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 Express
  
• Mars Phoenix Lander
  
• Exploration of Mars

Waspie_Dwarf






This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 39° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 39° occurs in mid-April 2006. The picture shows the Tharsis face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 39° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 39° occurs in mid-April 2006. The picture shows the Acidalia/Mare Erythraeum face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 39° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 39° occurred in mid-April 2006. The picture shows the Elysium/Mare Cimmerium face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a plain southeast of Hebrus Valles that is cut by a network of intersecting troughs. Large, windblown—and perhaps wind-eroded ripples occur on the trough floors.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 53° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 53° occurs in mid-May 2006. The picture shows the Tharsis face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a relatively flat plain in Acidalia Planitia. The circular feature near the left (west) edge is the surface manifestation of a buried impact crater, a common feature observed on the northern plains of Mars. The darker feature is a younger, fresher impact crater—but, it too, has been somewhat buried beneath a mantle of material.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a wind streak created in the lee—the downwind side—of a crater in far eastern Chryse Planitia. The winds responsible for the formation of the streak blew from the upper right (northeast) to the lower left (southwest).



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dunes in the north polar region of Mars. The dunes in this scene are covered by a layer of carbon dioxide frost that accumulated during the winter in 2005. Dark spots indicate areas where frost has begun to sublime away. In summer, the dune field will be dark, as all of the frost will be gone and the iron- and magnesium-bearing silicate sands will be exposed.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 53° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 53° occurs in mid-May 2006. The picture shows the Acidalia/Mare Erythraeum face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows adjacent impact craters located north-northwest of the Acheron Fossae region of Mars. The two craters are of similar size and formed by meteor impacts. However, one is much more filled than the other, indicating that it is older. The surface of the material in the older, partially-filled crater has a texture similar to the crater's surroundings. The southern (bottom) crater is bowl-shaped and is also partially-filled, however, the filling material seems to be limited to the southern half of the crater.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of the floor and wall of a trough in the Acheron Fossae region of Mars. Mass movements of dry dust, which appears to mantle much of the scene, have created the dark slope streaks on the wall of the trough.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a small portion of Evros Vallis, an ancient valley located south of the large impact basin, Schiaparelli. In this image, the walls and floor of the valley, as well as the adjacent upland, are all mantled by dust. In addition to the dust mantle, large, windblown ripples occur in low-lying areas, particularly on the valley floor. The ripples, also, have been covered by dust.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows partially-filled collapse pits on the eastern flank of Alba Patera, a large volcano in northern Tharsis. The three pits near the bottom (south) of the image have collapsed to the point of coalescence, while the northern-most pit remains largely a separate entity.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

Interesting pictures..

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the very edge of the south polar residual cap of Mars. The bright areas, which appear somewhat like pieces of sliced Swiss cheese, are composed mainly of frozen carbon dioxide. The scarps around the edges of the carbon dioxide mesas have been retreating at a rate of roughly 3 meters (~3 yards) per martian year; in this case, exposing a darker surface that lies below.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 53° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 53° occurs in mid-May 2006. The picture shows the Syrtis Major face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of a chain of pits on a lava- and dust-covered plain northwest of Tharsis Tholus—one of the many volcanic constructs in the Tharsis region of Mars. Pit chains, such as this one, are associated with the collapse of surface materials into subsurface voids formed by faulting and expansion—or extension—of the bedrock.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows neighboring networks of gullies in the northwest wall of a south middle-latitude crater west of Hellas Planitia. The faint crisscrossing streaks, also observed on the wall of the crater, are evidence of passing dust devils, a common phenomena in this region. The gullies might have formed by erosion caused by running water, mixed with debris.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows outcrops of light-toned rock, interpreted to be sedimentary in origin, in east Candor Chasma. The exposures of light-toned rock are separated by areas of windblown ripples and dark sand.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows remnants of layered materials near the west rim of South Crater, Mars. The composition of these layered rocks is unknown—are they the remains of sedimentary rocks or accumulations of dust and ice? We'll probably not know until someone visits this area, perhaps centuries from now.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows sand dunes overlain by a layer of seasonal carbon dioxide frost in the north polar region of Mars. Sunlight illuminates the scene from the lower left, but slopes facing toward the upper right seem illuminated because of the thicker accumulation of frost on the slopes facing away from the sunlight.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a portion of a dust-covered plain northwest of Jovis Tholus which is host to several overlapping, ancient lava flows and a channel containing streamlined features indicative of fluid flow.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 53° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 53° occurred in mid-May 2006. The picture shows the Elysium/Mare Cimmerium face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows billowing clouds of dust rising from a storm southeast of Hellas Planitia. The dust storm in this case obscured the Mars Orbiter Camera's view of the martian surface.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows gullies in the north wall of a crater south of Proctor Crater in Noachis Terra. To form, the gullies might have required liquid water. Dark streaks cutting across the scene were formed by passing dust devils.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

Good Stuff! Mars is a great place to study!

