NASA Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE Images – December 12, 2012

– A Circular Crack http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_029362_1795

The first thing anyone thinks of when they see circular features on Mars is a crater. Is that the case here?

– Layers, Dunes and Cliffs in Hydrae Chasma http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_029516_1730

Hydrae Chasma is a deep, circular depression that has steep walls flanked by numerous landslides and a massive scarp along its southern boundary.

– Monitoring a New Impact Site in Fortuna Fossae http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_029583_1825

This impact site is located on the floor of a large fracture within Fortuna Fossae, formed sometime between September 2005 and May 2008.

– A Defrosting Mess http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_029614_1105

Just like on the Earth, the frost layer that accumulates over the winter will disappear as summer approaches and Mars heats up.

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.