Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Lycus Sulci 02-27-2003

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Context image credit: NASA/Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Team
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The long sharp-crested features observed in this THEMIS image are named yardangs. Yardangs form by wind erosion and typically lie in the direction of the dominant wind. The impact crater and ejecta blanket appear to be overlying the yardangs and provide an interesting cross-cutting relationship. However, some yardangs appear to be actively forming on the ejecta material which indicates their formation as an ongoing process.

[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