Dunes are found on the floor of this unnamed crater located on the margin between Arabia Terra and Terra Sabaea.
Orbit Number: 52843 Latitude: 6.34777 Longitude: 10.1768 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-11-12 00:49
This VIS image near Athabasca Valles shows thin plate of lava. This style of lava flow is very different from other lava flows in the nearby Elysium and Tharsis volcanic complexes.
Orbit Number: 52813 Latitude: 6.58962 Longitude: 155.034 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-11-09 13:03
The narrow flows and channels in this VIS image are located on the northeastern margin of Olympus Mons.
Orbit Number: 52773 Latitude: 22.0982 Longitude: 230.376 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-11-06 06:29
Dark slope streaks mark the inner rim of this unnamed crater in Arabia Terra.
Orbit Number: 52743 Latitude: 20.8045 Longitude: 14.9941 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-11-03 19:15
This complex region of channels and chaos is located south of Chia crater and east of the much larger Maja Valles.
Orbit Number: 52733 Latitude: 0.085019 Longitude: 300.406 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-11-02 23:37
The shadow in today's VIS image is being cast by the steep margin on the eastern flank of Olympus Mons.
Orbit Number: 52723 Latitude: 16.5295 Longitude: 230.997 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-11-02 03:46
NASA's Mars rover Curiosity captured this 360-degree view using its Navigation Camera (Navcam) after a 17-foot (5.3 meter) drive on 477th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (December 8, 2013).
This drive brought the mission's total driving distance to 3.86 miles (4.61 kilometers). The rock-studded terrain Curiosity has traversed since October 2013 appears to have accelerated the pace of wear and tear on the rover's wheels. Future drives may be charted to cross smoother ground where available.
This seam-corrected mosaic is presented in a cylindrical projection. The center of the scene faces south. North is as both ends.
The lava flows in this VIS image are located of the eastern margin of the Tharsis Volcanic complex.
Orbit Number: 52709 Latitude: 3.26702 Longitude: 272.733 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-11-01 00:12
These images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show how the appearance of dark markings on Martian slope changes with the seasons. The marks, called recurrent slope linea, extend down slopes during warmer months and fade away during cooler months. This animation shows the same location at several times of year. The location is in a crater on the floor of Valles Marineris, near the Martian equator.
The channel in this VIS image is called Havel Vallis.
Orbit Number: 52683 Latitude: 0.440859 Longitude: 301.894 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-10-29 20:52
This image taken on May 19, 2010, shows an impact crater that had not existed when the same location on Mars was previously observed in March 2008. The new impact excavated and scattered water ice that had been hidden beneath the surface. The location is at 63.9 degrees north latitude, 44.9 degrees east longitude. The 50-meter scale bar at lower right is about 55 yards long.
The image is an excerpt from an observation by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera (HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Additional image products from the same observation are at http://www.uahirise.org/ESP_017868_2440. The image has been processed to allow details to be seen in both the bright ice and the darker soil.
The two dark windstreaks in this VIS image are located on the extensive lava plains of Daedalia Planum.
Orbit Number: 52674 Latitude: -14.0405 Longitude: 228.23 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-10-29 01:12
This mosaic of images from the Mast Camera (Mastcam) instrument on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover shows a series of sedimentary deposits in the Glenelg area of Gale Crater, from a perspective in Yellowknife Bay looking toward west-northwest.
Curiosity's science team has estimated that the "Cumberland" rock that the rover drilled for a sample of the Sheepbed mudstone deposit (at lower left in this scene) has been exposed at the surface for only about 80 million years. The estimate is based on amounts of certain gases that accumulate in a rock when it is close enough to the surface to be bombarded by cosmic rays. An explanation for that unexpectedly young exposure age comes from improved understanding of how the layers are eroding to expose underlying layers. The explanation proposes that the mudstone is being exposed by abrasion by windblown sand, indicated by arrows. The role for wind is strongly suggested by the undercutting of the Sheepbed layer below the Gillespie Lake sandstone.
The pattern here suggests that the Yellowknife Bay outcrop is being exposed by wind-driven scarp retreat -- the sideways erosion of a vertical face.
Mastcam took the images for this mosaic during the 188th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (February 14, 2013). The 100-centimeter scale bars are about 39 inches long. A rock ledge about 8 inches (20 centimeters) high at the bottom of the scene -- where the Gillespie Lake layer meets the Sheepbed layer -- is about 50 feet (about 15 meters) from the rover's location when the images were taken. The midfield escarpment called "Point Lake" is about 118 feet (36 meters) from the rover's location. The outcrop on the near horizon, marked with a white X, is about 43 feet (13 meters) higher in elevation than the Sheepbed-Gillespie contact and at a distance of about 780 feet (240 meters).
