Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Archives

Martian spring involves lots of cracking ice, which led to this 66-foot-wide (20-meter-wide) chunk of carbon dioxide frost captured in freefall by the HiRISE camera aboard NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2015. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release

Tracking Avalanches, Icy Explosions, And Dunes On Mars

by Keith CowingDecember 26, 2024December 26, 2024

While New Year’s Eve is around the corner here on Earth, Mars scientists are ahead of the game: The Red Planet completed a trip around the Sun on Nov. 12, […]

Seen at the center of this image, NASA’s retired InSight Mars lander was captured by the agency’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter using its High-Resolution Imagine Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on Oct. 23, 2024. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona Larger image

Astrogeology, Desert Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs

Desert Planet Orbital Recon: MRO Images Mars InSight Lander to Study Dust Movement

by Keith CowingDecember 16, 2024August 23, 2025

NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) caught a glimpse of the agency’s retired InSight lander recently, documenting the accumulation of dust on the spacecraft’s solar panels. In the new image taken […]

Two 2001 images from the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter show a dramatic change in the planet's appearance when haze raised by dust-storm activity in the south became globally distributed (Figure 1). At left, an image from late June 2001 shows clear conditions over much of the planet, with regional dust-storm activity occurring in the Hellas basin (bright oval feature) near the edge of the south polar cap. At right, a July 2001 image from the same perspective shows the planet almost completely enveloped. Dust extends to altitudes of more than 60 kilometers (37 miles) during global-scale storms. -- NASA Larger image

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Press Release

Mars Dust Storms Can Engulf The Entire Planet. A New Study Examines How

by Keith CowingDecember 11, 2024December 11, 2024

Today’s weather report on Mars: Windy with a chance of catastrophic dust storms blotting out the sky.

[Small portion] NASA’s Curiosity captured this panorama using its Mastcam while heading west away from Gediz Vallis channel on Nov. 2, 2024, the 4,352nd Martian day, or sol, of the mission. The Mars rover’s tracks across the rocky terrain are visible at right. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS Larger image

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs

Mars Rover Curiosity Panorama Of Gediz Vallis Channel

by Keith CowingNovember 19, 2024November 19, 2024

NASA’s Curiosity rover is preparing for the next leg of its journey, a monthslong trek to a formation called the boxwork, a set of weblike patterns on Mars’ surface that […]

Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report

Orbital Survey Of Water on Mars: Dusty Water Ice in Dao Vallis

by Keith CowingOctober 15, 2024October 15, 2024

The white material seen within this gully is believed to be dusty water ice in a Martian region called Dao Vallis, captured by NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO).

This is an image of the rim that the Perseverance rover took on sol 383 (March 19th, 2022) when it was traversing the crater floor. Dox Castle is located at the top of the image in the far ground. NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs

Mars Perseverance Astrobiology Rover Heads Toward Dox Castle

by Keith CowingSeptember 25, 2024September 25, 2024

The Perseverance rover is reaching new heights as it ascends the rim of Jezero crater (over 300 meters in elevation higher than the original landing site)! The rover is now […]

This view of the western edge of Mars' Jezero Crater shows the steep crater rim, which stands roughly 1,000 feet (300 meters) tall. -- NASA larger image

Away Teams & Field Reports, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Reports, Roadmaps, & Plans, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report

Astrobiology Droid Perseverance Is At The Base of Jezero Crater’s Rim

by Keith CowingSeptember 13, 2024September 13, 2024

The view looks northwest from the southern edge of the crater. A blue icon shows Perseverance’s general location as of Aug. 14, 2024, the 1,238th Martian day, or sol, of […]

An overview of the inputs for each step in our processing pipeline. a) A region in the HiRISE image of ESP 018707 2205 is shown at the native resolution (0.3m/px) with a blue box highlighting the window size for our classifier network. b) A 256 x 256 pixel window is used as input for our spatial classifier algorithm however the window is at 1/16 the original resolution (1.2m/px). A grid of 8x8 squares is displayed showing how that image gets tiled and preprocessed using parts of a JPEG encoder which involves the discrete cosine transform (d). c) A single 8x8 tile flattened into a 1d array which is used for the DCT transform (d). e) A block of Fourier coefficients is rearranged into a data cube and used as input for our Fourier classifier. Reducing the image size and ultimately the channel size after the first conv. layer significantly shortens the network’s processing time compared to the spatial image input. -- astro-ph.EP

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Mapping “Brain Terrain” Regions on Mars Using Deep Learning

by Keith CowingAugust 13, 2024August 13, 2024

One of the main objectives of the Mars Exploration Program is to search for evidence of past or current life on the planet.

This image shows frost on the caldera floor of the Ceraunius Tholus volcano. -- ESA (Larger Image)

Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release

ExoMars Observes Water Frost On The Caldera Floor of the Ceraunius Tholus Volcano

by Keith CowingJuly 2, 2024July 1, 2024

Researchers have discovered frost atop volcanoes near Mars’s equator for the first time – a part of the planet where it was thought impossible for frost to form. The finding […]

Detailed geological map of Oxia Planum -- ESA

Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs

Geological Mars Map Developed For The Rosalind Franklin Rover Mission

by Keith CowingMarch 29, 2024March 29, 2024

A team of European scientists have published the most detailed geological map of Oxia Planum – the landing site for ESA’s Rosalind Franklin rover on Mars. This thorough look at […]