PIA10682: Icy, Patterned Ground on Mars
Target Name: Mars
Is a satellite of: Sol (our sun)
Mission: Phoenix
Spacecraft: Phoenix Lander
Instrument: Surface Stereo Imager (SSI)
Product Size: 1024 samples x 1024 lines
Produced By: University of Arizona
Full-Res TIFF: PIA10682.tif (3.15 MB)
Full-Res JPEG: PIA10682.jpg (305.9 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:

This image shows a polygonal pattern in the ground near NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander, similar in appearance to icy ground in the arctic regions of Earth.

Phoenix touched down on the Red Planet at 4:53 p.m. Pacific Time (7:53 p.m. Eastern Time), May 25, 2008, in an arctic region called Vastitas Borealis, at 68 degrees north latitude, 234 degrees east longitude.

This is an approximate-color image taken shortly after landing by the spacecraft's Surface Stereo Imager, inferred from two color filters, a violet, 450-nanometer filter and an infrared, 750-nanometer filter.

The Phoenix Mission is led by the University of Arizona, Tucson, on behalf of NASA. Project management of the mission is by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. Spacecraft development is by Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Image Addition Date:
2008-05-26