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Storm Chaser on Mars

March 20, 2012

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Catches a Twister in Action.

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This picture of a heart-shaped feature in Arabia Terra on Mars was taken on May 23, 2010, by the Context Camera (CTX) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
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This picture of a heart-shaped feature in Arabia Terra on Mars was taken on May 23, 2010, by the Context Camera (CTX) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Heart-shaped Feature in Arabia Terra (Wide View)
Observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have detected carbon-dioxide snow clouds on Mars and evidence of carbon-dioxide snow falling to the surface.
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Observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter have detected carbon-dioxide snow clouds on Mars and evidence of carbon-dioxide snow falling to the surface.
Carbon-Dioxide Snowfall on Mars
This image shows an outcrop of the south polar layered deposits (SPLD). The SPLD consist of layers of ice and admixed dust and make up the bulk of the dome-shaped Planum Australe.
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This image shows an outcrop of the south polar layered deposits (SPLD). The SPLD consist of layers of ice and admixed dust and make up the bulk of the dome-shaped Planum Australe. Planum Australe is, in some ways, analogous to the Antarctic ice sheet. Troughs and scarps carved into Planum Australe by erosional processes have exposed SPLD layers within it. In this image, the darkest area at the bottom of the image is the bottom of the scarp. Except for the dark material at the bottom of the slope, much of the changes in brightness in this image are due to the lighting angle, the direction from which the sun is illuminating the slope. Much like ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica and deep sea sediment cores, the icy-dusty layers of the SPLD may have preserved a record of recent Mars climate history. Understanding that record is a complex process and involves, among many other types of analyses, examining the differences and similarities in appearance between each layer and attempting to classify layer types. This image shows nice examples of different layer textures. But what is especially interesting about this image are the faults cutting through the layers. These faults appear as diagonal lines, on either side of which, the layering is offset. Note that the faults are not clean, single lines, but appear in long groups of short lines. What caused these faults is still under investigation, but, among other possibilities, they could be related to an earlier time when temperatures were higher and the ice was flowing at a much faster rate than it is today.
Troughs and Scarps in Planum Australe
This crater, formed in 2008, exposes shallow, clean ice that is not uncommon in the middle-to-high latitudes on Mars.
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This crater, formed in 2008, exposes shallow, clean ice that is not uncommon in the middle-to-high latitudes on Mars.
Icy New Impact
Candor Chasma is one of the major canyons within Valles Marineris. The floor of this canyon consist of many layers of light-toned sediments that have been folded and faulted, giving them the wavy a...
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Candor Chasma is one of the major canyons within Valles Marineris.
Western Candor (3-D)
This image acquired on January 13, 2019 by NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows a cluster of dust devil tracks on the flat ground below the south polar layered deposits, but none on the layers ...
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This image acquired on January 13, 2019 by NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows a cluster of dust devil tracks on the flat ground below the south polar layered deposits, but none on the layers themselves.
Following the Tracks
This image from the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows an impact scar on Mars made by pieces of the NASA Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft that the spacecraft shed just before entering the Mar...
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This image from the NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows an impact scar on Mars made by pieces of the NASA Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft that the spacecraft shed just before entering the Martian atmosphere.
Impact Scars from MSL Cruise Stage and Two Balance Weights (Figure 1)
This cliff is the site of the most frequent frost avalanches seen by HiRISE. These avalanches remind us, along with active sand dunes, dust devils, slope streaks and recurring slope lineae, that ...
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This cliff is the site of the most frequent frost avalanches seen by HiRISE.
Avalanche Ho!
This meteoroid impact crater on Mars was discovered using the black-and-white Context Camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The Context Camera took this image of the impact, which occur...
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This meteoroid impact crater on Mars was discovered using the black-and-white Context Camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Context Camera Views an Impact Crater in Amazonis Planitia
The Mars Color Imager (MARCI) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired a seven-band color, wide-angle view of Mars on March 24, 2006, as part of a checkout of the orbiter's payload. Th...
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The Mars Color Imager (MARCI) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired a seven-band color, wide-angle view of Mars on March 24, 2006, as part of a checkout of the orbiter's payload. The view looks northward and includes the large Argyre Basin in Mars' southern hemisphere.
View of Argyre Basin
This is an image of Gusev Crater taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE camera and is one of the potential landing sites for the Mars 2020 rover.
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Gusev Crater imaged from orbit by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE camera.
Mission 2020: A Candidate Landing Site in Gusev Crater
Northern Hemisphere Gullies on West-Facing Crater Slope, Mars
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Northern Hemisphere Gullies on West-Facing Crater Slope, Mars
