The original "Exploration of Mars" topic became excessively long. As a result the topic has been split into individual, mission based, topics. The "Exploration of Mars" topic is now for news and discoveries not specific to any one mission.

Links to the other topics can be found below:

• Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
  
• Mars Odyssey
  
• Mars Exploration Rovers
  
• Mars Global Surveyor
  
• Mars Phoenix Lander
  
• Exploration of Mars

Waspie_Dwarf








This image, obtained by the HRSC on ESA's Mars Express, is a mosaic of overlapping images gathered during five separate orbits. The ground resolution ranges between 10-20 metres per pixel, depending on location within the image strip, and the crater is shown lying near 51° South and 329°East. North is up.
The image shows Crater Galle containing a large stack of layered sediments forming an outcrop in the southern part of the crater. Several parallel gullies, possible evidence for liquid water on the Martian surface, originate at the inner crater walls of the southern rim.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)


10 April 2006
These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, show the Galle Crater, an impact crater located on the eastern rim of the Argyre Planitia impact basin on Mars.


Map indicating the location of these images of the 230-kilometre diameter Crater Galle in relation to surrounding features. Crater Galle lies near 51° South and 329° East.

Credits: FU Berlin/MOLANEW

The HRSC obtained these images during orbits 445, 2383, 2438, 2460 and 2493 with a ground resolution ranging between 10-20 metres per pixel, depending on location within the image strip.
The images show Crater Galle lying to the east of the Argyre Planitia impact basin and south west of the Wirtz and Helmholtz craters, at 51° South and 329° East.


This perspective view of Crater Galle was obtained by the HRSC on ESA's Mars Express and has a ground resolution ranging from 10-20 metres per pixel.
The image shows several parallel gullies, possible evidence for liquid water on the Martian surface, which originate at the inner crater walls of the southern rim.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The images of the 230 km diameter impact crater are mosaics created from five individual HRSC nadir and colour strips, each tens of kilometres wide.

A large stack of layered sediments forms an outcrop in the southern part of the crater. Several parallel gullies, possible evidence for liquid water on the Martian surface, originate at the inner crater walls of the southern rim.


This false-colour mosaic of Crater Galle was derived from three HRSC colour and nadir channels gathered during five overlapping orbits.
The crater's interior displays a surface shaped by aeolian (wind-caused) activity as seen in numerous dunes and dark dust devil tracks which removed the bright dusty surface coating.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Crater Galle, named after the German astronomer J.G. Galle (1812-1910), is informally known as the 'happy face' crater.

The 'face' was first pointed out in images taken during NASA's Viking Orbiter 1 mission.

Its interior shows a surface which is shaped by 'aeolian' (wind-caused) activity as seen in numerous dunes and dark dust devil tracks which removed the bright dusty surface coating.


This black and white high-resolution image mosaic of Crater Galle on Mars. The images show Crater Galle lying to the east of the Argyre Planitia impact basin and south west of the Wirtz and Helmholtz craters, at 51° South and 329° East.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The colour scenes, false-colour and near true-colour, have been derived from three HRSC colour and nadir channels gathered during five overlapping orbits. The perspective views have been calculated from a mosaic of digital terrain models derived from the stereo channels.

The black-and-white high-resolution image mosaic was derived from the nadir channel which provides the highest detail of all channels. The resolution has been decreased for use on the Internet, to around 50 m per pixel.


Perspective view of Crater Galle looking north. This image was obtained by the HRSC on ESA's Mars Express and has a ground resolution ranging from 10-20 metres per pixel.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)


Perspective Close-up view of Crater Galle, lying to the east of the Argyre Planitia impact basin and south-west of the Wirtz and Helmholtz craters, at 51° South latitude and 329° East longitude. The image clearly shows a large stack of layered sediments forming an outcrop in the southern part of the crater.
Several parallel gullies, possible evidence for liquid water on the Martian surface, originate at the inner crater walls of the southern rim.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)


This false-colour mosaic of Crater Galle was derived from three HRSC colour and nadir channels gathered during five overlapping orbits. It shows Crater Galle lying at 51° South and 329° East.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

For more information on Mars Express HRSC images, please read ESA's updated FAQ (frequently asked questions).

Source: ESA - Mars Express

Call me crazy, but the first photograph has those long vein-like indentions on the surface. Possibly an ancient river or lava flow?

edit:Could be fault lines? That would be an obvious conclusion.

I would think it is unlikely to be lava flow. When there is lava flow near a crater the crater floor tends to get re-surfaaced. It could be ancient water flow but small land slides are also common near Martian craters and this may be the cause. It could also be rows of sand dunes, another common feature on Mars.

How'd you get those? I never gave them out....

seriously those pics do look pretty cool.

Hmm...interesting pictures.

Thanks to its mapping of the Martian surface, the OMEGA instrument on board ESA's
Mars Express has identified clay beds which may have supported the development of
life in the past, between 4.5 and 4.2 thousand millions years ago. So, these findings
provide exciting sites for future Mars rovers to explore.

Credits: ESA/OMEGA/HRSC

20 April 2006
By mapping minerals on the surface of Mars using the European Space Agency’s Mars Express spacecraft, scientists have discovered the three ages of Martian geological history – as reported in today’s issue of Science - and found valuable clues as to where life might have developed.

The new work shows that large bodies of standing water might only have been present on Mars in the remote past, before four thousand million years ago, if they were present at all. Within half a billion years, these conditions had faded away.
The results come from the Observatoire pour la Mineralogie, l’Eau, les Glaces et l’Activité (OMEGA) instrument on board Mars Express. In one Martian year (687 Earth days) of operation, OMEGA mapped 90 percent of the surface, allowing the identification of a variety of minerals and the processes by which they have been altered during the course of Martian history. The maps have allowed a team of scientists, led by Professor Jean-Pierre Bibring, Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale (IAS), Orsay (France), to identify three geological eras for Mars.


This image shows the global distribution of hydrated (water-rich) minerals as discovered
by the OMEGA instrument on board ESA’s Mars Express. The map is superimposed on
an altitude reference map of Mars built with data from the MOLA instrument on board
NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. The red marks indicate the presence of phyllosilicates,
the blue ones indicate sulfates, the yellow ones indicate other hydrated minerals.

Credits: IAS/OMEGA/ESA

The earliest, named by the authors as the ‘phyllosian’ era, occurred between 4.5–4.2 thousand million years ago, soon after the planet formed. The environment was possibly warm and moist at this time, allowing the formation of large-scale clay beds, many of which survive today.

The second era, the ‘theiikian’, took place between 4.2 and 3.8 billion years ago. It was prompted by planet-wide volcanic eruptions that drove global climate change. In particular, the sulphur these eruptions belched into the atmosphere reacted with the water to produce acid rain, which altered the composition of the surface rocks where it fell.

Finally, there was the ‘siderikian’, the longest lasting of the Martian eras. It began sometime around 3.8–3.5 billion years ago and continues today. There is little water involved in this era; instead, the rocks appear to have been altered during slow weathering by the tenuous Martian atmosphere. This process gave Mars its red colour.

The eras are named after the Greek words for the predominant minerals formed within them. The one most likely to have supported life was the phyllosian, when clay beds could have formed at the bottom of lakes and seas, providing the damp conditions in which the processes of life could begin.


The left image shows a view of the Marwth Vallis region of Mars, as seen by NASA
Mars Global Surveyor’s MOLA instrument. The OMEGA instrument on board ESA’s
Mars Express has mapped hydrated sites in this area, as shown in the right image
(OMEGA data superimposed on the MOLA map). The hydrated minerals are not found
in the channel (blue arrow) as one would expect, but in the eroded flanks and the cratered
plateau (red arrow).

Credits: IAS/OMEGA/ESA

However, there are still question marks. The team points out that the clay beds might have been formed underground, rather than in lakebeds.

