The High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter plays an important role in evaluating candidate landing sites on Mars. Some scientists have speculated the lowlands were covered by an ocean at some point in Mars' history. Figure 4b,c. Thus, in the selection of a landing site, what's on the surface mattered less on this mission than for previous rover missions focused on the geology. InSight's scientific success and safe landing depended on landing in a relatively flat area. HiRISE took about 150 images of candidate InSight landing sites, covering nearly all of the ground of the final site. Close view of mound with layers, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Note: this is an enlargement from the previous image. ELYSIUM PLANITIA Marte Vallis Phlegra Dorsa Phlegra Dorsa Zunil u s A t h a b a s c a V a l l e s Kalpin l a G ... Colorized Topography: MOLA Elevation Model, GSFC Date of Last Nomenclature Update: November 14, 2018. [10], Wide view of fractured ground, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program, Close view of fractured ground, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. Elysium is from the ancient Greek name for an afterlife paradise, usually referred to in English as the Elysian Fields. The boulders are the size of houses. Its landing site, Elysium Planitia, was picked from 22 candidates, and is centered at about 4.5 degrees north latitude and 135.9 degrees east longitude; about 373 miles (600 kilometers) from Curiosity's landing site, Gale Crater. This ensures that the lander's solar array can provide adequate power at all times of the year and the lander can stay warm: between 5 degrees north latitude and 3 degrees north latitude. [5], In November 2020, astronomers reported newly found evidence for volcanic activity, as recently as 53,000 years ago, on the planet Mars. Mars Regional Names - ... MC8:Amazonis Planitia, Gordii Dormus, Olympus Rupes, 135°W~180°W MC15: Elysium Mons, Tartarus Montes, Orcus Patera, 180°W~225°W . Optimal (minimum ener-gy) launch opportunities from Earth to Mars occur every 26 months, just before opposition, when the dis- Ez egy nagy sima terület, ami nagyjából a Mars egyenlítője környezetében van. It is the first mission to study the interior of a planet beyond Earth. MOLA uses an IR laser 10 Hz pulse giving a ∼168 m diameter footprint (e.g. The probe will study the internal structure of Mars and by so doing improve understanding of the planet's evolution. During the descent sequence two additional items were jettisoned, the backshell with parachute, and heat shield, and they impacted in the vicinity of the lander. *Viking Orbiter Image coverage: Excellent coverage by 15-25 m/pixel images (orbit 725). Layered mesas, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Dark slope streaks are also visible. (B) Perspective view of the southern margin of Utopia Planitia looking west from the flank of Elysium Mons showing topographic terraces parallel to Contact 2; MOLA DEM with Viking Orbiter mosaic superposed and the basin flooded to just below the -4350 contour, the elevation where the Utopia and North Polar basins become interconnected. One requirement was that the landing site must be close enough to the equator. Mesas, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Top layer, the cap rock is breaking up into boulders. The Elysium quadrangle is also referred to as MC-15. The landing ellipse was about 81 miles (130 kilometers) long, generally west to east, and about 17 miles (27 kilometers) wide, covering the area within which the spacecraft had about a 99 percent chance of landing when targeted for the center of the ellipse. It also depended on landing in an area where rocks are few in number. Close view of fractured ground, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Box shows size of football field. These icy plates moved to the left, and obstacles (crater rims) turned them into piles of pieces. Such activity could have provided the environment, in terms of energy and chemicals, needed to support life forms. For other uses, see, All the originally proposed landing sites are in Elysium Planitia; this ellipse, located at, InSight backshell with parachute, lander, heat shield (11 December 2018), InSight backshell with parachute, lander, heat shield, "Signs of Recent Volcanic Eruption on Mars Hint at Habitats for Life - Not thought to be volcanically active, Mars may have experienced an eruption just 53,000 years ago", "Evidence for geologically recent explosive volcanism in Elysium Planitia, Mars", "Landing Status | Landing – NASA's InSight Mars Lander", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Elysium_Planitia&oldid=991674374, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 1 December 2020, at 07:11. Elysium Mons, whose summit elevation is 16,000 m above the Martian datum, is at the crest of a regional topographic rise that emerges steeply and abruptly from the surrounding plains. InSight takes 360-panoramic images in all directions at this landing site. All the originally proposed landing sites are in Elysium Planitia; this ellipse, located at 4°30′N136°00′E / 4.5°N 136°E / 4.5; 136, represents the site finally sel. Elysium ossae a allis H y b l a e u s Hyblaeus Catena H y b l a e u s F o s s a e ossae alles anicus US FOSSAE TARTARUS COLLES Orcus Patera Hibes Montes Marte Vallis ELYSIUM PLANITIA a sa a sa Zunil o s T A t h a b a s c a Persbo V a l l e s l a G ... Elevation in meters Elysium… Mounds with layers, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. The altitude difference between the rim and the bottom is over 9,000 m (30,000 ft). Location is east of Gale Crater in the Aeolis quadrangle. 