NASA Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Ejecta Craters

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Context image credit: NASA/Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Team
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The Odyssey spacecraft has completed a full Mars year of observations

of the red planet. For the next several weeks the Image of the Day

will look back over this first mars year. It will focus on four

themes: 1) the poles – with the seasonal changes seen in the retreat

and expansion of the caps; 2) craters – with a variety of morphologies

relating to impact materials and later alteration, both infilling

and exhumation; 3) channels – the clues to liquid surface flow; and

4) volcanic flow features. While some images have helped answer

questions about the history of Mars, many have raised new questions

that are still being investigated as Odyssey continues collecting

data as it orbits Mars.

Infrared images taken during the daytime exhibit both the morphological and

thermophysical properties of the surface of Mars. Morphologic details are

visible due to the effect of sun-facing slopes receiving more energy than

antisun-facing slopes. This creates a warm (bright) slope and cool (dark) slope

appearance that mimics the light and shadows of a visible wavelength image.

Thermophysical properties are seen in that dust heats up more quickly than

rocks. Thus dusty areas are bright and rocky areas are dark.

This daytime IR image was collected on February 11, 2003 during the southern winter season. This image shows the tiny lines of craters created by the ejecta from the large crater to the left.

[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