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Mars
Title Mars
Abstract The true global geography of Mars first emerged with comprehensive maps from Mariner 9 and Viking during the 1970's. This visualization tours the Red Planet using the Viking dataset, hitting such features as the Valles Marineris canyons and the Olympus Mons volcano.
Completed 1999-01-21
Sagan and Viking
title Sagan and Viking
description Famous for his television series "Cosmos," Dr. Carl Sagan poses with a model of the Viking lander in Death Valley, Calif. *Image Credit*: NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Viking Checkup
title Viking Checkup
date 05.20.1971
description A technician checks the soil sampler on an earlier generation of Mars lander - Viking - in this 1971 photo. Viking 1 became the first spacecraft to land safely on Mars on July 20, 1976. The robotic arm scooped samples of the Martian soil, emptied it into a hopper on the lander, which analyzed it with three scientific instruments. NASA's Viking Lander was designed, fabricated, and tested by the Martin Marietta Corp. of Denver, Colorado, under the direction of the Viking Progect Office at Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. The lander drew heavily on the experience gained from the Ranger, Surveyor and the Apollo Programs in the areas of radar, altimeters, facsimile, cameras, soil samplers and landing gear. *Image Credit*: NASA
Viking 2 Image of Mars Utopi …
Title Viking 2 Image of Mars Utopian Plain
Full Description The boulder-strewn field of red rocks reaches to the horizon nearly two miles from Viking 2 on Mars' Utopian Plain. Scientists believe the colors of the Martian surface and sky in this photo represent their true colors. Fine particles of red dust have settled on spacecraft surfaces. The salmon color of the sky is caused by dust particles suspended in the atmosphere. Color calibration charts for the cameras are mounted at three locations on the spacecraft. Note the blue starfield and red stripes of the flag. The circular structure at top is the high-gain antenna, pointed toward Earth. Viking 2 landed September 3, 1976, some 4600 miles from its twin, Viking 1, which touched down on July 20.
Date 11/23/1976
NASA Center Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Color view of Chryse Planiti …
title Color view of Chryse Planitia by the Viking 1 Lander
date 08.30.1976
description Viking 1 Lander image of Chryse Planitia looking over the lander. The large white object at lower left and center, with the American flag on the side, is the radiothermal generator (RTG) cover. The high-gain S-band antenna is at upper right. The view, from 22 N, 50 W, is to the northwest. Chryse Planitia is a wide, low plain covered with large rocks and loose sand and dust. The image was taken on 30 August 1976, a little over a month after landing. (Viking 1 Lander, 12B069) *Image Credit*: NASA
First Mars Surface Photo
Title First Mars Surface Photo
Full Description The image above is the first photograph ever taken from the surface of Mars. It was taken by the Viking 1 lander shortly after it touched down on Mars on July 20, 1976. Part of footpad #2 can be seen in the lower right corner, with sand and dust in the center of it, probably deposited during landing. The next day, color photographs were also taken on the Martian surface. The primary objectives of the Viking missions, which was composed of two spacecraft, were to obtain high-resolution images of the Martian surface, characterize the structure and composition of the atmosphere and surface, and search for evidence of life on Mars.
Date 07/20/1976
NASA Center Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Viking I Spacecraft in Clean …
title Viking I Spacecraft in Cleanroom
description The planetary landing spacecraft Viking, which includes stereo cameras, a weather station, an automated stereo analysis laboratory and a biology instrument that can detect life, under assembly at Martin Marietta Aerospace near Denver, Colorado. This Viking spacecraft will travel more than 460 million miles from Earth to a soft landing on Mars in 1976 to explore the surface and atmosphere of the red planet. Martin Marietta is prime and integration contractor for the Viking mission to NASA's Langley Research Center, Hampton, Virginia. The lander will be powered by two nuclear generators. *Image Credit*: NASA
Salmon Sky
title Salmon Sky
description The boulder-strewn field of red rocks reaches to the horizon nearly two miles from Viking 2 on Mars' Utopian Plain. Scientists believe the colors of the Martian surface and sky inthis photo represent their true colors. Fine particles of red dust have settled on spacecraft surfaces. The salmon color of the sky is caused by dust particles suspended in the atmosphere. Color calibration charts for the cameras are mounted at three locations on the spacecraft. Note the blue starfield and redstripes of the flag. The circular structure at top is the high-gain antenna, pointed toward Earth. Viking 2 landed September 3, 1976 - about 4,600 miles from its twin, Viking 1, which touched down on July 20. *Image Credit*: NASA
Color Mosaic of Olympus Mons …
title Color Mosaic of Olympus Mons on Mars
date 06.22.1978
description Color mosaic of Olympus Mons volcano on Mars from the Viking 1 Orbiter. The mosaic was created using images from orbit 735 taken 22 June 1978. Olympus Mons is about 600 km in diameter and the summit caldera is 24 km above the surrounding plains. The complex aureole terrain is visible at the top of the frame. North is up. (Viking 1 Orbiter MH20N133-735A) *Image Credit*: NASA
Viking Lander 2 (Gerald A. S …
PIA01882
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
Title Viking Lander 2 (Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Station) Imaged from Orbit
Original Caption Released with Image Annotated Version NASA's Viking Lander 2 landed on Mars on Sept. 3, 1976, in Utopia Planitia. The lander, which has a diameter of about 3 meters (10 feet), has been precisely located in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Also, likely locations have been found for the heat shield and back shell. The lander location has been confirmed by overlaying the lander-derived topographic contours on the high-resolution camera's image, which provides an excellent match. Viking Lander 2 was one element of an ambitious mission to study Mars, with a four-spacecraft flotilla consisting of two orbiters and two landers. Four cutouts from this image are shown. The first is an overview showing the relative locations of the lander and candidate back shell and heat shield, and the others are enlargements of each of these components. Large boulders, dunes, and other features visible in Viking Lander 2 images can be located in the high-resolution camera's image. The polygonal pattern of the surface is typical at these latitudes and may be due to the presence of deep subsurface ice. As chance would have it, this image is blurred in some places due to the abrupt motion associated with the restart of the orbiter's high-gain antenna tracking during the very short image exposure. This is the first time after acquiring hundreds of pictures that a High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment image has been unintentionally smeared, overall performance has been excellent. A prime motivation for early viewing of the Viking sites is to calibrate imagery taken from orbit with the data previously acquired by the landers. In particular, determining what sizes of rocks can be seen from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter aids the interpretation of data now being taken to characterize sites for future landers, such as the Phoenix Mars Lander mission to be launched in 2007. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.
Viking Lander 2 (Gerald A. S …
PIA01882
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
Title Viking Lander 2 (Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Station) Imaged from Orbit
Original Caption Released with Image Annotated Version NASA's Viking Lander 2 landed on Mars on Sept. 3, 1976, in Utopia Planitia. The lander, which has a diameter of about 3 meters (10 feet), has been precisely located in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Also, likely locations have been found for the heat shield and back shell. The lander location has been confirmed by overlaying the lander-derived topographic contours on the high-resolution camera's image, which provides an excellent match. Viking Lander 2 was one element of an ambitious mission to study Mars, with a four-spacecraft flotilla consisting of two orbiters and two landers. Four cutouts from this image are shown. The first is an overview showing the relative locations of the lander and candidate back shell and heat shield, and the others are enlargements of each of these components. Large boulders, dunes, and other features visible in Viking Lander 2 images can be located in the high-resolution camera's image. The polygonal pattern of the surface is typical at these latitudes and may be due to the presence of deep subsurface ice. As chance would have it, this image is blurred in some places due to the abrupt motion associated with the restart of the orbiter's high-gain antenna tracking during the very short image exposure. This is the first time after acquiring hundreds of pictures that a High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment image has been unintentionally smeared, overall performance has been excellent. A prime motivation for early viewing of the Viking sites is to calibrate imagery taken from orbit with the data previously acquired by the landers. In particular, determining what sizes of rocks can be seen from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter aids the interpretation of data now being taken to characterize sites for future landers, such as the Phoenix Mars Lander mission to be launched in 2007. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.
