Mars 360 degrees. High resolution photo of the surface of Mars (43 photos)

The high-resolution camera (HiRISE) received the first cartographic images of the surface of Mars from an altitude of 280 km, with a resolution of 25 cm/pixel!
Layered sediments in Hebe Canyon.

Potholes on the wall of the Gus crater. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Geysers of Manhattan. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

The surface of Mars is covered with dry ice. Have you ever played with dry ice (with leather gloves, of course!)? Then you probably noticed that dry ice immediately turns from a solid state into a gaseous state, unlike ordinary ice, which, when heated, turns into water. On Mars, ice domes are made of dry ice (carbon dioxide). When the sun's rays hit the ice in the spring, it turns into a gaseous state, which causes surface erosion. Erosion gives rise to bizarre arachnid forms. This image shows channels created by erosion and filled with light-colored ice that contrasts with the muted red color of the surrounding surface. In the summer, this ice will dissolve into the atmosphere and instead of it there will be only channels that look like ghostly spiders carved into the surface. This type of erosion is characteristic only of Mars and is not possible under natural conditions on Earth, since the climate of our planet is too warm. Lyricist: Candy Hansen (March 21, 2011) (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Layered mineral deposits at the southern end of a mid-latitude crater. Light layered deposits are visible in the center of the image; they appear along the edges of mesas located at higher elevations. Similar deposits can be found in many places on Mars, including craters and canyons near the equator. It could have been formed as a result of sedimentary processes under the influence of wind and/or water. Dunes or fold formations are visible around the mesa. The folded structure is the result of differential erosion: when some materials erode more easily than others. It is possible that this area was once covered with soft sediments that have now disappeared due to erosion. Text by: Kelly Kolb (April 15, 2009) (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

The underlying rocks exposed on the walls and central ridge of the crater. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Solid structures of a salt mountain in the Ganges Canyon. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Someone cut out a piece of the planet! (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Sand mounds formed as a result of spring sandstorms at the North Pole. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

A crater with a central hill, 12 kilometers in diameter. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

The Cerberus Fossae fault system on the surface of Mars. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

The purple dunes of Proctor Crater. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Outcrops of light rocks on the walls of a mesa located in the Land of the Sirens. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Spring changes in the Ithaca area. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Russell Crater Dunes. Photographs taken in Russell Crater are studied many times to track changes in the landscape. This image shows isolated dark formations that were likely caused by repeated dust storms that removed light-colored dust from the surface of the dunes. Narrow channels continue to form on the steep surfaces of the sand dunes. The depressions at the end of the channels may be where blocks of dry ice accumulated before changing into a gaseous state. Lyricist: Ken Herkenhoff (March 9, 2011) (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Trenches on the walls of the crater under the exposed rock. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Areas where there may be a lot of olivine. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Gullies between dunes at the bottom of Kaiser Crater. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Valley of Mort. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Sediments at the bottom of the Labyrinth of Night canyon. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Holden Crater. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Santa Maria Crater. The HiRISE device took a color image of St. Mary's Crater showing the Opportunity robotic vehicle, which was stuck at the southeastern edge of the crater. Robocar collected data on this relatively new crater, 90 meters in diameter, in order to determine what factors influenced its appearance. Pay attention to the surrounding blocks and rays of formations. CRISM spectral analysis reveals the presence of hydrosulfates in this area. The wreckage of the robocar is located 6 kilometers from the edge of the Endeavor Crater, the main materials of which are hydrosulfates and phyllosilicates. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

The central hill of a large, well-preserved crater. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Russell Crater Dunes. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Layered deposits in Hebe Canyon. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Yardang Eumenides Dorsum area. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Sand movements in Gusev Crater, located near the Columbia Hills. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

The northern mountain range of Hellas Planitia, which is possibly rich in olivine. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Seasonal changes in an area of ​​the South Pole covered with cracks and potholes. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Remains of the southern polar caps in spring. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Frozen depressions and potholes at the pole. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Deposits (possibly of volcanic origin) in the Labyrinth of Night. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Layered outcrops on the wall of a crater located at the North Pole. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Single arachnid formation. This formation consists of channels carved on the surface, which were formed under the influence of carbon dioxide evaporation. The channels are organized radially, widening and deepening as they approach the center. Such processes do not occur on Earth. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Relief of the Athabasca Valley.