2o–w), with a centre-to-centre along-track footprint spacing of ∼300 m along polar orbits (Smith et al., 2003), and a vertical resolution of about 1.5 m, in the relatively smooth area of the Elysium Planitia. [9] The landing site is about 600 km (370 mi) north from where the Curiosity rover is operating in Gale Crater. The NASA Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Project has been considering a landing‐site ellipse designated EP78B2 in southeastern Utopia Planitia, southwest of Elysium Mons. The elevation of TLA 2‐C ranges from −6,499 to 4,532 m with an average of −1,210 m. The central and northern parts of TLA 2‐C are relatively flat, while the rest of TLA 2‐C is more complex and rougher. The locations of other Mars landers and rovers are labeled. *Elevation (Viking): -1.0 km. In the image shown here, Elysium Planitia is located roughly between the dark features at the bottom right (which includes Gale Crater), and the brighter arc-shaped feature above, to the right of the centre of the image, which is the location of volcano Elysium Mons. [3], A 2005 photo of a locale in Elysium Planitia at 5°N, 150°E by the Mars Express spacecraft shows what may be ash-covered water ice. The spacecraft will use the atmosphere for deceleration during descent. NASA's InSight mission landed in Elysium Planitia on November 26, 2018. Location is east of Gale Crater in the Aeolis quadrangle. Cones, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program These cones probably formed when hot lava flowed over ice-rich ground. All four semifinalist sites, as well as the rest of the 22 candidate sites studied, are in Elysium Planitia. InSight landed at 11:52:59 a.m. PT (2:52:59 p.m. Planitia is Latin for a flat surface, geometric plane or flatness or a plain. Close view of layers in a mound, from previous image, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program, Close view of layers in a mound, from a previous image, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program, Lava field on Elysium Planitia resembling an elephant, Lava flow and dark slope streaks, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program, This article is about the plain on Mars. Individual pages on the Souness glacier-like forms in this region are listed below. Hellas Planitia is thought to have been formed during the Late Heavy Bombardment period of the Solar System, approximately 4.1 to 3.8 billion years ago, when a protoplanet or large asteroid hit the surface. Scientists expected a flat surface, no hills nearby and few large rocks in view. Mesas and eroded parts of mesas showing layers and dark slope streaks, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. It is located in western Elysium Planitia at 4°30′N 135°54′E / 4.5°N 135.9°E / 4.5; 135.9 (InSight landing site). Close view of cap rock breaking up into boulders, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program. The Elysium quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey Astrogeology Research Program. [2], The largest craters in Elysium Planitia are Eddie, Lockyer, and Tombaugh. In March 2017, scientists from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced that the landing site had been selected. The landing site lies in the western portion of Elysium Planitia, centered at about 4.5 degrees north latitude and 135.9 degrees east longitude. The NASA Mars Exploration Rover (MER) Project is considering a landing-site ellipse designated EP78B2 in southeastern Utopia Planitia, southwest of Elysium Mons. Planitia is Latin for a flat surface, geometric plane or flatness or a plain. THEMIS observations can show how quickly the ground cools at night or warms up in sunlight. InSight is a stationary science platform that landed on Mars on Nov. 26, 2018. Its landing site, Elysium Planitia, was picked from 22 candidates, and is centered at about 4.5 degrees north latitude and 135.9 degrees east longitude; about 373 miles (600 kilometers) from Curiosity’s landing site, Gale Crater. Elysium Planitia, a flat-smooth plain just north of the equator makes for the perfect location from which to study the deep Martian interior. Close view of layered small mesa with dark slope streak, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Box shows the size of a football field. It is in the Elysium Planitia region of Mars. Wide view of layered terrain, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program Location is northeast of Gale Crater. Elevation: In January 2016, the project began ex-ploring later launch options. (3) Viking Orbiter Image coverage: Excellent coverage by 15 - 25 m/pixel images (orbit 725). Secondary Landing Site: Southern Elysium Planitia (Proposed by T. J. Parker) Vital Statistics: *Latitude, Longitude: 1.5-3.5°S, 195-198°W. Colour-coded elevation, blended with MOC images. The TLA 2 is relatively flat, and its elevation ranges from −6,035 to −2,641 m, with an average of −4,225 m. Secondary Landing Site: Southern Elysium Planitia (Proposed by T. J. Parker) Vital Statistics: (1) Latitude, Longitude: 1.5-3.5 S, 195-198 W. (2) Elevation (Viking): -1.0 km. In this labeled elevation map (color corresponds to elevation in this view of Elysium Planitia), the location of Orcus Patera can be identified in upper right. Within plains, Cerberus Fossae area is the only Mars location with the recent volcanic eruptions, youngest lava flows dated no older than 0.2 million years from present. Main articles: Classical albedo features on Mars and Planetary nomenclature § Mars The Elysium quadrangle … This has limited the suitable landing area for InSight to only western Elysium Planitia [1]. Warms up in sunlight Elysium Planitia, a flat-smooth plain just north of the final site much power the arrays. The area is broken into 'plates ' like broken ice floating on lake... ( InSight landing site lies in the western portion of Elysium Planitia are Eddie, Lockyer, and Tombaugh InSight! Warms up in sunlight with layers, as seen by HiRISE under HiWish program of. Boundaries of Elysium Planitia at 4°30′N 135°54′E / 4.5°N 135.9°E / 4.5 ; 135.9 ( InSight site! 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