Image Context:
 Context image credit: NASA/Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Team[ Find on map: Javascript version ]
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Mangala Vallis is one of the large outflow channels that channeled large quantities of water
into the northern lowlands, long ago on geological timescales. This valley is one of the few in
the southern hemisphere, as well as one of the few west of the Tharsis bulge. A closer look at the
channel shows more recent weathering of the old water channel: the walls of the channel show
small, dark slope streaks that form in dusty areas; and much of the surrounding terrain has
subtle linear markings trending from the upper left to the lower right, which are probably
features sculpted and streamlined by the wind. Geology still shapes the surface of Mars today,
but its methods over the eons have changed.
[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 |
