island, the most resistant of which likely are from lava flows that created the highland terrain. The process by which the global-scale highland/lowland dichotomy was created remains a mystery.
Isidis Rim
This image is near the southern edge of a low, broad volcanic feature called Syrtis Major. A close look at this image reveals a wrinkly texture that indicates a very rough surface that is associated with the lava flows that cover this region. On a larger scale, there are numerous bright streaks that trail topographic features such as craters. These bright streaks are in the wind shadows of the craters where dust that settles onto the surface is not as easily scoured away. It is important to note that these streaks are only bright in a relative sense to the surrounding image. Syrtis Major is one of the darkest regions on Mars and it is as dark as fresh basalt flows or dunes are on Earth.
Syrtis Major
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First THEMIS Image of Mars
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