MOLA-map
Sept 05, 2013
A "radiant" beauty – sulphurous sediments in Becquerel Crater.
The images presented in this mosaic and acquired with the High Resolution Stereo Camera operated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) show Becquerel Crater. Inside it, a mountain almost 1000 metres high consisting of layers of sulphurous deposits, is evidence of the eventful climatic history of the Red Planet...
Oct 10, 2013
An eight-thousand-metre mountain with sulphate layers in Hebes Chasma.
If an astronaut were to stand in the Hebes Chasma basin, the view would be extraordinary. Precipitous walls rise almost 8000 metres into the skies, and a massif similar in size to Mount Everest lies at the centre...
Nov 14, 2013
Rolling hills and broad valleys in Ismeniae Fossae.
Gentle, rounded landscapes make up the Ismeniae Fossae, and can be seen in these newly released images created using data acquired by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft. Most craters and slopes are completely covered by a layer of fine-grained material that was probably transported there by the wind...
Dec 12, 2013
Mysterious sulphate mountains in Juventae Chasma.
The water that once flowed across Mars in its early days has left many traces. Among these, two terraced mountains located in the Juventae Chasma basin stand out; they appear to be composed of sediment layers. Spacecraft overflights have revealed that these are sulphate deposits containing minerals...
Jan 14, 2014
The floodwaters of Mars.
Ten years ago, on January 14, 2004 the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on Mars Express took the first images of Mars in color and 3D. Who would have thought, that the MEX spacecraft would be still alive today? For this anniversary the Planetary Science and Remote Sensing Group at Freie Universität Berlin produced a movie of the Kasei Valles region...
Feb 13, 2014
Crustal rupture near Claritas Fossae.
The Claritas Rupes is located ~200 km north of the Claritas Fossae. The scarp describes the eastern boundary of the giant Tharsis bulge, an elevated volcanic rise about 5000 km across and up to 7000 m high (excluding the major volcanic edifices)...
Mar 06, 2014
Lava at the foot of Mistretta Crater.
These images show the extent to which volcanism has shaped the surface of Mars. Mistretta Crater and the surrounding highland plateau of Daedalia Planum were flooded by lava flows originating from Arsia Mons − a volcano almost 17.7 kilometres high...
Apr 10, 2014
Beauty from Chaos.
Beautiful streamlined islands and narrow gorges were carved by fast-flowing water pounding through a small, plateau region near the southeastern margin of the vast Valles Marineris canyon system. Osuga Valles is an outflow channel that emanates from a region of chaotic terrain at the edge of Eos Chaos to the west. Such landscape is dominated by randomly oriented and heavily eroded blocks of terrain...
May 15, 2014
Black dunes on the Red Planet.
These dark dunes are composed of fine volcanic ash, which is also visible as a dark layer clinging to the sides of the depressions in the crater floor. The ash is carried out of this layer by the wind, accumulating elsewhere to produce impressive dune fields. Referred to as 'basalt dunes' due to their volcanic mineral composition, these formations are particularly frequent on Mars....
June 12, 2014
Chaos in the Atlantis basin.
A myriad of terrain types are found across the Terra Sirenum region in the southern highlands of Mars. Within the Atlantis basin, a complex and rugged landscape spread across roughly 200 kilometres known as Atlantis Chaos just begins to exemplify the broad diversity of geological processes that occurred in this relatively small area....
July 10, 2014
Snow, ice and water shaped Hellespontus Montes.
The Hellespontus Montes describe a part of the western rim of Hellas Planitia, the giant impact basin on the southern hemisphere of Mars. The Montes represent the marginal collapse zones along a normal fault pattern that developed in the final stage of the impact basin formation...
Aug 14, 2014
Deep deep down in the Hellas basin.
The Hellas Planitia impact basin is visible as a large, light, almost circular area in the southern hemisphere. Images of the deepest parts of this impact basin − with unusually great visibility − have now been acquired with the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC)...
