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Investigating Mars: Ascraeus Mons

Sept. 1, 2017
This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the southern flank of Ascraeus Mons.
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This image shows part of the southern flank of Ascraeus Mons. The feature at the bottom of the image is a collapse feature. These features can be caused by several processes. The ceiling of lava tubes can collapse into the open space left after the last flow. Tectonic activity can occur, and blocks of material can drop down between faults. The tectonic features are called graben. All three of the Tharsis volcanoes (Ascraeus, Pavonis and Arsia mons) are aligned along a northeast/southwest trend. The largest region of collapse features on each of the three volcanoes are located along this trend.

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!

Orbit Number: 18376 Latitude: 9.77446 Longitude: 254.826 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2006-02-04 10:32

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

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, 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.

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