Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

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Head of Chasma Boreale Near Mars' North Pole

The Martian terrain in this remarkable image is at the head of a large chasm, named Chasma Boreale, which cuts through Mars' north polar layered deposits. These ice-rich layered deposits are about 3,000 meters (9,800 feet) thick and 1,000 kilometers (1,600 miles) across, much like the Greenland ice-sheet on Earth. The head of Chasma Boreale ends in a steep icy cliff more than 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) high. The cliff has both light- and dark-toned layers, seen at right in this image. The image was taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The internal layers of the ice-sheet are visible in the cliff walls. The dark-toned flat area in the center and left of the image is the floor of this chasm, which contains many craters.

Scientists have proposed that Chasma Boreale was formed by a catastrophic flood that began under the ice-sheet and was later widened by wind erosion. However, the large number of craters on the chasm's floor implies that the floor is much older than the ice sheet. These craters should have been removed by the suggested flood; their presence has caused some Mars researchers to instead speculate that no large flood occurred and that Chasma Boreale was not covered with very much ice.

In addition to layered ice, there is also some material within the north polar layered deposits that appears to be composed of sand. The dark material near the base of the cliff wall is thought to be aprons of debris being eroded from sand-rich layers. Zooming in on this dark material with HiRISE reveals ripples, which are diagnostic of moving sand.

Some bright spots of material visible on the cliff wall were not present in previous years. These are likely patches of water frost. Each year layers of carbon dioxide and water frost coat this terrain before being removed during the summer. The water frost lasts longer, and patches that are shaded by nearby steep topography (such as this one) can persist even into late summer.

An unexpected surprise, not visible with previous camera resolutions, is the fragmentation of the exposed surfaces of these icy layers into polygonal blocks. These blocks appear to be breaking away from the layer margins and forming boulder-sized debris, which then rolls down slope (a process called mass-wasting). These boulders are likely to be large blocks of dusty water ice; once separated from the main ice-sheet they can be eroded away by sunlight. More boulder-sized objects are visible out in the floor of the chasm. Polygons are also visible throughout the chasm floor, indicating that water-ice is just below the surface.

Image TRA_000845_2645 was taken by the HiRISE camera on Oct. 1, 2006. The complete image is centered at 84.6 degrees latitude, 3.4 degrees east longitude. The range to the target site was 316 kilometers (198 miles). At this distance the image scale is 63 centimeters (25 inches) per pixel (with 2 x 2 binning), so objects about 186 centimeters (73 inches) across are resolved. The image shown here has been map-projected to 50 centimeters (20 inches) per pixel. North is up. The image was taken at a local Mars time of 3:34 p.m. and the scene is illuminated from the west with a solar incidence angle of 62.3 degrees, thus the sun was about 27.7 degrees above the horizon. At a solar longitude of 114.3 degrees, the season on Mars is northern summer.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/Univ. of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Missions - MRO

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Spectrometer Observations Near Mawrth Vallis

This targeted image from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) shows a region of heavily altered rock in Mars' ancient cratered highlands. The featured region is just south of Mawrth Vallis, a channel cut by floodwaters deep into the highlands.

CRISM acquired the image at 1216 UTC (8:16 a.m. EDT) on Oct. 2, 2006, near 25.4 degrees north latitude, 340.7 degrees east longitude. It covers an area about 13 kilometers (8 miles) long and, at the narrowest point, about 9 kilometers (5.6 miles) wide. At the center of the image, the spatial resolution is as good as 35 meters (115 feet) per pixel. The image was taken in 544 colors covering 0.36-3.92 micrometers.

This image includes four renderings of the data, all map-projected. At top left is an approximately true-color representation. At top right is false color showing brightness of the surface at selected infrared wavelengths. In the two bottom views, brightness of the surface at different infrared wavelengths has been compared to laboratory measurements of minerals, and regions that match different minerals have been colored. The bottom left image shows areas high in iron-rich clay, and the bottom right image shows areas high in aluminum-rich clay.

Clay minerals are important to understanding the history of water on Mars because their formation requires that rocks were exposed to liquid water for a long time. Environments where they form include soils, cold springs, and hot springs. There are many clay minerals, and which ones form depends on the composition of the rock, and the temperature, acidity, and salt content of the water. CRISM's sister instrument on the Mars Express spacecraft, OMEGA, has spectrally mapped Mars at lower spatial resolution and found several regions rich in clay minerals. The Mawrth Vallis region, in particular, was found to contain iron-rich clay. CRISM is observing these regions at several tens of times higher spatial resolution, to correlate the minerals with different rock formations and to search for new minerals not resolved by OMEGA.

