Channel and Crater in Hesperia Planum
HiRISE PICTURE OF THE DAY: 28 MARCH 2024

A Channel and Crater in Hesperia Planum

The objective of this observation is to examine a channel and an impact crater. The channel is narrow, and it maintains its width for a long distance and may be related to volcanism. Hesperia Planum is a broad lava plain in the southern highlands of Mars with a moderate amount of cratering indicating an intermediate geological age in Martian history.



HiRISE Instrument News
Since July 23, 2023, HiRISE observations have lacked data from the RED4 CCD due to a hardware issue, creating a gap in the middle of image products and reducing the color swath to 1 CCD width. We are investigating the hardware issue and may be able to acquire some RED4 data in the future.

Complicated Lava Cooling
This HiRISE image shows a classic example of platy-ridged lava. Scientists think that this is the same as a lava type called “rubbly pahoehoe” on Earth.