NASA scientists have set out to know Mars "like the back of their hand." And to achieve this they have mapped the planet using a camera on board the Mars Odyssey probe, the Themis camera , an infrared multiband instrument or camera.
In this way, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL, for its acronym in English) has coordinated the configuration of the most complete map of the red planet achieved to date, built from 21,000 images . The result is a huge mosaic of assembled snapshots that, using the maximum available zoom, allows users to see the Martian surface in 100 meters of detail, exploring even the volcanoes, craters and dusty esplanades of the neighboring planet. The new Martian cartography is available to the public via the Internet.
"This will be the map that researchers will use of Mars many years from now," said NASA scientist Jeffrey Plaut. "It provides the framework for global studies on properties of the red planet, such as the mineral composition or the physical nature of the materials on its surface," he adds.
