Status Report

Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Erosion Effects

By SpaceRef Editor

January 22, 2003

Filed under Daily Themis Pictures, Mars Odyssey THEMIS, US

Image Context:

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

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The impact crater in this THEMIS image is a model illustration to the effects of erosion on Mars. The degraded crater rim and several landslides observed in crater walls is evidence to the mass wasting of materials. Layering in crater walls also suggests the presence of materials that erode at varying rates.

[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

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