Viking Lander 2 (Gerald A. S …
PIA01882
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
Title Viking Lander 2 (Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Station) Imaged from Orbit
Original Caption Released with Image Annotated Version NASA's Viking Lander 2 landed on Mars on Sept. 3, 1976, in Utopia Planitia. The lander, which has a diameter of about 3 meters (10 feet), has been precisely located in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Also, likely locations have been found for the heat shield and back shell. The lander location has been confirmed by overlaying the lander-derived topographic contours on the high-resolution camera's image, which provides an excellent match. Viking Lander 2 was one element of an ambitious mission to study Mars, with a four-spacecraft flotilla consisting of two orbiters and two landers. Four cutouts from this image are shown. The first is an overview showing the relative locations of the lander and candidate back shell and heat shield, and the others are enlargements of each of these components. Large boulders, dunes, and other features visible in Viking Lander 2 images can be located in the high-resolution camera's image. The polygonal pattern of the surface is typical at these latitudes and may be due to the presence of deep subsurface ice. As chance would have it, this image is blurred in some places due to the abrupt motion associated with the restart of the orbiter's high-gain antenna tracking during the very short image exposure. This is the first time after acquiring hundreds of pictures that a High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment image has been unintentionally smeared, overall performance has been excellent. A prime motivation for early viewing of the Viking sites is to calibrate imagery taken from orbit with the data previously acquired by the landers. In particular, determining what sizes of rocks can be seen from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter aids the interpretation of data now being taken to characterize sites for future landers, such as the Phoenix Mars Lander mission to be launched in 2007. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.
Viking Lander 2 (Gerald A. S …
PIA01882
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
Title Viking Lander 2 (Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Station) Imaged from Orbit
Original Caption Released with Image Annotated Version NASA's Viking Lander 2 landed on Mars on Sept. 3, 1976, in Utopia Planitia. The lander, which has a diameter of about 3 meters (10 feet), has been precisely located in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Also, likely locations have been found for the heat shield and back shell. The lander location has been confirmed by overlaying the lander-derived topographic contours on the high-resolution camera's image, which provides an excellent match. Viking Lander 2 was one element of an ambitious mission to study Mars, with a four-spacecraft flotilla consisting of two orbiters and two landers. Four cutouts from this image are shown. The first is an overview showing the relative locations of the lander and candidate back shell and heat shield, and the others are enlargements of each of these components. Large boulders, dunes, and other features visible in Viking Lander 2 images can be located in the high-resolution camera's image. The polygonal pattern of the surface is typical at these latitudes and may be due to the presence of deep subsurface ice. As chance would have it, this image is blurred in some places due to the abrupt motion associated with the restart of the orbiter's high-gain antenna tracking during the very short image exposure. This is the first time after acquiring hundreds of pictures that a High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment image has been unintentionally smeared, overall performance has been excellent. A prime motivation for early viewing of the Viking sites is to calibrate imagery taken from orbit with the data previously acquired by the landers. In particular, determining what sizes of rocks can be seen from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter aids the interpretation of data now being taken to characterize sites for future landers, such as the Phoenix Mars Lander mission to be launched in 2007. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.
Viking Lander 2 (Gerald A. S …
PIA01882
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
Title Viking Lander 2 (Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Station) Imaged from Orbit
Original Caption Released with Image Annotated Version NASA's Viking Lander 2 landed on Mars on Sept. 3, 1976, in Utopia Planitia. The lander, which has a diameter of about 3 meters (10 feet), has been precisely located in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Also, likely locations have been found for the heat shield and back shell. The lander location has been confirmed by overlaying the lander-derived topographic contours on the high-resolution camera's image, which provides an excellent match. Viking Lander 2 was one element of an ambitious mission to study Mars, with a four-spacecraft flotilla consisting of two orbiters and two landers. Four cutouts from this image are shown. The first is an overview showing the relative locations of the lander and candidate back shell and heat shield, and the others are enlargements of each of these components. Large boulders, dunes, and other features visible in Viking Lander 2 images can be located in the high-resolution camera's image. The polygonal pattern of the surface is typical at these latitudes and may be due to the presence of deep subsurface ice. As chance would have it, this image is blurred in some places due to the abrupt motion associated with the restart of the orbiter's high-gain antenna tracking during the very short image exposure. This is the first time after acquiring hundreds of pictures that a High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment image has been unintentionally smeared, overall performance has been excellent. A prime motivation for early viewing of the Viking sites is to calibrate imagery taken from orbit with the data previously acquired by the landers. In particular, determining what sizes of rocks can be seen from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter aids the interpretation of data now being taken to characterize sites for future landers, such as the Phoenix Mars Lander mission to be launched in 2007. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.
Viking 1 Picture of the Mart …
Title Viking 1 Picture of the Martian Surface
Full Description Viking 1 obtained this color picture of the Martian surface and sky on July 24, 1976. Camera number 1 facing southeast captured part of the gray structured spacecraft in the foreground. A bright orange cable leads to one of the descent rocket engines. Orange-red surface materials cover most of the surface, apparently forming a thin veneer over dark bedrock. A zone of large dark boulders is present in the far-field. The sky has a reddish cast, which is probably due to scattering and reflection from reddish sediment suspended in the lower atmosphere. This picture had been radiometrically calibrated, using information on camera performance acquired before launch. Although the colors are very vivid the fidelity with which the bright orange cable is reproduced suggests the intense colors of the Martian surface.
Date 07/26/1976
NASA Center Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Viking 1's 30th!
PIA08616
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title Viking 1's 30th!
Original Caption Released with Image 20 July 2006 Viking 1 landed 30 years ago today, on 20 July 1976. It was the first U.S. landing on Mars and a very exciting time for Mars exploration. Since that time, four additional spacecraft have successfully landed on Mars and conducted their science investigations. Today, new missions to the martian surface are in the works, with landings expected in 2008 (Phoenix) and 2010 (Mars Science Laboratory). The Viking 1 lander is difficult to see in Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images. The western Chryse Planitia landing site is often obscured by dust hazes and occasional storms, especially during northern winter, which would otherwise be the best time to look for the lander from orbit because the sun casts longer shadows in winter. When the atmosphere is clearest, in portions of the spring and summer, the sun is higher in the sky as seen from MGS's orbit. The spacecraft always passes over the landing site region around 2 p.m. in the afternoon. The suite of pictures shown here describes the best MOC view of the landing site. These were previously released in May 2005 [ http://www.msss.com/mars_images/moc/2005/05/09/ ], but the MOC team felt that 20 July 2006 is an appropriate time to review this story. The first figure (left) visually tells how the lander was found. The initial observations of the location of Viking 1, as originally determined by members of the Viking science team based on sightlines to various crater rims seen in the lander images (black lines), did not show the detailed features we knew from the lander pictures (middle) to be in the area. Using geodetic measurements, the late Merton Davies of the RAND Corporation, a MGS MOC Co-Investigator, suggested that we should image areas to the east and north of where Viking 1 was thought to be. Timothy J. Parker of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Pasadena, California), using sightlines to crater rims seen in the lander images (white lines), deduced a location very close to that suggested by Davies. The MOC image of that location, acquired in 2003, showed additional near-field features (rocks associated with a nearby crater) that closely matched the Viking 1 images (center and right frame, where B denotes "Volkswagen Rock"). The inset (upper right) is an enlargement that shows the location of the Viking 1 lander. The MOC image of the Viking 1 lander site (right) was acquired during a test of the MGS Pitch and Roll Observation (PROTO) technique conducted on 11 May 2003. (Following initial tests, the "c" part of "cPROTO" was begun by adding compensation for the motion of the planet to the technique). The PROTO or cPROTO approach allows MOC to obtain images with better than its nominal 1.5 meters (5 ft) per pixel resolution. The image shown here (right) was map projected at 50 centimeters (~20 inches) per pixel. The full 11 May 2003 image can be viewed in the MOC Gallery [ http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/ ], it is image, R05-00966 [ http://www.msss.com/moc_gallery/r03_r09/images/R05/R0500966.html ]. In addition to celebrating the 30th anniversary of the first U.S. robotic Mars landing, we note that 20 July is also the 37th anniversary of the first human landing on the Moon, on 20 July 1969. There are two dates that are most sacred in the space business (three, if you count the 4 October 1957 launch of Sputnik 1). The other date is 12 April, which celebrates the 1961 launch of the first human in space, and the 1981 launch of the first space shuttle orbiter.
