Skip Navigation
menu

Images

NASA and Microsoft Provide Mars 3-D Close Encounter

The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter provides this view of Olympus Mons, the tallest known volcano in the solar system.

July 12, 2010

The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter provides this view of Olympus Mons, the tallest known volcano in the solar system.

Credits

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Microsoft/University of Arizona

ENLARGE

Related

Back-and-forth blinking of this two-image animation shows movement of a sand dune on Mars. The images are part of a study published by Nature on May 9, 2012, reporting movement of Martian sand dune...
More
Back-and-forth blinking of this two-image animation shows movement of a sand dune on Mars. The images are part of a study published by Nature on May 9, 2012, reporting movement of Martian sand dunes at about the same flux (volume per time) as movement of dunes in Antarctica on Earth.
Advancing Dune in Nili Patera, Mars
This artist's concept of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter features the spacecraft's main bus facing down, toward the red planet.
More
This artist's concept of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter features the spacecraft's main bus facing down, toward the red planet.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
The rock layers in this image were likely horizontal when the materials were first deposited, but are now tilted to high angles, approaching 90 degrees.
More
The rock layers in this image were likely horizontal when the materials were first deposited, but are now tilted to high angles, approaching 90 degrees.
Faulted Layered Bedrock in Noctis Labyrinthus
This May 2015 image from the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a location on Mars associated with the best-selling novel and Hollywood movie, "The Martian." It is in a regio...
More
This May 2015 image from the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a location on Mars associated with the best-selling novel and Hollywood movie, "The Martian." It is in a region called Acidalia Planitia, at the landing site for the science-fiction tale's Ares 3 mission.
The Ares 3 Landing Site (Figure A)
Download a PDF of the Mars Reconaissance Orbiter Fact Sheet.
More
MRO fact sheet
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Fact Sheet
A path resembling a dotted line from the upper left to middle right of this image is the track left by an irregularly shaped, oblong boulder as it tumbled down a slope on Mars before coming to rest...
More
A path resembling a dotted line from the upper left to middle right of this image is the track left by an irregularly shaped, oblong boulder as it tumbled down a slope on Mars before coming to rest in an upright attitude at the downhill end of the track.
An Irregular, Upright Boulder on Mars
This enhanced image shows the inside of a rimless pit about 310 meters (1,017 feet) in diameter, northwest of the mountain Ascraeus Mons in the northern hemisphere of Mars.
More
This enhanced image shows the inside of a rimless pit about 310 meters (1,017 feet) in diameter, northwest of the mountain Ascraeus Mons in the northern hemisphere of Mars.
Boulders Inside a Rimless Martian Pit (Stretched)
This image acquired on January 13, 2019 by NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows a cluster of dust devil tracks on the flat ground below the south polar layered deposits, but none on the layers ...
More
This image acquired on January 13, 2019 by NASAs Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, shows a cluster of dust devil tracks on the flat ground below the south polar layered deposits, but none on the layers themselves.
Following the Tracks
Images acquired Jan. 9, 2022, from the Mars Color Imager instrument on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter were combined to create this view showing the presence of a regional dust storm obscuring t...
More
Images acquired Jan. 9, 2022, from the Mars Color Imager instrument on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter were combined to create this view showing the presence of a regional dust storm obscuring the location of Perseverance rover and Ingenuity Mars Helicopter (white circle).
Dust Storm and Jezero Crater
This map indicates geological units in the region of Mars around a smaller area where NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has driven from early 2004 through late 2010.
More
Geologic Setting of Opportunity Traverse and Meridiani Planum
Geologic Setting of Opportunity Traverse and Meridiani Planum
This map shows unprecedented detail of local variations in Mars' gravitational pull on orbiters. The gravitational mapping has been applied to map variations in the thickness of the planet's crust ...
More
This map shows unprecedented detail of local variations in Mars' gravitational pull on orbiters. The gravitational mapping has been applied to map variations in the thickness of the planet's crust and to deduce information about its deeper interior.
Local Variations in the Gravitational Pull of Mars
This animation flips back and forth between views taken in 2010 and 2014 of a Martian sand dune at the edge of Mount Sharp, documenting dune activity. The images are from the HiRISE camera on NASA'...
More
This animation flips back and forth between views taken in 2010 and 2014 of a Martian sand dune at the edge of Mount Sharp, documenting dune activity. The images are from the HiRISE camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Change Observed in Martian Sand Dune
Is frozen carbon dioxide a key to features in some Martian gullies? To find out, scientists grabbed a bag of dry ice and took a road trip.
More
Dry Ice Moves on Mars
Dry Ice Moves on Mars
The feature that appears bright blue at the center of this scene is NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on the northwestern flank of Mount Sharp, viewed by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Curiosity is ...
More
The feature that appears bright blue at the center of this scene is NASA's Curiosity Mars rover on the northwestern flank of Mount Sharp, viewed by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Curiosity is approximately 10 feet long and 9 feet wide (3.0 meters by 2.8 meters).
Curiosity Rover on Mount Sharp, Seen from Mars Orbit
Ring and Cone Structures and Platy-Ridged Terrain in Amazonis Planitia
More
Ring and Cone Structures and Platy-Ridged Terrain in Amazonis Planitia
Ring and Cone Structures and Platy-Ridged Terrain in Amazonis Planitia
As the Sun peeks above the horizon at the Martian south polar icecap, powerful jets of carbon-dioxide (CO2) gas erupt through the icecap's topmost layer.
More
As the Sun peeks above the horizon at the Martian south polar icecap, powerful jets of carbon-dioxide (CO2) gas erupt through the icecap's topmost layer.
Dry Ice Spiders on Mars
This animation simulates a flyover of a portion of a Martian canyon detailed in a geological map produced by the U.S. Geological Survey and based on observations by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbit...
More
Simulated Flyover of Mars Canyon Map
Simulated Flyover of Mars Canyon Map
This map shows five locations where fresh impact cratering has excavated water ice from just beneath the surface of Mars (sites 1 through 5) and the Viking Lander 2 landing site (VL2), in the conte...
More
Expected Depths to Ice, Mid-Latitude Northern Mars
Expected Depths to Ice, Mid-Latitude Northern Mars
The total distance driven by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity passed the one-mile mark a few days before the first anniversary of the rover's landing on Mars.
More
The total distance driven by NASA's Mars rover Curiosity passed the one-mile mark a few days before the first anniversary of the rover's landing on Mars.
Full Curiosity Traverse Passes One-Mile Mark
These long, smooth features are sand ridges shaped by the constant martian wind. They run perpendicular, or at right angles to, the direction of the wind and often found in channels and crater inte...
More
These long, smooth features are sand ridges shaped by the constant martian wind.
MRO Spots Sand Stripes
This image combines a photograph of seasonal dark flows on a Martian slope with a grid of colors based on data collected by a mineral-mapping spectrometer observing the same area.
More
This image combines a photograph of seasonal dark flows on a Martian slope with a grid of colors based on data collected by a mineral-mapping spectrometer observing the same area.
Color-Coded Clues to Composition Superimposed on Martian Seasonal-Flow Image
The Mars Color Imager (MARCI), shown here with a gloved hand for scale, is designed to produce a global map to help characterize daily, seasonal and year-to-year variations in Mars' climate, provid...
More
The Mars Color Imager (MARCI), shown here with a gloved hand for scale, is designed to produce a global map to help characterize daily, seasonal and year-to-year variations in Mars' climate, providing a daily weather report for Mars.
Mars Color Imager (MARCI) for Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
This April 6, 2014, image from the Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was taken as a follow-up to discovery of a possible 2012 impact scar in images from the orbiter's Mars Color ...
More
This April 6, 2014, image from the Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was taken as a follow-up to discovery of a possible 2012 impact scar in images from the orbiter's Mars Color Imager. It reveals two craters within the darkened area (at center of the inscribed rectangle).
Fresh Mars Crater Confirmed Within Impact Scar
Download a PDF of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Launch Press Kit.
More
MRO launch press kit
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Launch Press Kit
A configuration interpreted as the United Kingdom's Beagle 2 Lander, with solar panels at least partially deployed, is indicated in this composite of two images from the High Resolution Imaging Sci...
More
A configuration interpreted as the United Kingdom's Beagle 2 Lander, with solar panels at least partially deployed, is indicated in this composite of two images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Beagle 2 Lander on Mars, With Panels Deployed

