This is a screen shot from a high-definition simulated movie of Mojave Crater on Mars, based on images taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. A 3-D surface model was created using stereo pairs from the HiRISE camera. Mojave Crater has a diameter of 60 kilometers (37 miles).
This VIS image shows part of the southern flank of Ascraeus Mons. Large collapse features are common in this area.
Orbit Number: 51823 Latitude: 7.0923 Longitude: 254.36 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-08-20 02:28
This cluster of small impact craters was spotted by the Context Camera on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in the region northwest of Gale Crater, the landing site of the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) rover, Curiosity.
We had suspected that the cluster was produced by the impact of MSL's hardware onto the surface of Mars, because we could see it in CTX images after the landing, but it was not present in images prior to the arrival of MSL. Consistent with this interpretation is the fact that the cluster is located along a line between the Curiosity landing site and a strewn field of debris previously identified in HiRISE images as being caused by MSL hardware, in particular the cruise stage and/or tungsten weights used as cruise balance masses (see the caption for ESP_029245_1755 and associated links).
Over a year has passed since the landing, so this impact cluster is not as fresh as those imaged earlier and has been degraded somewhat by winds from the northeast. Nevertheless, the cluster shows some similarities to the impacts up-range, including asymmetric ejecta patterns that indicate an oblique impact (estimated to be only 9 to 10 degrees above horizontal). The cluster is located some 9 kilometers downrange of the impacts imaged earlier, about 70 kilometers away from the rover landing site.
With a closeup image, we see that it is was produced by a "shotgun blast" of at least 40 individual impacts that formed small craters no larger than 2 meters in diameter. In contrast, the up-range impacts included four craters that were 4 to 5 meters in diameter. Assigning each of the impacts to specific pieces of hardware is a challenging puzzle, but it is thought that the four large craters were produced by two large tungsten weights that broke in half to make these four craters, or by pieces of the cruise stage, which was designed to break up in the atmosphere for planetary protection purposes, to kill any Earthly microbes.
The cluster imaged here adds to the mystery, and may have been produced by a piece of the cruise stage that traveled farther through the Martian atmosphere and was therefore more thoroughly fragmented by the time it crashed onto the surface.
Today's VIS image shows part of the large sand sheet and sand dunes on the floor of Proctor Crater.
Orbit Number: 51819 Latitude: -47.6422 Longitude: 30.2201 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-08-19 16:53
Richardson Crater is home to this sea of sand dunes. It was fall in the Southern hemisphere when this image was acquired and the dunes are frosted with the first bit of carbon dioxide ice condensed from the atmosphere.
As the season turns to winter ice will cover the entire dune field. At this moment however, it is patchy, and in the frost does not yet coat the ground beneath the dunes. The ground under the dunes appears to be cut by spidery troughs termed "araneiform terrain", carved by carbon dioxide sublimation (turning from solid to gas) in the spring.
Though Mars may appear to be a frozen wonderland it is not frozen in time: the spring will bring lots of activity to this region.
This VIS image shows part of the extensive field of lava flows that make up Daedalia Planum.
Orbit Number: 51937 Latitude: -20.8833 Longitude: 233.201 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-08-29 09:46
This beautiful image shows terrific layers and exposed bedrock along a cliff in west Candor Chasma, which is part of the extensive Valles Marineris canyon system.
A Context Camera (CTX) image of this area showed that the strata is not entirely horizontal, and that there may be crossed beds, or lenses pinching out, or some other texture/structure that might give a clue as to the depositional setting of the sediment that makes up these layers.
This image shows the area in greater detail and resolution, so we can compare what we have gleaned from CTX and MOC images to develop a better understanding of what we're looking at and how to interpret the past history of the region.
A graben is a downdropped block of material bounded on both sides by faults. The graben in this VIS image follows the trend of the nearby Sirenum Fossae graben.
Orbit Number: 51800 Latitude: -28.6362 Longitude: 221.182 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-08-18 03:16
This observation shows an excellent example of what is called "fretted terrain," termed so because of the eroded appearance of the surface.
What causes this kind of terrain? One explanation is the sublimation of subsurface ground ice that goes directly from a solid state to a gaseous one. When that occurs, the material is removed and the ground can collapse in a jumbled pattern. The curving ridges and lineations could be indicative of slow movement of the ice-rich material, perhaps in a way that has similarities to rock glaciers on Earth.
