The theme for the weeks of 1/17 and 1/24 is the north polar region of
Mars as seen in false color THEMIS images. Ice/frost will typically
appear as bright blue in color; dust mantled ice will appear in tones of
red/orange.
This full resolution image shows a marked difference in the "blueness" of
the ice surfaces. The lower (presumably older) surface is oranger and the
top (presumably younger) surface is blue. This may represent the fresher
ice of the upper surface which has not yet covered with as much dust as
the lower surface.
Image information: VIS instrument. Latitude 80.8, Longitude 302.1 East
(57.9 West). 19 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.
