Mars Global Surveyor: Media Telecon - Related Images - Page 2
11.21.06
Images - Page 1 |
Images - Page 2
A selection of images from Mars Global Surveyor's Thermal Emission Spectrometer.
Once a Martian Sea?
The iron mineral hematite lies on the surface of parts of the Meridiani Planum region of Mars. Mapped from orbit by the Thermal Emission Spectrometer instrument on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor, hematite abundances range from 5 percent (blue) to 20 percent (red). Hematite often forms in the presence of liquid water. The hematite discovery by this instrument led to the selection of Meridiani Planum as the landing area for NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. Opportunity landed within the black oval indicated on this image. The background image is a daytime infrared mosaic from the Thermal Emission Imaging System instrument on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/ASU
+ High resolution
More Than Just Basalt
Mineral maps from the Thermal
Emission Spectrometer on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor showed the
variety of surface rocks on Mars. This data let scientists interpret
multispectral images taken with Mars Odyssey's Thermal Emission
Imaging System, such as this infrared image of Nili Patera caldera on
Syrtis Major. The dacite flow (magenta) and the volcanic cone
associated with it have a composition distinct from the basaltic
lavas that comprise most of the caldera floor (blue). Small outliers
of dacitic material lie east of the cone. Image width is 16
kilometers (10 miles). (Image credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)
+ High resolution
Long Dry Spell
Data from the Thermal Emission Spectrometer instrument on NASA's Mars
Global Surveyor showed exposures of olivine-rich rocks, which were
mapped in more detail by the Thermal Emission Imaging System on Mars
Odyssey. Here colors ranging from magenta to purple-blue trace large
exposures of olivine-rich rocks in the Nili Fossae region of Syrtis
Major. The images from the Thermal Emission Imaging System show that
the olivine is about four times as extensive as scientists previously
thought. This image is about 350 kilometers (220 miles) wide. (Image
credit: NASA/JPL/ASU)
+ High resolution
One Day's Temperature Map
The Thermal Emission Spectrometer on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor provided the first systematic study of Martian weather. For three Mars years, TES operated much like a terrestrial weather satellite, making daily weather maps to track changes in atmospheric temperature, water-ice clouds, water vapor, and dust. This map shows temperatures on Mars on Sept. 10, 2006.
Image credit: NASA/JPL/ASU
+ High resolution
Sand-Laden Jets
The Thermal Emission Spectrometer on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor discovered that jets of dusty gas produce dark markings on the south polar cap. During southern winter, carbon dioxide gas condenses onto the polar cap as a thin slab of transparent ice. When the Sun rises in spring, the ice sublimates from the bottom of the layer, while the growing gas pressure lifts the slab off the ground. Gas then breaks through the slab in places, erupting in jets that carry dust scavenged from under the slab. This image is an artist's concept illustrating the jets shooting into the sky at the Martian south polar icecap as southern spring begins. (Image credit: Arizona State University/Ron Miller)
+ Full caption