You Might Also Like

The agency is asking the NASA community to work together to develop a revised plan that leverages innovation and proven technology.
More
NASA Sets Path to Return Mars Samples, Seeks Innovative Designs
NASA Sets Path to Return Mars Samples, Seeks Innovative Designs
NASA has proven powered, controlled flight is possible on other worlds, just as the Wright brothers proved it was possible on Earth.
More
After Three Years on Mars, NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter Mission Ends
After Three Years on Mars, NASA's Ingenuity Helicopter Mission Ends
The agency established the board in May 2023 to evaluate the technical, cost, and schedule plans prior to confirmation of the mission’s design.
More
NASA Releases Independent Review's Mars Sample Return Report
NASA Releases Independent Review's Mars Sample Return Report
A pair of quakes in 2021 sent seismic waves deep into the Red Planet’s core, giving scientists the best data yet on its size and composition.
More
NASA InSight Study Provides Clearest Look Ever at Martian Core
NASA InSight Study Provides Clearest Look Ever at Martian Core
Ten sample tubes, capturing an amazing variety of Martian geology, have been deposited on Mars’ surface so they could be studied on Earth in the future.
More
NASA's Perseverance Rover Completes Mars Sample Depot
NASA's Perseverance Rover Completes Mars Sample Depot
Filled with rock, the sample tube will be one of 10 forming a depot of tubes that could be considered for a journey to Earth by the Mars Sample Return campaign.
More
NASA's Perseverance Rover Deposits First Sample on Mars Surface
NASA's Perseverance Rover Deposits First Sample on Mars Surface