The details of the central mesa inside Hebes Chasma are seen in close-up detail in this perspective view. A horseshoe-shaped chunk has been taken out of one side of the mound (left in this image); the material has slumped down onto the floor of the valley below. A dark patch appears to pool like spilt ink across the debris. It is most likely loose material that has slid down the walls from an intermediate layer. Melted ice could have played a role by weakening the rocks to create its flow-like appearance.
Along the side of the mound fine horizontal layering is seen. The layers likely comprise a mix of wind-blown dust and ancient lake sediments, along with remnants of the older plateau.
A flat-topped mesa is located in the center of Hebes Chasma and rises to a similar height as the surrounding plains. Exposed within the walls of the mesa are layers of sediments deposited by wind and water.
Numerous grooves are etched into the mountain, suggesting the material is weak and easily eroded. The walls of Hebes Chasma are also weak – a large landslide dominates the right side of this image.
This mosaic of Hebes Chasma is composed of eight single images taken with the High Resolution Stereo Camera on Mars Express, corresponding to orbits 360 (2 May 2004), 2149 (16 September 2005), 3217 (12 July 2006), 5142 (3 January 2008), 5160 (8 January 2008), 5178 (13 January 2008), 6241 (11 November 2008), and 7237 (24 August 2009). The image center lies at about 1°S / 284°E.
Hebes Chasma is an enclosed, almost 8 km-deep trough stretching 315 km in an east–west direction and 125 km from north to south at its widest point. It sits about 300 km north of the vast Valles Marineris canyon. A flat-topped mesa is located in the center of Hebes Chasma, which was likely shaped by the action of wind and water.
On 29 September 2013, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) maneuvered to point its High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera at ISON, a new comet passing by Mars on its way into the inner Solar System.
HiRISE saw a small spot at the position of ISON that is relatively bright, like a star, but moving relative to actual stars. The comet's coma is apparently very faint, so these data provide useful constraints on the size of the comet nucleus and its overall brightness, key measurements to understand its behavior and useful knowledge to subsequent observers.
These images show a 256 x 256 pixel patch of sky at the range to the comet of 8 million miles and when the solar phase angle is 47 degrees. Three more observations of ISON are planned for 1 and 2 October as the comet moves through closest approach to Mars at 7 million miles, but with less illumination as seen from Mars.
Based on preliminary analysis of the data, the comet appears to be at the low end of the range of brightness predictions for the observation. As a result, the image isn't visually pleasing but low coma activity is best for constraining the size of the nucleus. This image has a scale of approximately 8 miles (13.3 km) per pixel, larger than the comet, but the size of the nucleus can be estimated based on the typical brightness of other comet nuclei. The comet, like Mars, is currently 241 million kilometers from the Sun. As the comet gets closer to the sun, its brightness will increase to Earth-based observers and the comet may also become intrinsically brighter as the stronger sunlight volatilizes the comet's ices.
Comet ISON (officially known as C/2012 S1) is believed to be in its first pass through the inner solar system from the distant Oort Cloud, a roughly spherical collection of comets and comet-like structures that exists in a space between one-tenth light-year and 1 light-year from the sun. The comet will pass within 724,000 miles (1.16 million kilometers) of the Sun on 28 November 2013. It was discovered on 21 September 2012, roughly between Jupiter and Saturn, by Vitali Nevski and Artyom Novichonok at the International Scientific Optical Network (ISON) near Kislovodsk, Russia.
This image shows a central peak that is surrounded by a ring-like graben feature and relatively flat terrain. Does the graben show evidence of what geologists call "differential compaction"?
Compaction refers to sediment that is originally porous and is covered up by other sediment (called "loading") that reduces that porousness. In other words, sand particles are pushed closer and closer together. Differential compaction is when there is variation in the thickness of a given area that creates uneven surface and has different degrees of porosity. The presence of the graben might be a clue to the formation of such unevenness.
This is a stereo pair with ESP_033253_1800.
This observation shows what we call "scalloped terrain," that appears here to merge in a linear depression.
How do these scallops form? Possibly from the collapse of the terrain due to sublimation (when a solid transforms directly into a gaseous state) of subsurface ice. There is also a large number of rocks on the surface.
