Mars Exploration Imagery

Black and white high-resolution images of the Martian surface, showcasing craters, wind patterns, and the desert-like landscape of Mars.

Opportunity's Surroundings After Sol 1820 Drive (Vertical)

Cracked Mars

This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft is from the region of Syrtis Major, which is dominated by a low-relief shield volcano and believed to be an area of vigorous aeolian activity with strong winds in the east-west direction.

Opportunity's Surroundings After Sol 1820 Drive (Vertical)

This image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey captures an unnamed crater with the interior sand sheet and the dunes outside of it are part of the southern margin of Abalos Undae, a dune field near the north polar cap. Small gullies are located on the interior

A large storm roils Saturn's atmosphere on the left of this NASA Cassini spacecraft image. This view looks toward a region centered at 24 degrees south of the planet's equator.

Zephyria Outflow Features

Sirenum Fossae

Kidney-Shaped Impact

Windstreaks

This NASA Mars Odyssey image shows the transition zone between maze-like troughs of Noctis Labyrinthus and the main Valles Marineris canyon system. This huge system of troughs near the equator of Mars was most likely created by tectonic forces.

. Channel. Today's VIS image shows a portion of a large unnamed channel located east of Echus Chasma. Orbit Number 94228 Latitude 0.601706 Longitude 278.28 Instrument VIS Captured 2023-03-13 00 54

Icaria Planum

Different lighting can hide or reveal different features on the surface of Mars. The lighting was perfect to reveal the details of the layering of the south polar cap in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey.

This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of Olympia Undae where the surface beneath the dunes is visible.

The dunes in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft sare located in the depressions of Sisyphi Cavi.

South Polar Layers. This VIS image shows part of the south polar cap. The cap is comprised of layers of ice and dust deposited over millions of years. This image was collected near the end of summer. Orbit Number 92024 Latitude -85.6105 Longitude 190.863 Instrument VIS Captured 2022-09-12 13 02 https //photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA25720

Rabe Dunes

This image was obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft on July 5, 2018 from an altitude of about 33 miles (54 kilometers). The center of this picture is located at about 20.3 degrees north latitude and 240.6 degrees east longitude.

Layered Rocks Near Mawrth Vallis

Spring storms are common near the north pole. This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows a storm front over the extensive dune field which surrounds part of the polar cap.

Nighttime IR Channels

MSIP: Multinational Research in the Southern Hemisphere

This image shows the margin of the south polar cap. The polar layers are prominently shown against the rocky surroundings

This MOC image shows a steep slope in the north polar region of Mars. The stripes indicate an exposure of layered material; the variations in brightness among the stripes are the result of varying amounts and textures on seasonal carbon dioxide frost

Spirit's View on Sol 110

'Marsshine' on Shadowed Part of Phobos

Surface textures vary in relation to topography on the south polar cap. Trough sides and floors are different from the flat top surface of the cap. This image was captured by NASA's Mars Odyssey.

Dalmatian Terrain

The white arrows indicate locations in this scene where numerous seasonal dark streaks have been identified in the Coprates Montes area of Mars' Valles Marineris by repeated MRO observations from orbit, based on data from NASA's MRO.

Reynolds Crater

Proctor Crater Dunes (IR)

South Pole

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft continues to transmit the sharpest views of Pluto that it obtained (and recorded) during its flyby of the distant planet on July 14, 2015.

Shades and Shapes of Mars

The dark dunes in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft are located in a depression bounded by ice. The polar ice is the bright material at the top and bottom parts of this image.

These dunes are located on the floor of an unnamed crater SE of Campbell Crater as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft.

This VIS image shows part of the complex caldera at the summit of Ascraeus Mons. Ascraeus Mons is the northernmost and tallest of the three large aligned Tharsis volcanoes. Calderas are found at the tops of volcanoes and are the source region for magma that rises from an underground lava source to erupt at the surface. Volcanoes are formed by repeated flows from the central caldera. The final eruptions can pool within the summit caldera, leaving a flat surface as they cool. Calderas are also a location of collapse, creating rings of tectonic faults that form the caldera rim. Ascraeus Mons has several caldera features at its summit. Ascraeus Mons is 18 km (11 miles) tall, for comparison Mauna Kea - the tallest volcano on Earth - is 10 km tall (6.2 miles, measured from the base below sea level). Orbit Number 89125 Latitude 11.0029 Longitude 256.08 Instrument VIS Captured 2022-01-16 20 38

Jupiter's atmospheric circulation is dominated by alternating eastward and westward jets from equatorial to polar latitudes. This image was taken on April 3, 1997, by NASA's Galileo spacecraft.

