Investigating Mars: Russell Crater

Scaled Image

Image Credit: NASA/JPL/ASU

About this image

This image shows part of the dune field just south of the large sand ridge - which is visible on the very top of the image. There is a huge range of dune sizes on the floor of Russell Crater. In this image the small sizes are at the bottom of the image and transition to larger dunes at the top. Russell Crater is located in Noachis Terra. A spectacular dune ridge and other dune forms on the crater floor have caused extensive imaging.

The Odyssey spacecraft has spent over 15 years in orbit around Mars, circling the planet more than 69000 times. It holds the record for longest working spacecraft at Mars. THEMIS, the IR/VIS camera system, has collected data for the entire mission and provides images covering all seasons and lighting conditions. Over the years many features of interest have received repeated imaging, building up a suite of images covering the entire feature. From the deepest chasma to the tallest volcano, individual dunes inside craters and dune fields that encircle the north pole, channels carved by water and lava, and a variety of other feature, THEMIS has imaged them all. For the next several months the image of the day will focus on the Tharsis volcanoes, the various chasmata of Valles Marineris, and the major dunes fields. We hope you enjoy these images!

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

Context

Image ID: 
V34544003 (View data in Mars Image Explorer)
-54.6035
12.6071
34544
2009-09-27 15:35
Tue, 2017-08-08
VIS
1024 pixels (21 km)
3648 pixels (69 km)
0.019032 km/pixel
0.0211345 km/pixel

Downloads

PNG | JPEG (high res) | JPEG (reduced res) | PDF | TIFF