Sep 18, 2014
Deep winter in Argyre Planitia.
The images show the Hooke impact crater, located in the Argyre Planitia impact basin in the southern hemisphere of Mars. At that time, it was deep winter in the area, as can easily be seen from the ground frost covering the interior of Hooke Crater and large sections of the landscape in the image...
Oct 16, 2014
Flight over the canyon-area Hydraotes Chaos.
Among the most interesting landforms on Mars are features referred to as 'chaotic terrain'. Dozens or even hundreds of isolated mountains are scattered in these extensive regions. Seen from orbit, they form a bizarre, chaotic pattern. Such terrains are found over a large area to both the west and east of Valles Marineris. Hydraotes Chaos is a typical example of this type of landscape...
Nov 27, 2014
Hellas Chaos covered by frost.
In the Hellas impact basin, the largest crater structure found on Mars, there are a variety of periglacial landforms − areas marked by frost. These images, acquired by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, show a part of the Hellas Planitia impact basin illuminated in warm bronze and golden hues....
Dec 18, 2014
Flight over Becquerel crater.
Becquerel crater is located in the Arabia Terra region which occupies the transition zone of the southern highlands and the northern lowlands of Mars. The crater has a diameter of 167 km and displays, like many other neighboring craters, exceptional light-toned sediments on the crater floor...
Jan 22, 2015
Nili Fossae − a large graben system on Mars.
Nili Fossae caught the attention of astronomers in the last century, when Mars could only be observed from Earth with ground-based telescopes. The grabens of Nili Fossae extend for several hundred kilometres along the eastern edge of the giant impact basin Isidis Planitia and, together with the volcanic region Syrtis Major, they form a concentric pattern that runs parallel to the edge of the basin...
Feb 19, 2015
Phlegra Montes metamorphosed by climate change?
The mountain massif of Phlegra Montes extends into the northern lowlands of Mars like a long, slightly curved salient. Stretching for hundreds of kilometres, this alignment of numerous mountains, rolling hills and ridges lies to the east of the volcano Hecates Tholus in the Elysium volcanic region. This geological formation provides insights into the metamorphosis of a landscape marked by changes to the Martian climate millions of years ago...
Mar 12, 2015
Was the north of Mars once covered by an ocean?
The transition from the highlands to the lowlands follows a narrow, geologically varied zone referred to as the 'dichotomy boundary'. The Cydonia region lies slightly to the north of the dichotomy boundary, within the plain Acidalia Planitia. There are numerous mesa-like structures and smaller flat-topped mountains here – the remains of an eroded highland are distributed over large parts of this region.
Apr 23, 2015
Crater Generations in Arabia Terra on Mars
On our neighbouring planet Mars, it is mainly wind – through its force and the dust and sand particles it carries – that shapes the terrain structures, wearing them away over the course of millions of years. In the early history of the Red Planet, flowing water also contributed to this. It can be seen, for example, in the numerous craters with varied degrees of erosion in the Arabia Terra region...
May 21, 2015
Siloe Patera − a supervolcano on Mars?
At present, the Siloe Patera construct in the Martian highlands is the cause of much debate among scientists. Is Siloe Patera actually the remains of a supervolcano? There is evidence to suggest this − but also evidence against it. It is a current example of an interesting geoscientific debate...
July 9, 2015
Faults and grabens in Ascuris Planum
The Ascuris Planum area shown in these images is a particularly vivid case of a horst and graben landscape. Ascuris Planum is located in the northeastern area of the enormous volcanic region of Tharsis, where a large number of similar geological structures exist...
August 3, 2015
Chaos in the Atlantis basin
This animation features the region of Atlantis Chaos on our neighbor planet Mars. It is based on a color mosaic and digital terrain model of this region from the press release from June 12th, 2014. The images were acquired by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft. ..
September 10, 2015
Mars southern hemisphere in early summer time
An unusual observation by Mars Express shows a sweeping view over the planet's south polar ice cap and across its ancient, cratered highlands...