Crater cones of Utopia Planitia. Utopia Planitia is a giant lowland located in the eastern part of the northern hemisphere of Mars, adjacent to the Great Northern Plain. The craters in this area are of volcanic origin, as evidenced by their shape. The craters are practically not subject to erosion. Cone-shaped mounds or craters like the formations shown in this image are quite common in the northern latitudes of Mars. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Polar sand dunes. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Interior of Tooting Crater. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Trees on Mars!!! In this photo we see something strikingly similar to trees growing among the Martian dunes. But these “trees” are an optical illusion. These are actually dark deposits on the leeward side of the dunes. They appeared due to the evaporation of carbon dioxide, “dry ice”. The evaporation process begins at the bottom of the ice formation; as a result of this process, gas vapors escape through the pores to the surface and simultaneously carry out dark deposits that remain on the surface. This image was taken by HiRISE onboard NASA's Orbiter satellite in April 2008. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

Victoria Crater. The photograph shows deposits on the crater wall. The bottom of the crater is covered with sand dunes. The wreckage of NASA's Opportunity robotic vehicle is visible on the left. The image was taken by the HiRISE instrument aboard NASA's Orbiter reconnaissance satellite in July 2009. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

Linear dunes. These stripes are linear sand dunes on the crater floor in the Noachis Terra area. The dark areas are the dunes themselves, and the light areas are the spaces between the dunes. The photo was taken on December 28, 2009 by the HiRISE (High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) astronomical camera installed on board NASA's Orbiter reconnaissance satellite. (NASA/JPL/University of Arizona)

What do we know about Mars? For many people, it is simply the 4th planet in the solar system, which is a tenth the size of Earth, and is the main planet on which scientists have high hopes in the search for life. But it’s never too late to update your knowledge, especially now that, thanks to Curiosity and Opportunity, a panorama of Mars has become available to a wider audience.

What is a panorama?

A panorama is a view of the area that opens from a certain point, most often from a hill. Thanks to the technologies available to mankind, today it has become possible to obtain 360-degree images from Mars. The Mars rovers Curiosity and Opportunity have been traveling around the Red Planet for a long time; they took about 224,000 frames, which NASA combined into a coherent panorama.

Viewing images from the surface of Mars creates the feeling of a virtual tour conducted by Mars rovers. The photographs themselves are taken with a special device – Panorama Camera. The period of photography of one area lasts on average from one week to a month. The panoramic camera applies three filters (at 753, 535 and 432 nanometers - optical wavelengths from red to blue) and blends the three images to form this view. The color combination method allows the viewer to see finer details and enhances color differences.

Panorama from Mars

Today there are many panoramas of Mars. The Martian itself is of great interest to scientists in terms of studying the area. Thanks to panoramic images taken by the Curiosity rover in Gale Crater, NASA researchers were able to detect the outline of a lake on the Red Planet, the dimensions of which were 50X5 kilometers. This served as the starting point for further research on the subject of life on Mars. Analysis of the residual rocks made it possible to establish that at the bottom of the lake there was clay, which forms exclusively in an aquatic environment.

The interactive mosaic also allows you to see a panorama of Mount Sharp, also known as “Mount Aeolis.” The mentioned hill is located inside the Gale Crater. It is believed that sediment began to accumulate in this part of the crater about 2.5 billion years ago. Presumably these deposits at one time completely filled the crater.

At the moment, the Curiosity rover is exploring the foot of the mountain and intends to rise higher and higher, answering scientists' questions about the chemical composition of the rock and its changes.

An equally interesting video was made using the Panorama Camera from the Opportunity rover. Moving towards the depression, the rover simultaneously studied small residual rocks. On September 11, 2007, pictures of “Duck Bay” were sent to Earth, and two days later the camera captured Cape Verde, a rock on the outskirts of the crater.

In 2008, Opportunity moved away from the bay, leaving mesmerizing images of landscapes as a souvenir for humanity.

After this, the rover headed to the Endeavor crater, one of the oldest basins on the Red Planet. In 2011, the rover managed to reach its destination, but it was only possible to send images to Earth in April 2014.

The first thing that came to the attention of scientists was a protruding gypsum vein. After this, Opportunity began exploring the area. Analysis of the sediment revealed the presence of calcium, sulfur and water. According to scientists, the gypsum vein was formed from mineral-rich water oozing from the rock. The Endeavor panorama is available in high definition and will be of interest to those who are interested in the subject of Mars.

The new images of Mars include a panorama of the Vera Rubin Ridge. It is located on the lower ridge of Mount Sharp. This place is valuable for study because a large amount of iron oxide is concentrated here, which is formed in a damp environment.