Viking Lander 1 (Thomas A. M …
PIA01881
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
Title Viking Lander 1 (Thomas A. Mutch Memorial Station) Imaged from Orbit
Original Caption Released with Image Annotated Version NASA's Viking Lander 1 touched down in western Chryse Planitia on July 20, 1976. The lander, which has a diameter of about 3 meters (10 feet), has been precisely located in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Also, likely locations have been found for the heat shield, back shell, and parachute attached to the back shell. The lander location has been confirmed by overlaying the lander-derived topographic contours on the high-resolution camera's image, which provides an excellent match. Viking Lander 1 was one element of an ambitious mission to study Mars, with a four-spacecraft flotilla consisting of two orbiters and two landers. Four cutouts from this image are shown. The first is an overview showing the relative locations of the lander and candidate back shell and heat shield, and the others are enlargements of each of these components. Large boulders, dunes, and other features visible in Lander images can be located in the image. A prime motivation for early viewing of these Viking sites is to calibrate imagery taken from orbit with the data previously acquired by the landers. In particular, determining what sizes of rocks can be seen from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter aids the interpretation of data now being taken to characterize sites for future landers, such as the Phoenix Mars Lander mission to be launched in 2007. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.
Viking Lander 1 (Thomas A. M …
PIA01881
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
Title Viking Lander 1 (Thomas A. Mutch Memorial Station) Imaged from Orbit
Original Caption Released with Image Annotated Version NASA's Viking Lander 1 touched down in western Chryse Planitia on July 20, 1976. The lander, which has a diameter of about 3 meters (10 feet), has been precisely located in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Also, likely locations have been found for the heat shield, back shell, and parachute attached to the back shell. The lander location has been confirmed by overlaying the lander-derived topographic contours on the high-resolution camera's image, which provides an excellent match. Viking Lander 1 was one element of an ambitious mission to study Mars, with a four-spacecraft flotilla consisting of two orbiters and two landers. Four cutouts from this image are shown. The first is an overview showing the relative locations of the lander and candidate back shell and heat shield, and the others are enlargements of each of these components. Large boulders, dunes, and other features visible in Lander images can be located in the image. A prime motivation for early viewing of these Viking sites is to calibrate imagery taken from orbit with the data previously acquired by the landers. In particular, determining what sizes of rocks can be seen from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter aids the interpretation of data now being taken to characterize sites for future landers, such as the Phoenix Mars Lander mission to be launched in 2007. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.
Viking Lander 1 (Thomas A. M …
PIA01881
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
Title Viking Lander 1 (Thomas A. Mutch Memorial Station) Imaged from Orbit
Original Caption Released with Image Annotated Version NASA's Viking Lander 1 touched down in western Chryse Planitia on July 20, 1976. The lander, which has a diameter of about 3 meters (10 feet), has been precisely located in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Also, likely locations have been found for the heat shield, back shell, and parachute attached to the back shell. The lander location has been confirmed by overlaying the lander-derived topographic contours on the high-resolution camera's image, which provides an excellent match. Viking Lander 1 was one element of an ambitious mission to study Mars, with a four-spacecraft flotilla consisting of two orbiters and two landers. Four cutouts from this image are shown. The first is an overview showing the relative locations of the lander and candidate back shell and heat shield, and the others are enlargements of each of these components. Large boulders, dunes, and other features visible in Lander images can be located in the image. A prime motivation for early viewing of these Viking sites is to calibrate imagery taken from orbit with the data previously acquired by the landers. In particular, determining what sizes of rocks can be seen from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter aids the interpretation of data now being taken to characterize sites for future landers, such as the Phoenix Mars Lander mission to be launched in 2007. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.
Viking Lander 1 (Thomas A. M …
PIA01881
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
Title Viking Lander 1 (Thomas A. Mutch Memorial Station) Imaged from Orbit
Original Caption Released with Image Annotated Version NASA's Viking Lander 1 touched down in western Chryse Planitia on July 20, 1976. The lander, which has a diameter of about 3 meters (10 feet), has been precisely located in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Also, likely locations have been found for the heat shield, back shell, and parachute attached to the back shell. The lander location has been confirmed by overlaying the lander-derived topographic contours on the high-resolution camera's image, which provides an excellent match. Viking Lander 1 was one element of an ambitious mission to study Mars, with a four-spacecraft flotilla consisting of two orbiters and two landers. Four cutouts from this image are shown. The first is an overview showing the relative locations of the lander and candidate back shell and heat shield, and the others are enlargements of each of these components. Large boulders, dunes, and other features visible in Lander images can be located in the image. A prime motivation for early viewing of these Viking sites is to calibrate imagery taken from orbit with the data previously acquired by the landers. In particular, determining what sizes of rocks can be seen from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter aids the interpretation of data now being taken to characterize sites for future landers, such as the Phoenix Mars Lander mission to be launched in 2007. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.
Viking Lander 1 (Thomas A. M …
PIA01881
Sol (our sun)
HiRISE
Title Viking Lander 1 (Thomas A. Mutch Memorial Station) Imaged from Orbit
Original Caption Released with Image Annotated Version NASA's Viking Lander 1 touched down in western Chryse Planitia on July 20, 1976. The lander, which has a diameter of about 3 meters (10 feet), has been precisely located in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Also, likely locations have been found for the heat shield, back shell, and parachute attached to the back shell. The lander location has been confirmed by overlaying the lander-derived topographic contours on the high-resolution camera's image, which provides an excellent match. Viking Lander 1 was one element of an ambitious mission to study Mars, with a four-spacecraft flotilla consisting of two orbiters and two landers. Four cutouts from this image are shown. The first is an overview showing the relative locations of the lander and candidate back shell and heat shield, and the others are enlargements of each of these components. Large boulders, dunes, and other features visible in Lander images can be located in the image. A prime motivation for early viewing of these Viking sites is to calibrate imagery taken from orbit with the data previously acquired by the landers. In particular, determining what sizes of rocks can be seen from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter aids the interpretation of data now being taken to characterize sites for future landers, such as the Phoenix Mars Lander mission to be launched in 2007. Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro [ http://www.nasa.gov/mro ] or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu [ http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu ]. For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, http://www.nasa.gov [ http://www.nasa.gov ]. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.