Mars Fretted Terrain: Lineated Valley Fill

This frame from an animation is made up from a sequence of images taken by the Descent Imager/Spectral Radiometer (DISR) instrument on board ESA's Huygens probe, during its successful descent to Titan on Jan. 14, 2005. The animation is available at http //photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA07234 It shows what a passenger riding on Huygens would have seen. The sequence starts from an altitude of 152 kilometers (about 95 miles) and initially only shows a hazy view looking into thick cloud. As the probe descends, ground features can be discerned and Huygens emerges from the clouds at around 30 kilometers (about 19 miles) altitude. The ground features seem to rotate as Huygens spins slowly underits parachute. The DISR consists of a downward-looking High Resolution Imager (HRI), a Medium Resolution Imager (MRI), which looks out at an angle, and a Side Looking Imager (SLI). For this animation, most images used were captured by the HRI and MRI. Once on the ground, the final landing scene wa

North Polar Erg

This image of the Venusian crater Golubkina, a 340 kilometer (20.4 miles) diameter impact crater located at about 60.5 degrees north latitude, 287.2 degrees east longitude, contains NASA's Magellan data mosaiced with a Soviet Venera radar image.

This MOC image shows gullies overlain by seasonal frost in the north wall of an unnamed crater west of Hellas Planitia

This daytime infrared image taken by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the dune field located on the floor of Proctor Crater.

An angry looking sky is captured in this frame from a movie clip consisting of 10 frames taken by the Surface Stereo Imager on NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander.

Spirit's View on Sol 110 (left eye)

Opportunity's View of 'Viking' Crater, Sol 421

Sedimentary Rock Outcrops

This daytime IR image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows part of the patera (summit depression) and eroded flank of Hadriacus Mons at the top of the image and a section of Dao Vallis at the bottom of the image.

01 January 2000 On The Red Planet

This image as seen by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows the layering of the ice at the north pole.

Daedalia Planum. Today's VIS image shows a small portion of the immense lava flows that originated from Arsia Mons. Arsia Mons is the southernmost of the three large aligned volcanoes in the Tharsis region. Arsia Mons' last eruption was 10s of million years ago. The different surface textures are created by differences in the lava viscosity and cooling rates. The lobate margins of each flow can be traced back to the start of each flow or to the point where they are covered by younger flows. Flows in Daedalia Planum can be as long as 180 km (111 miles). For comparison the longest Hawaiian lava flow is only 51 km (˜31 miles) long. The total area of Daedalia Planum is 2.9 million square km - more than four times the size of Texas. Orbit Number 91422 Latitude -13.8077 Longitude 231.424 Instrument VIS Captured 2022-07-24 23 46

This anaglyph, from NASA's Shuttle Radar Topography Mission, shows the city of Bhuj, India. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.

South Polar Polygons

This MOC image shows a landslide that occurred off of a steep slope in Tithonium Chasma, part of the vast Valles Marineris trough system

This image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft was acquired near the Martian winter solstice, when the sun was low over the horizon at this location.

2-D Flow

This image from NASA's Dawn spacecraft shows a part of Vesta's northern hemisphere, which is mostly in darkness. Since Dawn's arrival at asteroid Vesta the sun has not illuminated Vesta's most northerly latitudes.

. Ascraeus Mons Summit. This VIS image shows part of the summit of Ascraeus Mons. Ascraeus Mons is the northernmost and tallest of the three large aligned Tharsis volcanoes. Calderas are found at the tops of volcanoes and are the source region for magma that rises from an underground lava source to erupt at the surface. Volcanoes are formed by repeated flows from the central caldera. The final eruptions can pool within the summit caldera, leaving a flat surface as they cool. Calderas are also a location of collapse, creating rings of tectonic faults that form the caldera rim. Ascraeus Mons has several caldera features at its summit. Ascraeus Mons is 18 km (11 miles) tall, for comparison Mauna Kea - the tallest volcano on Earth - is 10 km tall (6.2 miles, measured from the base below sea level). Orbit Number 94366 Latitude 11.3736 Longitude 255.73 Instrument VIS Captured 2023-03-24 09 40

This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows several small landslide deposits in Noctis Labyrinthus.

Busy at the Bottom of 'Endurance Crater'

Sand dunes form large fields, called ergs, around the north polar cap of Mars. This image taken by NASA's Mars Odyssey shows are region of dunes at the cap margin.

Iani Sedimentary Rocks

Both polar caps on Mars are composed of many layers of ice and dust. This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey clearly shows the layering of the North polar cap.

This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey is an unnamed crater in the far northern lowlands containing a sand sheet with dune forms on its floor. Many craters this close to the pole contain similar dune fields.

Zephyria Flows

This Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) Mars Orbiter Camera (MOC) image shows a complex pattern of intersecting and overlapping troughs in the Olympica Fossae region of northern Tharsis

The steep feature in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft is the margin of the north polar cap, called Olympia Rupes.

The ridges in this image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft are part of Angustus Labyrinthus.

The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations of the surface not easily identified in a single band image. Today's false color image shows part of Angustus Labyrinthus. The intersecting ridges were most likely formed due to tectonic activity. When this feature was first observed by the Mariner 9 orbiter, project scientists informally dubbed it the Inca City. It is very common to 'see' familiar objects in unfamiliar images, akin to seeing a 'face' in a wall outlet. To the scientists the orthogonal shapes resembled buildings. Orbit Number 67658 Latitude -81.392 Longitude 296.2 Instrument VIS Captured 2017-03-15 21 34

A sand sheet with surface dune forms covers part of the floor of this unnamed crater, as shown in this image from NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft. This crater is located in Acidalia Planitia.

