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PIA24919: Impact Craters as Windows to What Lies Beneath
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Spacecraft:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Instrument:  HiRISE
 Product Size:  2880 x 1800 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  University of Arizona/HiRISE-LPL
 Other  
Information: 
Other products from ESP_069897_1895
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA24919.tif (5.191 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA24919.jpg (785.4 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:

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Map Projected Browse Image
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Impact craters are common on all solar system bodies. They offer many clues to scientists regarding the geologic history of a planetary surface, particularly regarding its age, evolution with time, and composition.

For instance, this image covers an impact crater on the southeastern flank of Ascraeus Mons, a notable volcano in the Tharsis Plateau. Based on the original science rationale for acquiring this image, by gaining more information about its depth and consequently the stability of the crater wall, we can learn more about the nature of the volcano's flank materials.

Also, by carefully studying the materials exposed in the crater walls, we can gain more information about the subsurface.

The map is projected here at a scale of 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) per pixel. (The original image scale is 55.1 centimeters [21.7 inches] per pixel [with 2 x 2 binning]; objects on the order of 165 centimeters [65.0 inches] across are resolved.) North is up.

The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates HiRISE, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Image Addition Date:
2021-10-19