Hephaestus Fossae

This VIS image is located in Utopia Planitia and shows part of Hephaestus Fossae. Hephaestus Fossae is a complex channel system. It has been proposed that the channel formed by the release of melted subsurface ice during an impact event. Additionally, the nearby Elysium volcanic center created subsurface heating that may have played a part in creating both Hephaestus Fossae and Hebrus Valles to the north.

Orbit Number: 85286 Latitude: 17.535 Longitude: 127.087 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2021-03-06 18:17

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.