CRISM has found that the iron-rich clays (lower left image) correspond with a layer of rock that is dark red in the true color view (upper left) and bright gray in the infrared (upper right). In addition, it has found previously undetected exposures of aluminum-rich clay, in a rock unit that is buff-colored in the true color view, and bluish in the infrared. Both types of rocks formed early in Mars' history, about 3.8 billion years ago. The difference in clay mineralogy reveals differences in the environment either over time or over a distance of kilometers. CRISM will be taking many more images of the Mawrth Vallis region to piece together the geologic history of this fascinating area that was once a wet oasis on Mars.

The Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) is one of six science instruments on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Led by The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, the CRISM team includes expertise from universities, government agencies and small businesses in the United States and abroad.

CRISM's mission: Find the spectral fingerprints of aqueous and hydrothermal deposits and map the geology, composition and stratigraphy of surface features. The instrument will also watch the seasonal variations in Martian dust and ice aerosols, and water content in surface materials -- leading to new understanding of the climate.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the Califonia Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor and built the spacecraft.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/JHUAPL/Brown University

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Source: NASA - Missions - MRO

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Mars Polar Cap During Transition Phase Instrument Checkout

During the last week of September and the first week or so of October 2006, scientific instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter were turned on to acquire test information during the transition phase leading up to full science operations. The mission's primary science phase will begin the first week of November 2006, following superior conjuction. (Superior conjunction is where a planet goes behind the sun as viewed from Earth.) Since it is very difficult to communicate with a spacecraft when it is close to the sun as seen from Earth, this checkout of the instruments was crucial to being ready for the primary science phase of the mission.

Throughout the transition-phase testing, the Mars Color Imager (MARCI) acquired terminator (transition between nighttime and daytime) to terminator swaths of color images on every dayside orbit, as the spacecraft moved northward in its orbit. The south polar region was deep in winter shadow, but the north polar region was illuminated the entire Martian day. During the primary mission, such swaths will be assembled into global maps that portray the state of the Martian atmosphere -- its weather -- as seen every day and at every place at about 3 p.m. local solar time. After the transition phase completed, most of the instruments were turned off, but the Mars Climate Sounder and MARCI have been left on. Their data will be recorded and played back to Earth following the communications blackout associated with conjuction.

Combined with wide-angle image mosaics taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor at 2 p.m. local solar time, the MARCI maps will be used to track motions of clouds.

This image is a composite mosaic of four polar views of Mars, taken at midnight, 6 a.m., noon, and 6 p.m. local Martian time. This is possible because during summer the sun is always shining in the polar region. It shows the mostly water-ice perennial cap (white area), sitting atop the north polar layered materials (light tan immediately adjacent to the ice), and the dark circumpolar dunes. This view shows the region poleward of about 72 degrees north latitude. The data were acquired at about 900 meters (about 3,000 feet) per pixel. Three channels are shown here, centered on wavelengths of 425 nanometers, 550 nanometers and 600 nanometers.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS

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Source: NASA - Missions - MRO

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Map of Context Camera's North Polar Coverage During Checkout

In October 2006, Northern Mars is near the middle of its summer, and the continued southern movement of the sun will have two main impacts on imaging: The illumination will get worse as eventually the entire polar region will be in darkness during winter, and northern hemispheric dust storms and polar cloudiness will obscure the surface. Because now is the best time to be imaging the north polar region until 2008, the team using the Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is devoting much of its imaging resources to acquiring images of the polar region. This image shows a north polar mosaic from the orbiter's Mars Color Imager inscribed with rectangles indicating the coverage acquired by Context Camera in less than two weeks of September and October, 2006. Following conjunction (when Mars is nearly behind the sun from Earth's perspective), the team will devote as much of November as the atmosphere permits to imaging the polar region. Marked in red on this map is the footprint of the Context Camera image shown at http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/multimedia/pia01930.html.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS

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Source: NASA - Missions - MRO

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Context Camera Image of North Polar Chasma Boreale

Chasma Boreale is a large valley the cuts into Mars' north polar cap and layered materials. At the uppermost portion of this valley (84.9 degrees north, , 356.6 degrees west), its head is marked by a kilometer-high (3,000-foot-high) escarpment that allows seeing the subsurface layering and how the layers extend to nearby sloping surfaces that also cut into the materials. The floor of Chasma Boreale is a cratered plain that has sand on it. In part the sand appears to be eroding out of the escarpment. This image by the Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter was taken in support of observations by two of the orbiter's other instruments -- the orbiter's Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars and the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment -- presented at an Oct. 16, 2006 news briefing. Further details can be found at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS

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Source: NASA - Missions - MRO

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Crater in Terra Sirenum with Gullied Walls