“Hydrothermal activity below the surface, the impact of water-bearing asteroids, even the natural cooling of the planet could all have promoted the formation of clay below Mars’s surface. If so, the surface conditions may always have been cold and dry,” said Bibring.

After this initial period, water largely disappeared from the planet’s surface either by seeping underground or being lost into space. Except for a few localised transient water events, Mars became the dry, cold desert seen by spacecraft today. This new identification of clay beds on Mars provides high-priority targets for future Mars landers that seek to investigate whether Mars once harboured life.

“If living organisms formed, the clay material would be where this biochemical development took place, offering exciting places for future exploration because the cold Martian conditions could have preserved most of the record of biological molecules up to the present day,” concluded Bibring.


Note

The full results are published in the 21 April issue of the journal Science. The article, ‘Global Mineralogical and Aqueous Mars History Derived from OMEGA/Mars Express Data’, is by Jean-Pierre Bibring, Yves Langevin, Francois Poulet and Brigitte Gondet (Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale - IAS, Orsay, France), John F. Mustard (Brown University, Providence, USA), Raymond Arvidson (Washington University, St.Louis, USA), Aline Gendrin (Institut d’Astrophysique Spatiale - IAS, Orsay, France & Brown University, Providence, USA), Nicolas Mangold (IDES, Orsay Campus, France), P. Pinet (Observatoire Midi-Pyrenees, Toulouse, France), F. Forget (LMD - Univ. Paris 6, France), and the Mars Express OMEGA team.

Source: ESA - News

Nanedi Valles, a roughly 800-kilometre valley extending southwest-northeast and lying in the region of Xanthe Terra, southwest of Chryse Planitia. In this view, Nanedi Valles ranges from approximately 0.8- to 5.0-kilometre wide and extends to a maximum of about 500 metres below the surrounding plains. This valley is relatively flat-floored and steep-sloped, and exhibits meanders and a merging of two branches in the north. The valley's origins remain unclear, with scientists debating whether erosion caused by ground-water outflow, flow of liquid beneath an ice cover or collapse of the surface in association with liquid flow is responsible.
Image captured by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard ESA's Mars Express on 3 October 2004 during orbit 905. North is to the right.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/G. Neukum


24 April 2006
These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, show the Nanedi Valles valley system, a steep-sided feature that may have been formed in part by free-flowing water.


Nanedi Valles lies at approximately 6.0° North and 312° East in the region of Xanthe Terra, southwest of Chryse Planitia and north of the Orson Welles and Da Vinci crater features. It is roughly 800 kilometre long. While scientific debate continues, it seems likely that some sort of continuous flow rather than a single flooding event helped create the valley.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/G. Neukum

The HRSC obtained these images on 3 October 2004 during orbit 905 at a ground resolution of approximately 18 metres per pixel. The images have been rotated 90 degrees clockwise, so that north is to the right.
They show the region of Nanedi Valles, a roughly 800-kilometre valley extending southwest-northeast and lying at approximately 6.0° North and 312° East in the region of Xanthe Terra, southwest of Chryse Planitia.


In the colour image, Nanedi Valles ranges from approximately 0.8- to 5.0-kilometre wide and extends to a maximum of about 500 metres below the surrounding plains. This valley is relatively flat-floored and steep-sloped, and exhibits meanders and a merging of two branches in the north.


In this rotated view, the two arms of the Nanedi Valles valley can be clearly seen merging at right (to the north). The deepest portion of the valley drops to 500 metres below the surrounding surface. By studying Nanedi Valles, scientists hope to better understand the climatic evolution of the Red Planet.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/G. Neukum

The origin of these striking features remains heavily debated.

Some researchers point to sapping (erosion caused by ground-water outflow), while others suggest that flow of liquid beneath an ice cover or collapse of the surface in association with liquid flow is responsible for the valley's formation.

While the debate continues, it seems likely that some sort of continuous flow rather than a single flooding event created these features.


The High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard ESA's Mars Express captured this image on 3 October 2004. The stereo and colour capabilities of the HRSC camera allows for improved study of the planet's morphology. North is to the right.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin/G. Neukum

By studying Nanedi Valles, scientists hope to better understand the climatic evolution of the Red Planet. The stereo and colour capabilities of the HRSC camera enable scientists to study the planet's morphology, while researchers can analyse reflected light at different wavelengths to better recognise the various geologic units within a scene.

The colour images have been derived from the three HRSC colour channels and the nadir channel. The anaglyph image was calculated from the nadir and one stereo channel. For use on the Internet, image resolution has been decreased.

For more information on Mars Express HRSC images, please read ESA's updated FAQ (frequently asked questions).

Source: ESA - Mars Express

'Grabens’ in Tempe Terra, a geologically complex region that is part of the old Martian highlands. Grabens are depressed blocks of land bordered by parallel faults, and have tectonic origin. The valleys and grabens are 5 to 10 kilometres wide and up to 1500 meters deep. Along the graben flanks, the layering of the bedrock is exposed. Tectonic processes have led to the development of these grabens. After the tectonic activity, other processes reshaped the landscape. In the scene, the results of weathering and mass transport can be seen. Due to these processes, the surface has been smoothed, giving formerly sharp edges a rounded appearance.
The Tempe Terra region of Mars displays a complex geologic history; the image was taken just west of the Barabashov crater and covers the transition zone between the old Martian highlands to the south and the geologically younger northern lowlands.

The HRSC camera on board ESA’s Mars Express obtained these images during orbit 1180 on 19 December 2004 with a ground resolution of approximately 16.5 metres per pixel. The data were acquired in the region of Northern Olympus Mons, at approximately 48.5° North and 288.4° East.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)


8 May 2006
These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, show the tectonic 'grabens' in Tempe Terra, a geologically complex region that is part of the old Martian highlands.


The HRSC obtained these images during orbit 1180 on 19 December 2004 with a ground resolution of approximately 16.5 metres per pixel. The data were acquired in the region of Northern Olympus Mons, at approximately 48.5° North and 288.4° East.
The Tempe Terra region of Mars displays a complex geologic history; the images were taken just west of the Barabashov crater and cover the transition zone between the old Martian highlands to the south and the geologically younger northern lowlands.


This map shows Tempe Terra in context. The Mars Express image of this area was acquired in the region of Northern Olympus Mons, at approximately 48.5° North and 288.4° East. The image was taken just west of the Barabashov crater and covers the transition zone between the old Martian highlands to the south and the geologically younger northern lowlands. The context map is centred on the region of Mareotis Fossae showing numerous parallel grabens, or depressed blocks of land bordered by parallel faults, running in a Northeast-Southwest orientation. These appear in more detail in the images in the south (left).

Credits: FU Berlin/MOLA

The context map is centred on the region of Mareotis Fossae showing numerous parallel grabens, or depressed blocks of land bordered by parallel faults, running in a Northeast-Southwest orientation. These appear in more detail in the south (left) of the camera images.

Tectonic processes (extensional stresses, in this case) have led to the development of these grabens. After the tectonic activity, other processes reshaped the landscape. In the scene, the results of weathering and mass transport can be seen. Due to erosion, the surface has been smoothed, giving formerly sharp edges a rounded appearance. Such terrain is called "fretted terrain" and is characteristic for the transition of highland to lowland.


The Tempe Terra region of Mars displays a complex geologic history. This black and white image was taken just west of the Barabashov crater and covers the transition zone between the old Martian highlands to the south and the geologically younger northern lowlands.
The scene, caught by the HRSC camera on board ESA’s Mars Express, shows valleys and grabens 5 to 10 kilometres wide and up to 1500 meters deep. The lineations on the valley floors are attributed to a slow viscous movement of material, presumably in connection with ice. These lineations and indications of possible ice underneath the surface lead scientists to assume that the structures are rock glaciers or similar phenomena known from alpine regions on Earth.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The valleys and grabens are 5 to 10 kilometres wide and up to 1500 metres deep. Along the graben flanks, the layering of the bedrock is exposed. The lineations on the valley floors are attributed to a slow viscous movement of material, presumably in connection with ice. These lineations and indications of possible ice underneath the surface lead scientists to assume that the structures are rock glaciers or similar phenomena known from alpine regions on Earth.