First Image of Mars
title First Image of Mars
date 07.20.1976
description The image above is the first photograph ever taken from the surface of Mars. It was taken by the Viking 1 lander shortly after it touched down on Mars on July 20, 1976. Part of footpad #2 can be seen in the lower right corner, with sand and dust in the center of it, probably deposited during landing. The next day, color photographs were also taken on the Martian surface. The primary objectives of the Viking missions, which was composed of two spacecraft, were to obtain high-resolution images of the Martian surface, characterize the structure and composition of the atmosphere and surface, and search for evidence of life on Mars.
Global Mosaic of Mars Center …
title Global Mosaic of Mars Centered on Valles Marineris
date 02.22.1980
description Global mosaic of 102 Viking 1 Orbiter images of Mars taken on orbit 1,334, 22 February 1980. The images are projected into point perspective, representing what a viewer would see from a spacecraft at an altitude of 2,500 km. At center is Valles Marineris, over 3000 km long and up to 8 km deep. Note the channels running up (north) from the central and eastern portions of Valles Marineris to the dark area, Acidalic Planitia, at upper right. At left are the three Tharsis volcanoes and to the south is ancient, heavily impacted terrain. (Viking 1 Orbiter, MG07S078-334SP) *Image Credit*: NASA
Uranius Tholus
title Uranius Tholus
description This Viking orbiter image shows Uranius Tholus, one of the smaller volcanos in the Tharsis region of Mars. It is only 60 kilometers across and 3 kilometers higher than the surrounding plains. In comparison with Olympus Mons, the greater number of impact craters near Uranius Tholus implies that it is substantially older than Olympus Mons. One such crater in the top center of the image has been flooded by lava from the surrounding plains. Because this crater must have formed after the volcano but before the plains, the plains must be younger than the volcano. (This is an example of using superposition relationships to determine the relative age of a series of features by determining which features lie on top of other features.) This area is believed to be more than 3 billion years old. This image was taken by NASA's Viking 1 orbiter in 1977. *Image Credit*: NASA
Icy Mars
title Icy Mars
date 05.18.1979
description This high resolution photo of the surface of Mars was taken by Viking Lander 2 at its Utopia Planitia landing site on May 18, 1979, and relayed to Earth by Orbiter 1 on June 7th. It shows a thin coating of water ice on the rocks and soil. The time of the frost appearance corresponds almost exactly with the build up of frost one Martian year (23 Earth Months) ago. *Image Credit*: NASA
Evidence for Recent Liquid W …
Title Evidence for Recent Liquid Water on Mars
Full Description Gullies eroded into the wall of a meteor impact crater in Noachis Terra. This high resolution view (top left) from the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) shows channels and associated aprons of debris that are interpreted to have formed by groundwater seepage, surface runoff, and debris flow. The lack of small craters superimposed on the channels and apron deposits indicates that these features are geologically young. It is possible that these gullies indicate that liquid water is present within the martian subsurface today. The MOC image was acquired on September 28, 1999. The scene covers an area approximately 3 kilometers (1.9 miles) wide by 6.7 km (4.1 mi) high (note, the aspect ratio is 1.5 to 1.0). Sunlight illuminates this area from the upper left. The image is located near 54.8S, 342.5W. The context image (above) shows the location of the MOC image on the south-facing wall of an impact crater approximately 20 kilometers (12 miles) in diameter. The context picture was obtained by the Viking 1 orbiter in 1980 and is illuminated from the upper left. The large mound on the floor of the crater in the context view is a sand dune field. The Mars Orbiter Camera high resolution images are taken black-and-white (grayscale), the color seen here has been synthesized from the colors of Mars observed by the MOC wide angle cameras and by the Viking Orbiters in the late 1970s. A brief description of how the color was generated: The MOC narrow angle camera only takes grayscale (black and white) pictures. To create the color versions seen here, we have taken much lower resolution red and blue images acquired by the MOC's wide angle cameras, and by the Viking Orbiter cameras in the 1970s, synthesized a green image by averaging red and blue, and created a pallete of colors that represent the range of colors on Mars. We then use a relationship that correlates color and brightness to assign a color to each gray level. This is only a crude approximation of martian color. It is likely Mars would not look like this to a human observer at Mars.
Date 06/22/2000
NASA Center Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Viking 1 on Mars
title Viking 1 on Mars
date 07.23.1976
description Sand dunes and large rocks are revealed in this panoramic image of Mars taken by Viking 1's Camera 1. The horizon is approximately 3 kilometers (2 miles) away. The late afternoon sun is high in the sky over the left side of the picture. The support struts of the S-band high-gain antenna extends to the top of the picture. The American flags are located on the two RTG (Radioisotope Thermoeletric Generator) wind screens. In the middle third of the picture the rocky surface is covered by thick deposits of wind-blown material, forming numerous dunes. At the center of the picture on the horizon are two low hills which may be part of the rim of the distant crater. Two very large rocks are visible in the middle ground, the nearer one is 3 meters (10 feet) in diameter and is 8 meters (25 feets) from the spacecraft. A cloud layer is visible halfway between the horizon and the top of the picture. The meterology boom is located right of center. Behind it, the "White Mesa" is visible. In the nearer ground are numerous rocks about 10cm (4 inches) across, with horse-shoe shaped scour marks on their upwind side and wind tails in their lee. The fine grained material in the front of them contains small pits formed by impact of material kicked out by the lander's descent rocket engines. *Image Credit*: NASA
Wind Drifts at Viking 1 Land …
PIA00990
Sol (our sun)
Title Wind Drifts at Viking 1 Landing Site
Original Caption Released with Image This image is of so-called wind drifts seen at the Viking 1 landing site. These are somewhat different from the features seen at the Pathfinder site in two important ways. 1) These landforms have no apparent slip-or avalanche-face as do both terrestrial dunes and the Pathfinder features, and may represent deposits of sediment falling from the air, as opposed to dune sand, which "hops" or saltates along the ground, 2) these features may indicate erosion on one side, because of the layering and apparent scouring on their right sides. They may, therefore have been deposited by a wind moving left to right, partly or weakly cemented or solidified by surface processes at some later time, then eroded by a second wind (right to left), exposing their internal structure. Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
The 'Face on Mars'
title The 'Face on Mars'
Description Shortly after midnight Sunday morning (5 April 1998 12:39 AM PST), the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft successfully acquired a high resolution image of the 'Face on Mars' feature in the Cydonia region. The image was transmitted to Earth on Sunday, and retrieved from the mission computer data base Monday morning (6 April 1998). The image was processed at the Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) facility 9:15 AM and the raw image immediately transferred to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for release to the Internet. The images shown here were subsequently processed at MSSS. The picture was acquired 375 seconds after the spacecraft's 220th close approach to Mars. At that time, the 'Face', located at approximately 40.8° N, 9.6° W, was 275 miles (444 km) from the spacecraft. The 'morning' sun was 25° above the horizon. The picture has a resolution of 14.1 feet (4.3 meters) per pixel, making it ten times higher resolution than the best previous image of the feature, which was taken by the Viking Mission in the mid-1970's. The full image covers an area 2.7 miles (4.4 km) wide and 25.7 miles (41.5 km) long. In this comparison, the best Viking image has been enlarged to 3.3 times its original resolution, and the MOC image has been decreased by a similar 3.3 times, creating images of roughly the same size. In addition, the MOC images have been geometrically transformed to a more overhead projection (different from the mercator map projection of PIA01440 & 1441) for ease of comparison with the Viking image. The left image is a portion of Viking Orbiter 1 frame 070A13, the middle image is a portion of MOC frame shown normally, and the right image is the same MOC frame but with the brightness inverted to simulate the approximate lighting conditions of the Viking image. Photo Credit: NASA/JPL/Malin Space Science Systems
Mars Orbiter Camera Views th …
PIA01442
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title Mars Orbiter Camera Views the "Face on Mars" - Comparison with Viking
Original Caption Released with Image Shortly after midnight Sunday morning (5 April 1998 12:39 AM PST), the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft successfully acquired a high resolution image of the "Face on Mars" feature in the Cydonia region. The image was transmitted to Earth on Sunday, and retrieved from the mission computer data base Monday morning (6 April 1998). The image was processed at the Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) facility 9:15 AM and the raw image immediately transferred to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for release to the Internet. The images shown here were subsequently processed at MSSS. The picture was acquired 375 seconds after the spacecraft's 220th close approach to Mars. At that time, the "Face", located at approximately 40.8° N, 9.6° W, was 275 miles (444 km) from the spacecraft. The "morning" sun was 25° above the horizon. The picture has a resolution of 14.1 feet (4.3 meters) per pixel, making it ten times higher resolution than the best previous image of the feature, which was taken by the Viking Mission in the mid-1970's. The full image covers an area 2.7 miles (4.4 km) wide and 25.7 miles (41.5 km) long. In this comparison, the best Viking image has been enlarged to 3.3 times its original resolution, and the MOC image has been decreased by a similar 3.3 times, creating images of roughly the same size. In addition, the MOC images have been geometrically transformed to a more overhead projection (different from the mercator map projection of PIA01440 & 1441) for ease of comparison with the Viking image. The left image is a portion of Viking Orbiter 1 frame 070A13, the middle image is a portion of MOC frame shown normally, and the right image is the same MOC frame but with the brightness inverted to simulate the approximate lighting conditions of the Viking image. Processing Image processing has been applied to the images in order to improve the visibility of features. This processing included the following steps: * The image was processed to remove the sensitivity differences between adjacent picture elements (calibrated). This removes the vertical streaking. * The contrast and brightness of the image was adjusted, and "filters" were applied to enhance detail at several scales. * The image was then geometrically warped to meet the computed position information for a mercator-type map. This corrected for the left-right flip, and the non-vertical viewing angle (about 45° from vertical), but also introduced some vertical "elongation" of the image for the same reason Greenland looks larger than Africa on a mercator map of the Earth. * A section of the image, containing the "Face" and a couple of nearly impact craters and hills, was "cut" out of the full image and reproduced separately. See PIA01440-1442 for additional processing steps. Also see PIA01236 for the raw image. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer, mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.