HiRISE resolution can help us examine the surface much more closely to see if there are any differences between the surrounding plains and the floor of these scalloped depressions.
This field of dunes lies on the floor of an old crater in Noachis Terra, one of the oldest places on Mars.
When there are perfect conditions for producing sand dunes--steady wind in one direction and just enough sand--barchan sand dunes form. The word "barchan" is a Russian term because this type of dune was first described in the desert regions of Turkistan.
Barchans have a gentle slope on the upwind side and a much steeper slope on the lee side where horns or a notch often forms. The wind in this case came from the southwest. Observing dunes on Mars can tell us how strong the winds are, as well as their direction. If pictures are taken at regular intervals, one may see changes in the dunes and in ripples on the dunes' surface.
The color in the photograph is not the same as we would see with our eyes because an extra color (infrared) is added. Our eyes cannot detect infrared, but it is used because it can give us clues to the composition of the surface. On Mars dunes are often dark in color because they were formed from the common, volcanic rock basalt. In the dry environment, dark minerals in basalt, like olivine and pyroxene, do not break down as quickly as they do on Earth. Although rare, some dark sand is found on Earth, for example in Hawaii which also has many volcanoes discharging basalt.
This VIS image shows part of the floor of Coprates Chasma, including a large sand sheet and smaller dunes.
Orbit Number: 51735 Latitude: -13.9676 Longitude: 296.942 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-08-12 18:50
Dark streaks mark the steep slopes of this ridge located east of Mangala Valles. One theory about the creation of this feature is that downslope movement of a rock "clears" the brighter dust revealing the darker surface below.
Orbit Number: 51688 Latitude: -17.0589 Longitude: 211.394 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-08-08 22:02
Several landslides occurred on this steep cliff face.
Orbit Number: 51684 Latitude: -6.49984 Longitude: 328.126 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-08-08 14:05
Three separate ozone layers, each with their own characteristics, have been detected in the Martian atmosphere, by Mars Express. By comparing spacecraft data with computer models, scientists have found an explanation for how the layer that appears over the southern winter pole occurs.
It seems that the observed polar ozone layers are the result of the same atmospheric circulation pattern that creates a distinct oxygen emission identified in the Martian polar night. This circulation takes the form of a huge Hadley cell in which warmer air rises and travels poleward before cooling and sinking at higher latitudes. (Earth's atmosphere has two Hadley cells between the equator and the subtropics.)
Oxygen atoms produced by the ultraviolet photolysis (splitting) of CO2 (shown in blue [carbon] and red [oxygen] in this image) in the upper branch of the Hadley cell eventually recombine in the polar night to form molecular oxygen (O2) and ozone (O3). The concentration of ozone gas at night is dependent upon the supply of oxygen and the rate of destruction due to hydrogen radicals.
Hydrogen radicals can only be created by photolysis of water vapor above 25 km. During the northern summer, which takes place when Mars is near aphelion and consequently is further from the Sun than during southern summer, the conditions are such that water vapor is confined below 15 km, with the result that very few radicals are produced there and transported south, where they would destroy the ozone in the atmosphere. In contrast, during the southern summer the upper atmosphere is warmer and the altitude at which the atmosphere becomes saturated with water is above 40 km. The production of hydrogen radicals is increased and more of them flow to the northern winter poles resulting in a rate of ozone destruction about 100 times greater than above the southern pole.
No evidence for a comparable layer of ozone has been found above the northern pole of Mars. This dichotomy is confirmed by the Global Climate Model (developed at the Laboratoire de Météorologie Dynamique (LMD) and LATMOS, France), which predicts no high-altitude ozone layer in the northern polar night region.
For further details, read about A Seasonal Ozone Layer Over the Martian South Pole.
This small unnamed channel is located in southern Tyrrhena Terra.
Orbit Number: 51680 Latitude: -28.5234 Longitude: 80.2749 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-08-08 06:18
The IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature has approved the name Koshoba for a crater on Mars. For more information, see the map of MC-13 in the Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature.
This VIS image shows part of the dune field located on the floor of Rabe Crater. Compare this image with the IR image from earlier this week.
