PIA05203: Meridiani's Autograph
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
 Spacecraft:  Opportunity
 Instrument:  Moessbauer Spectrometer
 Product Size:  800 x 600 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA05203.tif (173 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA05203.jpg (38.87 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:

figure 1 for PIA05203

This spectrum of the soil at the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's landing site, Meridiani Planum, shows the presence of the shiny green mineral called olivine also seen at the Mars Exploration Rover Spirit's landing site, Gusev Crater. Based on this data, scientists believe the soil at Meridiani is made-up of in part of finely grained basalt, a type of volcanic rock. The spectrum was captured by Opportunity's Moessbauer spectrometer.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/University of Mainz

Image Addition Date:
2004-02-04