Mars Orbiter Camera Views th …
PIA01439
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title Mars Orbiter Camera Views the "Face on Mars" - Best View from Viking
Original Caption Released with Image Shortly after midnight Sunday morning (5 April 1998 12:39 AM PST), the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) on the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) spacecraft successfully acquired a high resolution image of the "Face on Mars" feature in the Cydonia region. The image was transmitted to Earth on Sunday, and retrieved from the mission computer data base Monday morning (6 April 1998). The image was processed at the Malin Space Science Systems (MSSS) facility 9:15 AM and the raw image immediately transferred to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for release to the Internet. The images shown here were subsequently processed at MSSS. The picture was acquired 375 seconds after the spacecraft's 220th close approach to Mars. At that time, the "Face", located at approximately 40.8° N, 9.6° W, was 275 miles (444 km) from the spacecraft. The "morning" sun was 25° above the horizon. The picture has a resolution of 14.1 feet (4.3 meters) per pixel, making it ten times higher resolution than the best previous image of the feature, which was taken by the Viking Mission in the mid-1970's. The full image covers an area 2.7 miles (4.4 km) wide and 25.7 miles (41.5 km) long. This Viking Orbiter image is one of the best Viking pictures of the area Cydonia where the "Face" is located. Marked on the image are the "footprint" of the high resolution (narrow angle) Mars Orbiter Camera image and the area seen in enlarged views (dashed box). See PIA01440-1442 for these images in raw and processed form. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.
Mariner 8
title Mariner 8
date 05.09.1971
description Mariner-71H (also called Mariner-H) was the first of a pair of American spacecraft intended to explore the physical and dynamic characteristics of Mars from Martian orbit. The overall goals of the series were to search for an environment that could support life, to collect data on the origin and evolution of the planet, to gather information on planetary physics, geology, planetology, and cosmology, and to provide data that could aid future spacecraft such as the Viking Landers. Launch of Mariner-71H was nominal until just after separation of the Centaur upper stage, when a malfunction occurred in the stage's flightcontrol system, leading to loss of pitch control at an altitude of 148 kilometers at T+4.7 minutes. As a result, the stack began to tumble and the Centaur engines shut down. The stage and its payload reentered Earth's atmosphere approximately 1,500 kilometers downrange from the launch site.
Ancient Martian Highlands
title Ancient Martian Highlands
description The meteorite ALH 84001, where possible traces of martian life have been found, is one of the oldest rocks ever studied The meteorite probably came from one of the oldest regions on Mars. These ancient parts of Mars, most of its southern hemisphere, are covered with asteroid impact craters, like this area in the bright region of Noachis. This part of Mars is as cratered as the Moon's highlands and is about the same age, more than 4 billion years old. The biggest crater here is Proctor, named for a nineteenth-century British astronomer. The dark splotches inside Proctor and many other craters are fields of sand dunes. In high-resolution images, these linear dunes look like waves on the ocean, but they actually show how dry and desolate Mars is now. This image was taken by the Viking 1 orbiter in 1977. *Image Credit*: NASA, Lunar and Planetary Institute
Ulysses Patera
title Ulysses Patera
description This feature is an example of a class of volcanos that are considerably smaller than either the broad shield volcanos or Alba Patera. The summit consists of a single, very circular caldera with a smooth floor that predates the ejecta from two large impact craters. The lower flanks of the volcano, including portions of the impact craters, have been buried by the material that makes up the surrounding plains. This superpositional relationship indicates that the plains were emplaced subsequent to both the volcano and large impact craters on the volcano. The plains are probably made up of lava supplied from the Tharsis Montes that flowed down the sides of the broad uplift associated with the Tharsis shields. Both the plains and the volcano are cut by a graben (a paired set of linear faults), indicating tectonic activity subsequent to the emplacement of the plains. This image was taken by NASA's Viking 2 orbiter in 1977. *Image Credit*: NASA
Martian Landslide
title Martian Landslide
description Although Valles Marineris originated as a tectonic structure, it has been modified by other processes. This image shows a close-up view of a landslide on the south wall of Valles Marineris. This landslide partially removed the rim of the crater that is on the plateau adjacent to Valles Marineris. Note the texture of the landslide deposit where it flowed across the floor of Valles Marineris. Several distinct layers can be seen in the walls of the trough. These layers may be regions of distinct chemical composition or mechanical properties in the martian crust. This image is 60 kilometers across. This image was taken by the Viking 1 orbiter in 1977. *Image Credit*: NASA
Rampart Crater
title Rampart Crater
description The ejecta deposits around Mars' impact crater Yuty (18 kilometers in diameter) consist of many overlapping lobes. Craters with this type of ejecta deposit are known as rampart craters. This type of ejecta morphology is characteristic of many craters at equatorial and midlatitudes on Mars, but is unlike that seen around small craters on the Moon. This style of ejecta deposit is believed to form when an impacting object rapidly melts ice in the subsurface. The presence of liquid water in the ejected material allows it to flow along the surface, giving the ejecta blanket its characteristic, fluidized appearance. This image was taken in 1977 by the Viking 1 orbiter. *Image Credit*: NASA
Titan Vs. Mars
Description Here on the Gallery page you can find the very latest images, videos and products from the Cassini-Huygens mission to Saturn, including the spectacular launch, spacecraft assembly and the exciting trip to Saturn.
