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Meridiani Planum - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
A small exposure of light-toned bedrock in Mars' Meridiani Planum region. Based on the Opportunity rover's exploration of southern Meridiani Planum, these rocks are interpreted to have been deposited in a large dune field crossed by larger rivers originating from the highlands to the southeast. The ever shifting courses of these rivers left hundreds of small "fossil" channel segments in the region, of which the winding ridge at center right may be one.
This image was created using the CRISM imaging spectrometer. Each pixel of a CRISM image contains a 500 point spectrum, from which a color can be reconstructed. This reconstructed color was overlaid on a higher-resolution image taken with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Context Camera (CTX), which simultaneously took a photo while CRISM was collecting data.
This image was taken on January 3, 2007. It uses CRISM observation FRT00003BB2 and CTX observation P03_002060_1822_XI_02N353W.
Image Credit: NASA / JPL / JHUAPL / MSSS / Aster Cowart
Meridiani Planum - Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter
A small exposure of light-toned bedrock in Mars' Meridiani Planum region. Based on the Opportunity rover's exploration of southern Meridiani Planum, these rocks are interpreted to have been deposited in a large dune field crossed by larger rivers originating from the highlands to the southeast. The ever shifting courses of these rivers left hundreds of small "fossil" channel segments in the region, of which the winding ridge at center right may be one.
This image was created using the CRISM imaging spectrometer. Each pixel of a CRISM image contains a 500 point spectrum, from which a color can be reconstructed. This reconstructed color was overlaid on a higher-resolution image taken with the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Context Camera (CTX), which simultaneously took a photo while CRISM was collecting data.
This image was taken on January 3, 2007. It uses CRISM observation FRT00003BB2 and CTX observation P03_002060_1822_XI_02N353W.
Image Credit: NASA / JPL / JHUAPL / MSSS / Aster Cowart