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Meridiani Planum

This mosaic of infrared images shows the abundance and location of hematite at Opportunity's landing site, Meridiani Planum. On Earth, hematite is a mineral that typically forms in water.

August 24, 2004

Credits

NASA/JPL/Arizona State University

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This map shows unprecedented detail of local variations in Mars' gravitational pull on orbiters. The gravitational mapping has been applied to map variations in the thickness of the planet's crust ...
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This map shows unprecedented detail of local variations in Mars' gravitational pull on orbiters. The gravitational mapping has been applied to map variations in the thickness of the planet's crust and to deduce information about its deeper interior.
Local Variations in the Gravitational Pull of Mars
The floor of this unnamed crater in Aonia Terra has been filled with multiple layers of material.
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The floor of this unnamed crater in Aonia Terra has been filled with multiple layers of material.
Layered Fill
Valleys much younger than well-known ancient valley networks on Mars are evident near the informally named "Heart Lake" on Mars. This map presents color-coded topographical information overlaid ont...
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Valleys much younger than well-known ancient valley networks on Mars are evident near the informally named "Heart Lake" on Mars. This map presents color-coded topographical information overlaid onto a photo mosaic. Lower elevations are indicated with white and purple; higher elevations, yellow.
Landscape of Former Lakes and Streams on Northern Mars
Hills abound in this portion of Mars located in the Vastitas Borealis region of the high northern plains. These hills are part of Scandia Colles. Note that some of the hills have aprons surrounding...
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Hills abound in this portion of Mars located in the Vastitas Borealis region of the high northern plains. These hills are part of Scandia Colles. Note that some of the hills have aprons surrounding them. The northern part of Milankovic crater is visible in the lower portion of this image.
Bumpy Terrain in Vastitas Borealis
Colors in this image of the Martian moon Phobos indicate a range of surface temperatures detected by observing the moon on Sept. 29, 2017, with the Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera o...
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Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
Martian Moon Phobos in Thermal Infrared Image
This map of Mars indicates locations of new craters that have excavated ice (blue) and those that have not (red). The underlying map is based on the brightness, or albedo, of the Martian surface.
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This map of Mars indicates locations of new craters that have excavated ice (blue) and those that have not (red). The underlying map is based on the brightness, or albedo, of the Martian surface.
Locations of Ice-Exposing Fresh Craters on Mars
Six views of the Martian moon Phobos captured by NASA's Odyssey orbiter as of March 2020. The orbiter's THEMIS camera is used to measure temperature variations that suggest what kind of material th...
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Three views of the Martian moon Phobos
Odyssey's Six Views of Phobos
Continuing our survey of non-crater dune fields brings us to this group of dunes in Aonia Terra. The daytime IR illustrates the warmth of the dune material compared to the surrounding materials.
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Continuing our survey of non-crater dune fields brings us to this group of dunes in Aonia Terra. The daytime IR illustrates the warmth of the dune material compared to the surrounding materials.
Aonia Terra Dunes
Wind shadow and real shadow combine to give a striking image of a comet.
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Wind shadow and real shadow combine to give a striking image of a comet.
THEMIS Images as Art
The Odyssey spacecraft was launched toward Mars on April 7, 2001 from Cape Canaveral, Florida. In this four-part video series, Odyssey navigation team members explain the daily challenges of steeri...
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Challenges of Getting to Mars: Aerobraking
Challenges of Getting to Mars: Aerobraking
2906_HighViewOfMidCanyonMelas.jpg
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2906_HighViewOfMidCanyonMelas.jpg
High View of Melas
This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a crater from a double impact - two meteors hitting simultaneously. The two meteors would have started as a single object and, at some point prior to impac...
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This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey shows a crater from a double impact - two meteors hitting simultaneously. The two meteors would have started as a single object and, at some point prior to impact, separated into two parts.
Doublet Crater
This THEMIS visible image shows a close-up view of the ridged plains in Hesperia Planum. This region is the classic locality for martian surfaces that formed in the "middle ages" of martian history.