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a variety of textures observed on a dust-covered plain in the Marte Valles region of Mars. Textural variations across the scene include: areas that are littered with small impact craters, a channel-like feature that is dominated by mounds of a variety of sizes, small ripples and/or ridges, and relatively smooth, unremarkable terrain. The contact between the cratered plain and the area dominated by mounds marks one of the banks along the edge of one of the shallow valleys of the Marte Valles system.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dark sand dunes on the floor of an impact crater west of Hellas Planitia. Portions of the crater floor are exposed near the center and lower right corner of the image but, in general, the floor is covered by large, windblown ripples. The dark dune sand typically covers ripples, indicating that the dunes are younger and made of a more mobile material.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a chain of collapse pits on a dust-mantled, lava-covered plain northeast of Ascraeus Mons—one of the giant volcanoes located in the Tharsis region of Mars. Pit chains are associated with collapse which may be driven by several processes including, but not limited to, crustal extension owing to tectonic processes and the collapse of the roof of a lava tube.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows light-toned, layered, sedimentary rock outcrops in northwest Schiaparelli Basin. The layers are all of about the same thickness (a few meters or less) and appear to have similar properties. They were likely deposited in an episodic or cyclic manner, perhaps in an underwater setting.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 53° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 53° occurred in mid-May 2006. The picture shows the north polar region of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a pedestal crater superposed on the floor of the much larger Mellish Crater. When an impact crater of this type forms, material is thrown onto the adjacent terrain to form portions of the ejecta blanket we see today. If the ejecta blanket is sufficiently rocky, it will protect the underlying terrain from wind erosion. Over time, much of the exposed material surrounding the ejecta blanket will be removed by wind, leaving behind the rocky ejecta and the material below it, resulting in the pedestal-like appearance seen here.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows windblown ripples on the floor of Auqakuh Vallis. The light-toned area, running diagonally across the scene from the lower left (southwest) to the upper right (northeast), may be dust that has accumulated in the bottom of the valley and on top of the ripples.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows material on the floor of a crater in Noachis Terra, west of Hellas Planitia. Windblown features, both the large, dark-toned sand dunes and smaller, light-toned ripples, obscure and perhaps, protect portions of the crater floor from further modification by erosional processes.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows dunes covered with a seasonally-deposited layer of solid carbon dioxide (CO2) in the north polar region of Mars. The dark spots indicate areas where the CO2 frost has begun to change, either by being sublimed away, or by becoming rougher or coarser-grained, such that it appears darker than surrounding frost. Over the course of the spring season, the frost will be completely removed and the dark sands that make up the dune field will be visible by summer.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows layered, light-toned, sedimentary rocks that have been exposed by erosion in Coprates Chasma, one of the many chasms which comprise the Valles Marineris trough system on Mars.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows blocky remnants of a material that was once more laterally extensive on the floor of an impact crater located northwest of Herschel Crater on Mars. Large ripples of windblown sediment have accumulated around and between the blocks.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 66° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 66° occurs in mid-June 2006. The picture shows the Tharsis face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows repeated layers of material, possibly a combination of dust and ice, or perhaps ancient sedimentary rock, exposed by erosion on a slope in the south polar region of Mars.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a large dust devil flanked by two relatively small dust devils, moving together across a lightly-dusted, south high-latitude plain.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a small portion of a dust-covered plain directly north of Labyrinthus Noctis which is cut by three linear troughs. The two long troughs running diagonally from the lower left (southwest) to the upper right (northeast) are connected by a third, shorter trough. Boulders derived from erosion of layered rock in the trough walls are seen perched on the sloping sidewalls and resting on the trough floors among giant windblown ripples.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a light-toned wind streak created in the lee—the downwind side—of an impact crater in the Cyane Fossae region of Mars. Winds blowing from the bottom (south) toward the top (north) swept this scene clean of fine, bright dust except for the dust that had accumulated in a few protected areas such as that in the lee of this crater.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a wide, flat-floored trough flanked by several smaller, branching troughs in the Olympica Fossae region of Mars. Dark- and intermediate-toned slope streaks—created by dry avalanches of dust—occur on the trough walls.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a group of impact craters in Aonia Planum, Mars. Remarkably, two of the craters are approximately equal in size, however, they clearly differ in age. The left (west) crater has a well-defined rim and its ejecta blanket overlies part of the less pronounced crater to its immediate east. The one with the ejecta blanket is younger. Other circular depressions in this bouldery scene are also old, eroded impact craters.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This picture is a composite of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) daily global images acquired at Ls 66° during a previous Mars year. This month, Mars looks similar, as Ls 66° occurs in mid-June 2006. The picture shows the Acidalia/Mare Erythraeum face of Mars. Over the course of the month, additional faces of Mars as it appears at this time of year are being posted for MOC Picture of the Day. Ls, solar longitude, is a measure of the time of year on Mars. Mars travels 360° around the Sun in 1 Mars year. The year begins at Ls 0°, the start of northern spring and southern autumn.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows the outer edge of the south polar residual cap of Mars. During summer, the scarps that delineate the sides of the mesas, retreat (on average) by about 3 meters (~10 feet) owing to the sublimation of solid carbon dioxide.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