The stereo and colour capabilities, and the high-resolution coverage of extended areas, provided by the HRSC camera allow for improved study of the complex geologic evolution of the Red Planet. The Mars Express HRSC camera gives scientists the opportunity to better understand the tectonics of Mars, including processes active in the more recent geologic history.


This 3D anaglyph view, derived from data recorded by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, shows tectonic grabens - depressed blocks of land bordered by parallel faults - in Tempe Terra, a geologically complex region that is part of the old Martian highlands.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The colour scene was derived from the three HRSC-colour channels and the nadir channel. The 3D anaglyph image was calculated from the nadir and one stereo channel. Image resolution has been decreased for use on the internet.

For more information on Mars Express HRSC images, please read ESA's updated FAQ (frequently asked questions).

Source: ESA - Mars Express

Quite like our planet.... Any bio or microorganism there??

That's a question that NASA and ESA are going to spend millions on over the next few years to try and answer.

This image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express, shows Pavonis Mons, the central volcano of the three 'shield' volcanoes that comprise Tharsis Montes. ESA's Mars Express spacecraft obtained these images using the HRSC during orbit 902 on 2 October 2004 with a ground resolution of approximately 14.3 metres per pixel. The images were acquired in the region of Pavonis Mons, at approximately 0.6° South and 246.4° East.
Pavonis Mons, rising roughly 12 km above the surrounding plains, is the central volcano of the three 'shield' volcanoes that comprise Tharsis Montes. Gently sloping shield volcanoes are shaped like a flattened dome and are built almost exclusively of lava flows. The dramatic features visible in the colour image are located on the south western flank of the volcano. Researchers believe these are lava tubes, channels originally formed by hot, flowing lava that forms a crust as the surface cools. Lava continues to flow beneath this hardened surface, but when the lava production ends and the tunnels empty, the surface collapses, forming elongated depressions. Similar tubes are well known on Earth and the Moon. Pit chains, strings of circular depressions thought to form as the result of collapse of the surface, are also visible within the colour image.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)


23 May 2006
These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express, show Pavonis Mons, the central volcano of the three 'shield' volcanoes that comprise Tharsis Montes.


Pavonis Mons, rising roughly 12 km above the surrounding plains, is the central volcano of the three 'shield' volcanoes that comprise Tharsis Montes. Gently sloping shield volcanoes are shaped like a flattened dome and are built almost exclusively of lava flows. The context map is centred on Pavonis Mons, one of the three volcanoes called Tharsis Montes (the others being Arsia and Ascreus Montes, aligned with Pavonis in a line nearly 1500 kilometres long).

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

ESA's Mars Express spacecraft obtained these images using the HRSC during orbit 902 with a ground resolution of approximately 14.3 metres per pixel. The images were acquired in the region of Pavonis Mons, at approximately 0.6° South and 246.4° East.
The context map is centred on Pavonis Mons, one of the three volcanoes called Tharsis Montes (the others being Arsia and Ascreus Montes, aligned with Pavonis in a line nearly 1500 km long).


This image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express, shows Pavonis Mons, the central volcano of the three 'shield' volcanoes that comprise Tharsis Montes. Pavonis Mons, rising roughly 12 km above the surrounding plains, is the central volcano of the three 'shield' volcanoes that comprise Tharsis Montes. The dramatic features visible in the image are located on the south western flank of Pavonis Mons. Researchers believe these are lava tubes, channels originally formed by hot, flowing lava that forms a crust as the surface cools. Lava continues to flow beneath this hardened surface, but when the lava production ends and the tunnels empty, the surface collapses, forming elongated depressions. The long, continuous lava tube in the northwest of the image extends over 59 km and ranges from approximately 1.9 km to less than 280 m wide.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Pavonis Mons, rising roughly 12 km above the surrounding plains, is the central volcano of the three 'shield' volcanoes that comprise Tharsis Montes. Gently sloping shield volcanoes are shaped like a flattened dome and are built almost exclusively of lava flows.

The dramatic features visible in the colour image are located on the south-west flank of Pavonis Mons. Researchers believe these are lava tubes, channels originally formed by hot, flowing lava that forms a crust as the surface cools. Lava continues to flow beneath this hardened surface, but when the lava production ends and the tunnels empty, the surface collapses, forming elongated depressions. Similar tubes are well known on Earth and the Moon.


This perspective view, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express, shows Pavonis Mons, the central volcano of the three 'shield' volcanoes that comprise Tharsis Montes. ESA's Mars Express spacecraft obtained this image using the HRSC during orbit 902 on 2 October 2004 with a ground resolution of approximately 14.3 metres per pixel.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The long, continuous lava tube in the northwest of the colour image extends over 59 km and ranges from approximately 1.9 km to less than 280 m wide.

Pit chains, strings of circular depressions thought to form as the result of collapse of the surface, are also visible within the colour image. In the northeast, there is a clear distinction between the brighter terrain at higher elevations and darker material located down slope. In the southwest, the lava tubes appear to be covered by subsequent lava flows.


This image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express, shows Pavonis Mons, the central volcano of the three 'shield' volcanoes that comprise Tharsis Montes. ESA's Mars Express spacecraft obtained these images using the HRSC during orbit 902 on 2 October 2004 with a ground resolution of approximately 14.3 metres per pixel. The images were acquired in the region of Pavonis Mons, at approximately 0.6° South and 246.4° East.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

By studying Martian volcanoes, scientists can obtain information regarding this intriguing planet. For example, the gradual flank slopes and the flattened, dome-like appearance of Pavonis Mons suggest that low-viscosity lava formed this volcano.

The colour scene was derived from the three HRSC-colour channels and the nadir channel. The 3D anaglyph image was calculated from the nadir and one stereo channel. Image resolution has been decreased for use on the internet.

For more information on Mars Express HRSC images, please read ESA's updated FAQ (frequently asked questions).

Source: ESA - Mars Express

Aram Chaos is a 280-km-wide almost-circular structure. As the name 'chaos' suggests, this terrain comprises large-scale remnant massifs, large relief masses that have been moved and weathered as a block. These are heavily eroded and dominate the circular morphology, or structure, which may have formed during an impact. The western region of the colour image (at top, since north is to the right) is characterized by brighter material, which seems to be layered and could be the result of sedimentary deposition. Distinct layering, causing a terrace-like appearance, is also visible east of this brighter material and in the relatively flat region located in the northwest of the colour image.
This false colour image was captured on 14 October 2004 by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the ESA spacecraft Mars Express with a ground resolution of approximately 14 metres per pixel.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)


30 May 2006
These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, show Aram Chaos, 280-km-wide circular structure characterized by chaotic terrain.


Aram Chaos is a 280-km-wide almost-circular structure located between the outflow channel Ares Vallis and Aureum Chaos. It is one of many regions located east of Valles Marineris and characterized by chaotic terrain.

The HRSC obtained these images during orbit 945 with a ground resolution of approximately 14 metres per pixel. The images show the region of Aram Chaos, at approximately 2° North and 340° East.
Aram Chaos is a 280-km-wide almost-circular structure located between the outflow channel Ares Vallis and Aureum Chaos. It is one of many regions located east of Valles Marineris and characterized by chaotic terrain.


