NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE Images October 5, 2011

o Crater with Surrounding Bench in Sinus Meridiani http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_023382_1845

The bench formed because these layered surface units are eroding at a faster rate than the more resistant underlying materials that comprise the rest of the crater.

o Light-Toned Layered Rock Outcrop in Ladon Valles http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_023383_1590

These extensive layers may have resulted from ponding of water and sediments that flowed into the basin from Ladon Vallis.

o Colorful Central Peak in an Unnamed Crater http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_023674_1590

The colorful rocks exposed in the central peak visible in this image probably reflect variations in mineral content that were caused by water activity early in Mars’ history.

o Spectacular Richardson Crater Dunes http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_023956_1075

At the time of this image, the frost has likely disappeared to its greatest extent and will begin to re-acummulate soon.

All of the HiRISE images are archived here: http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/

Information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is online at http://www.nasa.gov/mro. The mission is managed by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology, for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, of Denver, is the prime contractor and built the spacecraft. HiRISE is operated by the University of Arizona. Ball Aerospace and Technologies Corp., of Boulder, Colo., built the HiRISE instrument.