The image has been white-balanced to show what the rocks would look like if they were on Earth.
The small, dark sand dunes at the bottom of this VIS image are located on the floor of Escalante Crater.
Orbit Number: 52652 Latitude: -0.014852 Longitude: 115.525 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-10-27 07:39
A rock in the Sheepbed mudstone deposit in the Yellowknife Bay area inside Gale Crater is the first rock on Mars ever to be dated by laboratory analysis of its ingredients. The analysis using measurements of the rock's potassium and argon content by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover yielded an estimate that it is 3.86 billion to 4.56 billion years old.
The mudstone is a sedimentary rock formed by particles that had started in rocks at higher elevations -- labelled on this image as "sediment sources" -- and washed downslope before being deposited at Yellowknife Bay.
The age measured for the rock is not the depositional age of the mudstone. Researchers calculate that it is a mixture of the ages of the mineral components delivered to the mudstone via stream transport from the crater rim and the highlands beyond, as indicated by the yellow symbols. Estimates of age based on the density of impact craters on different areas of Mars put the Gale impact and surrounding highlands in the range 3.6 billion to 4.1 billion years old, a good match to the new age estimate from laboratory analysis.
An unannotated version of the underlying image is available at PIA16475. This image combines elevation data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter, image data from the Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and color information from Viking Orbiter imagery.
This VIS image of Daedalia Planum contains a narrow lava flow and shows the end of the flow. The end of a lava flow is often called the "toe" and is formed when the eruption creating the flow slows down or stops.
Orbit Number: 52611 Latitude: -22.2339 Longitude: 243.286 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-10-23 20:49
Measurements with the MSL Radiation Assessment Detector (RAD) on NASA's Curiosity Mars rover during the flight to Mars and now on the surface of Mars enable an estimate of the radiation astronauts would be exposed to on an expedition to Mars. NASA reference missions reckon with durations of 180 days for the trip to Mars, a 500-day stay on Mars, and another 180-day trip back to Earth. RAD measurements inside shielding provided by the spacecraft show that such a mission would result in a radiation exposure of about 1 sievert, with roughly equal contributions from the three stages of the expedition. A Sievert is a measurement unit of radiation exposure to biological tissue. This graphic shows the estimated amounts for humans on a Mars mission and amounts for some other activities.
Images of locations in Gale Crater taken from orbit around Mars reveal evidence of erosion in recent geological times and development of small scarps, or vertical surfaces. These two images come from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
The image on the left shows the Yellowknife Bay area examined by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover during the rover's first 11 months on Mars. The red arrow points to the contact between the Sheepbed and Gillespie geological members. The blue arrow points to the contact between the Gillespie Lake member and overlying Glenelg member, which also forms a small scarp. These two geological contacts form scarps due to variations in rock hardness as eroded by the wind. The effect is to generate rock exposures that are relatively youthful in a geological timescale, on the order of 70 million years.
The image on the right shows the KMS_9 area, which Curiosity may investigate on the rover's route to Mount Sharp. The purple arrow points to the contact between the lowermost striated unit and the middle bedded unit. The yellow arrow marks the contact between the middle bedded unit and the upper smooth hummocky material. It is possible that the rocks adjacent to these scarps have also been only recently exhumed and exposed due to wind erosion.
The left image is a portion of HiRISE observation ESP_028335_1755, taken on August 12, 2012. Other image products from this observation are available at http://www.uahirise.org/ESP_028335_1755. The right image was taken on August 9, 2010, and other products from the same observation are available at http://www.uahirise.org/ESP_018920_175.
Color-coded topography map of Juventae Chasma. White and red show the highest terrains, while blue and purple show the deepest.
The floor of Juventae Chasma sits some 5.8 km below the surrounding plateau. It is filled with sand in the southern part (left), which takes on a smooth appearance, in contrast to the northern (right) part of this image where many blocky rock fragments have slumped down from the chasma walls. Two large mounds of layered material sit inside Juventae Chasma and comprise minerals altered by water.
This region was imaged by the high-resolution stereo camera on ESA’s Mars Express on 4 November 2013 (orbit 12,508), with a ground resolution of 16 ms per pixel. The image center is at about 4°S / 298°E.