The western region of this colour image (at top, since north is to the right) is characterized by brighter material, which seems to be layered and could be the result of sedimentary deposition. Distinct layering, causing a terrace-like appearance, is also visible east of this brighter material and in the relatively flat region located in the northwest of the colour image. Some scientists believe that the numerous chaotic regions located in the eastern part of Valles Marineris were the source of water or ice thought to have created the valleys that extend into Chryse Planitia. These regions are particularly interesting because they may yield clues to the relationship between Valles Marineris, the chaotic terrain, the valleys and the Chryse basin.
This colour image was captured on 14 October 2004 by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the ESA spacecraft Mars Express with a ground resolution of approximately 14 metres per pixel.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

As the name 'chaos' suggests, this terrain comprises large-scale remnant massifs, large relief masses that have been moved and weathered as a block. These are heavily eroded and dominate the circular morphology, or structure, which may have formed during an impact. As seen in the colour image, these remnant massifs range from a few kilometres to approximately ten kilometres wide and have a relative elevation of roughly 1000 metres.


This black and white image was captured on 14 October 2004 by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the ESA spacecraft Mars Express with a ground resolution of approximately 14 metres per pixel.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The western region of the colour image is characterized by brighter material, which seems to be layered and could be the result of sedimentary deposition. Distinct layering, causing a terrace-like appearance, is also visible east of this brighter material and in the relatively flat region located in the northwest of the colour image.


This perspective view is based on data captured on 14 October 2004 by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the ESA spacecraft Mars Express with a ground resolution of approximately 14 metres per pixel. Colour scenes were derived from the three HRSC colour channels and the nadir channel, while the perspective view was calculated from the digital terrain model derived from the stereo channels.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Some scientists believe that the numerous chaotic regions located in the eastern part of Valles Marineris were the source of water or ice thought to have created the valleys that extend into Chryse Planitia. These regions are particularly interesting because they may yield clues to the relationship between Valles Marineris, the chaotic terrain, the valleys and the Chryse basin.


This 3D anaglyph is based on data captured on 14 October 2004 by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the ESA spacecraft Mars Express with a ground resolution of approximately 14 metres per pixel. Colour scenes were derived from the three HRSC colour channels and the nadir channel, while the anaglyph image was calculated from the nadir and one stereo channel.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The colour scenes have been derived from the three HRSC-colour channels and the nadir channel. The perspective view has been calculated from the digital terrain model derived from the stereo channels. The anaglyph image was calculated from the nadir and one stereo channel. Image resolution has been decreased for use on the internet.

For more information on Mars Express HRSC images, please read ESA's updated FAQ (frequently asked questions).

Source: ESA - Mars Express

Apollinaris Patera is an ancient shield volcano measuring approximately 180 by 280 kilometres at its base and rising to a maximum of 5 kilometres above the surrounding terrain. Shield volcanos are large volcanic structures with gently sloping flanks. The caldera of Apollinaris Patera takes the form of a large crater approximately 80 kilometres in diameter. In this false-colour image, north is to the right. The image also shows the terrain partly covered by thin, diffuse clouds indicated by bluish-tinted areas.
This false-colour image was captured on 26 October 2004 by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the ESA spacecraft Mars Express with a ground resolution of approximately 11.1 metres per pixel.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)


9 June 2006
These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, show the caldera of Apollinaris Patera, an ancient, 5-kilometre-high volcano northwest of Gusev Crater.


This map shows the location of Apollinaris Patera, a volcano lying at approximately 7.2° South and 174.6° East. It is an ancient shield volcano located at the northern edge of the Southern Highlands, lying to the south-east of Elysium Planitia and to the north of Gusev Crater. The volcano measures approximately 180 by 280 kilometres at its base and rises to a maximum of 5 kilometres above the surrounding terrain.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The HRSC obtained these images during orbit 987 with a ground resolution of approximately 11.1 metres per pixel. The images show part of Apollinaris Patera, a volcano lying at approximately 7.2° South and 174.6° East.
Apollinaris Patera is an ancient shield volcano located at the northern edge of the Southern Highlands, lying to the south-east of Elysium Planitia and to the north of Gusev Crater, which is now being explored by NASA's Mars Rover, Spirit.

The volcano measures approximately 180 by 280 kilometres at its base and rises to a maximum of 5 kilometres above the surrounding terrain.


The caldera of Apollinaris Patera, an ancient, 5-kilometre-high volcano northwest of Gusev Crater. In this true-colour image, the terrain is partly covered by thin, diffuse, whitish-appearing clouds. North is to the right.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Shield volcanos are large volcanic structures with gently sloping flanks. The caldera of Apollinaris Patera takes the form of a large crater approximately 80 kilometres in diameter and up to 1 kilometre deep. Volcanic calderas are formed when a volcano explodes or when the cone collapses.

In the true-colour image, the terrain is partly covered by thin, diffuse, whitish-appearing clouds. In the false-colour image, the clouds appear as bluish-tinted areas.


This black and white image was captured on 26 October 2004 by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the ESA spacecraft Mars Express with a ground resolution of approximately 11.1 metres per pixel.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The western region of the colour image (top of the image, as north is to the right) is characterized by brighter material, which seems to be layered and could be the result of sedimentary deposition. Distinct layering, causing a terrace-like appearance, is also visible east of this brighter material and in the relatively flat region located in the northwest (top right) of the colour image.


This 3D anaglyph is based on data captured on 26 October 2004 by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the ESA spacecraft Mars Express with a ground resolution of approximately 11.1 metres per pixel. Accompanying colour scenes were derived from the three HRSC colour channels and the nadir channel, while this anaglyph image was calculated from the nadir and one stereo channel.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The colour scenes have been derived from the three HRSC-colour channels and the nadir channel. The anaglyph image was calculated from the nadir and one stereo channel. Image resolution has been decreased for use on the internet.

For more information on Mars Express HRSC images, please read ESA's updated FAQ (frequently asked questions).

Source: ESA - Mars Express

Iani Chaos is one of many regions east of Valles Marineris characterized by disrupted or chaotic terrain. The morphology of this terrain is dominated by large-scale remnant massifs, which are large relief masses that have been moved and weathered as a block. These are randomly oriented and heavily eroded. To the south (south is to the left) in this image, these mesas, which appear as flat-topped hills, range from less than one kilometre to roughly 8 kilometres wide, with a maximum relative elevation of approximately 1000 metres.
This colour image was captured on 14 October 2004 by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the ESA spacecraft Mars Express with a ground resolution of approximately 13.0 metres per pixel.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)


17 July 2006
These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, show Iani Chaos, a region east of Valles Marineris characterized by a disrupted and chaotic appearance, similar to other so-called 'chaotic terrain' on Mars.


This map shows the location of Iani Chaos, lying at approximately 0.7° South and 340.6° East, just south of Aram Chaos. Scientists believe that Iani Chaos was the source of the fluids thought to have created Ares Vallis, the roughly 1500-kilometre-long valley that extends to the north-west in the direction of Chryse Planitia.

Credits: FU Berlin/MOLA

The HRSC obtained these images during orbit 945 with a ground resolution of approximately 13.0 metres per pixel. The images show the region of Iani Chaos, lying at approximately 0.7° South and 340.6° East.
Iani Chaos is one of many regions east of Valles Marineris characterized by disrupted or chaotic terrain. The morphology of this terrain is dominated by large-scale remnant massifs, which are large relief masses that have been moved and weathered as a block. These are randomly oriented and heavily eroded.


The disrupted and chaotic terrain of Iani Chaos is clearly shown in this perspective view, which is looking approximately to the West.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

To the south (to the left) in the colour image, these mesas, which appear as flat-topped hills, range from less than one kilometre to roughly 8 kilometres wide, with a maximum relative elevation of approximately 1000 metres.

The relatively flat region in the north-west (upper right) of the colour image exhibits a number of faint, circular depressions. These depressions, along with the remnant massifs, may have been formed by collapse of the surface due to the removal of underlying material, for example ice or water.


This black-and-white image was captured on 14 October 2004 by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the ESA spacecraft Mars Express with a ground resolution of approximately 13.0 metres per pixel.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Scientists believe that Iani Chaos was the source of the fluids thought to have created Ares Vallis, the roughly 1500-kilometre-long valley that extends to the north-west in the direction of Chryse Planitia.

