Shulou(Shulou.com)12/24 Report--

CTOnews.com, Nov. 29 (Xinhua)-- NASA announced Tuesday that images taken by its 2001 Mars Odyssey (2001 Mars Odyssey) orbiter have given scientists a rare view of the curved landscape of Mars.

NASA released new panoramas showing clouds and dust in the Martian sky, as well as one of its two small moons, taken by the spacecraft in May last year by the Odyssey's Thermal Emission Imaging system (THEMIS) camera.

According to CTOnews.com, the rare images were taken from an altitude of about 250miles, the same altitude as the International Space Station flying over Earth.

"if there are astronauts in Mars orbit, that's their perspective," said Jonathon Hill, director of operations at THEMIS. "No Martian spacecraft has ever had such a perspective."

Odyssey completed its 22nd year in Mars orbit last month, and NASA said the spacecraft is expected to take similar pictures in the future in an attempt to capture changes in the Martian atmosphere in different seasons.

In the latest shot, the spacecraft captured images of one of Mars's small moons, Phobos, which provide insights into the composition and physical properties of Phobos.

NASA said the images will help further research to determine whether Phobos is a captured asteroid or a piece of Martian debris ejected from the Martian surface by an impact.

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