Tyrrhena Terra

The 1000 × 2000 km area region of Tyrrhena Terra (outlined by the white box in the inset) sits between two regions of low altitude – Hellas Planitia and Isidis Planitia – in Mars' southern hemisphere, as shown in this global topography map. Hydrated minerals were found in 175 locations associated with impact craters in Tyrrhena Terra, such as inside the walls of craters, along crater rims, or in material excavated by the impact. Analysis suggests that these minerals were formed in the presence of water that persisted at depth for an extended period of time.

Map credit: NASA/MOLA Science Team/D. Loizeau et al.

Topography of Mars

Color coding in this image of Mars represents differences in elevation, measured by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor. While surface liquid water is rare and ephemeral on modern Mars, the topography of Mars reveals large, ancient valley networks and outflow channels. These are evidence that liquid water was more common and played a much more important role in Mars' past.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Note: The view of this map is somewhat unusual; we are looking from the north to the south. The "blue land" to the left is Acidalia Planitia (dark blue) and Chryse Planitia (light blue). The "green land" on the far left limb is Arabia Terra, while the green and yellow land to the middle right is Lunae Planum (lower right) and Xanthe Terra (upper middle right, with the large craters). The long blue and green streak in the "red land" is Valles Marineris; that leads to the various chasmata and chaotic terrains that lie near the top (southernmost) limb of the planet. The green "dogleg" at the bottom right is Echus Chasma (far right) and Kasei Valles (middle right), which flowed into Chryse Planitia.

Daybreak at Gale Crater

This computer-generated view depicts part of Mars at the boundary between darkness and daylight, with an area including Gale Crater beginning to catch morning light.

Northward is to the left. Gale is the crater with a mound inside it near the center of the image. NASA has selected Gale as the landing site for the Mars Science Laboratory mission. The mission's rover will be placed on the ground in a northern portion of Gale crater in August 2012.

Gale crater is 96 miles (154 kilometers) in diameter and holds a layered mountain rising about 3 miles (5 kilometers) above the crater floor. The intended landing site is at 4.5 degrees south latitude, 137.4 degrees east longitude.

This view was created using three-dimensional information from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter, which flew on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter. The vertical dimension is not exaggerated. Color information is based on general Mars color characteristics.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

Carbonates at Huygens Crater

This image shows the context for orbital observations of exposed rocks that had been buried an estimated 5 kilometers (3 miles) deep on Mars. It covers an area about 560 kilometers (350 miles) across, dominated by the Huygens crater, which is about the size of Wisconsin.

The impact that excavated Huygens lifted material from far underground and piled some of it in the crater's rim. At about the 10 o'clock position around the rim of Huygens lies an unnamed crater about 35 kilometers (22 miles) in diameter that has punched into the uplifted rim material and exposed rocks containing carbonate minerals (Figure 1). The minerals were identified by observations with the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

North is toward the top of this image, which is centered at 14 degrees south latitude, 304.4 degrees west longitude.

The image combines topographical information from the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter instrument on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor with daytime infrared imaging by the Thermal Emission Imaging System camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter.

Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Arizona State University