The colour scenes have been derived from the three HRSC-colour channels and the nadir channel. The anaglyph image was calculated from the nadir and one stereo channel. Image resolution has been decreased for use on the internet.


This 3D anaglyph is based on data captured by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the ESA spacecraft Mars Express. Accompanying colour scenes were derived from the three HRSC colour channels and the nadir channel, while this anaglyph image was calculated from the nadir and one stereo channel.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

For more information on Mars Express HRSC images, please read ESA's updated FAQ (frequently asked questions).

Source: ESA - Mars Express

How totally bizzare. It looks like it had water on the surace, and subsequently evaporated.

This is because of the similarity to soil conditions on Earth. However, these perspectives are not resolving soil, but larger structures.

Strange.

I wonder if there are any places on Earth where a large area was covered in water or ice, which has since remained dry as a bone. And, with similar relief. This looks pretty unique, to me.

The difference being of course, the earth has continuous erosion. How old are these mesas on Mars? This could be a place frozen in time.

Waspie has done a very nice job on all this!

Thank you for those kind words, but all I really do is re-post. It is NASA and ESA that deserve the praise.

I try to make these posts look as similar to the originals as possible. Maybe it's the fact that I worked in Quality Control for 20 years, but I always feel that as someone at these agencies has gone to a lot of trouble to present this information in as attractive a way as possible, the least I can do is try to replicate them.

This image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, shows the regions of Granicus Valles and Tinjar Valles, which may have been formed partly through the action of subsurface water, due to a process known as sapping. The HRSC obtained these images on 14 February 2005 during orbit 1383 at a ground resolution of approximately 23.7 metres per pixel. The images have been rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise, so that North is to the left. Both channel systems evolve from a single main channel entering the image scene from southeast (upper right), exhibiting an approximate width of 3 km and extending 300 m below the surrounding terrain at maximum.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)


28 July 2006
These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, show the regions of Granicus Valles and Tinjar Valles, which may have been formed partly through the action of subsurface water, due to a process known as sapping.


This map shows the regions of Granicus Valles and Tinjar Valles, lying at approximately 26.8° North and 135.7° East. The northwest-aligned Granicus Valles and Tinjar Valles are part of the Utopia-Planitia region, an area thought to be covered by a layer of lava that flowed from the northwest flanks of Elysium Mons into the Utopia-Planitia Basin.

Credits: FU Berlin/MOLA

The HRSC obtained these images during orbit 1383 at a ground resolution of approximately 23.7 metres per pixel. The images have been rotated 90 degrees counter-clockwise, so that North is to the left.
They show the regions of Granicus Valles and Tinjar Valles, lying at approximately 26.8° North and 135.7° East. The northwest-aligned Granicus Valles and Tinjar Valles are part of the Utopia-Planitia region, an area thought to be covered by a layer of lava that flowed from the northwest flanks of Elysium Mons into the Utopia-Planitia Basin.


This black-and-white image was captured on 14 February 2005 by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the ESA spacecraft Mars Express with a ground resolution of approximately 23.7 metres per pixel.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Today, this once-smooth volcanic plain is incised by channels of variable size and appearance, including Granicus Valles (towards the West) and Tinjar Valles (towards the North).

Both channel systems evolve from a single main channel entering the image scene from southeast (upper right), exhibiting an approximate width of 3 km and extending 300 m below the surrounding terrain at maximum. The impressive sinuous lava channel emanates from the mouth of a radial, a circular drainage area, and runs to the Elysium rise trending into a graben, which is terrain dissected by tectonic deformation.


This narrow, straight, 4-km wide and 120-km long graben is interpreted as the source of both lava flows and debris flows that carved Granicus and Tinjar Valles. Similar Elysium flank grabens at higher elevations lack outflow channels. This elevation dependence leads scientists to suggest that subsurface water, released by volcanic activity, has later played a role in shaping the channels visible today.

The colour scene was derived from the three HRSC-colour channels and the nadir channel. The 3D anaglyph image was calculated from the nadir and one stereo channel. Image resolution has been decreased for use on the internet.


This 3D anaglyph is based on data captured by the High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) onboard the ESA spacecraft Mars Express. Accompanying colour scenes were derived from the three HRSC colour channels and the nadir channel, while this anaglyph image was calculated from the nadir and one stereo channel.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

For more information on Mars Express HRSC images, please read ESA's updated FAQ (frequently asked questions).

Source: ESA - Mars Express

This true-colour view taken by NASA's Pathfinder rover in August 1997 shows clouds in the Martian eastern sky (30 degrees above the horizon), as imaged before sunrise.
Observations of the Martian atmosphere by the SPICAM spectrometer on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, have revealed for the first time that carbon dioxide clouds form and exist at very high atmospheric layers, between 80 and 100 kilometres above the Martian surface. This makes them the highest clouds ever observed above any planetary surface. These clouds may be of the same type observed by Pathfinder.

Credits: NASA Pathfinder

28 August 2006
Planetary scientists have discovered the highest clouds above any planetary surface. They found them above Mars using the SPICAM instrument on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft. The results are a new piece in the puzzle of how the Martian atmosphere works.

Until now, scientists had been aware only of the clouds that hug the Martian surface and lower reaches of the atmosphere. Thanks to data from the SPICAM Ultraviolet and Infrared Atmospheric Spectrometer onboard Mars Express, a fleeting layer of clouds have been discovered at an altitude between 80 and 100 kilometres. The clouds are most likely composed of carbon dioxide.
SPICAM made the discovery by observing distant stars just before they disappeared behind Mars. By looking at the effects on the starlight as it travelled through the Martian atmosphere, SPICAM built up a picture of the molecules at different altitudes. Each sweep through the atmosphere is called a profile.

The first hints of the new cloud layer came when certain profiles showed that the star dimmed noticeably when it was behind the 90–100 kilometre high atmospheric layer. Although this happened in only one percent of the profiles, by the time the team had collected 600 profiles, they were confident that the effect was real.

"If you wanted to see these clouds from the surface of Mars, you would probably have to wait until after sunset" says Franck Montmessin, a SPICAM scientist with Service d'Aeronomie du CNRS, Verrières-le-Buisson, France, and lead author of the results. This is because the clouds are very faint and can only be seen reflecting sunlight against the darkness of the night sky. In that respect, they look similar to the mesospheric clouds, also known as noctilucent clouds, on Earth. These occur at 80 kilometres altitude above our planet, where the density of the atmosphere is similar to that of Mars’ at 35 kilometres. The newly discovered Martian clouds therefore occur in a much more rarefied atmospheric location.

At 90–100 kilometres above the Martian surface, the temperature is just –193° Celsius. This means that the clouds are unlikely to be made of water. "We observe the clouds in super-cold conditions where the main atmospheric component CO2 (carbon dioxide), cools below its condensation point. From that we infer that they are made of carbon dioxide," says Montmessin.

But how do these clouds form? SPICAM has revealed the answer by finding a previously unknown population of minuscule dust grains above 60 kilometres in the Martian atmosphere. The grains are just one hundred nanometres across (a nanometre is one thousand-millionth of a metre).

They are likely to be the 'nucleation centres' around which crystals of carbon dioxide form to make clouds. They are either microscopic chippings from the rocks on the surface on Mars that have been blown to extreme altitudes by the winds, or they are the debris from meteors that have burnt up in the Martian atmosphere.

The new high-altitude cloud layer has implications for landing on Mars as it suggests the upper layers of Mars' atmosphere can be denser than previously thought. This will be an important piece of information for future missions, when using friction in the outer atmosphere to slow down spacecraft (in a technique called 'aerobraking'), either for landing or going into orbit around the planet.

