Unusual Crater

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Caption:

Released 15 May 2003

This unusual crater northeast of Ascraeus Mons displays an ejecta blanket that appears turned up around its edges. This may be a type of rampart crater, or may instead be a crater with its ejecta blanket buried by lava flows. These flows were later eroded away in places leaving behind the scarp. Numerous lava flows are seen in this image as well as sinuous channels. These features appear to be both volcanic (rilles) and fluvial channels.

Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 16.8, Longitude 257.4°East (102.6). 19 meter/pixel resolution.

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.

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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