Status Report

THEMIS: Image Detail: A Cloudy Day on Mars

By SpaceRef Editor

April 23, 2002

Filed under Daily Themis Pictures, Mars Odyssey THEMIS, US

Image Context:

Context image credit: NASA/Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter (MOLA) Team

This image, centered near 49.7 N and 43.0 W (317.0 E), displays splotchy water ice clouds
that obscure the surface. Most of Mars was in a relatively clear period when
this image was acquired, which is why many of the other THEMIS images acquired
during the same period do not have obvious signs of atmospheric dust or water
ice clouds. This image is far enough north to catch the edge of the north
polar hood that develops during the northern winter. This is a cap of water
ice and CO2 ice clouds that form over the Martian north pole. Mars has a
number of interesting atmospheric phenomena which THEMIS will be able to view
in addition to water ice clouds, including dust devils, dust storms, and
tracking atmospheric temperatures with the infrared camera.

[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