Note

These results are published online in the Icarus scientific magazine (vol. 183, issue 2, August 2006), in the article titled: "Subvisible CO2 ice clouds detected in the mesosphere of Mars", by F.Montmessin, J.L.Bertaux (Service d'Aeronomie du CNRS, Verrières-le-Buisson, France ), et al.

Since the start of the Mars Express scientific operations at the beginning of 2004, SPICAM has been probing the Martian atmosphere from top to bottom. Another major achievement is the first global map of Martian ozone. Latter this year, a special issue of the Journal of Geophysical Research is being devoted to SPICAM’s results from Mars.

Source: ESA - News

This image, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, shows the region of Kasei Valles, one of the biggest outflow channel systems on Mars. The HRSC obtained this image during orbit 1429 on 26 February 2005, at a ground resolution of approximately 29 metres per pixel.
The image shows a perspective view of the Northern branch of Kasei Valles looking to the West (the image has been rotated approximately 90 degrees clockwise so that North is to the right). As one of the biggest outflow channel systems on Mars, Kasei Valles was probably formed by gigantic flood events and later additionally shaped by glacial activity.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)


30 August 2006
These images, taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, show the region of Kasei Valles, one of the biggest outflow channel systems on Mars. Kasei is the Japanese word for the planet Mars.


This map shows the region of Kasei Valles, lying approximately between 21° and 28° North at 292.5° East. Connecting the Southern Echus Chasma and the plain Chryse Planitia to the east, Kasei Valles has a width of roughly 500 kilometres and, if Echus Chasma is included, extends for approximately 2500 kilometres. Both the North and South valley branches indicated in the map exhibit a depth of 2900 metres.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The HRSC obtained these images during orbit 1429 at a ground resolution of approximately 29 metres per pixel.
The Kasei Valles region lies approximately between 21° and 28° North at 292.5° East.

Connecting the southern Echus Chasma and the plain Chryse Planitia in the East, Kasei Valles has a width of roughly 500 kilometres and, if Echus Chasma is included, extends for approximately 2500 kilometres.


This colour image shows the Northern branch of Kasei Valles and the plain Sacra Mensa. The image has been rotated 90 degrees clockwise so North is to the right. An oval structure at the western edge (top) of the scene is interpreted to be a crater caused by an oblique meteorite impact.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

There are two sets of images in this release, one showing the North branch, one showing the South branch. Both branches extend approximately South-West to North-East, and the images have been rotated one-quarter clockwise so that North is to the right.

Both valley branches exhibit a depth of 2900 metres.


Kasei Valles and the plain Sacra Mensa, in black and white. This nadir view image has been rotated 90 degrees clockwise so North is to the right.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

As one of the biggest outflow channel systems on Mars, Kasei Valles was probably formed by gigantic flood events and later additionally shaped by glacial activity.


The image shows a perspective view of the Northern branch of Kasei Valles looking to the East (the image has been rotated approximately 90 degrees counter-clockwise so that North is to the left).

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

In the first set of images, the Northern branch of Kasei Valles and the plain Sacra Mensa can be seen. An oval structure at the western edge of the scene is interpreted to be a crater caused by an oblique meteorite impact.


The image shows a perspective view of the Southern branch of Kasei Valles looking to the East (the image has been rotated approximately 90 degrees counter-clockwise so that North is to the left). The Southern branch of Kasei Valles and Sacra Mensa, with its 1- to 2-kilometre-deep graben system, Sacra Fossae, can be clearly seen.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The Southern branch of Kasei Valles and Sacra Mensa, with its 1- to 2-kilometre-deep graben system, Sacra Fossae, is shown in the second set of images. The terraces are up to 30 kilometres wide, located at the base of the walls on both sides of the valley branch.


The image shows a perspective view of the Southern branch of Kasei Valles looking to the South-West (the image has been rotated clockwise so that North is to the far right). The terraces, which can be seen in the background, are up to 30 kilometres wide and are located at the base of the walls on both sides of the valley branch.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The colour scene was derived from three HRSC-colour channels. The perspective views have been calculated from the digital terrain model derived from the stereo channels. The 3D anaglyph images were derived from the stereo and nadir channels. Image resolution has been decreased for use on the internet.


This colour image shows the Southern branch of Kasei Valles and the plain Sacra Mensa. The image has been rotated 90 degrees clockwise so North is to the right.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)


This This black and white image shows the Southern branch of Kasei Valles and the plain Sacra Mensa. North is to the right.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

For more information on Mars Express HRSC images, please read ESA's updated FAQ (frequently asked questions).

Source: ESA - Mars Express

A perspective view showing the so-called 'Face on Mars' located in the Cydonia region. The image shows a remnant massif thought to have formed via landslides and an early form of debris apron formation. The massif is characterized by a western wall that has moved downslope as a coherent mass. The massif became famous as the 'Face on Mars' in a photo taken on 25 July 1976 by the American Viking 1 Orbiter.
Image recorded during orbits 3253 and 1216 by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express. Image is based on data gathered over the Cydonia region, with a ground resolution of approximately 13.7 metres per pixel. Cydonia lies at approximately 40.75° North and 350.54° East.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum), MOC (Malin Space Science Systems)


21 September 2006
ESA's Mars Express has obtained images of the Cydonia region, site of the famous 'Face on Mars.' The High Resolution Stereo Camera photos include some of the most spectacular views of the Red Planet ever.


This map shows the region of Cydonia, lying at approximately 40.75° North and 350.54° East.
Cydonia is located in the Arabia Terra region on Mars and belongs to the transition zone between the southern highlands and the northern plains of Mars. This transition, the 'dichotomy boundary,' is characterized by wide, debris-filled valleys and isolated remnant mounds of various shapes and sizes.

Credits: FU Berlin/MOLA

After multiple attempts to image the Cydonia region from April 2004 until July 2006 were frustrated by altitude and atmospheric dust and haze, the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board Mars Express finally obtained, on 22 July, a series of images that show the famous 'face' on Mars in unprecedented detail.
The data were gathered during orbit 3253 over the Cydonia region, with a ground resolution of approximately 13.7 metres per pixel. Cydonia lies at approximately 40.75° North and 350.54° East.

"These images of the Cydonia region on Mars are truly spectacular," said Dr Agustin Chicarro, ESA Mars Express Project Scientist. "They not only provide a completely fresh and detailed view of an area famous to fans of space myths worldwide, but also provide an impressive close-up over an area of great interest for planetary geologists, and show once more the high capability of the Mars Express camera."

Cydonia is located in the Arabia Terra region on Mars and belongs to the transition zone between the southern highlands and the northern plains of Mars. This transition is characterized by wide, debris-filled valleys and isolated remnant mounds of various shapes and sizes.

'Human face' first seen in 1976


Original 'Face on Mars' image taken by NASA's Viking 1 orbiter, in grey scale, on 25 July 1976. Image shows a remnant massif located in the Cydonia region.
On 31 July 1976, a NASA press release said the formation "resembles a human head." However, NASA scientists had already correctly interpreted the image as an optical illusion caused by the illumination angle of the Sun, the formation's surface morphology and the resulting shadows, giving the impression of eyes, nose and mouth.

Credits: NASA/JPL

One of these visible remnant massifs became famous as the 'Face on Mars' in an image taken on 25 July 1976 by the American Viking 1 Orbiter.

A few days later, on 31 July 1976, a NASA press release said the formation "resembles a human head." However, NASA scientists had already correctly interpreted the image as an optical illusion caused by the illumination angle of the Sun, the formation's surface morphology and the resulting shadows, giving the impression of eyes, nose and mouth.

Nonetheless, the 'Face on Mars' was the subject of widespread speculation on the possible origins and purpose of artificial structures on the Red Planet, with the face being the most talked-about formation.

