Monthly Archives: January 2014

Curiosity panorama: approaching Dingo Gap

This scene combines images taken by the left-eye camera of the Mast Camera (Mastcam) instrument on NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover during the midafternoon, local Mars solar time, of the mission’s 526th Martian day, or sol (Jan. 28, 2014). The sand … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

THEMIS image: windstreaks

THEMIS Image of the Day, January 31, 2014. The windstreaks in this VIS image are located on the lava plains between Pavonis Mons and Noctis Fossae. Streaks form on the down wind side of positive topographic features (like hills and crater … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE image: a landing site in Ladon Vallis

One of the important tasks HiRISE has is to image potential landing sites for future rovers. A landing site must have relatively mild terrain so that the vehicle can land successfully, but it must also contain interesting places to study. … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE image: sinuous ridges and meanders

These ridges are thought to be old river channels, but wind erosion has created inverted topography. What was low (the channel bottoms) was more resistant to erosion, so now it is relatively high. In a closeup image, we see a … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

THEMIS image: Ascraeus Mons

THEMIS Image of the Day, January 30, 2014. Today’s image shows a different portion of the collapse features located on the northern flank of Ascraeus Mons.

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE image: RSLs and colorful fans along Coprates Chasma ridge

This site along a Coprates Chasma ridge shows what are called recurring slope lineae (or RSL) on generally north-facing slopes in northern summer/southern winter (latitude 12.9 degrees S, longitude 295.5 degrees E). With an animation constructed from multiple co-located images, … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity raw image: Sol 527, January 29, 2014

Curiosity’s left Navigation Camera (Navcam): Looking at a large dune or sand drift, with the Gale rim in the distance. More Sol 527 images (all cameras)

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

HiRISE image: high-altitude clouds on Mars

The standard color images for this observation look really weird. The reason is apparent by looking at an animation of the color images. These were acquired in a particular sequence: first blue-green (BG), then RED, then infrared (IR), and the … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off

Curiosity raw image: Sol 526, January 28, 2014

Curiosity’s left Navigation Camera (Navcam): catching sight of Mount Sharp over a low rise. Light-tone mineral vein in the foreground? More Sol 526 images (all cameras).

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , | Comments Off

THEMIS image: Ascraeus Mons

THEMIS Image of the Day, January 29, 2014. The pits, fractures and channel-like features in this image are located on the northern flank of Ascraeus Mons. Most of these features were created by collapse into lava tubes that existed below the … Continue reading

Posted in Reports | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off