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Dr. Phil Varghese

Dr. Phil Varghese, Odyssey Project Manager.

August 24, 2004

Credits

NASA/JPL-Caltech

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Morning clouds fill Coprates Chasma on Mars in this Nov. 25, 2015, image from the THEMIS camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey. No orbiter systematically observed Mars in morning sunlight before 2015. The ...
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Morning clouds fill Coprates Chasma on Mars in this Nov. 25, 2015, image from the THEMIS camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey. No orbiter systematically observed Mars in morning sunlight before 2015. The clouds appear blue because ice particles in them scatter blue light more strongly than other colors.
Mars Odyssey View of Morning Clouds in Canyon
A group of small, unnamed craters in the martian southern hemisphere is the first site captured by a group of middle school students who are operating the camera system onboard NASA's Mars Odyssey ...
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Students looking at a computer while participating in the Mars Student Imaging Project
Students participating in the Mars Student Imaging Project
Around 200 kilometers long, Ravi Vallis was born in a flood of water from Aromatum Chaos.
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Around 200 kilometers long, Ravi Vallis was born in a flood of water from Aromatum Chaos (left). The racing waters sliced a pathway across Xanthe Terra, spawned at least two small chaos regions in the channel (center), and then hurtled over the plateau edge to disappear into another chaos region (right foreground). In the distance at left lies Orson Welles Crater and the meandering path of Shalbatana Vallis, a much longer outflow channel perhaps related hydrologically to Ravi.
Ravi Vallis
Sixteen seventh-graders at Evergreen Middle School in Cottonwood, Calif., found the Martian pit feature at the center of the superimposed red square in this image while participating in a program t...
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Martian Pit Feature Found by Seventh Graders
Martian Pit Feature Found by Seventh Graders
This view combines information from two instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to map color-coded composition over the shape of the ground in a small portion of the Nili Fossae plains re...
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This view combines information from two instruments on a NASA Mars orbiter to map color-coded composition over the shape of the ground within the Nili Fossae plains region of Mars. Carbonate-rich deposits in this area (coded green) hold some carbon formerly in the atmosphere's carbon dioxide.
Rocks Here Sequester Some of Mars' Early Atmosphere
Re-analysis of 2002-2009 data from a hydrogen-finding instrument on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter increased the resolution of maps of hydrogen abundance. 
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Analysis Sharpens Mars Hydrogen Map
Analysis Sharpens Mars Hydrogen Map, Hinting Equatorial Water Ice
This false-color map shows the area within Gale Crater on Mars, where NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Aug. 5, 2012 PDT (Aug. 6, 2012 EDT) and the location where Curiosity collected its first drill...
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This false-color map shows the area within Gale Crater on Mars, where NASA's Curiosity rover landed on Aug. 5, 2012 PDT (Aug. 6, 2012 EDT) and the location where Curiosity collected its first drilled sample at the "John Klein" rock.
Location of John Klein Drill Site
Just as on Earth, volcanism and tectonism are found together on Mars. Here is an example: the ridges and fractures of Claritas Fossae are affecting or perhaps hosting the volcanic flows of Solis Pl...
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Just as on Earth, volcanism and tectonism are found together on Mars. Here is an example: the ridges and fractures of Claritas Fossae are affecting or perhaps hosting the volcanic flows of Solis Planum.
Volcanism & Tectonism
This image from NASAs Mars Odyssey shows lava flows from Alba Mons, and a tectonic graben called Cyane Fossae.
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This image from NASAs Mars Odyssey shows lava flows from Alba Mons, and a tectonic graben called Cyane Fossae.
Alba Mons
Buzz Aldrin, an Apollo 11 astronaut who walked on the moon, makes a holographic appearance in 'Destination: Mars,' a mixed-reality tour of a part of Mars that NASA's Curiosity rover has explored.
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Buzz Aldrin, an Apollo 11 astronaut who walked on the moon, makes a holographic appearance in 'Destination: Mars,' a mixed-reality tour of a part of Mars that NASA's Curiosity rover has explored.
Buzz Aldrin
Continuing our survey of non-crater dune fields brings us to this group of dunes in Aonia Terra. The daytime IR illustrates the warmth of the dune material compared to the surrounding materials.
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Continuing our survey of non-crater dune fields brings us to this group of dunes in Aonia Terra. The daytime IR illustrates the warmth of the dune material compared to the surrounding materials.
Aonia Terra Dunes
This is a Mars Odyssey visible color image of an unnamed crater in western Arcadia Planitia (near 39 degrees N, 179 degrees E). The crater shows a number of interesting internal and external featur...
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This is a Mars Odyssey visible color image of an unnamed crater in western Arcadia Planitia (near 39 degrees N, 179 degrees E). The crater shows a number of interesting internal and external features that suggest that it has undergone substantial modification since it formed. These features include concentric layers and radial streaks of brighter, redder materials inside the crater, and a heavily degraded rim and ejecta blanket. The patterns inside the crater suggest that material has flowed or slumped towards the center. Other craters with features like this have been seen at both northern and southern mid latitudes The distribution of these kinds of craters suggests the possible influence of surface or subsurface ice in the formation of these enigmatic features. The image was taken on September 29, 2002 during late northern spring. This is an approximate true color image, generated from a long strip of visible red (654 nm), green (540 nm), and blue (425 nm) filter images that were calibrated using a combination of pre-flight measurements and Hubble images of Mars. The colors appear perhaps a bit darker than one might expect; this is most likely because the images were acquired in late afternoon (roughly 4:40 p.m. local solar time) and the low Sun angle results in an overall darker surface.
Western Arcadia Planitia
Download a PDF of the 2001 Mars Odyssey Arrival Press Kit.
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Odyssey arrival press kit
2001 Mars Odyssey Arrival Press Kit
West of Valles Marineris lies a checkerboard named Noctis Labyrinthus, which formed when the Martian crust stretched and fractured.
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West of Valles Marineris lies a checkerboard named Noctis Labyrinthus, which formed when the Martian crust stretched and fractured.
Mars Odyssey All Stars: Noctis Vista
This map shows unprecedented detail of local variations in Mars' gravitational pull on orbiters. The gravitational mapping has been applied to map variations in the thickness of the planet's crust ...
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This map shows unprecedented detail of local variations in Mars' gravitational pull on orbiters. The gravitational mapping has been applied to map variations in the thickness of the planet's crust and to deduce information about its deeper interior.
Local Variations in the Gravitational Pull of Mars
Download a PDF of the Mars as Art Booklet.
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Mars as Art
Mars as Art (2013)
This lunar-like scene occurs along the southeastern rim of the Isidis Planitia basin. The Isidis basin is an ancient impact crater some 1200 km across that is found along the boundary separating th...
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This lunar-like scene occurs along the southeastern rim of the Isidis Planitia basin. The Isidis basin is an ancient impact crater some 1200 km across that is found along the boundary separating the heavily-cratered southern highland terrain of Mars from the northern lowlands. Elements of both terrains are evident in this image as an island of rugged highland terrain surrounded by smoother lowland terrain. The resurfacing of the Isidis basin produced a system of wrinkle ridges, some of which are seen on the lowland terrain in the image. Wrinkle ridges are a common feature on the surface of the moon and add to the lunar-like quality of this image. Layers are visible in the large island, the most resistant of which likely are from lava flows that created the highland terrain. The process by which the global-scale highland/lowland dichotomy was created remains a mystery.
Isidis Rim
Planum Boreum crater
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Planum Boreum crater
Planum Boreum crater
The dune field in this polar region crater looks like a stubby arrow pointing the way west. This unnamed crater is located in Planum Chronium.
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The dune field in this polar region crater looks like a stubby arrow pointing the way west. This unnamed crater is located in Planum Chronium.
Unnamed crater is located in Planum Chronium.
NASA's NEOWISE mission detected comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring on July 28, 2014, less than three months before this comet's close flyby of Mars on Oct. 19. This merging of multiple images presents t...
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NASA's NEOWISE mission detected comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring on July 28, 2014, less than three months before this comet's close flyby of Mars on Oct. 19. This merging of multiple images presents the comet in four different positions relative to the background stars.
NEOWISE Spies Comet C/2013 A1 Siding Spring a Second Time
The floor of this crater in Terra Sirenum contains layered material. The layered sedimentary material on Mars is arguably the most interesting and compelling material on the planet. These layers mo...
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The floor of this crater in Terra Sirenum contains layered material. The layered sedimentary material on Mars is arguably the most interesting and compelling material on the planet. These layers most likely contain the answers to fundamental questions about Martian geology, climate, and possibly even biology.
Terra Sirenum Crater
As fractures opened near the summit of Tyrrhena Patera, the ground collapsed to make pits and chains of pits aligned with the fractures. The large pit seen here is about 400 m (1,300 ft) deep.
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As fractures opened near the summit of Tyrrhena Patera, the ground collapsed to make pits and chains of pits aligned with the fractures. The large pit seen here is about 400 m (1,300 ft) deep.
Collapse on Tyrrhena Patera
This computer-generated view based on multiple orbital observations shows Mars' Gale crater as if seen from an aircraft north of the crater.
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This computer-generated view based on multiple orbital observations shows Mars' Gale crater as if seen from an aircraft north of the crater.
Oblique view of Gale Crater from the North (Unannotated)
A large dust storm on Mars, nearly twice the size of the United States, covered the southern hemisphere of the Red Planet in early January 2022, leading to some of NASA’s explorers on the surface h...
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A large dust storm on Mars, nearly twice the size of the United States, covered the southern hemisphere of the Red Planet in early January 2022, leading to some of NASA’s explorers on the surface hitting pause on their normal activities.
Mars Report: Dust Storms on Mars
If a meteorite breaks in two shortly before hitting the ground, the typical bowl shape of a single impact crater becomes doubled.
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If a meteorite breaks in two shortly before hitting the ground, the typical bowl shape of a single impact crater becomes doubled.
Mars Odyssey All Stars: Dual Crater

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