PIA17626: Martian Thunderbird
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Spacecraft:  Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
 Instrument:  HiRISE
 Product Size:  2880 x 1800 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  University of Arizona/HiRISE-LPL
 Other  
Information: 
Other products from image ESP_033297_1745
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA17626.tif (5.191 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA17626.jpg (1.13 MB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

This non-circular pit is due to a low angle impact from an asteroid or comet. The raised plateau west of the crater was where most of the impact debris landed.

This debris protected the material underneath, but else where this material was slowly removed by the wind and the debris-covered area was left behind as this high-standing and interestingly-shaped plateau.

(Note: the wallpaper images have been rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise for better effect).

HiRISE is one of six instruments on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The University of Arizona, Tucson, operates the orbiter's HiRISE camera, which was built by Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp., Boulder, Colo. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter Project for the NASA Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Image Addition Date:
2013-10-30