Full Description This image compares streaked terrain on Titan and Mars. At left is an image from Cassini of the region where the Huygens probe is expected to land. At right is a picture from NASA's Viking 1 orbiter, showing streaks on Mars caused by winds blowing from right to left. The streaks at the Huygens landing site were formed by some kind of fluid, possibly wind, moving from the upper left to lower right (west to east). The Cassini image was taken on Oct. 26, 2004, by the spacecraft's imaging science subsystem using near-infrared filters. North is 45 degrees to the right of vertical. The scale of this image is 0.83 kilometers (.52 miles) per pixel. The Cassini-Huygens mission is a cooperative project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Cassini-Huygens mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Cassini orbiter and its two onboard cameras were designed, developed and assembled at JPL. The imaging team is based at the Space Science Institute, Boulder, Colo. For the latest news about the Cassini-Huygens mission visit http://www.nasa.gov/cassini. For more information about the mission visit http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and the Cassini imaging team home page, http://ciclops.org . Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute
Solar System Montage
Title Solar System Montage
Full Description This is a montage of planetary images taken by spacecraft managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, CA. Included are (from top to bottom) images of Mercury, Venus, Earth (and Moon), Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. The spacecraft responsible for these images are as follows: the Mercury image was taken by Mariner 10, the Venus image by Magellan, the Earth image by Galileo, the Mars image by Viking, and the Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune images by Voyager. Pluto is not shown as no spacecraft has yet visited it. The inner planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Moon, and Mars) are roughly to scale to each other, the outer planets (Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune) are roughly to scale to each other. Actual diameters are given below: Sun 1,390,000 km Mercury 4,879 km Venus 12,104 km Earth 12,756 km Moon 3,475 km Mars 6,794 km Jupiter 142.984 km Saturn 120,536 km Uranus 51,118 km Neptune 49,528 km Pluto 2,390 km
Date 04/09/1999
NASA Center Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Detailed View of Cliff-face …
PIA01479
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title Detailed View of Cliff-face in the North Polar Layered Deposits
Original Caption Released with Image On Earth, geologists use layers of rock to "read" the history of our planet. Where rocks were initially formed as layers of sediment, the historic record of Earth is deciphered by knowing that older layers are found beneath the younger layers. Scientists investigating changes in Earth's climate over the past few million years also use this principle to examine cores of ice from Greenland and Antarctica. Layered rock and layered polar deposits on Mars may also preserve a comparable record of that planet's geologic and environmental history. The martian north and south polar regions are covered by large areas of layered deposits. Since their discovery in the early 1970's, these polar layered deposits have been cited as the best evidence that the martian climate experiences cyclic changes over time. It was proposed that detailed investigation of the polar layers ("e.g.,", by landers and/or human beings) would reveal a climate record of Mars in much the same way that ice cores from Antarctica are used to study past climates on Earth. On January 3, 1999, NASA's Mars Polar Lander and Deep Space 2 Penetrators will launch on a journey to study the upper layers of these deposits in the martian southern hemisphere. Meanwhile, investigation of the north polar layered deposits has advanced significantly this year with the acquisition of MGS data. The Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter acquired new topographic profiles over the north polar deposits in June and early July, 1998, and dozens of new high resolution images were taken by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) from mid-July to mid-September, 1998. When it was proposed to NASA in 1985, one of the original objectives of MOC was to determine whether the polar layered deposits--then thought to consist of 10 to 100 layers each between 10 and 100 meters (33 to 330 feet) thick--have more and thinner layers in them. The layers were proposed to have formed by slow accumulation of dust and ice--perhaps only 100 micrometers (0.004 inches) per year. A layer 10 meters (33 feet) thick would take 100,000 years to accumulate, roughly equal to the timescale of climate changes predicted by computer models. The image shown here (right image) was taken at 11:52 p.m. PDT on July 30, 1998, near the start of the 461st orbit of Mars Global Surveyor. The picture shows a slope along the edge of the permanent north polar cap of Mars that has dozens of layers exposed in it. The image shows many more layers than were visible to the Viking Orbiters in the 1970s (left images). The layers appear to have different thicknesses (some thinner than 10 meters (33 feet)) and different physical expressions. Some of the layers form steeper slopes than others, suggesting that they are more resistant to erosion. The more resistant layers might indicate that a cement (possibly ice) is present, making those layers stronger. All of the layers appear to have a rough texture that might be the result of erosion and/or redistribution of sediment and polar ice on the slope surface. The presence of many more layers than were seen by Viking is an important and encouraging clue that suggests that future investigation of polar layered deposits by landers and, perhaps some day, by human explorers, will eventually lead to a better understanding of the of the polar regions and the climate history recorded there. Our view of these deposits will be much improved--starting in late March 1999--when the Mapping Phase of the MGS mission begins, and MOC will be able to obtain images with resolutions of 1.5 meters (5 feet) per pixel. [The Viking Images (left)]: Regional and local context of MOC image 46103. The small figure in the upper right corner is a map of the north polar region, centered on the pole with 0° longitude located in the lower middle of the frame. A small black box within the polar map indicates, the location of the Viking Orbiter 2 image used here for local context. The Viking image, 560b60, was taken in March 1978, toward the end of Northern Spring. The thin strip superposed on the Viking image is MOC image 46103, reduced in size to mark its placement relative to the Viking context image. The black box on the MOC image shows the location of the subframe highlighted here (right image). Illumination is from the left in the Viking image. The 10 kilometer scale bar also represents approximately 6.2 miles. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.
Evidence for Recent Liquid W …
Title Evidence for Recent Liquid Water on Mars
Full Description This image, acquired by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) in May 2000 shows numerous examples of martian gullies that all start--or head--in a specific layer roughly a hundred meters beneath the surface of Mars. These features are located on the south-facing wall of a trough in the Gorgonum Chaos region, an area found to have many examples of gullies proposed to have formed by seepage and runoff of liquid water in recent martian times. The layer from which the gullies emanate has recessed backward to form an overhang beneath a harder layer of rock. The larger gullies have formed an alcove--an area above the overhang from which debris has collapsed to leave a dark-toned scar. Below the layer of seepage is found a dark, narrow channel that runs down the slope to an apron of debris. The small, bright, parallel features at the base of the cliff at the center-right of the picture is a series of large windblown ripples. Although the dark tone of the alcoves and channels in this image is not likely to be the result of wet ground (the contrast in this image has been enhanced), it does suggest that water has seeped out of the ground and moved down the slope quite recently. Sharp contrasts between dark and light areas are hard to maintain on Mars for very long periods of time because dust tends to coat surfaces and reduce brightness differences. To keep dust from settling on a surface, it has to have undergone some process of erosion (wind, landslides, water runoff) relatively recently. There is no way to know how recent this activity was, but educated guesses center between a few to tens of years, and it is entirely possible that the area shown in this image has water seeping out of the ground today. Centered near 37.9S, 170.2W, sunlight illuminates the MOC image from the upper left, north is toward the upper right. The context view above is from the Viking 1 orbiter and was acquired in 1977. The Viking picture is illuminated from the upper right, north is up. The small white box in the context frame shows the location of the high resolution MOC view.
