PIA17865: Polar Dunes


Polar Dunes

Caption:

Context image for PIA17865
Context image

This VIS image shows dunes near the north polar cap of Mars. It is springtime at the north pole and the dunes are starting to lose their frost cover. As the season continues towards summer the dunes will appear darker and darker as the frost sublimates.

Orbit Number : 53076 Latitude : 80.2675 Longitude : 157.439 Instrument : VIS Captured : 2013-12-01 04:34

Background Info:

Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, 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.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Mars
System
Target Type Planet
Mission 2001 Mars Odyssey
Instrument Host Mars Odyssey
Host Type Orbiter
Instrument Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS)
Detector
Extra Keywords Dune, Grayscale, Thermal
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2014-01-17
Date in Caption 2013-12-01
Image Credit NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA17865
Identifier PIA17865