October 15, 2015
Flash Floods in Mangala Valles and Minio Vallis on Mars
The latest images acquired using the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board the ESA Mars Express spacecraft show a region south of Minio Vallis. The region is located at the south-western Tharsis bulge and is part of the large Mangala Valles outflow channel system on Mars...
Nov 19, 2015
Aurorae Chaos − gigantic chaotic terrain on Mars
The images, acquired by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, show a portion of Aurorae Chaos, part of the prolongation of the giant Valles Marineris graben system...
Dec 21, 2015
Aeolis Mensae − Boundary of the northern plains and the southern highlands on Mars
The images, acquired by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), which was developed and is operated by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and carried on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, shows a portion of Aeolis Mensae − The average difference in elevation of northern plains and southern highlands on Mars...
Jan 28, 2016
Kilometres-deep canyons in the Labyrinth of the Night
The images, acquired by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), which was developed and is operated by the German Aerospace Centre and carried on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, show a portion of the impressive region called Noctis Labyrinthus, the Labyrinth of the Night. It consists of a labyrinth of intersecting valleys and canyons up to six kilometres deep...
Feb 18, 2016
Arda Valles − an ancient drainage system on Mars
The image, acquired by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), which was developed and is operated by the German Aerospace Centre and carried on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, shows the western part of the Arda Valles, a dendritic drainage system located 260 km north of Holden Crater...
Mar 23, 2016
The icy terraces of the giant Hellas basin
The image, acquired by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), which was developed and is operated by the German Aerospace Centre and carried on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, shows the western part of the Hellas basin. A diameter of 2,200 kilometres and a depth of up to nine kilometres: these are the dimensions of the largest impact crater on Mars...
Apr 28, 2016
A split crater in Memnonia Fossae
The image, acquired by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), which was developed and is operated by the German Aerospace Centre and carried on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, shows a part of the Memnonia Fossae region on Mars. This chain of faults is located to the west of the Tharsis volcanic region and north of Sirenum Fossae...
Jun 02, 2016
Central pit crater in Noachis Terra
Image data acquired by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) display the Southern Highlands of Mars. HRSC was developed and is operated by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR) and carried on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft. The pictured impact crater features a central pit and valleys on the crater rim, structures indicative of ice in the subsurface...
Jul 07, 2016
Traces of water in Mawrth Vallis
With a length of 600 km and a depth of up to 2 km Mawrth Vallis is one of the largest outflow channels on Mars. It is a candidate landing site for ESA's ExoMars 2020 mission. The mosaic views were created out of image data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board Mars Express...
Aug 11, 2016
Spotlight on the Schiaparelli landing site
On 14 March 2016 the European Mars mission ExoMars 2016 was launched. The landing module Schiaparelli and the Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) are scheduled to arrive at Mars in October 2016. Here we show a mosaic of Schiaparelli's landing site prepared from image data of the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board Mars Express by the Planetary Sciences and Remote Sensing group at Freie Universität Berlin...
Sep 8, 2016
A former ocean within Utopia Planitia?
Image data by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft acquired in June 2016 feature giant polygons in the Northern Lowlands of Mars. Giant means the polygon-like structures have sizes of several kilometers in diameter. These polygons are an indicator of the existence of a former ocean on Mars...
Oct 13, 2016
Glaciers in Colles Nili
Image data by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express mission acquired end of May 2016 show glacial features at the dichotomy boundary on Mars. The dichotomy boundary separates the smooth Northern Lowlands from the rugged Southern Highlands...
Nov 03, 2016
Acheron Fossae − is it a rift system?
Image data by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express mission from May 2016 reveal the western part of Acheron Fossae, a system of tectonic graben on the Martian surface...
Dec 08, 2016
Mawrth Vallis Animation
The Martian outflow channel Mawrth Vallis is a candidate landing site for ESA's ExoMars 2020 mission. The movie was created out of image data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board Mars Express...