Date 06/22/2000
NASA Center Jet Propulsion Laboratory
MOC Providing Clues For Futu …
PIA02064
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title MOC Providing Clues For Future Landing Site Selection
Original Caption Released with Image One of the original objectives of the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) when it was proposed to NASA in 1985 was to take pictures that would be used to assess future spacecraft landing sites. Images obtained by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) MOC since March 1999 provide the highest resolution views (1.5 to 4.5 meters (5-15 ft) per pixel) of the planet ever seen. Over the past several months, MOC science personnel have been examining these new data to develop a general view of what Mars is like at the meter-scale within the general latitude and elevation range that will be accessible to the Mars Surveyor 2001 lander [ http://marsweb.jpl.nasa.gov/2001/index.html ]. (i.e., about 5°N to 15°S latitude and lower than 2.5 km (1.6 mi) elevation). Because MOC images only cover a tiny fraction of one percent of the surface of Mars, we have been seeking general correlations that exist between what is seen in a MOC high-resolution image and what can be seen in the lower-resolution Viking and Mariner 9 images taken in 1972 and 1976-1980. The most important results thus far are illustrated in the four pictures above. Nearly 70% of the terrain examined follows two very simple, but unexpected "rules" -- (1) If the terrain appears rugged at the hundreds of meters to kilometers scale in a Viking or Mariner image, then it will appear smooth at the meter-scale in a MOC image. (2) If the terrain appears to be smooth in the Viking or Mariner image, it will be rough in the meter-scale MOC image. The image pair above illustrates the second "rule." Areas that appear to be smooth in the Viking and Mariner images--as in MOC2-138a (left)--tend to look quite rough at the meter scale in MOC images like MOC2-138b (right). The rough texture in this particular case was probably cause by wind erosion. The Viking image shown here is illuminated from the upper right, while the MOC image is illuminated from the upper left. The MOC image was taken in April 1999, while the Viking image was obtained in the late 1970s. More details about this work are provided in an extended abstract (in Acrobat® PDF format) by M.C. Malin, K. S. Edgett, and T. J. Parker, "Characterization of terrain in the Mars Surveyor 2001 landing site latitude and elevation region using Mapping Phase Mars Global Surveyor MOC images," [ http://www.msss.com/mars/global_surveyor/camera/images/6_25_99_landingsites/malin_buffalo_abs.pdf ] presented at the Second Mars Surveyor Landing Site Workshop, held June 22-23, 1999, in Buffalo, New York. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.
MOC Providing Clues For Futu …
PIA02064
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title MOC Providing Clues For Future Landing Site Selection
Original Caption Released with Image One of the original objectives of the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) when it was proposed to NASA in 1985 was to take pictures that would be used to assess future spacecraft landing sites. Images obtained by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) MOC since March 1999 provide the highest resolution views (1.5 to 4.5 meters (5-15 ft) per pixel) of the planet ever seen. Over the past several months, MOC science personnel have been examining these new data to develop a general view of what Mars is like at the meter-scale within the general latitude and elevation range that will be accessible to the Mars Surveyor 2001 lander [ http://marsweb.jpl.nasa.gov/2001/index.html ]. (i.e., about 5°N to 15°S latitude and lower than 2.5 km (1.6 mi) elevation). Because MOC images only cover a tiny fraction of one percent of the surface of Mars, we have been seeking general correlations that exist between what is seen in a MOC high-resolution image and what can be seen in the lower-resolution Viking and Mariner 9 images taken in 1972 and 1976-1980. The most important results thus far are illustrated in the four pictures above. Nearly 70% of the terrain examined follows two very simple, but unexpected "rules" -- (1) If the terrain appears rugged at the hundreds of meters to kilometers scale in a Viking or Mariner image, then it will appear smooth at the meter-scale in a MOC image. (2) If the terrain appears to be smooth in the Viking or Mariner image, it will be rough in the meter-scale MOC image. The image pair above illustrates the second "rule." Areas that appear to be smooth in the Viking and Mariner images--as in MOC2-138a (left)--tend to look quite rough at the meter scale in MOC images like MOC2-138b (right). The rough texture in this particular case was probably cause by wind erosion. The Viking image shown here is illuminated from the upper right, while the MOC image is illuminated from the upper left. The MOC image was taken in April 1999, while the Viking image was obtained in the late 1970s. More details about this work are provided in an extended abstract (in Acrobat® PDF format) by M.C. Malin, K. S. Edgett, and T. J. Parker, "Characterization of terrain in the Mars Surveyor 2001 landing site latitude and elevation region using Mapping Phase Mars Global Surveyor MOC images," [ http://www.msss.com/mars/global_surveyor/camera/images/6_25_99_landingsites/malin_buffalo_abs.pdf ] presented at the Second Mars Surveyor Landing Site Workshop, held June 22-23, 1999, in Buffalo, New York. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.
Viking Lander 2 Anniversary
PIA04023
Sol (our sun)
Thermal Emission Imaging Sys …
Title Viking Lander 2 Anniversary
Original Caption Released with Image This portion of a daytime IR image covers the Viking 2 landing site (shown with the X). The second landing on Mars took place September 3, 1976 in Utopia Planitia. The exact location of Lander 2 is not as well established as Lander 1 because there were no clearly identifiable features in the lander images as there were for the site of Lander 1. The Utopia landing site region contains pedestal craters, shallow swales and gentle ridges. The crater Goldstone was named in honor of the Tracking Station in the desert of California. The two Viking Landers operated for over 6 years (nearly four martian years) after landing. This one band IR (band 9 at 12.6 microns) image shows bright and dark textures, which are primarily due to differences in the abundance of rocks on the surface. The relatively cool (dark) regions during the day are rocky or indurated materials, fine sand and dust are warmer (bright). Many of the temperature variations are due to slope effects, with sun-facing slopes warmer than shaded slopes. The dark rings around several of the craters are due to the presence of rocky (cool) material ejected from the crater. These rocks are well below the resolution of any existing Mars camera, but THEMIS can detect the temperature variations they produce. Daytime temperature variations are produced by a combination of topographic (solar heating) and thermophysical (thermal inertia and albedo) effects. Due to topographic heating the surface morphologies seen in THEMIS daytime IR images are similar to those seen in previous imagery and MOLA topography. 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.
Viking Lander 2 Anniversary
PIA04023
Sol (our sun)
Thermal Emission Imaging Sys …
Title Viking Lander 2 Anniversary
Original Caption Released with Image This portion of a daytime IR image covers the Viking 2 landing site (shown with the X). The second landing on Mars took place September 3, 1976 in Utopia Planitia. The exact location of Lander 2 is not as well established as Lander 1 because there were no clearly identifiable features in the lander images as there were for the site of Lander 1. The Utopia landing site region contains pedestal craters, shallow swales and gentle ridges. The crater Goldstone was named in honor of the Tracking Station in the desert of California. The two Viking Landers operated for over 6 years (nearly four martian years) after landing. This one band IR (band 9 at 12.6 microns) image shows bright and dark textures, which are primarily due to differences in the abundance of rocks on the surface. The relatively cool (dark) regions during the day are rocky or indurated materials, fine sand and dust are warmer (bright). Many of the temperature variations are due to slope effects, with sun-facing slopes warmer than shaded slopes. The dark rings around several of the craters are due to the presence of rocky (cool) material ejected from the crater. These rocks are well below the resolution of any existing Mars camera, but THEMIS can detect the temperature variations they produce. Daytime temperature variations are produced by a combination of topographic (solar heating) and thermophysical (thermal inertia and albedo) effects. Due to topographic heating the surface morphologies seen in THEMIS daytime IR images are similar to those seen in previous imagery and MOLA topography. 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.
