The first image of Mars by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment
(HiRISE) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows a story of geologic
change in the eastern Bosporos Planum region. Old stream valleys cut into
the flanks of a gently sloping mountain range in the center of the image.
Layers of smooth-textured deposits have mantled the stream valleys and
many impact craters. Wind and sublimation of water or carbon dioxide ice
have partially eroded patches of the smooth-textured deposits, leaving
behind areas of layered and hummocky terrain. A prominent ridge that
extends from the top to the bottom of the image dominates the scene. This
ridge formed above a thrust fault, a type of fault that occurs when the
surface of a planet is compressed. On planetary surfaces, such
fault-related ridges are termed "wrinkle ridges." They are commonly
observed on Mars, as well as on Earth's moon and on Venus and Mercury.
The wrinkle ridge imaged here is named Ogygis Rupes. This wrinkle ridge
has deformed several valleys and impact craters. Throughout the scene,
geologically young sand dunes are present within stream valleys and some
impact craters. The area is also sprinkled with many small young impact
craters, which are distinguished by sharp crater rims and bright or dark
halos of ejected material. This image demonstrates how a single HiRISE
image can capture a multitude of geologic processes.
This view results from further processing of an image released quickly
after the data was received from the camera. See PIA08014. It was taken by
HiRISE on March 24, 2006. The image is centered at 33.65 degrees south
latitude, 305.07 degrees east longitude. It is oriented such that north
is 7 degrees to the left of up. The range to the target was 2,493
kilometers (1,549 miles). At this distance the image scale is 2.49 meters
(8.17 feet) per pixel, so objects as small as 7.5 meters (24.6 feet) are
resolved. In total this image is 49.92 kilometers (31.02 miles) or 20,081
pixels wide and 23.66 kilometers (14.70 miles) or 9,523 pixels long. The
image was taken at a local Mars time of 07:33 and the scene is illuminated
from the upper right with a solar incidence angle of 78 degrees, thus the
sun was 12 degrees above the horizon. At an Ls of 29 degrees (with Ls an
indicator of Mars' position in its orbit around the sun), the season on
Mars is southern autumn.
Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional
information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at:
http://www.nasa.gov/mro or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu. For information
about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov.
JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena,
manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission
Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime
contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera
was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by
the University of Arizona.