Feb 02, 2017
North Polar Ice Cap
Beginning of 2017 corresponds to northern hemisphere winter season on Mars. A new High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) color image mosaic, generated out of 32 individual orbit stripes, reveals the beauty of the northern ice cap of Mars...
Mar 02, 2017
Martian mega-floods at Worcester Crater
These images by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express mission capture the mouth of Kasei Valles, which is the largest outflow channel system around the Chryse impact basin on Mars. Ancient mega-floods shaped this region and finally poured into Chryse Planitia...
Apr 06, 2017
Three at one stroke in Terra Sirenum on Mars
These images by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express mission show a line-up of three impact craters in one of the oldest regions on Mars, Terra Sirenum. The detection of clay minerals in the northwestern part of Terra Sirenum hints to a complex aqueous history in the Martian past...
May 11, 2017
Flight over the North Polar Ice Cap of Mars
The north polar ice cap of Mars appears like a gigantic spiral out of ice and snow. Dark troughs in which wind-transported dust and deposits accumulated, alternate with white, ice-covered mounds...
Jun 08, 2017
Chaos and water on Mars
Chaotic terrain and remarkably light-toned deposits within an impact crater in the southern highlands of Mars can be observed in recent images taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft...
Jul 13, 2017
Ancient fluvial activity in Libya Montes
A desiccated fluvial valley with tributaries in the Libya Montes region on Mars can be seen in recent images taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft...
Aug 10, 2017
Varying Martian landscape in Coracis Fossae
Images taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft picture an ancient mountain region on Mars with a complex volcanotectonic, hydrologic, and periglacial history...
Sep 14, 2017
Splashdown! Crashing into Martian mud
The images presented, acquired by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), which is operated by the German Aerospace Center and carried on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, show an impact crater with a striking ejecta blanket north of the huge Hellas impact basin...
Oct 5, 2017
Diverse dune landscape on desert planet Mars
These images of a Martian landscape, acquired by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, show an unnamed impact crater with a dune field, situated in the southern highlands of Mars...
Nov 16, 2017
Fractured Martian crust in Sirenum Fossae
The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), which is operated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), and mounted on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft, acquired images of the graben system Sirenum Fossae on Mars...
Dec 14, 2017
Mars upside down
This remarkable image of the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft shows a view of the northern hemisphere of Mars from the Martian north polar ice cap, situated at the bottom, up to the Martian equator at the horizon...
Jan 18, 2018
Martian crater named after German planetary scientist
On 29
th
September 2017 the International Astronomical Union named an impact crater in the Southern Highlands of Mars after the German physicist and planetary scientist Gerhard Neukum, who died in 2014...
Mar 1, 2018
New images of the Martian moons Phobos and Deimos
Mars Express is currently the only satellite exploring Mars from an elliptical orbit. This allows regular, close flybys of Phobos, the larger of the two Martian moons. In summer 2017, the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) observed the moon from a distance of approximately 115 kilometres. Besides, the more distant Martian moon Deimos could be observed at the beginning of 2018...
Apr 12, 2018
Ismenia Patera: Impact crater or supervolcano?
Images acquired at New Year's Day 2018 using the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board the ESA Mars Express spacecraft show the collapsed depression Ismenia Patera which is interpreted to be either an impact crater or the caldera of a supervolcano on Mars...
May 17, 2018
Flight over Neukum Crater on Mars
In January 2018 an image mosaic of Neukum Crater on Mars was released by ESA, DLR and FU Berlin. Neukum Crater was named after the German planetary scientist Gerhard Neukum, who developed the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) which is in orbit around Mars on board Mars Express since 2003. Data acquired by the HRSC are presented here as animation of the impact crater Neukum...
Jun 1, 2018
15 years HRSC on Mars Express − Mars from horizon to horizon
On 2
nd
June 2018 is the 15
th
anniversary of the launch of the European Mars Express spacecraft. Still in orbit around Mars today, it marks one of the most successful space missions ever send to Mars. One of the instruments still working is the German High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) experiment. In October 2017 HRSC captured a spectacular global view of Mars, revealing the beauty of our neighbor planet...