Gusev Crater
title Gusev Crater
description On January 3, Spirit, NASA's 400-pound rover, is scheduled to land on what may be a dried-up lake bed on Mars. "There's not much doubt: this site contained a body of liquid water, at least for some amount of time," says Jim Garvin, NASA's Lead Scientist for Mars Exploration. The site is Gusev Crater, a 90-mile wide hole in the ground that probably formed three to four billion years ago when an asteroid crashed just south of Mars' equator. There's a channel system that drains into it, which probably carried liquid water, or water and ice, into the crater. "It's hard to imagine the landscape looking this way unless water was somehow involved," says Garvin. This image was taken by NASA's Viking orbiter. Right now, inside the crater, researchers expect to find sediments, which may be nearly 3,000 feet thick. These sediments, which, researchers hope were deposited by water, may have been covered by dust and sand that's blown into the crater over the past two billion years. But if there was once water in Gusev, its signature should still be there. *Image Credit*: NASA
Gaspra, Deimos and Phobos
title Gaspra, Deimos and Phobos
description This montage shows asteroid 951 Gaspra (top) compared with Deimos (lower left) and Phobos (lower right), the moons of Mars. The three bodies are shown at the same scale and nearly the same lighting conditions. Gaspra is about 17 kilometers (10 miles) long. All three bodies have irregular shapes due to past catastrophic conditions. However, their surfaces appear remarkably different, possibly because of differences in composition but most likely because of very different impact histories. The Phobos and Deimos images were obtained by the Viking Orbiter spacecraft in 1977, the Gaspra image is the best of a series obtained by the Galileo spacecraft on October 29, 1991. *Image Credit*: NASA, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
'Happy Face' Crater
title 'Happy Face' Crater
date 03.10.1999
description Mars Global Surveyor was greeted with this view of 'Happy Face Crater' smiling back at its camera from its location on the east side of Argyre Planitia. This crater is officially known as Galle Crater, and it is about 215 kilometers (134 miles) across. The picture was taken by the MOC's red and blue wide angle cameras. The bluish-white tone is caused by wintertime frost. Illumination is from the upper left. For more information and Viking Orbiter views of "Happy Face Crater," see http://www.msss.com/education/happy_face/happy_face.html. *Image Credit*: NASA
MOC Providing Clues For Futu …
PIA02063
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title MOC Providing Clues For Future Landing Site Selection
Original Caption Released with Image One of the original objectives of the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) when it was proposed to NASA in 1985 was to take pictures that would be used to assess future spacecraft landing sites. Images obtained by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) MOC since March 1999 provide the highest resolution views (1.5 to 4.5 meters (5-15 ft) per pixel) of the planet ever seen. Over the past several months, MOC science personnel have been examining these new data to develop a general view of what Mars is like at the meter-scale within the general latitude and elevation range that will be accessible to the Mars Surveyor 2001 lander [ http://marsweb.jpl.nasa.gov/2001/index.html ]. (i.e., about 5°N to 15°S latitude and lower than 2.5 km (1.6 mi) elevation). Because MOC images only cover a tiny fraction of one percent of the surface of Mars, we have been seeking general correlations that exist between what is seen in a MOC high-resolution image and what can be seen in the lower-resolution Viking and Mariner 9 images taken in 1972 and 1976-1980. The most important results thus far are illustrated in the four pictures above. Nearly 70% of the terrain examined follows two very simple, but unexpected "rules" -- (1) If the terrain appears rugged at the hundreds of meters to kilometers scale in a Viking or Mariner image, then it will appear smooth at the meter-scale in a MOC image. (2) If the terrain appears to be smooth in the Viking or Mariner image, it will be rough in the meter-scale MOC image. The image pair above illustrates the first "rule." MOC2-137a (left) shows a rugged plain in the martian southern cratered highlands near the Nepenthes Mensae. The small white box indicates the location of the MOC image, which is on the right (MOC2-137b). The MOC image reveals that while the terrain is rough at the large scale, it is quite smooth at the meter-scale. The Viking image shown here is illuminated from the upper right, while the MOC image is illuminated from the upper left. The MOC image was taken in April 1999, while the Viking image was obtained in the late 1970s. More details about this work are provided in an extended abstract (in Acrobat® PDF format) by M.C. Malin, K. S. Edgett, and T. J. Parker, "Characterization of terrain in the Mars Surveyor 2001 landing site latitude and elevation region using Mapping Phase Mars Global Surveyor MOC images," [ http://www.msss.com/mars/global_surveyor/camera/images/6_25_99_landingsites/malin_buffalo_abs.pdf ], presented at the Second Mars Surveyor Landing Site Workshop, held June 22-23, 1999, in Buffalo, New York. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.
MOC Providing Clues For Futu …
PIA02063
Sol (our sun)
Mars Orbiter Camera
Title MOC Providing Clues For Future Landing Site Selection
Original Caption Released with Image One of the original objectives of the Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) when it was proposed to NASA in 1985 was to take pictures that would be used to assess future spacecraft landing sites. Images obtained by the Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) MOC since March 1999 provide the highest resolution views (1.5 to 4.5 meters (5-15 ft) per pixel) of the planet ever seen. Over the past several months, MOC science personnel have been examining these new data to develop a general view of what Mars is like at the meter-scale within the general latitude and elevation range that will be accessible to the Mars Surveyor 2001 lander [ http://marsweb.jpl.nasa.gov/2001/index.html ]. (i.e., about 5°N to 15°S latitude and lower than 2.5 km (1.6 mi) elevation). Because MOC images only cover a tiny fraction of one percent of the surface of Mars, we have been seeking general correlations that exist between what is seen in a MOC high-resolution image and what can be seen in the lower-resolution Viking and Mariner 9 images taken in 1972 and 1976-1980. The most important results thus far are illustrated in the four pictures above. Nearly 70% of the terrain examined follows two very simple, but unexpected "rules" -- (1) If the terrain appears rugged at the hundreds of meters to kilometers scale in a Viking or Mariner image, then it will appear smooth at the meter-scale in a MOC image. (2) If the terrain appears to be smooth in the Viking or Mariner image, it will be rough in the meter-scale MOC image. The image pair above illustrates the first "rule." MOC2-137a (left) shows a rugged plain in the martian southern cratered highlands near the Nepenthes Mensae. The small white box indicates the location of the MOC image, which is on the right (MOC2-137b). The MOC image reveals that while the terrain is rough at the large scale, it is quite smooth at the meter-scale. The Viking image shown here is illuminated from the upper right, while the MOC image is illuminated from the upper left. The MOC image was taken in April 1999, while the Viking image was obtained in the late 1970s. More details about this work are provided in an extended abstract (in Acrobat® PDF format) by M.C. Malin, K. S. Edgett, and T. J. Parker, "Characterization of terrain in the Mars Surveyor 2001 landing site latitude and elevation region using Mapping Phase Mars Global Surveyor MOC images," [ http://www.msss.com/mars/global_surveyor/camera/images/6_25_99_landingsites/malin_buffalo_abs.pdf ], presented at the Second Mars Surveyor Landing Site Workshop, held June 22-23, 1999, in Buffalo, New York. Malin Space Science Systems and the California Institute of Technology built the MOC using spare hardware from the Mars Observer mission. MSSS operates the camera from its facilities in San Diego, CA. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory's Mars Surveyor Operations Project operates the Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft with its industrial partner, Lockheed Martin Astronautics, from facilities in Pasadena, CA and Denver, CO.
Pathfinder Air Bags
Title Pathfinder Air Bags
Full Description Engineers test huge, multi-lobed air bags, which will envelope and protect the Mars Pathfinder spacecraft before it impacts the surface of Mars. The air bags, manufactured by ILC Dover of Frederica, Delaware, are composed of four large bags with six smaller, interconnected spheres within each bag. The bags measure 5 meters (17 feet) tall and about 5 meters (17 feet) in diameter. As Pathfinder is descending to the Martian surface on a parachute, an onboard altimeter inside the lander will monitor its distance from the ground. The computer will inflate these large air bags about 100 meters (330 feet) above the surface of Mars. ILC Dover is the same company that manufactures spacesuits.
Date 06/14/1995
NASA Center Jet Propulsion Laboratory
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