The largest number of gullies on Mars occur on the walls of southern hemisphere craters. During southern winter, many of the gullied walls are in shadow. It has been known for many years from images taken by the Mars Orbiter Camera on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor that frost forms on these shadowed slopes and that differences in the amount or nature of the frost deposits highlight the gully floors and deposits. Such differences may occur because the materials are of different particle sizes or have other differing attributes that affect their thermophysical properties. To investigate this phenomena, the Context Camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter acquired this image of a crater at 39.3 degrees south, 136.5 degrees west, where gullies were known to display frost during winter. To see the gullies, download the image and view it in an image processing program, as they are nearly invisible in the normal contrast image. The team using Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera elected to "ride along" with the Context Camera observation, and that camera's spectacular color view of the frosted gullies can be seen at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS

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Source: NASA - Missions - MRO

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Layered Rocks Near Mawrth Vallis

Mawrth Vallis is one of the oldest valleys on Mars. It was formed in and subsequently covered by layered rocks, from beneath which it is now being exhumed. The rocks surrounding the valley have been observed by the Omega spectrometer aboard the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft, which found them to include minerals with water bound within their structure. Thus, the Mawrth Vallis region is of keen interest to the team using the mineral-mapping Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The CRISM team requested this image by the orbiter's Context Camera in support of a CRISM observation during orbiter's transition phase testing of instruments. The image is centered near 25.6 degrees north, 19.4 degrees west. This area was discussed during an Oct. 16, 2006, news briefing, and related imagery from CRISM and the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera can be found at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/MSSS

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Source: NASA - Missions - MRO

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NASA's Newest Mars Orbiter Passes Communications Relay Test

An orbiting NASA spacecraft just starting to study Mars with six science instruments has successfully tested another key part of its payload, a versatile radio for relaying communications with robots on the surface of Mars.

During its first relay test since reaching Mars in March, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter used this radio payload, called Electra, in a two-way link with NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. The orbiter has dual roles as a science mission and a telecommunications satellite. It will support communications between Earth and future Mars surface missions, such as the 2007 Phoenix Mars Lander and 2009 Mars Science Laboratory.


Image above: Artist's concept of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.
Image credit: NASA/JPL
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"The successful test establishes Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter as a key element of our Mars telecommunications infrastructure," said Chad Edwards, chief telecommunications engineer of the Mars Network Office at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. "With its Electra relay payload, this orbiter will play a critical role in providing robust, high-bandwidth communications links for our future landers later this decade and into the next. It will increase the science return from these missions and enhance our virtual presence on the Martian surface."

JPL's Jim Graf, project manager for Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, said, "Our primary science phase started Nov. 7, and this successful Electra test shows we're also in good shape for the following phase, the relay phase of the mission. Both phases will make good use of our orbiter's capability for sending data to Earth at up to 10 times the rate of any previous Mars mission."

Using Mars orbiters as radio relays to increase data return from rovers and other landers reduces the mass and power the surface spacecraft need for communications. To build the relay network cost-effectively, NASA includes a relay communications payload on each of its science orbiters.

Mars Global Surveyor, at Mars since 1997, and Mars Odyssey, there since 2001, established a relay capacity that the twin rovers Spirit and Opportunity have used extensively since their 2004 landings. More than 96 percent of the data returned from the rovers has come to Earth via energy-efficient relay through those two orbiters, at much higher data rates than the rovers can achieve on their direct links to Earth.

The Electra package on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, like the relay radios on Global Surveyor and Odyssey, uses an ultra-high-frequency (UHF) portion of the radio spectrum. In addition to its relay function, Electra can also be used by surface missions, or by future spacecraft approaching Mars, to determine their positions with precision and to synchronize their clocks.

During last week's tests, Electra initiated a relay session by hailing the Spirit rover. Spirit responded with its own relay radio, and the two spacecraft established a link at 8 kilobits per second on the forward link from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to Spirit and 128 kilobits per second from Spirit back to the orbiter. Both radios used a communications standard called the Proximity-1 Space Link Protocol, established by the international Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems for ensuring compatible and gap-free communications on such relay links.

During the four-minute session, the orbiter delivered five commands to the rover, and the rover sent up 30 megabits of information, which the orbiter subsequently transmitted to Earth for delivery to the rover's operations team at JPL.

Nearly all of the signal-processing capabilities of Electra can be reprogrammed in flight, giving it more flexibility than earlier spacecraft relay radios.

"Electra is NASA's first software-defined radio sent to deep space," said JPL's Tom Jedrey, manager for the Electra payload. "From the ground, we can change the fundamentals of its signal processing whenever that is helpful. This means it will be able to accommodate new communication protocols and signal-processing methods over the course of the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's operational life."

Additional information about Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is available online at http://www.nasa.gov/mro . The mission is managed by JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft.