Jul 19, 2018
Announcing this years dust storm season on Mars
Images taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express mission show a local dust storm with an upwelling front of dust clouds near the north-polar ice cap of Mars. This storm − imaged in April 2018 − is one out of several local dust storms that were observed on Mars during the last months....
Sep 20, 2018
Recent tectonics on Mars in the Cerberus Fossae
The elongated trenches pictured in these images taken by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on Mars Express, are denoted Cerberus Fossae. These prominent steep-walled volcanotectonic fissures served as pathways for lava and groundwater to escape to the surface of Mars millions of years ago...
Oct 26, 2018
Major crater pays tribute to a leading planetary scientist
These images acquired by the DLR-operated High Resolution Stereo Camera on board the ESA Mars Express spacecraft show Greeley Crater on Mars. It was named after the US scientist Ronald Greeley, who passed away in 2011. In addition to being a pioneer in the field of planetary geology, he was a member of the HRSC experiment team from the very outset...
Nov 22, 2018
From hills to valleys − material transport on Mars
The region shown on these High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) images is located at the so-called dichotomy boundary, a topographic scarp between the southern highlands and the northern lowlands of Mars. Mesas, valleys and numerous small hills characterize the landscape, shaped by water-driven erosional processes...
Dec 20, 2018
Winter wonderland in red and white
This colorful red and white mosaic made from images of the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express mission pictures the well-preserved Korolev crater on Mars, which is filled with water ice all year round. Korolev was a famous Russian rocket engineer and spacecraft designer...
Feb 21, 2019
Signs of ancient flowing water on Mars
The latest images acquired using the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express mission show a system of desiccated fluvial valleys east of the large impact crater Huygens. Such valley networks typically occur in the oldest, most heavily cratered regions on Mars, which are situated in the southern highlands...
Mar 28, 2019
Who left the dark tracks on Mars?
Images acquired at the beginning of 2019 using the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board the ESA Mars Express spacecraft show a region in the southern hemisphere of Mars that is characterized by an extensive dust cover and eolian activity, as evident from dark dunes and dust devil tracks...
May 16, 2019
The Martian impact crater Lowell
The 200-km peak-ring impact crater covered here by an image mosaic of the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) was named after the American astronomer Percival Lowell (1855-1916). HRSC is a camera system on board the ESA Mars Express spacecraft, in orbit around Mars since 2003. Within the last months, the orbit of Mars Express allowed several new recordings of Lowell crater...
June 27, 2019
Aurorae Chaos − catastrophic collapse by water masses?
The rugged and fractured terrain with numerous peaks and mesas captured by these High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) images is located in the Margaritifer Terra region on Mars. It shows the southern part of Aurorae Chaos, a region altered by water-driven collapse...
Aug 08, 2019
Dark meets light on Mars
Fluvial valleys, mesas, and areas covered by different-colored dust and sand characterize the presented images of the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC), displaying a region in Terra Cimmeria in the southern highlands of Mars...
Sep 19, 2019
From the North Pole to the Southern Highlands
In June 2019, the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) captured several global views of Mars. The one presented here shows the northern hemisphere and the heavily cratered highlands around the equator of Mars...
Oct 10, 2019
The Nirgal Vallis river valley on Mars
A long time ago, flowing water shaped the landscape displayed in these images of the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC)...
Nov 21, 2019
Glacial landforms in Deuteronilus Mensae on Mars
Image data by the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express mission show glacial features at the dichotomy boundary on Mars. HRSC is a camera experiment that was developed and is operated by the German Aerospace Center...
Dec 12, 2019
The Martian moon Phobos - Opposition and Halo
Since January 2004, the High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) operated by the German Aerospace Center on board ESA's Mars Express spacecraft has been transmitting images of both the Red Planet and its two moons, Phobos and Deimos...