NASA Mars THEMIS Image: Gusev Crater

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Context image credit: NASA/Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Team
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Wrinkle ridges deform the plains in the bottom of Gusev crater, destination of the MER “Spirit” rover. The plains were likely created from a flood basalt with ridges forming where there were compressional forces. Dark wind streaks come together to form a dark spot at the bottom of the image where the wind has removed a thin layer of bright dust off a dark surface. On the left side of the image a portion of a lobe of material is visible, which may have resulted from a mud or debris flow. This feature was recently identified by the THEMIS team and may represent the most recent deposit in the crater involving water.

[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