'Happy face' crater on Mars

Crater Galle, the 'happy face' on Mars

	Map showing Crater Galle in context

The images show Crater Galle lying to the east of the Argyre Planitia impact basin and south west of the Wirtz and Helmholtz craters, at 51° South and 329° East.
 
 

Perspective view of Crater Galle, looking south-east

The images of the 230 km diameter impact crater are mosaics created from five individual HRSC nadir and colour strips, each tens of kilometres wide.

A large stack of layered sediments forms an outcrop in the southern part of the crater. Several parallel gullies, possible evidence for liquid water on the Martian surface, originate at the inner crater walls of the southern rim.
 
 

	False-colour mosaic of Crater Galle

Crater Galle, named after the German astronomer J.G. Galle (1812-1910), is informally known as the 'happy face' crater.

The 'face' was first pointed out in images taken during NASA's Viking Orbiter 1 mission.

Its interior shows a surface which is shaped by 'aeolian' (wind-caused) activity as seen in numerous dunes and dark dust devil tracks which removed the bright dusty surface coating.
 
 

Black and white mosaic of Crater Galle

The colour scenes, false-colour and near true-colour, have been derived from three HRSC colour and nadir channels gathered during five overlapping orbits. The perspective views have been calculated from a mosaic of digital terrain models derived from the stereo channels.

The black-and-white high-resolution image mosaic was derived from the nadir channel which provides the highest detail of all channels. The resolution has been decreased for use on the Internet, to around 50 m per pixel.
 
 

Close-up perspective view of Crater Galle, looking north

 
 

Close-up view of Crater Galle

 
 

False-colour close-up mosaic of Crater Galle

 
 
For more information on Mars Express HRSC images, please read our updated FAQ (frequently asked questions).
 
 

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