NASA Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Nighttime Lava Flows

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Context image credit: NASA/Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Team
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This nighttime IR image is of lava flows from Arsia Mons, the

southernmost of the three Tharsis Montes. Lava flow surfaces

are generally rough, and trap sand and dust with time. The

addition of sand/dust will affect the nighttime IR appearance

of the surface [dust cools quickly and is darker than slow

cooling rocks in the nighttime IR]. The rough, rockier surface

of young flows are brighter than the older dust covered flows.

[Source: ASU THEMIS Science Team]

NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA’s Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University