The array of nearby structures has been interpreted by some space enthusiasts as artificial landscapes, such as potential pyramids and even a disintegrated city. The idea that the planet might have once been home to intelligent beings has since inspired the imagination of many Mars fans, and has been expressed in numerous, more-or-less serious, newspaper articles as well as in science-fiction literature and on many Web pages.


Colour image showing an overhead view of the Cydonia region. The image has a ground resolution of approximately 13.7 metres per pixel. Cydonia lies at approximately 40.75° North and 350.54° East.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Despite all this, the formal scientific interpretation has never changed: the face remains a figment of human imagination in a heavily eroded surface.

It took until April 1998, and confirmation with additional data from the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor, before popular speculation waned. More data from the same orbiter in 2001 further confirmed this conclusion.

Significance for planetary geologists

While the formations aren't of alien origin, they are nevertheless of significant interest to planetary geologists.


Grey scale image showing nadir view of the Cydonia region. The data were recorded during orbit 3253 and shows a ground resolution of approximately 13.7 metres per pixel. Cydonia lies at approximately 40.75° North and 350.54° East.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

In areas adjacent to Cydonia, gently sloping areas surrounding hills or reliefs, so-called 'debris aprons,' are frequently found. They form at the foot of such remnant mounds and probably consist of a mixture of rocky debris and ice. In Cydonia itself, such aprons are often missing in smaller massifs. The formation of debris aprons is considered to be controlled by talus formation, a sloping mass of rock debris at the base of a cliff, and landslides.

At the Mars 'face,' such characteristic landslides and an early form of debris apron formation can be seen.


A second perspective view showing the so-called 'Face on Mars' located in Cydonia region. The image shows a remnant massif thought to have formed via landslides and an early form of debris apron formation. The massif is characterized by a western wall that has moved downslope as a coherent mass. The massif became famous known as the 'Face on Mars' in a photo taken on 25 July 1976 by the American Viking 1 Orbiter.
Image recorded during orbits 3253 and 1216 by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express. Image is based on data were gathered over the Cydonia region, with a ground resolution of approximately 13.7 metres per pixel. Cydonia lies at approximately 40.75° North and 350.54° East.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum), MOC Malin Space Science Systems

Former larger debris aprons might have been covered by later lava flows in the surrounding area; the western wall of the face moved downslope as a coherent mass. The location of the detachment zone is reflected by a large scarp extending from North to South. The results of large mass wasting, or downslope movement of rock, are also visible at the foot of the pyramid-like formations.

Between April 2004 and July 2006, the HRSC gathered data from the Cydonia region numerous times.

However, high flight altitude, resulting in poor data resolution on the ground (orbits 0262, 2533, 2872), as well as dust and haze in the Martian atmosphere, leading to heavily reduced data quality (orbits 1216, 2872) prevented the acquisition of high-quality Cydonia images.


'Skull-shaped' structure appears in some images


A colour perspective view showing a naturally 'skull-shaped' formation located in Cydonia region. The image shows a remnant massif shaped - at least somewhat - like a skull.
Image recorded during orbits 3253 and 1216 by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express. Image is based on data were gathered over the Cydonia region, with a ground resolution of approximately 13.7 metres per pixel. Cydonia lies at approximately 40.75° North and 350.54° East.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

On 22 July, the HRSC finally met success during orbit 3253, and a wide area in Cydonia was imaged at the best possible resolution and in 3D.
In fact, in addition to the well-known 'face' and 'pyramids,' a naturally skull-shaped structure also appears in some of the Mars Express images.

As the famous scientist and writer Carl Sagan said:
"Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were. But without it we go nowhere."

A perspective view showing a naturally 'skull-shaped' and several 'pyramid-shaped' formations located in the Cydonia region.
Image is based on data gathered over the Cydonia region, with a ground resolution of approximately 13.7 metres per pixel.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)


Colour image showing an overhead view of the Cydonia region. The image has a ground resolution of approximately 13.7 metres per pixel. Cydonia lies at approximately 40.75° North and 350.54° East.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)



A third perspective view showing the so-called 'Face on Mars' located in Cydonia region.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)


Note on images:

The colour scenes were derived from three HRSC-colour channels. The perspective views have been calculated from the digital terrain model derived from the stereo channels.

The 3D anaglyph images (shown in the accompanying article linked at right, above) were derived from the stereo and nadir channels. Image resolution has been decreased for use on the internet.

Note:

The HRSC instrument and science team is led by Principal Investigator Prof. Dr Gerhard Neukum. The team consists of 45 co-investigators from 32 institutions and 10 nations.

The systematic processing of the HRSC image data is carried out by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), while the images shown here were processed by the PI group at the Institute for Geosciences, Freie Universitaet (Free University), Berlin, in cooperation with DLR's Institute of Planetary Research, Berlin.

For more information on Mars Express HRSC images, please read ESA's updated FAQ (frequently asked questions).

Source: ESA - Mars Express

This artist's impression shows ESA's Mars Express, flying in a survival-mode
configuration (nicknamed "Sumo'), while it enters eclipse around Mars. The spacecraft
is shown in the power-saving warm-up attitude, with its base pointed towards the Sun to
maximise solar heating.

Credits: ESA, Celestia


26 September 2006
The Mars Express spacecraft has emerged from an unusually demanding eclipse season introducing a special, ultra-low-power mode nicknamed 'Sumo' - an innovative configuration aimed at saving the power necessary to ensure spacecraft survival.

This mode was developed through tight teamwork between ESOC mission controllers, principal investigators, industry and mission management.
In the past weeks, Mars Express faced an unusually demanding solar eclipse season running from end-August until late September. Eclipses are caused by the natural movements of the Earth and Mars - and Mars Express - around the Sun. During this period, the spacecraft spent as long as 75 minutes hidden from the Sun during each approximately 6-hour-long orbit about the Red Planet. During these 'blackouts', the solar panels generated no power and the spacecraft ran on battery power alone.

In an eclipse, three lithium-ion batteries previously charged by the solar panels provide power to the spacecraft's on-board scientific instruments and flight systems. The batteries can normally provide more than enough power if they have been fully charged.

However, an anomaly identified shortly after the mission's 2 June 2003 launch limits the amount of electricity produced by the panels that can be delivered to the rest of the spacecraft, including the batteries. As a result, mission controllers realised early on that the batteries might not fully recharge after each lengthy blackout during the recent eclipse season, with the ultimate result that the spacecraft might loose all power.

Scientists, engineers and industry solve potentially critical problems

Mars Express has already come through several eclipse seasons, but the current one happens to coincide with the spacecraft being at aphelion, the point in its orbit lying the farthest from the Sun. As a result, the power available from the solar arrays drops by a further 20 percent.

"This was potentially critical, and we knew we had to devise a solution that wasn't in the manual," said Michel Denis, Spacecraft Operations Manager based at ESOC, ESA's Space Operations Centre, in Darmstadt, Germany.

Denis says the solution was found by devising a configuration, or mode, for the spacecraft in which all but the most essential on-board devices were switched off or powered down. Further, to collect all possible power-producing energy from the Sun, the spacecraft would have to be turned away from the Earth most of the time, resulting in very short communication sessions with controllers on the ground.

As this way of operating was not envisioned when Mars Express was built, ESOC mission controllers and technical specialists went back to the mission procedure guides and original manufacturer's documents to run a full engineering review of the spacecraft's hardware and software, seeking to save every last watt of electricity.

The Mars Express prime contractor, Astrium, in Toulouse, France, worked closely with ESA, providing detailed information and conducting a parallel study to cross-check and verify the ESOC team's findings. Principal investigators and scientists also contributed, verifying how and under what circumstances the mission's instruments - there are seven - could be successfully powered down and stored at low temperatures.

'Sumo' mode wrestles with the problem


The Mars Express Control room at ESOC

Credits: ESA - P.Sebirot

Controllers nicknamed the sought-after ultra-low-power mode 'Sumo', for 'survival mode', underscoring the critical seriousness of the looming eclipse power challenge.