Dunes are common at both poles of Mars. These northern pole dunes are still covered in frost, as it is early springtime when this image was acquired by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey.

This image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft displays dust devil tracks on the surface of Mars. Most of the lighter portions of the image likely have a thin veneer of dust settled on the surface.

This 2001 Mars Odyssey image shows small individual dunes located on the floor of this unnamed crater in Noachis Terra.

Mul 13 propeller damage.MUL 13 (depicted - name)

Saturn Gets in the Way

Titan's South Polar Clouds

Forty Meters from Entry to Victoria Crater (Vertical)

Scientists created this stereo view, called an anaglyph, with two images of the same part of Ceres's surface taken by Dawn on different orbits and from different viewing angles. The images were artificially colored and combined so that when viewed through glasses with a red filter on the left and blue on the right, they provide a 3-D view. The images used in this anaglyph were obtained by NASA's Dawn spacecraft from an altitude of about 21 miles (34 kilometers). The center of this picture is located at about 20.4 degrees north latitude and 239.9 degrees east longitude.

This 2001 Mars Odyssey image shows Promethei Planum, located near the south polar cap, containing many different surface textures.

This image from one of the rear Hazard Cameras, or Hazcams, aboard NASA's Perseverance Mars rover, shows a smoke plume from the crashed descent stage that lowered the rover to the Martian surface. This image was taken within a minute or two after the rover landed on February 18, 2021.

Kaiser Crater Dunes. This VIS image is located in Kaiser Crater and shows several regions of sand dunes located on the southern part of the crater floor. The crater floor is visible between the dunes, indicating that there is a limited sand supply creating the dunes. These dunes are composed of basaltic sand that has collected in the bottom of the crater. The topographic depression of the crater forms a sand trap that prevents the sand from escaping. Dune fields are common in the bottoms of craters on Mars and appear as dark splotches that often lean up against the downwind walls of the craters. Dunes are useful for studying both the geology and meteorology of Mars. The sand forms by erosion of larger rocks, but it is unclear when and where this erosion took place on Mars or how such large volumes of sand could be formed. Local winds continue to move the sand dunes across the crater floor. There are two sides to a dune, the low angle slope of the windward face and the high angle slope

This image of Titan shows clear shorelines that are reminiscent of terrestrial lakes. With Titan's colder temperatures and hydrocarbon-rich atmosphere, however, the lakes likely contain a combination of methane and ethane, not water

Martian Variety Exhibited by the Olympica Fossae

Arkhangelsky Crater

This canyon system, Valles Marineris, was named in honor of its discoverer, Mariner 9. Melas Chasma is shown in the image.

Dactyl Dark Side Illuminated by Idashine

This image of the north polar layered deposits also contains sand dunes

Shepherd Moons

Opportunity's View on Sol 354

The heat shield drops away toward Mars after being released from the Mars 2020 back shell during the spacecraft's descent through the Martian atmosphere on Feb. 18, 2021. The heat shield and back shell encapsulated NASA's Perseverance rover on its journey to the Red Planet. This image was taken by the rover's Lander Vision System Camera (LCAM), serving as part of the Terrain-Relative Navigation system. This was the first use at Mars of the system, which compared images from below the spacecraft to an onboard map, helping to guide the spacecraft to a safe landing spot in Jezero Crater. Past missions had deemed Jezero Crater too hazardous to be a landing site because of its cliffs, dunes, and boulders. The LCAM generates 1024x1024 pixel grayscale images across a 90x90-degree field of view. The exposure time for each image is just under 150 microseconds, which enables crisp images during descent. LCAM was provided by Malin Space Science Systems in San Diego; the Perseverance rover was bui

This MOC image shows layered material exposed on a slope in the north polar region. An unconformity is visible in the middle/upper left of the image, where layers are abruptly truncated

Do you see what I see in this image from NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft The eyes and nose of a giant man glares from the top of this nighttime infrared image.

This image was obtained by NASA's Cassini radar instrument during a flyby on Feb. 15, 2005. The radar antenna was pointing toward Titan at an altitude of 1,577 kilometers (890 miles) during the closest approach.

Sediments of Arabia

Aerial view of a part of the area affected during the flood disaster of 1953. Note: The description of this photo is not yet complete and will be supplemented on the basis of the data available at a later stage. However, of many photos of the flood disaster 1953, the location is unknown.

This image captured by NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey spacecraft shows the layering of the north polar cap. Such layering is visible on the sides of troughs carved into the ice.

NASA's planet-hunting Kepler spacecraft observed the comet during the final month of the Rosetta mission, while the comet was not visible from Earth. This is a frame from an animation composed of images from Kepler of the comet.

This region of plateaus near the south polar cap is called Cavi Angusti

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