THEMIS Image of the Day, August 18, 2017. This image shows part of the western side of Hebes Chasma. The large central mesa is on the right side of the image. The smooth region in the lower left side of the image is a region of sand and sand dunes. These features indicate that winds played a part in eroding materials inside the chasma.
Hebes Chasma is an enclosed basin not connected to Valles Marineris. (More on Hebes Chasma here.)
NASA’s Mars Odyssey spacecraft has spent over 15 years in orbit around Mars, circling the planet more than 69,000 times. It holds the record for longest working spacecraft at Mars. THEMIS, the IR/VIS camera system, has collected data for the entire mission and provides images covering all seasons and lighting conditions.
Over the years many features of interest have received repeated imaging, building up a suite of images covering the entire feature. From the deepest chasma to the tallest volcano, individual dunes inside craters and dune fields that encircle the north pole, channels carved by water and lava, and a variety of other feature, THEMIS has imaged them all.
For the next several months the Image of the Day will focus on the Tharsis volcanoes, the various chasmata of Valles Marineris, and the major dunes fields. We hope you enjoy these images!
More THEMIS Images of the Day by geological topic.