NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE Imagery Release 16 Apr 2008
Launched in August 2005, the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) is flying onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) mission. HiRISE will investigate deposits and landforms resulting from geologic and climatic processes and assist in the evaluation of candidate landing sites.
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North Polar Dunes A vast sea of basaltic sand dunes surrounds the north pole in this observation. |
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Disappearing Dunes This image is of a location where the first significant change to sand dunes was reported on Mars. |
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Proposed MSL Landing Site in Mawrth Vallis – Ellipse 2 Mawrth Vallis has a rich mineral diversity, including clay minerals that formed by the chemical alteration of rocks or loose regolith by water. |
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Proposed MSL Landing Site in Eberswalde Crater The delta, meandering channels and the detection of phyllosilicates provides evidence for possible persistent aqueous activity on Mars. |
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Proposed MSL Landing Site in Mawrth Vallis – Ellipse 1 |
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Large Southern Hemisphere Gully Such gullies are among the most recent landforms on Mars, and were probably carved by liquid water. |
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Gullies in Utopia Planitia Gullies are rarer in the northern hemisphere, possibly because there are fewer slopes for them on which to form. |
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Aeolian Playground in Smith Crater The dark color of the dunes here are probably made of basaltic sand, a volcanic rock common on Mars. |
