Status Report

Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Winter in Hellas Basin

By SpaceRef Editor

October 7, 2002

Filed under Daily Themis Pictures, Mars Odyssey THEMIS, US

Image Context:

Context image credit: NASA/Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Team

[ Find on map: Javascript version ]

[ Find on map: CGI version ]

Right now on Mars it is winter in the southern hemisphere. This
means that the usually cloudy Hellas Basin is relatively free
from clouds. Even though there is little cloud cover, the atmosphere
is still much thicker due to the depth of the basin than elsewhere
on Mars, making image details not a crisp as when viewed through
lesser amounts of atmosphere. In the center of the image are
several dark streaks which originate from the side of a higher
standing butte. The dark material is likely being eroded from
a single layer within the cliff face. Wind has moved some of
the eroded dark material to form the streaks.

[Questions? Email images@themis.asu.edu]

[Source: ASU THEMIS Science Team]

Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later 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 (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