Out of Round

Today's VIS image shows part of a crater and its ejecta. Located in Noachis Terra, this impact crater is not the typical round shape. Instead, the rim has scallops and indentations. In most instances it is heterogeneities in the preexisting surface that deflect the impact energies and create 'out of round' craters. Tectonic faults are just one of the subsurface features capable of causing non-round craters.

Orbit Number: 91604 Latitude: -45.6956 Longitude: 25.6058 Instrument: VIS Captured: 2022-08-08 23:16

Please see the THEMIS Data Citation Note for details on crediting THEMIS images.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory manages the 2001 Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The THEMIS investigation is led by Dr. Philip Christensen at Arizona State University. Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, is the prime contractor for the Odyssey project, and developed and built the orbiter. Mission operations are conducted jointly from Lockheed Martin and from JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.