Candor Chasma

Names of features of Valles Marineris canyon syatem

THEMIS, MOLA, HiRISE images of part of Candor Chasma

Orbital image from the The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express.

Candor Chasma is one of the largest canyons in the Valles Marineris canyon system. It is located at 15° S and 60° W (300 E) in the Coprates quadrangle.

Origin of Name

Coprates is the name of a classical albedo features on Mars. It is named after the Coprates River, an ancient name for the Dez River in modern Iran which empties into the Shatt al-Arab near its Persian Gulf estuary. The name was approved by the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in 1958.

Chandor Chasma was made famous in the novel "Red Mars" by Kim Stanley Robinson as the location of the first future Mars base after the first manned mission in 2026. The idea of "Underhill", the first established settlement, originates from the Hillside settlement as designed by the Mars Foundation's co-founder, Bruce Mackenzie.

A rendering of Candor Chasma using data from the The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) on board ESA's Mars Express.

External Links

• Candor Chasma location on Google Maps.
• Mars Express/HRSC imaging of Candor Chasma in December 2004.