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NSSDCA Photo Gallery
Mars

Note: If you are looking for images from Mars Pathfinder, they are posted on the Mars Pathfinder mirror sites and also at NSSDCA at: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/marspath_images.html.


Global Views

Thumbnail Image Description Caption NASA IDs Image Size Hi-Resolution TIFF?
Thumbnail of image Global mosaic of Mars. Visible in the center of this mosaic is the largest known chasm in the solar system, Valles Marineris. Reproduced from Volume 14 of the Mars Digital Image Model (MDIM) CD-ROM set. Caption MF07S078 256K  
Thumbnail of image Global mosaic of Mars. Cerberus region. Reproduced from Volume 14 of the Mars Digital Image Model (MDIM) CD-ROM set. Caption MF12N290 194K  
Thumbnail of image Global mosaic of Mars. Syrtis Major region. Reproduced from Volume 14 of the Mars Digital Image Model (MDIM) CD-ROM set. Caption MF01S306 288K  
Thumbnail of image Global images taken by the Wide-Field Planetary Camera 2 on the Hubble Space Telescope. The top image is the Valles Marineris region (centered on roughly 60 degrees longitude), the middle image is the Tharsis region (centered on roughly 160 degrees longitude), and the bottom image is the Syrtis Major region (centered on roughly 270 degrees longitude). These three images are individual frames from one press release photograph. Caption STScI-PRC95-17A, 95-HC-113 36K  
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Thumbnail of image A dust storm kicks up on Mars. Caption STScI-PRC96-34, 96-HC-716 33K Hi-res
Thumbnail of image Late spring on Mars (centered on roughly 305 degrees longitude). Caption STScI-PRC97-09a 66K Hi-res
Thumbnail of image Late spring on Mars (centered on roughly 160, 210, and 305 degrees longitude). Caption STScI-PRC97-09b 59K Hi-res
Thumbnail of image Mars during 1999 opposition with Earth. Caption STScI-PRC99-27 76K Hi-res
Thumbnail of image Digital Image Model (DIM) of Mars. Reproduced from Volume 7 of the Mars Digital Image Model (MDIM) CD-ROM set.   SC00N000 162K Hi-res
Thumbnail of image Topographic Map of Mars (Sinusoidal Projection).     82K  
Thumbnail of image Global Map of Mars (Mollweide Projection). Caption STScI-PRC99-27e 42K Hi-res

Surface Features

Thumbnail Image Description Caption NASA IDs Image Size Hi-Resolution TIFF?
Thumbnail of image Martian southern polar region mosaic. Reproduced from Volume 14 of the Mars Digital Image Model (MDIM) CD-ROM set.     77K  
Thumbnail of image The largest known volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons. Reproduced from Volume 14 of the Mars Digital Image Model (MDIM) CD-ROM set. Caption MG20N133 215K Hi-res
Thumbnail of image Close-up mosaic of Olympus Mons' caldera.     99K  
Thumbnail of image Mariner 9 image of the "Inca City". During the Mariner 9 mission, scientists found an unusual rectilinear structure associated with the south polar pitted terrain which they dubbed the "Inca City". Located near -80 degrees latitude and 64 degrees longitude, it is likely the result of wind deflation of deposits from underlying rough terrain. The "cells" in the image are about 4-5 kilometers in width.   Frame number 4212-15 51K  
Thumbnail of image Viking 2 image of the region around the "Inca City". Viking 2 also imaged the region, but no evidence of the feature was visible in this image from orbit 225. It has been enhanced to bring out the details (noise reduced and contrast enhanced). The resolution of the original image is 0.544 km/pixel and is centered at -81.56 degrees latitude and 69.82 degrees longitude. Reproduced from volume 55 of the Mission to Mars: Viking Orbiter Images of Mars CD-ROM set.   F225B69 158K Hi-res
Thumbnail of image Viking 2 image of the region around the "Inca City". On a later orbit (421), Viking 2 again imaged the region. This time, the Inca City is clearly visible. This image was taken through the red filter. It has been enhanced to bring out the details (noise reduced and contrast enhanced). The resolution of this image is 0.146 km/pixel and is centered at -81.82 degrees latitude and 59.59 degrees longitude. Reproduced from volume 59 of the Mission to Mars: Viking Orbiter Images of Mars CD-ROM set.   F421B64 128K Hi-res

