Tag Archives: Mars Exploration Rovers

THEMIS: Gusev Crater false color

Posted on January 19, 2015 by rburnham

THEMIS Image of the Day, January 19, 2015. The THEMIS VIS camera contains 5 filters. The data from different filters can be combined in multiple ways to create a false color image. These false color images may reveal subtle variations … Continue reading →

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“Lake Gusev” possible source for Comanche carbonates

Posted on March 14, 2014 by rburnham

The rock outcrop dubbed Comanche in the Columbia Hills of Gusev Crater is unusually rich in magnesium-iron carbonate minerals. This discovery was first announced in 2010 using data from the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit. At the time, scientists thought that … Continue reading →

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HiRISE image: Opportunity rover on Murray Ridge

Posted on February 19, 2014 by rburnham

The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter caught this view of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity on Feb. 14, 2014. The red arrow points to Opportunity at the center of the image. Blue arrows … Continue reading →

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Ancient watery environments at Endeavour Crater

Posted on January 23, 2014 by rburnham

A new paper in Science from a team led by Raymond Arvidson (Washington University) and Steven Squyres (Cornell University) reports on water-related minerals found by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, which reached Endeavour Crater in August 2011. The paper is … Continue reading →

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Opportunity Pancam raw images of the “jelly donut” rock

Posted on January 23, 2014 by rburnham

On sol 3551 (January 19, 2014) Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity used its Panoramic Camera to image in several wavelengths the “donut rock” — dubbed Pinnacle Island by the science team — that appeared near the rover sometime before it was … Continue reading →

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Unusual rock lying in front of Opportunity on Murray Ridge

Posted on January 22, 2014 by rburnham

This before-and-after pair of images of the same patch of ground in front of NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity 13 days apart documents the arrival of a bright rock onto the scene. The rover had completed a short drive just … Continue reading →

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Dust drifts: new windblown feature on Mars?

Posted on March 27, 2013 by rburnham

Mars has ample loose material blowing around on its surface, a fact which has been known and studied for decades and more. However scientists have paid little attention to sedimentary deposits of dust.

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Hardened arteries in Nili and Nilo

Posted on January 30, 2013 by rburnham

Water seeping through conduits and cracks in the deep subsurface rocks of Nilosyrtis and Nili Fossae left behind minerals, like hard-water deposits that collect in the plumbing of your house. (Or cholesterol in your arteries.) Then as the softer rocks … Continue reading →

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Lava flows resurfaced crater lakes after water was gone

Posted on January 1, 2013 by rburnham

Fire and water didn’t mix when it came to resurfacing basins that lie along Martian fluvial valley networks. A study of some 30 open-basin lakes (paleolakes) with floors covered by lava flows has concluded that at least these basins were … Continue reading →

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Not-so-everlasting hills

Posted on December 14, 2012 by rburnham

When the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit reached the top of Husband Hill in the Columbia Hills of Gusev Crater on August 22, 2005, it stood 107 meters (351 feet) above its landing site. Yet if recent work is right, the … Continue reading →

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