Nearly 90% of Mars Mapped by Mars Express

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Earlier this month the the ESA made an astounding revelation: their Mars Express Orbiter's High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) has successfully mapped nearly 90% of Mars' surface! Thus far 87.8% of the surface has been imaged, with 61.5% being imaged at a resolution of 20m per pixel or better. Mars Express was launched just ten years ago this June, making this feat even more remarkable.

The below map is a mosaic of 2702 individual images showing the entire Martian globe. The latest image was taken on the orbiter's 10,821st orbit of Mars, which took place on 20 June 2012 orbit. This map does not include areas that were particularly affected by dust and/or atmospheric distortions; these areas are shown in black.

Click to see the ESA's caption for this photo. From there you can download the high resolution version.

The slight change in color tones is primarily due to changes in Mars Express' solar elevation, but can also be attributed to variations in dust content in different parts of the atmosphere. I encourage you to go to the ESA's website (just click the above image) and download their high resolution version! Once you do that, try and find some of the more prominent features on Mars, like Olympus Mons (top left) and the Tharsis Trio (below Olympus Mons and to the right), or Valles Marineris (further right of the Tharsis Trio).

See All Images of Mars Showcased by Mars Travel!

Mars Photo of the Day - 2 Jul 2012

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Imagine being able to hike on Mars! How would you plan such a trip? Where would you go?  Would you climb mountains, or explore ancient riverbeds? What marvels of Mars would you encounter? One thing's for sure, you'd probably carry a map!

But just what would a typical hiking map of an area on Mars look like? Let's look at an area where all sorts of terrain comes together, from mountains to canyons to great expanses of plains! In the map below we see Chryse Planitia, Meridiani Planum, Ares Valles, Iani Chaos, Margaritfer Terra, and Valles Marineris, all distinctly different types of terrain, but interconnected. 

We also see a future tourist destination: the 1997 landing site of Mars Pathfinder! Sites where the first rovers touched down may one day become extremely popular locations for tourists wishing to see a part of history and marvel at how far we've come! I look forward for the day when I can wait in line to see the great robotic explorers of my childhood!

Click on this image to see the original high resolution map from Mars Express.

Source: Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera

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Mars Photo of the Day - Jan 29 2012

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Today's Image of Mars is actually a few geologic maps from the Lunar Planetary Institute. These maps of Mars were created in 1978 by David H. Scott and Michael H. Carr. The data used to create these maps was compiled primarily from Mariner 9.

Included with the map is a legend, which explains all the labels. Do keep in mind that this map is from 1978 so scientists have learned a lot about Mars since then. I just thought it would be great to let you get a basic idea of what a map of Mars would look like. 

This map is so large that I had to post it to my Pinterest account and use that link to upload the image, but clicking on this image is going to take you to the original image from the Lunar Planetary Institute. Just know that it might take a while to load because the image is huge.

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Mars Photo of the Day - Dec 3 2011

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Today's Image of Mars is actually a map of the Tharsis Quadrangle, which covers the area from 90° to 135° west longitude and 0° to 30° north latitude on Mars. Tharsis Quadrangle is home to numerous large volcanoes, including the largest in our solar system, Olympus Mons.

It is thought that at one time the volcanoes in Tharsis Quadrangle had a large impact on the Martian climate. A large amount of carbon dioxide and water vapor was released into the air from the volcanoes in the Tharsis Quadrangle. Estimates show the amount of gas emitted by the volcanoes in the Tharsis Quadrangle would have been enough to produce an atmosphere thicker than Earth's. Additionally, the water vapor released from these volcanoes would have been enough to cover all of Mars in 120 meters of water. The volcanoes in Tharsis Quadrangle lead many experts to believe that Mars once had an atmosphere thicker than Earth's and that it was once a warm and wet planet.

This Tharsis Quadrangle map is one of 30 quadrangle maps used by United States Geological Survey (USGS) Astrogeology Research Program to catalogue Mars. Clicking on this image will take you to a list of maps produced by the USGS for Mars. From there you can open many of the maps of Mars produced by the USGS.

USGS Astrogeology Research Program

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