Mars Student Imaging Project
Encyclopedia
The Mars Student Imaging Project ((MSIP), sometimes called Mars Student Imaging Program) is a collaboration between NASA
and Arizona State University
's Mars Education Program that gives United States grade school students the opportunity to participate in Mars research. Students from grade 5 through college sophomore level work with THEMIS
scientists at ASU’s Mars Space Flight Facility
to take images of sites on Mars using the visible wavelength camera on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft.
After students frame a research question, they help direct the Mars Odyssey to take images that will answer their question. In June, 2010, 7th grade science students at Evergreen Middle School in Cottonwood, California helped researchers discover a new series of lava tube
s, including one with a pit crater
. The students were looking for the most common sites for lava tubes on Mars, asking whether they are more prevalent near the volcano's summit, its flanks, or in the plains surrounding the volcano. The pit crater they discovered is in the form of a skylight above a lava tube, on the slope of the Pavonis Mons
volcano.
The pit crater is only the second one discovered on Pavonis Mons, and is estimated to be approximately 190 meters wide and 115 meters deep.
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
and Arizona State University
Arizona State University
Arizona State University is a public research university located in the Phoenix Metropolitan Area of the State of Arizona...
's Mars Education Program that gives United States grade school students the opportunity to participate in Mars research. Students from grade 5 through college sophomore level work with THEMIS
Themis
Themis is an ancient Greek Titaness. She is described as "of good counsel", and is the embodiment of divine order, law, and custom. Themis means "divine law" rather than human ordinance, literally "that which is put in place", from the verb τίθημι, títhēmi, "to put"...
scientists at ASU’s Mars Space Flight Facility
Mars Space Flight Facility
The Mars Space Flight Facility is located at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.The facility is a research center in Arizona State University's...
to take images of sites on Mars using the visible wavelength camera on the Mars Odyssey spacecraft.
After students frame a research question, they help direct the Mars Odyssey to take images that will answer their question. In June, 2010, 7th grade science students at Evergreen Middle School in Cottonwood, California helped researchers discover a new series of lava tube
Lava tube
Lava tubes are natural conduits through which lava travels beneath the surface of a lava flow, expelled by a volcano during an eruption. They can be actively draining lava from a source, or can be extinct, meaning the lava flow has ceased and the rock has cooled and left a long, cave-like...
s, including one with a pit crater
Pit crater
A pit crater is a depression formed by a sinking of the ground surface lying above a void or empty chamber, rather than by the eruption of a volcano or lava vent. It is often found in chains or troughs. Several craters may merge into a linear alignment...
. The students were looking for the most common sites for lava tubes on Mars, asking whether they are more prevalent near the volcano's summit, its flanks, or in the plains surrounding the volcano. The pit crater they discovered is in the form of a skylight above a lava tube, on the slope of the Pavonis Mons
Pavonis Mons
Pavonis Mons is a large shield volcano located in the Tharsis region of the planet Mars. It is the middle member of a chain of three volcanic mountains that straddle the Martian equator between longitudes 235°E and 259°E. The volcano was discovered by the Mariner 9 spacecraft in 1971 and was...
volcano.
The pit crater is only the second one discovered on Pavonis Mons, and is estimated to be approximately 190 meters wide and 115 meters deep.