The steep northern wall of Tithonium Chasma crosses this VIS image. Landslide deposits from slope failure can be seen at the lower left corner of the image.
Orbit Number: 52610 Latitude: -4.11268 Longitude: 274.623 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-10-23 18:45
The largest layered mound in Juventae Chasma is seen here in close-up perspective view. It is about 53 km long, up to 20 km wide and rises some 3.3 km above the surrounding area, comparable to a small mountain range on Earth.
Its surface is etched with grooves carved by strong prevailing winds blowing through the chasma. Layers in the mound consist of sulphate-rich materials, an indication that the rocks have been altered by water.
The mound is a relic of at least 3 billion years of martian history and its layers were most likely built up as lake deposits over time. But ice-laden dust raining out from the atmosphere – a phenomenon observed at the poles of Mars – may also have contributed to the formation of the layers.
This region was imaged by the high-resolution stereo camera on ESA’s Mars Express on 4 November 2013 (orbit 12,508), with a ground resolution of 16 m per pixel. The image center is at about 4°S / 298°E.
The channels in this VIS image are located in Elysium Planitia and were likely created by lava flow.
Orbit Number: 52601 Latitude: 12.7686 Longitude: 147.552 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-10-23 02:51
Intriguing mounds of light-toned layered deposits sit inside Juventae Chasma, surrounded by a bed of soft sand and dust.
The origin of the chasma is linked to faulting associated with volcanic activity more than 3 billion years ago, causing the chasma walls to collapse and slump inwards, as seen in the blocky terrain in the right-hand side of this image.
At the same time, fracturing and faulting allowed subsurface water to spill out and pool in the newly formed chasm. Observations by ESA’s Mars Express and NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter show that the large mounds inside the chasma consist of sulphate-rich materials, an indication that the rocks were indeed altered by water.
The mounds contain numerous layers that were most likely built up as lake-deposits during the Chasma’s wet epoch. But ice-laden dust raining out from the atmosphere – a phenomenon observed at the poles of Mars – may also have contributed to the formation of the layers.
While the water has long gone, wind erosion prevails, etching grooves into the exposed surfaces of the mounds and whipping up the surrounding dust into ripples.
The image was taken by the high-resolution stereo camera on ESA’s Mars Express on 4 November 2013 (orbit 12 508), with a ground resolution of 16 m per pixel. The image center is at about 4°S / 298°E.
The arcuate or curved fractures in this VIS image are located on the eastern margin of Elysium Planitia.
Orbit Number: 52575 Latitude: -0.338087 Longitude: 175.334 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-10-20 23:34
This mosaic of images from Curiosity's Mast Camera (Mastcam) shows geological members of the Yellowknife Bay formation, and the sites where Curiosity drilled into the lowest-lying member, called Sheepbed, at targets "John Klein" and "Cumberland." The scene has the Sheepbed mudstone in the foreground and rises up through Gillespie Lake member to the Point Lake outcrop. These rocks record superimposed ancient lake and stream deposits that offered past environmental conditions favorable for microbial life. Rocks here were exposed about 70 million years ago by removal of overlying layers due to erosion by the wind.
The 50-centimeter scale bars at different locations in the image are about 20 inches long. The lower scale bar is about 26 feet (8 meters) away from where Curiosity was positioned when the view was recorded. The upper scale bar is about 98 feet (30 meters) from the rover's location. The scene is a portion of a 111-image mosaic acquired during the 137th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (December 24, 2012). The foothills of Mount Sharp are visible in the distance, upper left, southwest of camera position.
Shadows cast by the high walls and high hills within Candor Chasma are visible in this image. The Odyssey spacecraft and THEMIS camera are passing over the surface of Mars at a local time near 5 in the afternoon. The sun is close to the western horizon and shadows are being created by tall topographic features.
Orbit Number: 52547 Latitude: -6.7789 Longitude: 290.464 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-10-18 14:20
This illustration depicts a concept for the possible extent of an ancient lake inside Gale Crater. The existence of a lake there billions of years ago was confirmed from examination of mudstone in the crater's Yellowknife Bay area. For this illustration, the possible extent was estimated by mapping ancient lake and stream deposits and recognizing that water flowed from the crater rim into the basin (arrows). The water would have pooled in the linear depression created between the crater rim and Mt. Sharp. The area's history likely included the coming and going of multiple lakes of different sizes as climate conditions evolved.
