Released August 16, 2004The THEMIS Image of the Day will be exploring the nomenclature of Mars
for the next three weeks.
Daedalia Planum
- Planum: plateau or high plain
- Daedalia: Daedalus was a famous inventor, architect, and craftsman.
He designed the Labyrith at Knossos (the Minotaur's prison), and the wings
that caused the death of his son, Icarus.
Daedalia Planum is located south of Arsia Mons. Topographically, this
area appeares to be a relatively featureless plain (as can be seen in the
MOLA context image to the right). However, the daytime IR image shows
multiple lava flows and small craters. The descriptor "fluctus" may be a
better term to use now that we have better images of this region.
Nomenclature Fact of the Day: Small craters on Mars are named for
towns and villages from all over the world with populations less than
100,000.
Image information: IR instrument. Latitude -18.4, Longitude 231.9 East
(128.1 West). 100 meter/pixel resolution.
Note: this THEMIS visual image has not been radiometrically nor
geometrically calibrated for this preliminary release. An empirical
correction has been performed to remove instrumental effects. A linear
shift has been applied in the cross-track and down-track direction to
approximate spacecraft and planetary motion. Fully calibrated and
geometrically projected images will be released through the Planetary
Data System in accordance with Project policies at a later time.
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission
for NASA's Office of Space Science, 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.