Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Crater Wall and Floor

Image Context:


Context image credit: NASA/Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Team
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3D Projection onto MOLA data

Projection image credit: NASA/JPL/ASU/MOLA

The impact crater observed in this THEMIS image taken in Terra Cimmeria suggests sediments have filled the crater due to the flat and smooth nature of the floor compared to rougher surfaces at higher elevations. The abundance of several smaller impact craters on the floor of the larger crater indicate however that the flat surface has been exposed for an extended period of time. The smooth surface of the crater floor and rougher surfaces at higher elevations are observed in the 3-D THEMIS image that is draped over MOLA topography (2X vertical exaggeration).

[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