Media contacts: Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

Source: NASA - MRO - Update

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Russell Crater

Hundreds of enigmatic small troughs are seen to carve into the slopes of these dark sand dunes lying within Russell Crater on Mars. These features were previously identified as gullies in images from the Mars Orbiter Camera on Mars Global Surveyor, but the higher resolution HiRISE image brings out many new details and mysteries. The troughs extend from near the top of the dunes to their bases, indicating that some fluid material carved into the sand. The troughs commonly begin as smaller tributaries joined together, suggesting several sources of fluid. Distinct dark spots are located near where the troughs seem to originate. Several troughs appear to begin at alcoves. Several of these troughs have sinuous middle reaches whereas others are straighter. Further down slope, some trough edges appear elevated above the surrounding terrain, particularly in the lower reaches. The troughs seem to terminate abruptly, with no deposition of material, unlike at the bases of some other gullies on Mars that are not on dunes. One hypothesis for the origin of these troughs, which has been previously been proposed by the MOC team, is that CO2 (or maybe H2O) frost is deposited on the dunes in shadows or at night. Some frost may also be incorporated into the internal parts of the dunes due to natural avalanching. When the frost is eventually heated by sunlight, rapid sublimation triggers an avalanche of fluidized displaced sand, forming a gully. HiRISE will continue to target small trough features such as these and may return to search for any changes over time.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

+ High resolution image

Source: NASA - Missions - MRO Edited December 1, 2006 by Waspie_Dwarf

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Channels in a Fossilized Delta

This HiRISE image covers a portion of a delta that partially fills Eberswalde crater in Margaritifer Sinus. The delta was first recognized and mapped using MOC images that revealed various features whose presence required sustained flow and deposition into a lake that once occupied the crater. The HiRISE image resolves meter-scale features that record the migration of channels and delta distributaries as the delta grew over time. Differences in grain-size of sediments within the environments on the delta enable differential erosion of the deposits. As a result, coarser channel deposits are slightly more resistant and stand in relief relative to finer-grained over-bank and more easily eroded distal delta deposits. Close examination of the relict channel deposits confirms the presence of some meter-size blocks that were likely too coarse to have been transported by water flowing within the channels. These blocks may be formed of the sand and gravel that more likely moved along the channels that was lithified and eroded. Numerous meter-scale polygonal structures are common on many surfaces, but mostly those associated with more quiescent depositional environments removed from the channels. The polygons could be the result of deposition of fine-grained sediments that were either exposed and desiccated (dried out), rich in clays that shrunk when the water was removed, turned into rock and then fractured and eroded, or some combination of these processes.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Missions - MRO

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Opportunity Lander Platform Inside 'Eagle Crater'

This HiRISE image shows "Eagle crater," the small martian impact crater where Opportunity's airbag-cushioned lander came to rest. The lander is still clearly visible on the floor of the crater. Opportunity spent about 60 martian days exploring rock outcrops and soils in Eagle crater before setting off to explore more of Meridiani Planum.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Missions - MRO

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Mars Exploration Rover Landing Site at Gusev Crater

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This image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbtier shows the landing site of the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. The impact crater in the upper left portion of the image is "Bonneville Crater," which was investigated by Spirit shortly after landing. In the lower right portion of the image is "Husband Hill," a large hill that Spirit climbed and spent much of its now nearly three-year mission.



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The bright irregularly shaped feature in area "a" of the image is Spirit's parachute, now lying on the Martian surface. Near the parachute is the cone-shaped back shell, which helped protect Spirit's lander during its seven-month journey to Mars. The back shell appears relatively undamaged by its impact with the Martian surface. Wrinkles and folds in the parachute fabric are clearly visible.



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Area "b" of the image shows Spirit's lander. The crater in the upper left portion of the image, just northwest of the lander, was informally named "Sleepy Hollow" by the Mars Exploration Rover team.



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Area "c" of the image shows Spirit's heat shield at the edge of Bonneville Crater.

Area "d" of the image shows the current location of Spirit. Toward the top of the image is "Home Plate," a plateau of layered rocks that Spirit explored during the early part of its third year on Mars. Spirit itself is clearly seen just southeast of Home Plate. Also visible are the tracks made by the rover before it arrived at its current location.



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This image is a small portion of an image (catalogued as PSP_001513_1655) taken by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on Sept. 29, 2006. The full image is centered at minus 7.8 degrees latitude, 279.5 degrees east longitude. The image is oriented such that north is toward the top. The range to the target site was 297 kilometers (185.6 miles). At this distance the image scale is 29.7 centimeters (11.7 inches) per pixel (with 1 by 1 binning), so objects as small as about 89 centimeters (35 inches) across are resolved. The image was taken at 3:30 p.m. local Mars time. The scene is illuminated from the west with a solar-incidence angle of 59.7 degrees, which means the sun was about 30.3 degrees above the horizon. When the image was taken, the season on Mars was southern winter.

Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu.

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Source: NASA - Missions - MRO

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Three-Frame 'Movie' of Opportunity Rover at 'Victoria Crater'

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter imaged Opportunity on Oct. 3, Nov. 4 and Nov. 30, 2006. Each time the rover was in a different location as it progressed around "victoria Crater." The remainder of the scene is unchanged, except that the shadows are slightly different given variations in the time of year and time of day between images. Also, each image was acquired with slightly different viewing geometries: the orbiter was pointed 3.84 degrees to the west for the first image, 16.3 degrees west for the second, and 1.76 degrees west for the third.

All three images are shown here in their original geometry, not reprojected to map format.

Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu.

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

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Source: NASA - Missions - MRO

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Viking Lander 2 (Gerald A. Soffen Memorial Station) Imaged from Orbit

+ Overview of Viking Lander 2

NASA's Viking Lander 2 landed on Mars on Sept. 3, 1976, in Utopia Planitia. The lander, which has a diameter of about 3 meters (10 feet), has been precisely located in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Also, likely locations have been found for the heat shield and back shell. The lander location has been confirmed by overlaying the lander-derived topographic contours on the high-resolution camera's image, which provides an excellent match. Viking Lander 2 was one element of an ambitious mission to study Mars, with a four-spacecraft flotilla consisting of two orbiters and two landers. Four cutouts from this image are shown. The first (seen above) is an overview showing the relative locations of the lander and candidate back shell and heat shield, and the others are enlargements of each of these components. Large boulders, dunes, and other features visible in Viking Lander 2 images can be located in the high-resolution camera's image. The polygonal pattern of the surface is typical at these latitudes and may be due to the presence of deep subsurface ice.

As chance would have it, this image is blurred in some places due to the abrupt motion associated with the restart of the orbiter's high-gain antenna tracking during the very short image exposure. This is the first time after acquiring hundreds of pictures that a High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment image has been unintentionally smeared; overall performance has been excellent.


+ View of larger area


+ Viking 2 back shell


+ Viking 2 heat shield


+ Viking 2 Lander

A prime motivation for early viewing of the Viking sites is to calibrate imagery taken from orbit with the data previously acquired by the landers. In particular, determining what sizes of rocks can be seen from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter aids the interpretation of data now being taken to characterize sites for future landers, such as the Phoenix Mars Lander mission to be launched in 2007.

Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu.

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Source: NASA - Missions - MRO

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Viking Lander 1 (Thomas A. Mutch Memorial Station) Imaged from Orbit

+ Overview of Viking Lander 1

NASA's Viking Lander 1 touched down in western Chryse Planitia on July 20, 1976. The lander, which has a diameter of about 3 meters (10 feet), has been precisely located in this image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Also, likely locations have been found for the heat shield, back shell, and parachute attached to the back shell. The lander location has been confirmed by overlaying the lander-derived topographic contours on the high-resolution camera's image, which provides an excellent match. Viking Lander 1 was one element of an ambitious mission to study Mars, with a four-spacecraft flotilla consisting of two orbiters and two landers. Four cutouts from this image are shown. The first is an overview (seen above) showing the relative locations of the lander and candidate back shell and heat shield, and the others are enlargements of each of these components. Large boulders, dunes, and other features visible in Lander images can be located in the image.


+ View of larger area


+ Viking 1 back shell


+ Viking 1 heat shield


+ Viking 1 Lander

A prime motivation for early viewing of the Viking sites is to calibrate imagery taken from orbit with the data previously acquired by the landers. In particular, determining what sizes of rocks can be seen from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter aids the interpretation of data now being taken to characterize sites for future landers, such as the Phoenix Mars Lander mission to be launched in 2007.

Images from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment and additional information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter are available online at: http://www.nasa.gov/mro or http://HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu.

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera was built by Ball Aerospace Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona

Source: NASA - Missions - MRO

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NASA Spacecraft Read Layered Clues to Changes on Mars

AN FRANCISCO -- Layers on Mars are yielding history lessons revealed by instruments flying overhead and rolling across the surface.

Some of the first radar and imaging results from NASA's newest Mars spacecraft, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, show details in layers of ice-rich deposits near the poles. Observed variations in the layers' thickness and composition will yield information about recent climate cycles on the red planet.


Image above: This false-color subframe of an image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the north polar layered deposits at top and darker materials at bottom.
Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona
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NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has photographed patterns in the layering of crater-wall cliffs that are the clearest evidence of ancient sand dunes the rover has seen since arriving at Mars nearly three years ago. The science team for Opportunity's twin, Spirit, is using new orbital images of the rover's surroundings to interpret how some rocks with minerals altered by water fit into the area's complex layered structure.

"The combination of instruments on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is such a great advantage," said Dr. Jack Mustard of Brown University, Providence, R.I. He is deputy principal investigator for the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars, a mineral-identifying instrument on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. Researchers are using mineral information from analyses of spectrometer observations, combined with images from the orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment, to seek the source of the mineral gypsum in dunes near the Martian north pole and clay minerals elsewhere. Gypsum and clay minerals are indicators of formerly wet conditions.

Other new images from that camera show mysterious pitting in the layered terrain near the north pole. Nearby, a steep slope exposing the layers appears to be shedding blocks of icy material that disappear instead of accumulating at the bottom of the slope.

"Observations of the polar layered deposits are telling us about the material properties there," said Dr. Ken Herkenhoff of the U.S. Geological Survey, Flagstaff, Ariz. "These deposits record relatively recent climate variations on Mars, like recent ice ages on Earth."

The Shallow Subsurface Radar instrument on Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has begun probing through similar layered deposits at Mars' south pole. "The radar is penetrating through the entire thickness of these deposits and revealing the fine-scale internal layering," said Dr. Roger Phillips of Washington University, St. Louis, the deputy team leader for that instrument.

Far from the poles, Opportunity is navigating the scalloped rim of Victoria crater about half a mile in diameter, stopping at promontories along the way to look at cliff walls of adjacent promontories. The top part of the stack of layers exposed in the cliffs appears to be rocky rubble thrown outward by the impact that dug the crater. "We see an abrupt transition between the jumbled-up material and intact layers below it that are still in place from before the impact," said Dr. Steve Squyres of Cornell University, Ithaca, N.Y., principal investigator for the rovers. Some of the intact layering resembles fossilized dunes in the U.S. Southwest.

Spirit recently found water-altered minerals in disturbed soils and granular rocks near where the rover spent the Martian winter. An image of the region from Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is aiding interpretation of how different parts of the terrain, such as a bright platform nicknamed "Home Plate," are related to others. "It appears likely that these rocks came from one or more volcanic explosions that produced 'Home Plate,'" said Dr. Ray Arvidson, also of Washington University, deputy principal investigator for the rovers.

Dr. John Callas of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., project manager for the rovers, said, "The biggest news about the health of the rovers is that it is essentially unchanged from nine months ago. Each rover has operated more than 1,000 Martian days on the surface of Mars. They are well past their original design life of 90 Martian days, and there is always the possibility that a critical component on either rover could stop functioning at any time, so we operate the rovers with that in mind and value each additional day they continue to work."

Researchers are describing the latest findings of Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the twin rovers today at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco. New images from the orbiter and rovers can be seen from the images links above .

JPL, a division of the California Institute of Technology, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and Mars Exploration Rover missions for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the orbiter. The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Md., provided and operates the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo. The Shallow Subsurface Radar was provided by the Italian Space Agency and its operations are led by the INFOCOM Dept., University of Rome "La Sapienza."

Media contact: Guy Webster 818-354-6278
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif.

2006-148

Source: NASA - MRO -News & Media Resources

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Radar View of Layering near Mars' South Pole, Orbit 1334

A radargram from the Shallow Subsurface Radar instrument (SHARAD) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveals detailed structure in the polar layered deposits of Mars' south pole.

The horizontal scale of the radargram is distance along the orbiter's ground track, about 590 kilometers (370 miles) from about 75 degrees south latitude on the left to about 85 degrees south latitude at right. The vertical scale is time delay of radar signals reflected back to the spacecraft from the surface and subsurface. For reference, the blue double-headed arrow indicates a distance of about 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) between one of the deeper subsurface reflectors and ground level, based on an assumed velocity of the radar waves in the subsurface. The color scale varies from black for weak reflections to white for strong reflections.

Some of the subsurface reflectors can be traced for a distance of 100 kilometers (60 miles) or more. The layers are not all horizontal and the reflectors are not always parallel to one another. Some of this is due to variations in surface elevation, which produce differing velocity path lengths for different reflector depths. However, some of this behavior is due to spatial variations in the deposition and removal of material in the layered deposits, a result of the recent climate history of Mars.

The sounding radar collected the data presented here during orbit 1334 of the mission, on Nov. 8, 2006.

The Shallow Subsurface Radar was provided by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Its operations are led by the University of Rome and its data are analyzed by a joint U.S.-Italian science team. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/University of Rome/Washington University in St. Louis

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Source: NASA - Missions - MRO Edited December 14, 2006 by Waspie_Dwarf
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Interpreting Radar View near Mars' South Pole, Orbit 1334

A radargram from the Shallow Subsurface Radar instrument (SHARAD) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is shown in the upper panel and reveals detailed structure in the polar layered deposits of the south pole of Mars.

The sounding radar collected the data presented here during orbit 1334 of the mission, on Nov. 8, 2006.

The horizontal scale in the radargram is distance along the ground track. It can be referenced to the ground track map shown in the lower panel. The radar traversed from about 75 to 85 degrees south latitude, or about 590 kilometers (370 miles). The ground track map shows elevation measured by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter. Green indicates low elevation; reddish-white indicates higher elevation. The traverse proceeds up onto a plateau formed by the layers.

The vertical scale on the radargram is time delay of the radar signals reflected back to Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter from the surface and subsurface. For reference, using an assumed velocity of the radar waves in the subsurface, time is converted to depth below the surface at one place: about 1,500 meters (5,000 feet) to one of the deeper subsurface reflectors. The color scale varies from black for weak reflections to white for strong reflections.

The middle panel shows mapping of the major subsurface reflectors, some of which can be traced for a distance of 100 kilometers (60 miles) or more. The layers are not all horizontal and the reflectors are not always parallel to one another. Some of this is due to variations in surface elevation, which produce differing velocity path lengths for different reflector depths. However, some of this behavior is due to spatial variations in the deposition and removal of material in the layered deposits, a result of the recent climate history of Mars.

The Shallow Subsurface Radar was provided by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Its operations are led by the University of Rome and its data are analyzed by a joint U.S.-Italian science team. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/University of Rome/Washington University in St. Louis

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Source: NASA - Missions - MRO

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Radar View of Layering near Mars' South Pole, Orbit 1360

A radargram from the Shallow Subsurface Radar instrument (SHARAD) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveals detailed structure in the polar layered deposits of Mars' south pole.

The horizontal scale of the radargram is distance along the orbiter's ground track, about 650 kilometers (400 miles) from about 74 degrees south latitude on the left to about 85 degrees south latitude at right. The vertical scale is time delay of radar signals reflected back to the spacecraft from the surface and subsurface. For reference, the white double-headed arrow indicates a distance of about 800 meters (2,600 feet) between one of the strongest subsurface reflectors and ground level, based on an assumed velocity of the radar waves in the subsurface. This reflector marks the base of the polar layered deposits. The color scale varies from black for weak reflections to white for strong reflections.

The sounding radar collected the data presented here during orbit 1360 of the mission, on Nov. 10, 2006.

The Shallow Subsurface Radar was provided by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Its operations are led by the University of Rome and its data are analyzed by a joint U.S.-Italian science team. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/University of Rome/Washington University in St. Louis

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Interpreting Radar View near Mars' South Pole, Orbit 1360

A radargram from the Shallow Subsurface Radar instrument (SHARAD) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is shown in the upper panel and reveals detailed structure in the polar layered deposits of the south pole of Mars.

The sounding radar collected the data presented here during orbit 1360 of the mission, on Nov. 10, 2006.

The horizontal scale in the radargram is distance along the ground track. It can be referenced to the ground track map shown in the lower panel. The radar traversed from about 74 degrees to 85 degrees south latitude, or about 650 kilometers (400 miles). The ground track map shows elevation measured by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter. Green indicates low elevation; reddish-white indicates higher elevation. The traverse proceeds up onto a plateau formed by the layers.

The vertical scale on the radargram is time delay of the radar signals reflected back to Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter from the surface and subsurface. For reference, using an assumed velocity of the radar waves in the subsurface, time is converted to depth below the surface at one place: about 800 meters (2,600 feet) to one of the strongest subsurface reflectors. This reflector marks the base of the polar layered deposits. The color scale varies from black for weak reflections to white for strong reflections.

The middle panel shows mapping of the major subsurface reflectors, some of which can be traced for a distance of 100 kilometers (60 miles) or more. The layering manifests the recent climate history of Mars, recorded by the deposition and removal of ice and dust. The Shallow Subsurface Radar was provided by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Its operations are led by the University of Rome and its data are analyzed by a joint U.S.-Italian science team. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/University of Rome/Washington University in St. Louis

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Source: NASA - Missions - MRO

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Radar View of Layering near Mars' North Pole, Orbit 1512

A radargram from the Shallow Subsurface Radar instrument (SHARAD) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter reveals detailed structure in the polar layered deposits of Mars' north pole. The layering is a manifestation of the recent climate history of Mars as recorded in the deposition and removal of ice and dust.

The horizontal scale of the radargram is distance along the orbiter's ground track, which is about 180 kilometers (110 miles). The vertical scale is time delay of radar signals reflected back to the spacecraft from the surface and subsurface. The color scale varies from black for weak reflections to yellow for strong reflections.

Subsurface layering evident in the radargram is divided into a finely structured upper unit about 600 meters (2,000 feet) thick, and a less well defined set of layers in a lower unit. The base of the entire stack of layers is marked by a very diffuse, bright reflection whose maximum depth is about 2,000 meters (6,600 feet).

The sounding radar collected the data presented here during orbit 1512 of the mission, on Nov. 22, 2006.

The Shallow Subsurface Radar was provided by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Its operations are led by the University of Rome and its data are analyzed by a joint U.S.-Italian science team. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/University of Rome/Washington University in St. Louis/MSSS

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Source: NASA - Missions - MRO

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Interpreting Radar View near Mars' North Pole, Orbit 1512

A radargram from the Shallow Subsurface Radar instrument (SHARAD) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is shown in the upper-right panel and reveals detailed structure in the polar layered deposits of the north pole of Mars (with blowups shown in the upper-left panels).

The sounding radar collected the data presented here during orbit 1512 of the mission, on Nov. 22, 2006.

The horizontal scale in the radargram is distance along the ground track. It can be referenced to the ground track map shown in the lower right. The radar traversed from about 83.5 degrees to 80.5 degrees north latitude, or about 180 kilometers (110 miles). The ground track map shows elevation measured by the Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter on NASA's Mars Global Surveyor orbiter. Green indicates low elevation; reddish-white indicates higher elevation. The traverse is from the high elevation of the plateau formed by the layers to the lowlands below.

The vertical scale on the radargram is time delay of the radar signals reflected back to Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter from the surface and subsurface. For reference, using an assumed velocity of the radar waves in the subsurface, time is converted to depth below the surface in two places: about 600 meters (2,000 feet) to the lowest of an upper series of bright reflectors and about 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) to the base of the polar layered deposits. The color scale of the radargram varies from black for weak reflections to bright yellow for strong reflections.

The lower-left panel is a image from the Mars Orbiter Camera on Mars Global Surveyor showing exposed polar layering in the walls of a canyon near the north pole. The layering is divided into a finely structured upper unit (labeled "Upper PLD") and less-well-defined stratigraphy in the lower unit (labeled "Lower PLD"). The radargram clearly reveals the complexity of the layering in the upper unit, additional reflections from the lower unit, and the base of the entire stack of layered deposits. The layering manifests the recent climate history of Mars, recorded by the deposition and removal of ice and dust.

The Shallow Subsurface Radar was provided by the Italian Space Agency (ASI). Its operations are led by the University of Rome and its data are analyzed by a joint U.S.-Italian science team. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/University of Rome/Washington University in St. Louis

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Source: NASA - Missions - MRO

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Spirit's Winter Work Site

This portion of an image acquired by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera shows the Spirit rover's winter campaign site. Spirit was parked on a slope tilted 11 degrees to the north to maximize sunlight during the southern winter season. "Tyrone" is an area where the rover's wheels disturbed light-toned soils. Remote sensing and in-situ analyses found the light-toned soil at Tyrone to be sulfate rich and hydrated. The original picture is catalogued as PSP_001513_1655_red and was taken on Sept. 29, 2006.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona.

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Source: NASA - Missions - MRO Edited December 14, 2006 by Waspie_Dwarf

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Spirit's Tracks around 'Home Plate'

This portion of an image acquired by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera shows the Spirit rover's winter campaign site. The rover is visible. So is the "Low Ridge" feature where Spirit was parked with an 11-degree northerly tilt to maximize sunlight on the solar panels during the southern winter season. Tracks made by Spirit on the way to "Home Plate" and to and from "Tyrone," an area of light-toned soils exposed by rover wheel motions, are also evident. The original image is catalogued as PSP_001513_1655_red and was taken Sept. 29, 2006.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona..

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Source: NASA - Missions - MRO

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Layers Exposed at Polar Canyon

This false-color subframe of an image from the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter shows the north polar layered deposits at top and darker materials at bottom, exposed in a scarp at the head of Chasma Boreale, a large canyon eroded into the layered deposits.

The polar layered deposits appear red because of dust mixed within them, but are ice-rich as indicated by previous observations. Water ice in the layered deposits is probably responsible for the pattern of fractures seen near the top of the scarp. The darker material below the layered deposits may have been deposited as sand dunes, as indicated by the crossbedding (truncation of curved lines) seen near the middle of the scarp. It appears that brighter, ice-rich layers were deposited between the dark dunes in places. Exposures such as these are useful in understanding recent climate variations that are likely recorded in the polar layered deposits.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Denver, is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment is operated by the University of Arizona, Tucson, and the instrument was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corp., Boulder, Colo.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona.

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Source: NASA - Missions - MRO