September 30, 2004
Billions of years of cosmic evolution — the birth and death of stars, the slow coalescence of planets, the patient unfolding of life — all...
Crater Wall on Solis Planum
Birthday · September 30, 2004
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APOD published September 30, 2004. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
This dramatic perspective view looks south-east along the wall of a large eroded impact crater on Solis Planum, bordering the mountainous Thaumasia region of Mars. Stretching for about 50 kilometers into the scene, the crater wall is around 800 meters high. Located just south and west of the Red Planet's grand Valles Marineris, this area features mountains and fault lines that are seen as evidence of surface plate motions or plate tectonics. The process of plate tectonics has long been shaping the surface of planet Earth but is thought to have been only briefly active on Mars. The image was constructed using color image data from the High Resolution Stereo Camera onboard ESA's Mars Express spacecraft.