NASA Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Cydonia Craters

Image Context:


Context image credit: NASA/Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Team
[ Find on map: Javascript version ]

[ Find on map: CGI version ]

This VIS image is from the Cydonia region of Mars. It

illustrates how difficult it can be to identify modified

impact craters in a region of collapse pits/craters.

Generally collapse craters/pits have no rims and, due to

structual control, form lines. Collapse pits/craters also

may coalese into scalloped-edged trenches. In this image,

only the small rimmed features are likely to have formed

due to impact.

[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