Oblique perspective view of Tempe Terra, from southwest to northeast
Oblique perspective view of Tempe Terra, from southwest to northeast
Realistic perspective views of the Martian surface can be generated from data acquired by the stereo and colour channels of the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft, which are oriented at an angle with respect to the planet's surface. This image shows a view of the northern edge of Tempe Terra looking in the direction of the northern lowlands, which are visible in the background. Valleys up to a thousand metres deep have been dug into the Martian highlands by retrogressive erosion, leaving behind mesa-like promontories. In the centre of the image is an impact crater some 12 kilometres across with a striking ejecta blanket, intersected by a tectonic rift, or stress-induced fracture in the Martian crust. In the foreground, an irregular terrain edge – a ‘wrinkle ridge’, pushed upwards by compressive tectonic forces buckling the crust – can be seen.
Copyright note:
As a joint undertaking by DLR, ESA and FU Berlin, the Mars Express HRSC images are published under a Creative Commons licence since December 2014: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO. This licence will also apply to all HRSC images released to date.