Galle Crater, not to be confused with the equatorial Gale Crater, is also known as "Happy Face Crater." A mound of layered rock—in places over-ridden by dark sand dunes—occurs immediately south of the "mouth" of Happy Face Crater. The mosaic of Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) narrow angle images shown here reveals some of the details of a portion of the mound not covered by dunes. Groups of layers in the lowermost portion of this exposure cut across each other in several places. Each of these cross-cutting relations indicates a period during which the deposition of these layered materials—interpreted to be sediment—stopped and erosion took place instead. These periods of erosion were followed by new sedimentation—new deposition of granular material. Unknown is whether these layers represent sediments deposited by wind or water; the cross bedding is reminiscent of the patterns of sand deposition in windblown dunes, but these features are larger than the textures and patterns commonly found in sand dunes. The picture is a mosaic of three MOC images, E22-01557, M14-02055, and R11-04138, each taken in a different martian year and at a different time of the year. The annotated figure (right) shows the location of a dust devil that was observed in the summertime image, R11-04138.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This is a "3-D" stereo anaglyph showing layers in Galle Crater. It is a view of a portion of the same location featured in a mosaic yesterday, 15 June 2006, entitled "Galle Bedding". To see the layers in three dimensions, one must use "3-D" glasses with a red left eye and a blue right eye. This anaglyph uses two Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) images acquired at slightly different viewing angles: MOC images E22-01557 and M14-02055. Owing to the specifics of the viewing geometry, the image is tilted on its side, relative to the mosaic shown in the 15 June 2006 release. In other words, in this image, north is toward the right and west is up. This anaglyph, when viewed in conjunction with the 15 June 2006 mosaic of these layers, provides a more complete sense of the cross-cutting relations between layers in the mound located in southern Galle (Happy Face) Crater. The layers are part of a mound of sedimentary rock in southern Galle—a remnant of a once more-extensive deposit of sedimentary material in this south mid-latitude impact basin.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a group of sand dunes, covered by seasonal carbon dioxide frost, in the martian north polar region. Over the course of northern hemisphere spring, the carbon dioxide frost sublimes away, slowly revealing the dark sand that makes up the dunes. The dark spots in this image may be patches of freshly-exposed sand, or they could be places where the CO2 frost has changed, either becoming rougher, coarser-grained (larger crystals), or both. A rougher or coarser-grained surface will appear darker because of an increase in shadowing of the surface by the small-scale roughness elements.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a series of small gullies on the north wall of a crater within the much larger Green Crater in Noachis Terra, Mars. The gullies might have formed by seepage and runoff of ground water; others have suggested that melting snow or ice might create such gullies. The crater floor exhibits a field of sand dunes and some wispy, dark streaks left by passing dust devils.



Source: Malin Space Science Systems - Mars Global Surveyor