This image is one of the proposed landing sites for the Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) and is located in southern Meridiani Planum (to the south of the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity landing site).

The image shows fairly smooth plains with small ripples, suggesting that wind is an active process here. The landing site is on the smooth hematite-bearing plains, and the “go-to” science target would include phyllosilicates (clay-minerals) that the CRISM instrument has detected in the mounds to the south of the landing ellipse.

Scientists believe phyllosilicates formed in the presence of water, which is of interest for the MSL mission goals, including possible past habitability. The suite of instruments on-board MSL could also help characterize the sulfate materials, which Opportunity has been studying since 2004.

Written by: Jennifer Griffes

All of the images produced by HiRISE and accessible on this site are within the public domain: there are no restrictions on their usage by anyone in the public, including news or science organizations. We do ask for a credit line where possible: Image: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona

For information about NASA and agency programs on the Web, visit: http://www.nasa.gov. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington. Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor for the project and built the spacecraft. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona. The image data were processed using the U.S. Geological Survey’s ISIS3 software.