Orbit Number: 51669 Latitude: -43.6701 Longitude: 34.893 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-08-07 08:39
This IR image shows the feature called "White Rock." In vis images, the feature is brighter in color that the surroundings. In this IR image the feature is dark, indicating that it is cooler than the surroundings.
Orbit Number: 51707 Latitude: -9.99112 Longitude: 24.6573 Instrument: IR Captured: 2013-08-10 11:29
This IR image shows part of the dune field on the floor of Rabe Crater. The dunes are "brighter" than the surrounding material, indicating that they are warmer. In visible wavelength images the dunes are dark, because they are comprised of basaltic sand.
Orbit Number: 51694 Latitude: -41.6772 Longitude: 34.5902 Instrument: IR Captured: 2013-08-09 10:00
Today's VIS image shows part of the extensive lava flows that comprise Daedalia Planum.
Orbit Number: 51637 Latitude: -20.9792 Longitude: 240.989 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-08-04 17:20
This mosaic of four images taken by the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) camera on NASA's Mars rover Curiosity shows detailed texture in a ridge that stands higher than surrounding rock. The rock is at a location called "Darwin," inside Gale Crater. Exposed outcrop at this location, visible in images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, prompted Curiosity's science team to select it as the mission's first waypoint for several days during the mission's long trek from the "Glenelg" area to Mount Sharp.
MAHLI took the component images shortly before sunset on the 400th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (September 21, 2013). The camera was positioned about 10 inches (25 centimeters) from the rock. Scale is indicated by the Lincoln penny from the MAHLI calibration target, shown beside the mosaic.
The ridge resulted from a crack or vein in the surrounding rock becoming filled with material that was subsequently more resistant to erosion than the material of the surrounding rock. Researchers are investigating the textures and composition of ridges and the surrounding rock, which is a pebbly sandstone conglomerate. Reddish dust coats the surfaces seen in this image. The underlying rocks are gray, varying from nearly white to nearly black. The host rock in which the crack or vein formed is obscured in this image by the coating of dust and a thin layer of the rock's own debris -- loose pebbles and sand.
Researchers also examined ridges at Waypoint 1 with Curiosity's Alpha Particle X-ray Spectrometer (APXS), Chemistry and Camera (ChemCam) instrument and Mast Camera (Mastcam).
This picture shows a lab demonstration of the measurement chamber inside the Tunable Laser Spectrometer, an instrument that is part of the Sample Analysis at Mars investigation on NASA's Curiosity rover. This demonstration uses visible lasers -- rather than the infrared ones on the actual spectrometer -- to show how the lasers bounce between the mirrors in the measurement chamber.
The TLS shoots laser beams into a type of measurement chamber that can be filled with Mars air. By measuring the absorption of light at specific wavelengths, the tool can measure concentrations of methane, carbon dioxide and water vapor in the Martian atmosphere and different isotopes of those gases.
Researchers are using Curiosity's 10 instruments to investigate whether areas in Gale Crater ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life.
This colorful scene is situated in the Noctis Labyrinthus, perched high on the Tharsis rise in the upper reaches of the Valles Marineris canyon system.
Targeting the bright rimmed bedrock knobs, the image also captures the interaction of two distinct types of windblown sediments. Surrounding the bedrock knobs is a network of pale reddish ridges with a complex interlinked morphology. These pale ridges resemble the simpler “transverse aeolian ridges” (called TARs) that are common in the equatorial regions of Mars.
The TARs are still poorly understood, and are variously ascribed to dunes produced by reversing winds, coarse grained ripples, or indurated dust deposits. HiRISE observations of TARs have so far shown that these bedforms are stable over time, suggesting either that they form slowly over much longer time scales than the duration of MRO's mission, or that they formed in the past during periods of very different atmospheric conditions than the present.
Dark sand dunes comprise the second type of windblown sediment visible in this image. The dark sand dune seen just below the center of the cutout displays features that are common to active sand dunes observed by HiRISE elsewhere on Mars, including sets of small ripples crisscrossing the top of the dune. In many cases, it is the motion of these smaller ripples that drives the advance of Martian sand dunes. The dark dunes are made up of grains composed of iron-rich minerals derived from volcanic rocks on Mars, unlike the pale quartz-rich dunes typical of Earth.