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This THEMIS visible image shows a close-up view of the ridged plains in Hesperia Planum. This region is the classic locality for martian surfaces that formed in the "middle ages" of martian history. The absolute age of these surfaces is not well known. However, using the abundance of impact craters, it is possible to determine that the Hesperian plains are younger than the ancient cratered terrains that dominate the southern hemisphere, and are older than low-lying plains of the northern hemisphere. In this image it is possible to see that this surface has a large number of 1-3 km diameter craters, indicating that this region is indeed very old and has subjected to a long period of bombardment. A large (80 km diameter) crater occurs just to the north (above) this image. The material that was thrown out onto the surface when the crater was formed ("crater ejecta") can be seen at the top of the THEMIS image. This ejecta material has been heavily eroded and modified since its formation, but there are hints of lobate flow features within the ejecta. Lobate ejecta deposits are thought to indicate that ice was present beneath the surface when the crater was formed, leading to these unusual lobate features. Many of the Hesperian plains are characterized by ridged surfaces. These ridges can be easily seen in the MOLA context image, and several can be seen cutting across the lower portion of the THEMIS image. These "wrinkle" ridges are thought to be the result of compression (squeezing) of the lavas that form these plains.
Hesperia Planum
Getting to Mars is difficult enough -- staying there is even more challenging. Odyssey met up with Mars on October 24 02:26 UTC (October 23: 7:26 p.m. PDT/10:26 p.m.EDT).
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Orbit Insertion
Orbit Insertion
Phobos and Deimos, the moons of Mars, are seen in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter. The distance to Deimos from Odyssey during the observation was about 12,222 miles (19,670 kilomet...
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Mars Odyssey Observes Martian Moons
Mars Odyssey Observes Martian Moons
A dust storm continues to envelop the Red Planet and Curiosity’s labs are back in action.
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A dust storm continues to envelop the Red Planet and Curiosity’s labs are back in action.
Mars Report: July 2018
Fans and ribbons of dark sand dunes creep across the floor of Bunge Crater in response to winds blowing from the direction at the top of the picture.
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Fans and ribbons of dark sand dunes creep across the floor of Bunge Crater in response to winds blowing from the direction at the top of the picture.
Mars Odyssey All Stars: Bunge Crater Dunes
This is a Mars Odyssey visible color image of an unnamed crater in western Arcadia Planitia (near 39 degrees N, 179 degrees E). The crater shows a number of interesting internal and external featur...
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This is a Mars Odyssey visible color image of an unnamed crater in western Arcadia Planitia (near 39 degrees N, 179 degrees E). The crater shows a number of interesting internal and external features that suggest that it has undergone substantial modification since it formed. These features include concentric layers and radial streaks of brighter, redder materials inside the crater, and a heavily degraded rim and ejecta blanket. The patterns inside the crater suggest that material has flowed or slumped towards the center. Other craters with features like this have been seen at both northern and southern mid latitudes The distribution of these kinds of craters suggests the possible influence of surface or subsurface ice in the formation of these enigmatic features. The image was taken on September 29, 2002 during late northern spring. This is an approximate true color image, generated from a long strip of visible red (654 nm), green (540 nm), and blue (425 nm) filter images that were calibrated using a combination of pre-flight measurements and Hubble images of Mars. The colors appear perhaps a bit darker than one might expect; this is most likely because the images were acquired in late afternoon (roughly 4:40 p.m. local solar time) and the low Sun angle results in an overall darker surface.
Western Arcadia Planitia
The dune field in this polar region crater looks like a stubby arrow pointing the way west. This unnamed crater is located in Planum Chronium.
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The dune field in this polar region crater looks like a stubby arrow pointing the way west. This unnamed crater is located in Planum Chronium.
Unnamed crater is located in Planum Chronium.
A lunar eclipse, a solar eclipse and Mars has a close encounter with a comet.
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What's Up for October?
What's Up for October?
Download a PDF of the Mars as Art Booklet.
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Mars as Art
Mars as Art (2013)
A false-color mosaic focuses on one junction in Noctis Labyrinthus where Mars canyons meet to form a depression 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) deep.
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A false-color mosaic focuses on one junction in Noctis Labyrinthus where Mars canyons meet to form a depression 4,000 meters (13,000 feet) deep.
Canyon Junction
Taken on April 24, 2019, this rainbow-colored image shows the Martian moon Phobos, as viewed by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter using its infrared camera, THEMIS. Each color represents a different...
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Martian moon Phobos viewed by Mars Odyssey orbiter using its infrared camera.
Odyssey Views Phobos: April 24, 2019
NASA's NEOWISE mission detected comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring on July 28, 2014, less than three months before this comet's close flyby of Mars on Oct. 19. This merging of multiple images presents t...
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NASA's NEOWISE mission detected comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring on July 28, 2014, less than three months before this comet's close flyby of Mars on Oct. 19. This merging of multiple images presents the comet in four different positions relative to the background stars.
NEOWISE Spies Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring a Second Time
This computer-generated view based on multiple orbital observations shows Mars' Gale crater as if seen from an aircraft north of the crater.
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This computer-generated view based on multiple orbital observations shows Mars' Gale crater as if seen from an aircraft north of the crater.
Oblique view of Gale Crater from the North

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