The intensive engineering review, started in 2005, took months of detailed planning and forecasting. The review was far more complex than merely summing the wattage of various devices and then turning off those that would bring the greatest energy saving.

Some components, for example, gain stability due to the heat emitted by nearby devices. If engineers tried to save power by turning those heat-emitting devices off, it would be necessary to turn on heaters to prevent other components from permanently freezing up, thus using even more electricity.

"We created Sumo mode from scratch, and it is a careful balance based on the total energy consumption tally that would enable Mars Express to survive," says Denis.

Sumo mode included turning off all science instruments, as well as powering down systems including communications and transmitter, data handling, on-board memory (not needed if instruments wouldn't be collecting data), the solar array motor and several heaters and thermal systems.

"Sumo mode was also innovative in that it preserved precious fuel, providing a wide range of options for future science-enhancing manoeuvres," said Fred Jansen, ESA Mission Manager for Mars Express.

By May 2006, mission controllers had found what proved to be the right configuration.

Teamwork and innovation provide safe passage


Artist's view of ESA's Mars Express at Mars.

Credits: ESA 2001, Illustration by Medialab

A series of tests and validations as well as a formal review by ESA determined that Sumo mode would reduce on-board power consumption from 400 to around 300 watts, a figure later verified in actual use, and low enough for the batteries to be adequately recharged after each eclipse.

With teams of engineers pulling extended day and night shifts in the mission's dedicated control room, Mars Express was switched to the innovative Sumo mode on 23 August this year. The spacecraft's orbit caused it to start experiencing increasing periods of blackout on 29 August, and the height of eclipse season was reached on 9 September, when the orbital blackouts lasted up to 75 minutes.

The extra-long eclipse season ended on 17 September and Mars Express has emerged with all systems nominal, thanks to close teamwork and some engineering innovation.

There are other benefits as well. "We've learned a lot about power management and we can apply these lessons not only to Mars Express during the rest of the mission but also to other missions," said Denis, adding, "For future eclipses, we are now even stronger."

Source: ESA - Mars News

This image taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express, shows a perspective view of a glacial feature located in Deuteronilus Mensae.
The image is centred at a 37.92º North latitude and 24.61º East longitude

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)


16 October 2006
For a number of decades now, astronomers have wondered about water on Mars. Thanks to ESA's Mars Express, much of the speculation has been replaced with facts. Launched on 2 June 2003, Mars Express has changed the way we think of Mars.

Since the Viking missions of the 1970s, planetary scientists have changed their perception of water on Mars several times, passing from the picture of a dry planet to that of a warmer and wetter one. Mars Express's data are now shedding a new light on the complex issue of the evolution of water on the Red Planet.
"We are re-writing the history of Mars," says Gerhard Neukum, Freie Universitaet Berlin, Germany, and the Principal Investigator on Mars Express’s High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC). "The big picture of a warm wet Mars is not completely correct. Any warm wet period lasted only a few hundred million years. By four thousand million years ago, it was over," he adds.

Three instruments on Mars Express have been at the centre of this revolution in thought. One is the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS). Since July 2005, MARSIS has probed beneath the surface of Mars to depths of thousands of metres. This is the first time such investigations have taken place.

"MARSIS has shown that many of the upper layers of Mars contain water ice," says Jeffrey Plaut of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, who is the co-Principal Investigator on the MARSIS experiment.

The scientists detected abundant water ice in the Martian polar regions and also received a surprise from some of the very first results that MARSIS returned. When the radar passed over the mid northern latitudes of Chryse Planitia, the signals showed a buried impact crater, below the surface. Inside this impact structure was a thick layer of possibly water-ice-rich material. "We are finding reservoirs of ice that have never been seen before," says Plaut, "But we are still puzzling out when and where the water on Mars was liquid."

“The last MARSIS observations have been done on the South Pole,” adds Giovanni Picardi, MARSIS Principal Investigator, from the University of Rome ‘La Sapienza’. “The quality of the preliminary results of the advanced analysis we are still performing are really exciting and promising, with respect to the main scientific objectives of our experiment.” The objectives include the detection of subsurface water.


In this HRSC 3D perspective view of the Marwth Vallis area (shades of grey), OMEGA has mapped the water-rich minerals (blue). No hydrated minerals or sediments have been detected, either in the channel or in its opening. However, the outflow was so violent as to erode and expose ancient hydrated clay-rich minerals, tracing an early era when water was present.

Credits: ESA/OMEGA/HRSC

The OMEGA Visible and Infrared Mineralogical Mapping Spectrometer has taken giant steps towards answering that question. OMEGA detects minerals on the surface of Mars. Three in particular reveal the history of Martian water. "We have demonstrated that water could have been stable on Mars's surface but not for very long," says Jean-Pierre Bibring, Institut d'Astrophysique Spatiale, Orsay, France, and OMEGA's Principal Investigator.


OMEGA detected clay-like minerals that form during long-term exposure to water, but only in the oldest regions of Mars. That suggested water flowed during the first few hundred million years of the planet’s history only. When these bodies of water were lost, water then occasionally burst from inside the planet but quickly evaporated.

During the evaporation they made sulphates, the second mineral that OMEGA detected. When even this stopped and the remaining water on Mars became permanently frozen, then the atmosphere gradually turned the soil red by creating the third mineral OMEGA detected, ferric oxide.

Mars has been like this for thousands of millions of years. "It is remarkable that, for the first time, we have identified where and when liquid water might have been present on Mars. It is not where one thought of before," says Bibring.


This HRSC image shows the Northern main channel of Kasei Valles, which probably has been formed by gigantic flood events.
The image is centred at 26.97º North latitude and 67.68º West longitude.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

The images from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) point towards the same conclusions. They show the Martian surface in the most exquisite detail, revealing features just 10 metres across. They clearly show extremely old Martian regions that have been eroded by flowing water. The pictures also show a huge valley, Kasei Valles, carved by a gigantic Martian glacier that persisted for a thousand million years during the time when the temperature of Mars had dropped too low for liquid water to flow across the surface.


This HRSC image provides a perspective view of residual water ice on the floor of Vastitas Borealis Crater on Mars.
The image is centred at 70.17º North latitude and 103.21º East longitude.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

"We see a clear link between volcanic regions and water flows," says Neukum. Wherever there has been volcanic activity on Mars, it has melted water inside Mars and let it flow to the surface. Some of these flows are recent – geologically speaking. "At the foot of Olympus Mons, HRSC sees evidence for water flows that have happened within the last 30 million years," says Neukum.

NASA’s latest spacecraft, the Mars Reconnaisance Orbiter (MRO), carries instruments that lead on from those of Mars Express. Many scientists from the teams at work on MARSIS are now working on the ASI's Shallow Radar (SHARAD) on board MRO. This is tuned to focus on the shallower layers of Mars, whereas MARSIS looks deeper. OMEGA's sister instrument on MRO is the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM). This will look in more detail at minerals on the Martian surface. However, the instrument only has a small field of view, so it will need guidance. "They will target primarily the areas that OMEGA has shown to be interesting," says Bibring.

"Mars Express has provided unprecedented evidence on the history of water on Mars. Now, we look forward to new investigations that will build on this legacy," says Augustin Chicarro, Mars Express’s Project Scientist at ESA.


This HRSC image shows a perspective view of a possible dust-covered frozen sea near the Martian equator.
The image is centred at 5.46º North latitude and 150.30º East longitude.

Credits: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin (G. Neukum)

Note

Mars Express data is still streaming down from HRSC, MARSIS, Omega but also the probe's other instruments, PFS, SPICAM, ASPERA, and MaRS. They are probing all aspects of the Martian environment – studying atmospheric gases, searching for eventual biological processes, detecting high altitude clouds and hidden volcanoes and digging into the scavenging effects of the solar wind.

Source: ESA - Mars Express