Mars - Viking 2 Lander

Frost at the Utopia Planitia site on Mars

Mars
Viking 2 Lander image showing patches of ground frost at the Utopia Planitia site on Mars. The image was taken at 12:32 local time in late northern winter. The frost layer is extremely thin, only a few hundredths of a mm thick. The frost persisted at temperatures higher than the freezing point of carbon dioxide, and so must be water ice or some combination of water and carbon dioxide ice. The landing site is at 47.6 N, 225.7 W and the view is looking due SWW. The colors have been distorted to enhance the contrast. (Viking 2 Lander, 22E169)
Larger image ( 71K)

High resolution tiff file (314K)


Location & Time Information
Date/Time (UT): 1977-08-26 T 10:04:49
Distance/Range (km): 0.0037
Central Latitude/Longitude (deg): 47.57 N, 225.74 W
Orbit(s): N/A

Imaging Information
Area or Feature Type: lander image, surface, frost, water
Instrument: Viking 2 Lander Scanning Camera 2
Instrument Resolution (pixels): 512 vertical, 6 bit
Instrument Field of View (deg): 100 x 0.12 (single scan), 100 x 342.5 (max.)
Filter: N/A
Illumination Incidence Angle (deg): 58.
Phase Angle (deg): N/A
Instrument Look Direction: N/A
Surface Emission Angle (deg): 90.

Ordering Information
CD-ROM Volume: N/A
NASA Image ID number: 22E169
Other Image ID number: P-19541
NSSDC Data Set ID (Photo): 75-083C-06F
NSSDC Data Set ID (CD): N/A
Other ID: N/A


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[NASA Logo] Authors/Curators:

Dave Williams, dave.williams@nasa.gov, (301) 286-1258
Code 690.1, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

Jay Friedlander, jay.s.friedlander@nasa.gov, (301) 286-7172
Code 612.4, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA

NASA Official: Dr. David R. Williams, David.R.Williams@nasa.gov

Last updated: 24 September 2015