Status Report

Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Ophir Planum

By SpaceRef Editor

July 16, 2002

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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This is an image of a region of Mars called Ophir Planum, located at 8.4 S,
306.8 E. The Valles Marineris system of canyons that stretch for thousands of
kilometers across Mars are located just to the south of the area covered by the
image shown here. This image contains numerous overlapping lava flows, which
can be seen in the layers of the wall rocks in Valles Marineris to the south.
A number of remarkable wind streaks are also appearent throughout the image.
These streaks commonly trail behind small topographic features such as craters
and give an indication of the prevailing wind direction within the region. The
northern half of this image is indicative of a northeast wind direction and the
southern half indicates a predominance of a southeast wind direction. The
variability of these winds may indicate that the local topography has some
influence over the local winds.

[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