NASA Mars Odyssey THEMIS Image: Radial Erosion

Image Context:


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

[ Find on map: CGI version ]

The ejecta surrounding the crater (off image to the

left) in this image has undergone significant erosion by the

wind. The wind has stripped the surface features from the

ejecta and has started to winnow away the ejecta blanket.

Near the margin of the ejecta the wind is eroding along

a radial pattern – taking advantage of radial emplacement.

Note the steep margin of the ejecta blanket. Most, if not

all, of the fine ejecta material has been removed and the

wind in now working on the more massive continuous ejecta

blanket.

[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