Status Report

Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Kasei Vallis Streamlined Island

By SpaceRef Editor
August 30, 2002
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Medium image for 20020830a

Image Context:
Context image for 20020830a
Context image credit: NASA/Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Team
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Except for the loss of its ring of ejecta, the crater at the leading
edge of a streamlined island in Kasei Vallis shows no hint of the
catastrophic floods that passed by it. Kasei Vallis is one of several
major outflow channel systems that were active over 3 billion years
ago. The intense floods scoured the landscape, eroding craters and
producing streamlined islands. But in a close-up view, the evidence for
these floods is not apparent. This is true of the most similar
terrestrial example, the channeled scablands of eastern Washington which
also were formed by a catastrophic flood.

[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



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ParameterValue ParameterValue
Latitude26.1 &nbsp InstrumentVIS
Longitude304.4E (55.6W) &nbsp Resolution (m)19
Image Size (pixels)3025×1215 &nbsp Image Size (km)57.5×23.1

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