On the north east side is an elongated depression called Orcus Patera, and this and some of the eastern plains were imaged in the 1965 Mariner 4 flyby.

[5] A 2005 photo of a locale in Elysium Planitia at 5°N, 150°E by the Mars Express spacecraft shows what may be ash-covered water ice.

[6] The ice is thought to be the remains of water floods from the Cerberus Fossae fissures about 2 to 10 million years ago.

InSight Mars lander was able to take color pictures from the surface Elysium Planitia and sent them by radio signal back to Earth.

During the descent sequence two additional items were jettisoned, the backshell with parachute, and heat shield, and they impacted in the vicinity of the lander.