A Tale of Two Craters

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Caption:

In western Acidalia, two craters of similar size (a few km's) dramatically display the effects of geologic activity. The younger one on the left has been left relatively well preserved, retaining a sharp rim crest, a classic bowl shape, and a clearly defined ejecta blanket. The older one on the right likely has experienced a flood of lava that covered over the ejecta and filled in the bowl (note the breach in the rim). Its rim crest has been worn down by a multitude of subsequent impacts.

Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.

Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 35.9, Longitude 311.1 East (48.9 West). 19 meter/pixel resolution.

Background Info:

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.

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