Planet Mars: A Tale of Stone | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Planet Mars: A Tale of Stone | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

You are viewing layered bedrock northwest of Hellas Planitia. These are examples of the very oldest sedimentary rocks on Mars, perhaps the best places to search for signs of ancient life. They may be exposed in the deeply eroded rim of the giant Hellas impact basin. The study of such geologic strata may inform the early evolution not only of Mars, but also Earth, where such ancient rocks are poorly preserved.

Hellas Planitia is a plain located within the huge, roughly circular impact basin Hellas located in the southern hemisphere of the planet Mars. Hellas is the fourth- or fifth-largest known impact crater in the Solar System. The basin floor is about 7,152 m (23,465 ft) deep, 3,000 m (9,800 ft) deeper than the Moon's South Pole-Aitken basin, and extends about 2,300 km (1,400 mi) east to west. It is centered at 42.4°S 70.5°E. It features the lowest point on Mars, serves as a known source of global dust storms, and may have contained lakes and glaciers. Hellas Planitia spans the boundary between the Hellas quadrangle and the Noachis quadrangle.

These HiRISE images feature layered bedrock. They have been processed into a digital terrain model. This provides color-coded elevation combined with shaded relief for a perspective view of the rugged terrain. The color images show diverse colors, perhaps due to alteration by water.

Location:
Longitude (East): 57.359°

Latitude (centered): -23.977°

This HiRISE image was captured when NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) was at an altitude of 272 kilometers (169 miles).

The MRO is a spacecraft designed to study the geology and climate of Mars, to provide reconnaissance of future landing sites, and to relay data from surface missions back to Earth. It was launched on August 12, 2005, and reached Mars on March 10, 2006. 

The University of Arizona, in Tucson, operates the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE). It was built by BAE Systems in Boulder, Colorado. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of Caltech in Pasadena, California, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD), Washington.

For more information on MRO, visit:

science.nasa.gov/mission/mars-reconnaissance-orbiter

Video Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona
Image Date: March 19, 2017
Duration: 3 minutes, 33 seconds
Release Date: Oct. 26, 2017

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