Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of a dune field in east Endeavour Crater, which is where Opportunity is currently operating.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter PR image of the Curiosity Rover in Gale Crater. The rover is the black dot near the center of the image.

Original caption:

NASAs Curiosity Mars rover appears as a dark speck in this image captured from directly overhead by the agencys Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, or MRO.

February 29, 2024

click here for Figure A for PIA26245

Figure A

NASA's Curiosity Mars rover appears as a dark speck in this image captured from directly overhead by the agency's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, or MRO. The orbiter is equipped with a camera capable of viewing objects the size of a dinner table on the Red Planet's surface.

The camera, called the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE), has viewed spacecraft on the surface many times before. Here, it captured Curiosity driving up a steep slope on Dec. 29, 2023, the 4,051st Martian day, or sol, of the rover's mission.

Curiosity is seen in an area striped with alternating dark and light bands. Scientists are interested in learning what differentiated the materials on the surface to form these different bands.

Figure A: the same image with Curiosity circled.

NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages MRO for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.

Images from HiRISE and additional information about MRO are available online at: mars.nasa.gov/mro/ or HiRISE.lpl.arizona.edu.

Curiosity was built by JPL, which leads the mission on behalf of NASA's Science Mission Directorate.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter context image of erosion in Cerberus Fossae.

Heavily processed image of Assam. I used a Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of Danielson Crater as the seed image.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of intersecting, sinuous lava channels from volcanoes on Mars. Color/processing variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of a one kilometer crater on the floor of Saheki Crater.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of layers and sand in Danielson Crater.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of a basal unit of north polar layered deposits. Color variant.

This is a perspective view of a scene within Mars' Candor Chasma based on stereo imaging by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera aboard NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. It shows how the surface would appear from a few hundred meters or yards above the surface, as if from a low-flying airplane. Layers of light-toned rock can be traced from the foreground up onto the hills in the background. Total vertical relief in this view is approximately 700 meters (2,200 feet). Regional views such as this help to tie together individual measurements of layer orientations and help to reveal regional patterns in the bedrock layering. These regional layer orientations provide insight into the geologic history recorded in the rocks. The dark-toned material is a surface layer of windblown sand. Width of the scene at the bottom of the image is approximately 1 kilometer (0.6 mile). There is no vertical exaggeration.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of carbonate plains in Nili Fossae.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of layers and sand in Danielson Crater. Color variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of layers and sand in Danielson Crater. Cropped section to show layers.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of sand dunes on Mars.

This observation shows the contact between the hematite bearing plains and etched terrain in northern Meridiani Planum. The hematite bearing plains (bottom left) are dark, smooth and full of dune fields. The etched terrain in this image is split into two units. The darker unit at the top of the image is filling in an approximately 120 kilometer NW-SE trending valley, while the brighter etched terrain in the middle of the image is higher than the lower etched terrain in the valley. It is in these etched terrains that CRISM, have detected hydrated sulfates, which makes a sedimentary origin seems most likely for these layered deposits of etched terrain found in Meridiani. ASU-IPF-3080

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of a new impact on Mars.

Original caption: Over 500 new impact events have been detected from before-and-after images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. This image shows new craters that expose shallow ice are of special interest.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of a crater with chlorides (salts) scattered about on Mars. Color/processing variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of intersecting, sinuous lava channels from volcanoes on Mars. Processing variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of a crater on Mars with a dune field in its middle situated such that it resembles a huge cat eye staring back at MRO. Color/processing variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image looking for frost on the rim of Corozal Crater - it's thought that frost may play a roll in the creation of gullies.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of seasonal flows (based, on assumes, on previous images) in Valles Marineris. Round variant.

Upon close inspection of a trough, an interesting phenomenon becomes visible: slope streaks. These dark features (also known as dust avalanches) are the result of a mass movement of loose, fine-grained material exposing darker material. Over time, these features superpose and crosscut one another, manifesting as light-toned angular features on either side of the slope streak. Slope streaks have also been known to form as the result of an impact on or near the slope, which shakes loose dust, triggering an avalanche.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of a wrinkle ridge near Valles Marineris on Mars.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of the topography of western Mawrth Crater.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of a volcanic fissure on Mars. The color images are almost monochromic making detailed processing more fun. Color/processing variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of a small part of Ius Chasma. Color variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of geodiversity in Mawrth Vallis on Mars.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of a sample (representative I assume) of the Martian northern plains.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of Gale Crater and the Curiosity Rover. Red channel image (meaning red objects tend to be bright).

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Image of an "atypical" landform amongst sand dunes in a north polar erg. Color variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of rocky deposits on the floor of Briault Crater on Mars. Processing variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of intersecting, sinuous lava channels from volcanoes on Mars. Inverted grayscale variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter PR image of a scoured section of the floor of Eos Chasma. Color/processing variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of terrain south of Mangala Fossa. Color/processing variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of a crater in Meridiani Planum. Color variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter PR image of landforms in Kaiser Crater.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of a crater's central pit with high thermal inertia.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of the terrain between South and Main Craters.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of ice in a Martian north polar crater being monitored for changes. Color variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of a layered mound with sand dunes in Juventae Chasma. Color/processing variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of sand dunes on the base of Huggins Crater with lines from dust devils crossing the dune field. Color/processing variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of ridges and sand dunes on Mars.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of sand dunes in Mclaughlin Crater on Mars. Color/processing variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of an ice-filled crater in the northern plains of Mars.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of a dune field in a crater in Mars' southern hemisphere. Color/processing variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter</b image of layered mesas in Lycus Sulci. Color variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of the wall of a crater on Mars showing exposed bedrock with different colors. Color/processing variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of sand dunes called "Kohlar."

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of chaotic, uplifted bedrock on Mars.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of a crater that is on the edge of a valley rim in Capri Chasma on Mars. Processing variant.

Edited Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter image of chaos terrain on Mars. Processing variant.