The ridge itself has impressive dimensions: the height of a multi-story building and a length of more than 6.5 kilometers. In the foreground of the panoramic image is the so-called Murray Formation, which is a fossilized sedimentary layer at the bottom of an ancient lake. On the right side of the panorama, a short distance from Curiosity, a layer of clay is visible. Behind this layer there are hills of dark scarlet color, which are sulfates.

> Panorama of Mars from the Curiosity and Opportunity rover

Explore online panorama of Mars from the Curiosity and Opportunity rover: the surface of Mars in 360 degrees, a moving interactive map in high resolution.

NASA has released the first official images showing the surface Mars in crystal clear detail, captured by his Curiosity rover. Panorama of Mars consists of one billion pixels stitched together from about 900 exposures taken by cameras on board Curiosity.

Panorama from the Opportunity rover

The 360-degree panorama of Mars was filmed from where Curiosity collected its first dusty sand samples, a windswept site called "Rocknest", and captures Mount Sharp on the horizon.

Bob Deen, who works in the Multi-Purpose Imaging Laboratory at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, said it gives a feel for the location and shows the real capabilities of the camera. "You can see the environment as a whole and also zoom in to see the smallest details," he added.

Dean assembled the image using 850 frames taken with the telephoto lens of Curiosity's Mast Camera instrument. He then added 21 frames from Mastcam's wider-angle camera, and 25 black-and-white frames (mostly images of the rover itself) from the navigation camera. The images were taken over several different Martian days between October 5 and November 16, 2012.

Earlier this year, photographer Andrew Bodrov used Curiosity images to assemble his own mosaics of the planet, including at least one gigapixel panorama. His mosaic shows light effects as the time of day changes. It also shows changes in atmospheric clarity, consistent with changes in dust levels during the month the images were taken.

NASA's Mars Science Laboratory mission is using Curiosity and the rover's 10 research instruments to study the environmental history of Gale Crater, where the mission's preliminary findings suggest conditions may once have been favorable for microbial life.

Malin Space Science Systems, a San Diego-based company, created and operates the Mastcam cameras on Curiosity. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, built the rover and its navigation camera, and manages the project through NASA's Science Program Directorate in Washington.

Curiosity took a self-portrait at the Big Sky drilling site

Bodrov spent two weeks creating the interactive image using 407 frames from the narrow and medium angle cameras located on top of the rover. He also used a bit of digital retouching in his work. He told Popular Science that the camera is only two megapixels, which by today's standards is not much at all. “Of course, the need to fly these electronic components from Earth to Mars, and encounter them with radiation and other hazards, meant they couldn't use conventional cameras,” he said. Bodrov added the sky and previous Curiosity images to the 90,000x45,000 pixel panorama using Photoshop.

In March, NASA management calmed down after a computer system failure that stopped all operations for an entire week was resolved. This meant they could get back to studying the rock dust found on the planet. From April 4, radio communications between Earth and Mars will be blocked by the Sun, which means that work will be stopped again until May 1.

For now, the six-wheeled, $2 billion rover, which landed on the planet in August to begin its two-year mission, will continue to analyze rock samples containing all the chemical components necessary for life.

Scientists identified sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon in the dust that Curiosity extracted from sedimentary rock near an ancient riverbed in what is known as Yellowknife Bay within Gale Crater. They believe that billions of years ago, water filled the crater and poured out of it to form streams that must have been up to 3 feet deep.

This color mosaic image taken by the Curiosity rover shows layers of material along the edges of valleys at the Pahrump Hills site.

At the time of the project's discovery, scientist John Grotzinger said: "We have found a habitable environment that is so soft and life-supporting that probably if you were there and this water surrounded you, you could drink it ".

Ultimately, scientists plan to take the rover to a three-mile-high hill that may be covered by layers of sediment lifted from the floor of Gale Crater.

The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) presented a magnificent 360-degree panorama of Mars captured by the cameras of the Curiosity robot.

The rover reportedly climbed onto the Naukluft Plateau in the region of Aeolis Mons, informally known as Mount Sharp. The journey was fraught with risks, as the rover had to navigate between sharp rocks and boulders that pose a threat to aluminum wheels.

By the way, traces of damage on Curiosity’s wheels became noticeable back in 2013. Therefore, NASA specialists have to carefully plan any route in order to maximize the active life of the robot.

The presented high-resolution panorama allows you to examine the fascinating Martian expanses in great detail. The image captures a landscape that has been shaped over millions of years. The panorama in its original size 29163 × 6702 pixels can be viewed here.

We add that the Curiosity rover was sent to the Red Planet in November 2011 and arrived at its destination in August 2012. In the fall of 2014, the device reached one of the main goals of its mission - the aforementioned Mount Aeolis. During its stay on the Red Planet, the rover collected and transmitted a large amount of important scientific data to Earth.