This image clearly shows the dark sand situated on top of the pale TAR network, indicating that the sand dunes are younger than the TARs. Moreover, the fresh appearance of the sand dunes suggest that they are currently active, and may help shape the unusual TAR morphology by sandblasting the TARs in the present day environment.
This VIS image shows dunes in and around a crater located on the floor of the much larger Herschel Crater.
Orbit Number: 51566 Latitude: -14.3607 Longitude: 128.67 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-07-29 21:05
Scientists now know that Mars has a lot more ice than once thought. Many lobate features are now known to be almost pure ice, like glaciers on the Earth.
We still don't know for sure if these Martian ice deposits flow like Earth's glaciers. Knowing how fast they flow (if at all!) would help us understand more about the climate of Mars and how it has changed over time.
This image shows one of these icy lobate features wrapping around a small hill. There is an unusual texture on the ice at the base of this hill that people have called “brain terrain.” This strange-looking surface might be related to flow of the ice, but we still don't have a definite explanation for this mystery.
This is a stereo pair with ESP_032875_2195.
This VIS image shows the dunes on the floor of Bogia Crater, a crater in Hellas Planitia.
Orbit Number: 51480 Latitude: -44.3424 Longitude: 83.1185 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-07-22 19:25
At this location is an exceptionally long sinuous ridge, possibly an inverted fluvial feature, that cuts across newly mapped geologic units of the Medusae Fossae Formation.
In the eastern part of the image, the sinuous ridge appears in a manner that suggests erosion of the surrounding landscape. Interestingly, this fluvial feature has no elevation within and to the west location, indicating that fluvial activity may have occurred within this material before widespread erosion.
With HiRISE resolution, we might be able to have more information on the timing of fluvial activity and its relationship to the history of the Medusa Fossae formation.
This VIS image shows a portion of Candor Chasma.
Orbit Number: 51473 Latitude: -6.36614 Longitude: 290.738 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-07-22 05:23
For at least a couple of days, the science team of NASA's Mars rover Curiosity is focused on a full-bore science campaign at a tantalizing, rocky site informally called "Darwin."
Curiosity arrived in the vicinity of Darwin last week after its longest drive yet. The rover rolled closer to Darwin in recent days to lay its "contact science" instruments on the bedrock itself for in-depth mineral and chemical composition analysis.
Darwin and other rocks in the area first were seen in images taken from an orbiting spacecraft. The region was chosen as "Waypoint 1" because it appears to expose layers of rock that could reveal the inner makeup and history of the plains on the floor of Gale Crater, including any flows of water that laid these materials down in the past. Analysis of Darwin may provide evidence of whether and how water played a role in the layering of rocks in this region.
This view of Darwin was taken with the left eye of the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on Curiosity during the 390th Martian day, or sol, of the rover's work on Mars (Sept. 10, 2013).
Today's VIS image is further west from yesterday's image. This image is near the margin between Coprates Chasma and Melas Chasma.
Orbit Number: 51423 Latitude: -12.124 Longitude: 291.311 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-07-18 02:40
This VIS image shows part of Coprates Chasma, which is just one part of the extensive Valles Marineris canyon system.
Orbit Number: 51348 Latitude: -12.7902 Longitude: 293.216 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-07-11 22:34
This observation shows a beautiful example of gullies in a massif in Nereidum Montes, located in Argyre Planitia, one of the largest impact basins on Mars.
The purpose of acquiring this full-resolution image of these gullies was to take a closer look at where they are originating from in the massif wall. If we can answer that, we might be able to learn what were the processes that actually formed these gullies. In this particular region, there might be indications of a glacial past.
Nereidum Montes extends approximately 1150 kilometers, and was named by the noted Greek astronomer Eugène Michel Antoniadi (1870-1944).
The formation of "recurring slope lineae" is a fascinating process on Mars that we're just beginning to investigate, and one that we've imaged before in Palikir Crater.
These RSLs show up in the spring and fade in the winter. Their presence might be due to briny water, and it opens up the door to taking a fresh look at other possible RSL candidates. This observation was done to accomplish just that: to re-image a previously photographed area that might confirm if this a candidate for RSL.
When HiRISE re-images an area, we try to match the exact lighting as before, in order to see any differences. Along with a stereo pair and resulting anaglyph, our understanding of the terrain is more complete.
