PIA07296: Ice Surfaces In False Color
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  2001 Mars Odyssey
 Spacecraft:  2001 Mars Odyssey
 Instrument:  THEMIS
 Product Size:  570 x 1179 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  Arizona State University
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA07296.tif (2.019 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA07296.jpg (101.2 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:

figure 1 for PIA07296

The theme for the weeks of 1/17 and 1/24 is the north polar region of Mars as seen in false color THEMIS images. Ice/frost will typically appear as bright blue in color; dust mantled ice will appear in tones of red/orange.

This full resolution image shows a marked difference in the "blueness" of the ice surfaces. The lower (presumably older) surface is oranger and the top (presumably younger) surface is blue. This may represent the fresher ice of the upper surface which has not yet covered with as much dust as the lower surface.

Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 80.8, Longitude 302.1 East (57.9 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution.

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.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Arizona State University

Image Addition Date:
2005-01-24