NASA MARS Orbiter: Tenth Anniversary Image from THEMIS

The Thermal Emission Imaging System (THEMIS) camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey spacecraft has completed an unprecedented full decade of observing Mars from orbit.

THEMIS captured this image on Feb. 19, 2012, 10 years to the day after the camera recorded its first view of Mars.

This image covers an area 11 by 32 miles (19 by 52 kilometers) in the Nepenthes Mensae region north of the Martian equator.

The view depicts a knobby landscape where the southern highlands are breaking up as the terrain descends into the northern lowlands.

Odyssey, launched in 2001, has worked at Mars longer than any mission in history.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Odyssey mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

THEMIS was developed by Arizona State University, Tempe, in collaboration with Raytheon Santa Barbara Remote Sensing.

For more information about Mars Odyssey, visit mars.jpl.nasa.gov/odyssey . For more about THEMIS, see themis.asu.edu/ .

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASU

NASA Captures Night Infrared View of Gulf Oil Disaster

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft captured this nighttime image of the growing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on May 7, 2010.

On April 20, an explosion destroyed the Deepwater Horizon oil platform operating in the Gulf 80 kilometers (50 miles) offshore, resulting in substantial loss of life and releasing 5,000 barrels of oil per day into the water.

The huge oil slick was being carried towards the Mississippi River Delta, and small amounts of oil had reached the Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi shores by May 3.

This thermal image from ASTER covers an area measuring 60 by 240 kilometers (37 by 147 miles), most of it over the Gulf of Mexico.

The coldest surfaces appear dark, and the warmest appear white. The city of Pascagoula, Miss., is visible in the upper right corner; at night the land is colder (darker) than the Gulf waters. Offshore islands below Pascagoula also appear dark compared to the surrounding ocean.

The black dots and patches over the Gulf waters are small clouds, particularly in the southern half of the image. The thickest parts of the oil spill appear as dark grey, filamentous masses in the southern part of the image, extending off the bottom. Other dark-light swirl patterns are water currents where different temperature water masses are visible.