Like any diverse group of explorers, scientists on the HiRISE team and the general public who submit target suggestions have different goals and interests for the Mars images they hope to get. More often than not, an image intended for one particular science investigation ends up having many other applications, answering and raising new questions.
This image was targeted to look at potential changes in the distribution of dark sand compared to earlier pictures (PSP_005897_1790 three Mars years ago and ESP_016406_1790/ESP_017118_1790, approximately 1.5 Mars years ago). In a preliminary investigation, no such changes have been found, although we will keep looking.
Originally, this area — a crater within the larger Schiaparelli Crater — was targeted to investigate the circumferential layers that fill the crater, evidence for possible past deposition from airfall dust or even water. In this image, we note something that becomes apparent if we zoom in to many of the areas containing dark sand. Here, the sand is on top of periodic bedrock edges oriented semi-radially from the crater and approximately perpendicular to the layers. How did these ridges form, and what is the relationship to the sand?
The ridge origin is a mystery, but the sand may simply be nucleating on the ridges. This suggests that some apparent large ripples on Mars are sand nucleation sites on pre-existing topography. The extent of such ridges, and their relationship to sand elsewhere on the planet, can be further understood with future HiRISE images in other areas.
Windstreaks in this VIS image indicate winds from the east to west in this region of Meridiani Planum.
Orbit Number: 51332 Latitude: 4.18759 Longitude: 7.94561 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-07-10 16:51
Small impact craters usually have simple bowl shapes; however, when the target material has different layers of different strength, then more complicated crater shapes can emerge.
The most common situation is a weaker layer overlying a stronger one. In that case, these craters usually have a terrace on their inner walls where the crater abruptly becomes smaller at the depth where this change in material occurs.
In this image of Arcadia Planitia, we can see one of these terraced craters. In fact, there are two distinct terraces implying at least three distinct layers in this target. Images like this help scientists probe the near subsurface of Mars. In this case, the different material strengths are probably caused by layers of ice (weak) and rock (strong).
Multiple channels dissect the rim of this unnamed crater in Noachis Terra.
Orbit Number: 51309 Latitude: -29.7655 Longitude: 335.027 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-07-08 17:03
An outcrop visible as light-toned streaks in the lower center of this image has been chosen as a place for NASA's Mars rover Curiosity to study for a few days in September 2013. The pause for observations at this area, called "Waypoint 1," is the first during the rover's trek of many months from the "Glenelg" area where it worked for the first half of 2013 to an entry point to the lower layers of Mount Sharp. This pale outcrop is informally named "Darwin."
The view is a mosaic of images taken by the telephoto-lens camera of the Mast Camera (Mastcam) on Curiosity during the 387th Martian day, or sol, of Curiosity's work on Mars (September 7, 2013). The rover's position was on a rise called "Panorama Point," and the view looks southwestward. The Sol 387 position was at the endpoint of the mission's longest-yet drive, 464 feet or 141.5 meters on Sol 385, and before a Sol 388 drive to the top of the rise.
Colors in the image have been white-balanced, showing what the rocks would look like if they were under Earth's sky. Figure 1 includes a 4-meter scale bar (13 feet) to indicate the size of features in the Darwin area.
Waypoint 1 is the first of a few waypoint stops planned along the route to the Mount Sharp entry point. Studies at these waypoints are intended to help researchers trace how the rocks at Glenelg, where the mission found evidence of an ancient habitable environment, are related to the lower layers of Mount Sharp, where scientists hope to learn more about habitable environments and major changes in environmental conditions.
Curiosity finished more than six months of investigations in the Glenelg area in early July 2013 and began the drive of about 5.3 miles (8.6 kilometers) from Glenelg to the Mount Sharp entry point. Waypoint 1 is about one-fifth of the way along the route plotted with the use of images taken from orbit.
Prominent patches of wind-blown dust, possibly mixed with volcanic ash, radiate from Becquerel crater and into a neighboring crater. The streak of dust following a radial path likely traces out a gentle topographic depression, beyond the eroded rim of the neighboring old crater.
The prevailing wind direction is towards the bottom right of the image in this orientation, in the direction of the tail-like features emanating from the tiny craters. Although small, the crater rims influence wind flow over the crater such that the material immediately downwind of the crater remains undisturbed in comparison to the surrounding plains.
