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This is the first high-resolution color infrared image taken of Mars. The image was constructed using three of the ten infrared filters on the thermal emission imaging system of NASA’s 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. Color infrared images reveal differences in the surface materials’ composition, and three different compositional units can be detected in this region, which is known as Terra Sirenum.
One of the imaging system’s major objectives will be using color infrared images to make global mineral maps. This image was processed to enhance the infrared color differences and contains many artifacts that will be removed with further processing. This image covers an area about 32 by 66 kilometers (20 by 40 miles) in size. It is centered near 35.5 degrees south, 141.5 degrees west, and was taken on February 19, 2002 at about 3:15 p.m. local Martian time. North is to the left.
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 was provided by Arizona State University, Tempe. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the 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.
Credit: NASA/JPL/Arizona State University
