NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter has provided new panoramic images of Mars and its moon Phobos, providing new insights into the Martian landscape and atmosphere. The Odyssey orbiter captured clouds and dust in the sky of the Red Planet, as well as one of its two small moons. Astronauts are often in awe when they see the curvature of the Earth beneath the International Space Station.Now, Mars scientists are getting a taste of Mars thanks to NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter, which last month marked its 22nd year on the Red Planet.

NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter captured stunning images of Mars and its moon Phobos, providing a unique view of the planet's curved landscape and atmosphere. This technological achievement enhances our understanding of Mars and aids future exploration. Image source: NASA/JPL-Caltech

The spacecraft captured a series of panoramic images showing the curved Martian landscape beneath hazy clouds and dust. These 10 images, connected end to end, not only provide fresh and stunning views of the Martian landscape, but will also help scientists gain new insights into the Martian atmosphere.

NASA's Odyssey orbiter used the THEMIS camera to capture this unusual view of the Martian horizon, and engineers spent three months planning the mission. It was taken about 250 miles above the surface of Mars - about the same altitude as the International Space Station orbits Earth. Image source: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

The spacecraft captured the images in May at an altitude of about 250 miles (400 kilometers), the same altitude at which the space station flies past Earth.

"This is what astronauts would see if they were in orbit above Mars," said Arizona State University's Jonathon Hill, operations lead for Odyssey's camera, called the Thermal Emission Imaging System, or THEMIS. "No Mars spacecraft has ever seen anything like this before."

NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter has captured the first view of Mars, showing a curved horizon and atmosphere similar to what astronauts see of Earth from the International Space Station. While there are no astronauts on Mars yet, this view gives us an idea of ​​what they might see. Laura Kerber, deputy project scientist for NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter, explains how and why the spacecraft captured views of the Red Planet similar to what the International Space Station sees of Earth. Image source: NASA/JPL-Caltech

how it's done

What makes this perspective so rare is the challenge of creating it. Engineers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, which manages the mission, and Lockheed Martin Spaceflight, which built Odyssey and co-leads day-to-day operations, spent three months planning the THEMIS observations. Thermal imaging cameras' sensitivity to temperature allows them to map ice, rock, sand and dust on the Earth's surface, as well as temperature changes.

It can also measure the amount of water ice or dust in the atmosphere, but only in a narrow column directly beneath the spacecraft. That's because THEMIS is fixed to the orbiter; it usually points downward.

The mission requires a wider field of view to observe the atmosphere. Understanding the interrelationships between these water ice clouds and layers of dust - whether one layer or several layers stacked on top of each other - could help scientists improve their models of the Martian atmosphere.

"I think of it as looking at a cross-section of the atmosphere," said Jeffrey Plaut, Odyssey project scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. "There's a lot of detail you can't see from above, and that's how THEMIS typically makes these measurements."

NASA's 2001 Mars Odyssey orbiter used the THEMIS camera to capture a series of images of Phobos, one of the Red Planet's two small moons. Image source: NASA/JPL-Caltech

As mentioned above, since THEMIS cannot pivot, adjusting the angle of the camera requires adjusting the position of the entire spacecraft. In this case, the team needed to rotate the orbiter nearly 90 degrees while ensuring that the sun was still shining on the spacecraft's solar panels but not on sensitive equipment that could overheat. It turns out that the easiest orientation is to point the orbiter's antenna away from Earth. This meant the team lost contact with Odyssey for several hours until the operation was completed.

The Odyssey mission hopes to take similar images in the future, capturing the Martian atmosphere over multiple seasons.

very happy

To capitalize on their efforts, the mission also captured images of Mars' small moon Phobos. This is the seventh time in 22 years that an orbiter has aimed THEMIS at the moon to measure temperature changes on the lunar surface.

"We're seeing Phobos from different angles and lighting conditions than we're used to," Hill said. "This makes it a unique part of our Phobos data set."

New images provide insight into the composition and physical properties of the Martian moon. Further research may help resolve the debate over whether Phobos, which is about 16 miles (25 kilometers) in diameter, is a captured asteroid or an ancient chunk of Mars blasted from the surface by an impact.

Artistic concept of JAXA's MMX spacecraft on Mars. Image source: Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency

NASA is participating in a sample return mission to Phobos and its sister moon Deimos, called the Mars Moon Explorer (Mars Moone Xplorer), or MMX, with JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency). Odyssey's images of Phobos will be helpful to scientists working on the Odyssey orbiter and MMX.

THEMIS is built and operated by Arizona State University in Tempe. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena.