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Upper Sulfate Unit and Upper Yardang Unit RMI - Curiosity
18 frame ChemCam Remote MicroImager mosaic of the upper reaches of Mt. Sharp. This mosaic captures two major geologic units of Mt. Sharp: the Upper Sulfate Unit and Upper Yardang Unit. The hill in the foreground is an outcrop of the Upper Sulfate Unit, composed of rocks deposited in Gale Crater as the Mars transitioned into an acidic and extremely arid planet. The ridgeline in the background is the Upper Yardang Unit, which is thought to be a large dust deposit from relatively recently in the Martian past. This unit is now being eroded by the wind, forming long, deep linear troughs called yardangs.
This mosaic was taken to study an outcrop in detail from a distance. ChemCam uses a small telescope to collect the light produced by laser zaps on the rock to understand their composition. This telescope is often repurposed to study outcrops in the near-distance, where the resolution exceeds that of orbital imagery, but where Curiosity will never traverse by. The RMI images are monochromatic, but can be colorized if MastCam images were also taken.
Image Credit: NASA / JPL / LANL / MSSS / Justin Cowart
Upper Sulfate Unit and Upper Yardang Unit RMI - Curiosity
18 frame ChemCam Remote MicroImager mosaic of the upper reaches of Mt. Sharp. This mosaic captures two major geologic units of Mt. Sharp: the Upper Sulfate Unit and Upper Yardang Unit. The hill in the foreground is an outcrop of the Upper Sulfate Unit, composed of rocks deposited in Gale Crater as the Mars transitioned into an acidic and extremely arid planet. The ridgeline in the background is the Upper Yardang Unit, which is thought to be a large dust deposit from relatively recently in the Martian past. This unit is now being eroded by the wind, forming long, deep linear troughs called yardangs.
This mosaic was taken to study an outcrop in detail from a distance. ChemCam uses a small telescope to collect the light produced by laser zaps on the rock to understand their composition. This telescope is often repurposed to study outcrops in the near-distance, where the resolution exceeds that of orbital imagery, but where Curiosity will never traverse by. The RMI images are monochromatic, but can be colorized if MastCam images were also taken.
Image Credit: NASA / JPL / LANL / MSSS / Justin Cowart