NASA floats in orbit above Mars, and in 2001, Mars Odyssey Orbiter captured a panoramic view of Arsia Mons, the largest volcano on the Red Planet, and peeked into a cloud. Picturesque moments provide unusually rare views of volcanic volcanoes, showing the ground to capture the earth’s horizon.
“We chose Arsia Mons and hopefully we can see the summit poke above the clouds in the morning. It’s not disappointing.” Jonathon Hill, head of operations at the Odyssey camera, was a mission planner at the Arizona State University’s Mars space flight facility, called Thermal Sudmission Imassing Imaging Imaging System, or themis. Theme allows viewing of Mars in visible and infrared light.
The Odyssey, launched in 2001, has been hovering around Mars for twenty years, studying the surface of Mars. But in 2023, orbit begins to enjoy panoramic views of the Mars horizon. Since the theme cannot rotate these magnificent views, the track’s rotational track rotates the entire 90 degrees. In this way, it captures the “limbs” of Mars, which is the edge of the Earth’s range. This is Themis’ fourth physical observation since 2023.
Odyssey captured the image on May 2 (before dawn). Among them, Arsia Mons is 12 miles high (20 km) and has a diameter of 70 miles (450 km). For comparison, Mauna Loa, the highest volcano on Earth, is located 6 miles (9 kilometers) under the sea and has a diameter of 75 miles (121 kilometers).
Arsia Mons is also one of the cloudiest volcanoes on Mars, and is also the southernmost of the three Taras volcanoes that form the Tharsis Montes or the Tharsis Mountains. These mountains are usually surrounded by water and ice clouds, especially in the early morning. Clouds form as the air blows to the side of the mountain and then cools quickly.
This view also allows scientists to study Martian weather and phenomena, such as dust clouds and how they change throughout the season. Odyssey may capture more of this kind of panorama before finally retiring by the end of this year.
