Mars Exploration and Geology

Compiled by Barbara Tewksbury at Hamilton College

Mars Exploration | Martian Geology

Click here to browse the complete set of Visualization Collections.

Mars Exploration

MER Mission Animation, NASA: This QuickTime movie is an outstanding animation of the Mars Exploration Rover mission from launch through landing and roving. The animation is scientifically accurate and wonderfully detailed. Created by Maas Digital for NASA's JPL, it is also available in RealVideo format.

Spirit & Opportunity: One Year On Mars, NASA: A short documentary in QuickTime format features information about the challenges faced and discoveries made by the Spirit and Opportunity rovers. Featuring interviews with NASA engineers and scientists, as well as animations and images from the rovers, this film describes the difficulties and rewards of Mars exploration. The film is also available from NASA in MPEG and MPEG-4 formats.

MER Cylindrical Panorama, NASA and Hans Nyberg: This full-screen QuickTime VR 360° panorama features images from the Mars Exploration Rover. Composed from a high-resolution NASA panorama, this interactive panorama features labeled geological elements and features a significant degree of user control.

Spirit Rover Cubic Panorama, NASA and Hans Nyberg: A high-resolution QuickTime VR, this animation features a black and white panorama captured by Spirit. Since the interactive panorama is cubic, the viewer can look up and down, as well as 360° around. This particular image features a high-resolution image of Mars that includes detail of the Spirit lander.

Opportunity Lander Cylindrical Panorama, NASA and Hans Nyberg: This high-resolution color QuickTime VR shows the Opportunity landing site in great detail. Although geological features are not labeled, the interactive panorama shows interesting surface irregularities in the landscape surrounding the landing site.

Pathfinder Cubic Panorama, NASA and Hans Nyberg: This cubic QuickTime VR animation enables the user to look around in all directions. Featuring a panoramic image captured by the Mars Pathfinder Lander, this interactive color panorama shows the Martian landscape as the Sojourner Rover explores the surface geology.

Martian Geology

Great Zoom into Martian Distributary Fan, NASA: Zoom-in on a fabulous distributary channel system in a crater northeast of Holden Crater on Mars. The images show compelling evidence for water flow on the Martian surface creating a distributary fan, meanders, and cut-offs. The page features an MPEG-1 movie showing the surface, along with numerous static images illustrating the same features. The movie may be viewed with either QuickTime or Windows Media Player.

Tharsis Basin Aquifer System, University of Arizona and NASA: This is a QuickTime movie animating an enormous ancient drainage basin and aquifer system in the Tharsis region of Mars. The movie shows the geological stages of the aquifer system, as reported in a University of Arizona study.

Earth-Mars Planet Comparisons, NASA: This is a visualization showing the relative size of Mars compared to that of Earth. This version uses false color textures, corresponding to the heights above/below 'sea level.' This version also includes pole axes and an orbit plane. The page features the visualization as an MPEG-1 movie, which may be viewed with either QuickTime or Windows Media Player. The page also includes static images from the visualization.

Flyover of Gusev Crater, NASA (more info) : A MPEG-1 movie of a false color flyover of Gusev Crater and Ma'adim Vallis, this visualization shows Mars' surface elevation using color enhancement and 3D imaging. The flyover includes detail of the crater, the Spirit landing site, and a channel cutting across the Martian surface. The animation may be viewed with either QuickTime or Windows Media Player.

Tharsis Volcanoes Flyover, NASA (more info) : This visualization features a flyover of Mars' Tharsis volcanoes, with false color added to highlight the animation's exaggerated surface elevation. The animation is in MPEG-1 format and may be viewed with either QuickTime or WIndows Media Player.

Seasonal Snow Variations on Mars, NASA (more info) : This false color visualization of Mars illustrates how the size and shape of the Martian ice caps vary over the course of the Martian year. Although the surface of Mars is rendered in 3D, the visualization uses graphic elements to enable the user to clearly see the relative depth and magnitude of the ice cap. The animation is available in MPEG-1 format, and may be viewed with QuickTime or Windows Media Player.

Mars Ocean Model, NASA (more info) : A computer-generated model of how Mars would appear with oceans if sea level was -500m (on this scale, the lowest elevation on Mars is -8000m, while the highest is 22000m). Featuring a true-color topographical image of Mars, this MPEG-1 movie may be viewed in QuickTime or Windows Media Player. The page also features static images of a flooded Martian surface.

Valles Marineris Flyover, NASA (more info) : This true color flyover is an MPEG-1 movie showing Mars' Valles Marineris in great detail. The flyover is also available in a shorter version that begins with a great zoom, also in MPEG-1 format. The movies may be viewed with QuickTime or Windows Media Player.

Simulations of the Martian Atmosphere Interacting with the Solar Wind, NASA (more info) : This fabulous visualization that shows how Mars might have lost water from its atmosphere early in the planet's history. By illustrating how the solar wind interacts with Mars' ionosphere, this model simulates the loss of a 10 meter global equivalent ocean layer over the course of 3.5 billion years. The visualization is a movie in MPEG-1 format, viewable with QuickTime or Windows Media Player. The page also features static images from the visualization.

Mars Atlas, NASA: This interactive GIF image shows the Martian surface and enables users to select a surface feature to learn more about the area and see a close-up image. Several significant geological features are included, including craters, volcanoes, and Mars' famous "face."