The base map combines image data from the Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and color information from Viking Orbiter imagery. The 25-kilometer scale bar at lower right is 15.5 miles long. North is up.
Today's VIS image shows another portion of the large dune field near the north polar cap.
Orbit Number: 52489 Latitude: 81.5273 Longitude: 162.846 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-10-13 21:01
Enjoy views of the martian north pole from all angles in this new animation from ESA’s Mars Express.
The ice cap has a diameter of about 1000 km and consists of many thin layers of ice mixed with dust that extend to a depth of around 2 km below the cap. The prominent gap in the ice cap is a 318 km-long, 2 km-deep chasm called Chasma Boreale.
The layers result from variations in the orbit and rotation of Mars that affect the amount of sunlight received at the poles, and thus the amount of melting and deposition of materials over time. Meanwhile, strong prevailing winds are thought to be responsible for shaping the spiral troughs.
The polar ice cap in this movie was constructed using data provided by the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding instrument, MARSIS.
Low-frequency radio waves beamed towards the surface are reflected back to Mars Express from the planet’s surface and from interfaces between layers of different materials underground.
The strength and timing of the radar echoes are a gauge of the depths of different types of interfaces, such as between rock, water or ice. This information can then be translated into 3D views, as seen in this movie.
The sand dunes in this VIS image are located near the north polar cap. It is springtime and the dunes will darken with time as the winter frost sublimates in the sun.
Orbit Number: 52488 Latitude: 81.0121 Longitude: 190.215 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-10-13 19:18
Numerous dark slope streaks are located on the inner rim of this unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea.
Orbit Number: 52480 Latitude: 0.505546 Longitude: 34.1236 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-10-13 03:57
The rock "Ithaca" shown here, with a rougher lower texture and smoother texture on top, appears to be a piece of the local sedimentary bedrock protruding from the surrounding soil in Gale Crater. NASA's Curiosity Mars rover used its Mast Camera (Mastcam) to take this image during the 439th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (October 30, 2013). The black-outline rectangle indicates the area where the rover's Chemistry and Camera instrument (ChemCam) used its laser and remote micro-imager to inspect Ithaca. That inspection included the 100,000th laser shot fired by ChemCam on Mars. The 0.1 meter scale bar at lower left is about 4 inches.
Dark slope streaks mark the inner rim of this unnamed crater in Terra Sabaea.
Orbit Number: 52468 Latitude: 0.339369 Longitude: 20.0279 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-10-12 04:15
After driving uphill about 139 feet (42.5 meters) during the 3,485th Martian day, or sol, of its work on Mars (November 12, 2013), NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity captured this image with its navigation camera. The climb ascended "Murray Ridge" above "Solander Point" on the western rim of Endeavour Crater.
The view is toward the north-northeast. The distance between the two parallel tracks is about 3.3 feet (1 meter). This sol's drive brought Opportunity's cumulative driving distance to 24.01 miles (38.64 kilometers).
The channels and linear depression in this VIS image are located on the western margin of the Elysium Volcanic complex. The channels were created by lava flow.
Orbit Number: 52464 Latitude: 29.9196 Longitude: 139.502 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-10-11 20:12
NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has been working on Mars since landing inside Eagle Crater on January 25, 2004 (Universal Time; evening of January 24, Pacific Standard Time). The gold line on this image shows Opportunity's route from the landing site, in upper left, to the area it is investigating on the western rim of Endeavour Crater as the date approaches for the rover's 10th anniversary on Mars, in Earth years.
The map shows Opportunity's location as of the 3,486th Martian day, or sol, of its exploration of Mars (November 13, 2013). By that sol, it had driven 24.01 miles (38.64 kilometers) and was ascending "Murray Ridge" above "Solander Point" on the rim of Endeavour Crater. The features are all within the Meridiani Planum region of equatorial Mars, which was chosen as Opportunity's landing area because of earlier detection of the mineral hematite from orbit.
The base image for the map is a mosaic of images taken by the Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The 5-kilometer scale bar is 3.1 miles long, and the diameter of Endeavour Crater is about 14 miles (22 kilometers). North is up.
Opportunity completed its three-month prime mission in April 2004 and has continued operations in bonus extended missions. It has found several types of evidence of ancient environments with abundant liquid water. The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reached Mars in 2006, completed its prime mission in 2010, and is also working in an extended mission.
Today's VIS image shows a small portion of the lava flows that comprise Daedalia Planum.
Orbit Number: 52449 Latitude: -20.3058 Longitude: 233.727 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-10-10 12:05