Northern Hemisphere Gullies on West-Facing Crater Slope, Mars
This image is an artist's concept of a view looking down on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The spacecraft is pictured using its Shallow Subsurface Radar instrument (SHARAD) to "look" under the...
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This image is an artist's concept of a view looking down on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The spacecraft is pictured using its Shallow Subsurface Radar instrument (SHARAD) to "look" under the surface of Mars.
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's Radar, Top View (Artist's Concept)
This image covers a region of Mars near Nili Fossae that contains some of the best exposures of ancient bedrock on Mars.
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This image covers a region of Mars near Nili Fossae that contains some of the best exposures of ancient bedrock on Mars.
A Wild Assortment of Jumbled Rocks
This global map of Mars was acquired on Aug. 2, 2012, by the Mars Color Imager instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
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This global map of Mars was acquired on Aug. 2, 2012, by the Mars Color Imager instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Mars Weather Map, Aug. 2 (Labeled)
This global map of Mars was acquired on Aug. 4, 2012, by the Mars Color Imager instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
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This global map of Mars was acquired on Aug. 4, 2012, by the Mars Color Imager instrument on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Mars Weather Map, Aug. 4
This image is located within Northern Sinus Meridiani, a region of ridged terrains and extensive stratigraphic layering.
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This image is located within Northern Sinus Meridiani
Layered Yardangs (3-D)
This animation simulates a flyover of a portion of a Martian canyon detailed in a geological map produced by the U.S. Geological Survey and based on observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbit...
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Simulated Flyover of Mars Canyon Map
Simulated Flyover of Mars Canyon Map
Mars is experiencing large regional dust storms over its northern hemisphere during the past week.
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This movie was acquired by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter’s Mars Colour Imager (MARCI) camera.
The Martian Dust Storm of June 2018
The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter caught this view of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on Feb. 14, 2014.
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The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter caught this view of NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on Feb. 14, 2014.
Opportunity Rover on 'Murray Ridge' Seen From Orbit (Unannotated)
In Aureum Chaos, the OMEGA experiment on Mars Express indicated the presence of phyllosilicates (clay minerals) which have been detected in a variety of bright outcrops and scarps. The subimage sho...
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The formation of the large outflow channels on Mars have been attributed to catastrophic discharges of ground water. Many of the channels start in areas where the ground has apparently collapsed: the surface is now well below the surrounding undisturbed ground. Within the collapsed region, blocks of undisturbed material can often be seen and this has led to such regions being called chaotic terrain. In Aureum Chaos, the OMEGA experiment on Mars Express indicated the presence of phyllosilicates (clay minerals) which have been detected in a variety of bright outcrops and scarps. The subimage shows such an outcrop in a chaotic terrain region. At the highest resolution, layering can be seen. The image will be used to assess at what stage in Mars's history these clays minerals were formed and how. The area referred to as Aureum Chaos is located at 334 degrees East, 4 degrees South on the West side of the Margaritifer Terra region of Mars.
Light-Toned Outcrop in Aureum Chaos
NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, its backshell and its heatshield are visible within this enhanced-color image of the Phoenix landing site taken on Jan. 6, 2010 by the High Resolution Imaging Science Ex...
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NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, its backshell and its heatshield are visible within this enhanced-color image of the Phoenix landing site taken on Jan. 6, 2010 by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. With early spring at the Phoenix landing site comes progressive sublimation of carbon-dioxide frost that has blanketed the lander and surrounding terrain throughout the winter. During the long polar-winter night, atmospheric carbon dioxide freezes onto the surface, building up a layer of frost roughly 30 centimeters (about one foot) thick. In the spring this frost returns to atmosphere gas (sublimates) over the course of several months. This image, part of a seasonal frost monitoring sequence, shows some areas of bare ground are beginning to be exposed. However, extensive frost patches remain in the topographic lows, such as the troughs of the local polygonally patterned surface.
Phoenix Lander Amid Disappearing Spring Ice
How can you communicate with Mars spacecraft when the Sun is in the way? Learn more about 'solar conjunction' in this 60-second video.
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Mars in a Minute: What Happens When the Sun Blocks our Signal?
Mars in a Minute: What Happens When the Sun Blocks our Signal?
This map shows the route driven by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from the location where it landed in August 2012 to its location in December 2016, which is in the upper half of a geological unit cal...
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This map shows the route driven by NASA's Curiosity Mars rover from the location where it landed in August 2012 to its location in December 2016, which is in the upper half of a geological unit called the Murray formation, on lower Mount Sharp.
Late 2016 Map of NASA's Curiosity Mars Rover Mission
Deposits on the floor of Palos Crater
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Deposits on the floor of Palos Crater
Deposits on the floor of Palos Crater

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