Controversial Features

The following images were taken by the Viking 1 and 2 orbiters. They are among the most requested images which NSSDCA archives. These images were taken of the region on Mars known as Cydonia Mensae and contain the feature commonly known as the "face". All of the images here have been rotated clockwise 90 degrees to reorient them so that north is toward the upper left corner. There are two versions of the images present here. The first of each pair is an unprocessed ("raw") version of the image taken of the area. Other than the processing necessary to create a JPEG image from the PDS formatted image file, the images are unchanged from the originals on Volumes 10, 11, 21, 28, and 63 of the Mission to Mars: Viking Orbiter Images of Mars CD-ROM set. The second of each pair has had the noise level reduced and the image sharpened using Image4PDS, a freeware program available from NSSDCA. Finally, Color It!™ was used to adjust the contrast. (If you have any questions about the "face" on Mars, please refer to our Planetary Frequently Asked Questions page. Detailed information on the first two exposures (035A72 and 070A13) is also available.) The sizes of these images range from 120-504 KB.

Thumbnail Image Description Caption NASA IDs Image Size Hi-Resolution TIFF?
Thumbnail of image Raw image of Cydonia Mensae.   035A72 301K Hi-res
Thumbnail of image Processed image of Cydonia Mensae.   035A72 174K  
Thumbnail of image Raw image of Cydonia Mensae.   070A13 104K Hi-res
Thumbnail of image Processed image of Cydonia Mensae.   070A13 178K  
Thumbnail of image Raw image of Cydonia Mensae.   561A25 74K Hi-res
Thumbnail of image Processed image of Cydonia Mensae.   561A25 150K  
Thumbnail of image Raw image of Cydonia Mensae.   673B56 179K Hi-res
Thumbnail of image Processed image of Cydonia Mensae.   673B56 164K  
Thumbnail of image Raw image of Cydonia Mensae.   753A33 490K Hi-res
Thumbnail of image Processed image of Cydonia Mensae.   753A33 173K  
Thumbnail of image The "face" on Mars. Taken from image 035A72. The image was clipped, inverted (to produce the usual orientation which has been published), magnified by a factor of three, and contrast enhanced again, all using Color It!™. (Note: Much of the "blocky" nature of the image is caused by the lossy compression scheme used in JPEG files.)     9.9K  
Thumbnail of image Unprocessed Mars Global Surveyor image of the Cydonia Mense region side-by-side with filtered and contrast enhanced version. (05 April 1998) Caption   1.6M Hi-res
Thumbnail of image Filtered and contrast enhanced Mars Global Surveyor close-up of the "face" feature (unmagnified). (05 April 1998) Caption   139K Hi-res

Note: More information on the image is available at our MGS Cydonia page. The full-resolution (9.6 MB) TIFF image of the region as released by the Mars Global Surveyor project is also at: http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/image/hi-res/planetary/mars/mgs_cydonia1_raw.tiff.


Surface Views

Thumbnail Image Description Caption NASA IDs Image Size Hi-Resolution TIFF?
Thumbnail of image Viking 1 panorama of the Martian surface. Caption   316K  
Thumbnail of image Viking 1 panorama of the Martian surface. Caption   109K  
Thumbnail of image Viking 2 panorama of the Martian surface. Caption   513K  
Thumbnail of image Viking 2 panorama of the Martian surface. Caption   642K  

Satellites

Thumbnail Image Description Caption NASA IDs Image Size Hi-Resolution TIFF?
Thumbnail of image Mars' largest satellite, Phobos. Reproduced from Volume 14 of the Mission to Mars: Viking Orbiter Images of Mars CD-ROM set.   F242A21 37K  
Thumbnail of image Montage of three separate images of Phobos taken by Viking 1. Caption   74K Hi-res
Thumbnail of image Mars' smallest satellite, Deimos. Reproduced from Volume 59 of the Mission to Mars: Viking Orbiter Images of Mars CD-ROM set.   F413B83 12K Hi-res

For further information:

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