View from the Martian highlands across a volcanic plain in the eastern part of Syrtis Major
View from the Martian highlands across a volcanic plain in the eastern part of Syrtis Major
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 board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, which are oriented at an angle with respect to the planet's surface.
The foreground shows very old remains of the Martian highlands. Its surface is noticeably more textured than that of the solidified lava flows in the background of the image, which are younger. Once volcanism had ceased, asteroids left a number of kilometre-sized impact craters with their typical, raised walls. In the more recent past, long, drop-shaped deposits of sand and dust formed on the lee side of these craters.
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.