Becquerel crater and its immediate surrounds were imaged during four orbits of Mars Express around the Red Planet: on 22 July 2006 (orbit 3253), and 26 February, 2 and 7 March 2008, corresponding to orbits 5332, 5350 and 5368, respectively. Becquerel Crater lies within Arabia Terra, at about 22°N/352°E.
Today's VIS image shows Tinto Vallis (middle of image) and Palos Crater (top of image).
Orbit Number: 51217 Latitude: -3.24903 Longitude: 110.809 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2013-07-01 03:49
The process of selecting a site for NASA's next landing on Mars, planned for September 2016, has narrowed to four semifinalist sites located close together in the Elysium Planitia region of Mars. The mission known by the acronym InSight will study the Red Planet's interior, rather than surface features, to advance understanding of the processes that formed and shaped the rocky planets of the inner solar system, including Earth. The location of the cluster of semifinalist landing sites for InSight is indicated on this near-global topographic map of Mars, which also indicates landing sites of current and past NASA missions to the surface of Mars. The mission's full name is Interior Exploration Using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport.
The location of Elysium Planitia close to the Martian equator meets an engineering requirement for the stationary InSight lander to receive adequate solar irradiation year-round on its photovoltaic array. The location also meets an engineering constraint for low elevation, optimizing the amount of atmosphere the spacecraft can use for deceleration during its descent to the surface. The number of candidate landing sites for InSight was trimmed from 22 down to four in August 2013. This down-selection facilitates focusing the efforts to further evaluate the four sites. Cameras on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter will be used to gather more information about them before the final selection.
The topographic map uses data from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft. The color coding on this map indicates elevation relative to a reference datum, since Mars has no "sea level." The lowest elevations are presented as dark blue; the highest as white. The difference between green and orange in the color coding is about 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) vertically.
InSight will deploy a heat-flow probe designed to hammer itself 3 to 5 yards (or meters) deep and monitor heat coming from the planet's interior. The mission will also use a seismometer and radio science. The French space agency Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales, or CNES, and the German Aerospace Center, or DLR, are contributing instruments to the mission. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is building the spacecraft.
Today's daytime IR image shows part of Nanedi Vallis.
Orbit Number: 51284 Latitude: 7.72187 Longitude: 312.091 Instrument: IR Captured: 2013-07-06 18:02
The dunes in this daytime IR image appear bright because they are warmer than the surrounding crater materials. These dunes are located on the floor of Proctor Crater.
Orbit Number: 51282 Latitude: -48.8558 Longitude: 29.9853 Instrument: IR Captured: 2013-07-06 12:25
Having operated at Mars for more than seven years, MRO and the HiRISE camera continue to make new discoveries. One of these is that many sand dunes and ripples are moving, some at rates of several meters per year.
In this observation, a dune field in a Southern hemisphere crater was observed approximately one Mars year apart, first on 2 September 2011 and then again on 11 July 2013 (a year on Mars is 687 Earth days). By taking images at the same time of year, solar illumination angles are the same, so that subtle apparent changes can be linked to true displacement on the surface and not artifacts.
In these two images, there is little distortion (a digital elevation model would remove more distortion). Here, we focus on the southern and northern part of two adjacent dunes. With an animated image, the displacement of ripples on the dunes relative to nearby rocks and dark ripples are clearly visible. It seems that the ripples on the southern dune are moving northeast, while those on the northern dune are moving west, indicating complex winds in this area. The static dark ripples may be composed of larger grains than those in the dunes and are therefore harder to move.
In most areas of Mars, darker-toned ripples are more mobile than lighter ones. This area is different, demonstrating that continued imaging of the Martian surface results in new findings and revisions of ideas.
This is a stereo pair with ESP_032748_1275.
This basin in Ceti Mensa exposes concentric rings in the sedimentary layers. Dark sand ripples and textures in the bedrock suggesting wind scouring are also apparent.
Wind is a powerful, erosive force, transporting fine-grain sediments that can shape topography and expose darker material underneath the surface. One such feature of wind-scour on Mars is in Gale Crater, where scouring has created a stair-step pattern.
This is a stereo pair with PSP_009460_1745.
