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PIA03761: Isidis Rim
This lunar-like scene, imaged by NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft, occurs along the southeastern rim of the Isidis Planitia basin, an ancient impact crater some 1200 km across.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  2001 Mars Odyssey 
 Spacecraft:  2001 Mars Odyssey
 Instrument:  THEMIS 
 Product Size:  1236 x 3025 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Arizona State University 
 Producer ID:  20020403A  
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA03761.tif (2.351 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA03761.jpg (567.3 kB)  

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:


(Released 03 April 2002)
This lunar-like scene occurs along the southeastern rim of the Isidis Planitia basin. The Isidis basin is an ancient impact crater some 1200 km across that is found along the boundary separating the heavily-cratered southern highland terrain of Mars from the northern lowlands. Elements of both terrains are evident in this image as an island of rugged highland terrain surrounded by smoother lowland terrain. The resurfacing of the Isidis basin produced a system of wrinkle ridges, some of which are seen on the lowland terrain in the image. Wrinkle ridges are a common feature on the surface of the moon and add to the lunar-like quality of this image. Layers are visible in the large island, the most resistant of which likely are from lava flows that created the highland terrain. The process by which the global-scale highland/lowland dichotomy was created remains a mystery.
Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Arizona State University

Image Addition Date:
2002-05-21