Status Report

NASA Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Huygens Crater

By SpaceRef Editor

July 15, 2003

Filed under Daily Themis Pictures, Mars, Mars Odyssey THEMIS, US

Image Context:

Context image for 20030715a

Context image credit: NASA/Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Team
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The floor of the 450 km diameter crater named after Dutch astronomer Christian Huygens (1629-1695) shows an unusual texture. Smooth-topped mesas are scattered across a more rugged surface. The mesas are testament to a former smooth layer of material that is in the process of eroding away.

[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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