Mars Photo of the Day - 2 Jul 2012

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Imagine being able to hike on Mars! How would you plan such a trip? Where would you go?  Would you climb mountains, or explore ancient riverbeds? What marvels of Mars would you encounter? One thing's for sure, you'd probably carry a map!

But just what would a typical hiking map of an area on Mars look like? Let's look at an area where all sorts of terrain comes together, from mountains to canyons to great expanses of plains! In the map below we see Chryse Planitia, Meridiani Planum, Ares Valles, Iani Chaos, Margaritfer Terra, and Valles Marineris, all distinctly different types of terrain, but interconnected. 

We also see a future tourist destination: the 1997 landing site of Mars Pathfinder! Sites where the first rovers touched down may one day become extremely popular locations for tourists wishing to see a part of history and marvel at how far we've come! I look forward for the day when I can wait in line to see the great robotic explorers of my childhood!

Click on this image to see the original high resolution map from Mars Express.

Source: Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera

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Mars Photo of the Day - Dec 19 2012

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Today's Image of Mars shows Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's discarded lander, the Challenger Memorial Station, at Meridiani Planum. This image is a mosaic of 12 images taken by the rover's panoramic camera on Sol 24 of Opportunity's mission. 

The mission is now approaching its 8 year anniversary (Jan 25 2012) since landing on Mars. The rover has continued operations much longer than the 90 day mission it was intended for. 

Clicking on this image will take you to the original high definition image from NASA.

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To see updates on Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity I highly recommend reading Stuart Atkinson's blog on the rover, The Road to Endeavour.

Mars Photo of the Day - Dec 16 2011

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Today's Image of Mars was taken by Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity shows a geological region of the rock outcrop at Meridiani Planum. This photo shows an area approximately 1.5cm across. This is one of the famous "blueberries" which are grey hematite concretions and evidence that water once existed on Mars.

This image was taken by Opportunity on Sol 28 of its mission, which was just a few weeks after it landed on Mars. Clicking on this image will take you to images and articles pointing to further evidence that water was once abundant on Mars. 

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Mars Photo of the Day - Oct 8 2011

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Today's Image of Mars is of Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity when it was at Victoria Crater, located in Meridiani Planum. This image was taken by the HiRISE camera aboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter in 2006. Opportunity is currently along the rim of Endeavour crater, where it has begun a new mission.

Clicking on this image will take you to all posts related to Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity.

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