This is one of the highest-resolution images ever obtained from Mars and is one of the new additions to the online gallery. The picture shows gullies in a crater in the Newton Basin.
Courtesy of NASA/JPL
Oodles of New Pictures Land in Martian Photo Album!
News story originally written on October 8, 2002
Check out the over 18,000 new pictures that were added to NASA's Mars Global Surveyor Online Image Gallery on October 7, 2002. The addition brings the total number of Global Surveyor pictures to 112,218!
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab launched Global Surveyor on Nov. 7, 1996 and it entered the Martian orbit on Sept. 12, 1997. Global Surveyor has studied the entire Martian surface, atmosphere, and interior, returning more data than all other Mars missions combined.
The new group of pictures was taken between August 2001 and January 2002. During this time Global Surveyor’s camera captured events in the atmosphere, such as planet-wide dust storms, as well as features of the planet’s surface, such as gullies, sand dunes, and frost. Scientists are using some of the images to find a good landing site for the Mars Exploration Rover, scheduled to launch in 2003.
Last modified October 9, 2002 by Lisa Gardiner.
You might also be interested in:
It was another exciting and frustrating year for the space science program. It seemed that every step forward led to one backwards. Either way, NASA led the way to a great century of discovery. Unfortunately,
...moreThe Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off from Kennedy Space Center at 2:19 p.m. EST, October 29th. The sky was clear and the weather was great as Discovery took 8 1/2 minutes to reach orbit for the Unitied
...more A moon was discovered orbiting the asteroid, Eugenia. This is only the second time in history that a satellite has been seen circling an asteroid. A special mirror allowed scientists to find the moon
...more Will Russia ever put the service module for the International Space Station in space? NASA officials are demanding an answer from the Russian government. The necessary service module is currently waiting
...moreDuring a period of about two days in early May, 1998, the ACE spacecraft was immersed in plasma associated with a coronal mass ejection (CME). The SWICS instrument on ACE, which determines unambiguously
...moreJ.S. Maini of the Canadian Forest Service has referred to forests as the "heart and lungs of the world." Forests reduce soil erosion, maintain water quality, contribute to atmospheric humidity and cloud
...moreIn late April through mid-May 2002, all five naked-eye planets are visible simultaneously in the night sky! This is includes Mercury which is generally very hard to see because of its proximity to the
...more