Impact crater measuring about three kilometers

The surface of Mars is a dry and barren wasteland, covered with old volcanoes and craters.

Dunes through the eyes of Mars Odyssey

Photos show it can be hidden by a single sandstorm, hiding it from sight for days. Despite its formidable conditions, Mars is better studied by scientists than any other world in the solar system, except our own, of course.

Since the planet has almost the same tilt as Earth, and it has an atmosphere, it means there are seasons. The surface temperature is about -40 degrees Celsius, but at the equator it can reach +20. On the surface of the planet there are traces of water, and relief features formed by water.

Scenery

Let's take a closer look at the surface of Mars, information provided by numerous orbiters, as well as rovers, allows us to fully understand what the red planet is like. The ultra-clear images show dry, rocky terrain covered in fine red dust.

Red dust is actually iron oxide. Everything from the ground to small stones and rocks is covered with this dust.

Since there is no water or confirmed tectonic activity on Mars, its geological features remain virtually unchanged. Compared to the surface of the Earth, which experiences constant changes associated with water erosion and tectonic activity.

Surface of Mars video

The landscape of Mars consists of a variety of geological structures. It is home to plants known throughout the solar system. That's not all. The most famous canyon in the solar system is Valles Marineris, also located on the surface of the Red Planet.

Look at the pictures from the Mars rovers, which show many details that are not visible from orbit.

If you want to look at Mars online, then

Surface photo

The images below are from Curiosity, the rover currently actively exploring the red planet.

To view in full screen mode, click on the button at the top right.

Panorama transmitted by the Curiosity rover

This panorama represents a section of Gale Crater where Curiosity is conducting its research. The high hill in the center is Mount Sharp, to the right of it you can see the ring rim of the crater in the haze.

To view in full size, save the image to your computer!

These photographs of the surface of Mars are from 2014 and, in fact, are the most recent at the moment.

Among all the features of the landscape of Mars, perhaps the most widely publicized are the mesas of Cydonia. Early photographs of the Sedonia region showed a hill shaped like a “human face”. However, later images, with higher resolution, showed us an ordinary hill.

Planet sizes

Mars is a pretty small world. Its radius is half that of Earth, and it has a mass that is less than one tenth of ours.

Dunes, MRO image

More about Mars: The planet's surface consists mainly of basalt, covered with a thin layer of dust and iron oxide, which has the consistency of talc. Iron oxide (rust, as it is commonly called) gives the planet its characteristic red hue.

Volcanoes

In ancient times, volcanoes erupted continuously on the planet for millions of years. Due to the fact that Mars does not have plate tectonics, huge volcanic mountains were formed. Olympus Mons was formed in a similar way and is the largest mountain in the solar system. It is three times higher than Everest. Such volcanic activity may also partly explain the deepest valley in the solar system. Valles Marineris is believed to have been formed by the breakdown of material between two points on the surface of Mars.

Craters

Animation showing changes around a crater in the Northern Hemisphere

There are many impact craters on Mars. Most of these craters remain untouched because there are no forces on the planet capable of destroying them. The planet lacks wind, rain and plate tectonics that cause erosion on Earth. The atmosphere is much thinner than that of the Earth, so even small meteorites are able to reach the ground.

The current surface of Mars is very different from what it was billions of years ago. Orbiter data has shown that there are many minerals and signs of erosion on the planet that indicate the presence of liquid water in the past. It is possible that small oceans and long rivers once completed the landscape. The last remnants of this water were trapped underground in the form of ice.

Total number of craters

There are hundreds of thousands of craters on Mars, of which 43,000 are larger than 5 kilometers in diameter. Hundreds of them were named after scientists or famous astronomers. Craters less than 60 km across have been named after cities on Earth.

The most famous is Hellas Basin. It measures 2,100 km across and is up to 9 km deep. It is surrounded by emissions that stretch 4,000 km from the center.

Cratering

Most of the craters on Mars were likely formed during the late "heavy bombardment" period of our solar system, which occurred approximately 4.1 to 3.8 billion years ago. During this period, a large number of craters formed on all celestial bodies in the Solar System. Evidence for this event comes from studies of lunar samples, which have shown that most rocks were created during this time interval. Scientists cannot agree on the reasons for this bombing. According to the theory, the gas giant's orbit changed and, as a result, the orbits of objects in the main asteroid belt and the Kuiper belt became more eccentric, reaching the orbits of the terrestrial planets.