NASA's Mars rover Opportunity, well into its 9th year on Mars, will work for the next several weeks or months at a site with some of the mission's most intriguing geological features.
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Rock fins up to about 1 foot (30 centimeters) tall dominate
this scene from the panoramic camera (Pancam) on NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity. The component images were taken during the 3,058th Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's work on Mars (Aug. 23, 2012). The view spans an area of terrain about 30 feet (9 meters) wide. Orbital investigation of the area has identified a possibility of clay minerals in this area of the Cape York segment of the western rim of Endeavour Crater. The view combines exposures taken through Pancam filters centered on wavelengths of 753 nanometers (near infrared), 535 nanometers (green) and 432 nanometers (violet). It is presented in approximate true color, the camera team's best estimate of what the scene would look like if humans were there and able to see it with their own eyes. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell Univ./Arizona State Univ. |
The site, called "Matijevic Hill," overlooks 14-mile-wide (22-kilometer-wide) Endeavour Crater. Opportunity has begun investigating the site's concentration of small spherical objects reminiscent of, but different from, the iron-rich spheres nicknamed "blueberries" at the rover's landing site nearly 22 driving miles ago (35 kilometers).
The small spheres at Matijevic Hill have different composition and internal structure. Opportunity's science team is evaluating a range of possibilities for how they formed. The spheres are up to about an eighth of an inch (3 millimeters) in diameter.
