PIA17703: A Textured Mesa
 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_033564_1405
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA17703.tif (15.56 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA17703.jpg (751.1 kB)

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:

Also imaged by MRO's Context Camera, this observation shows one of two odd, rounded mesas with a knobby/pitted texture.

This mesa may be the last remnants of a formerly more extensive geologic unit. Given the particular pitted texture, this formation could be ice-rich.some connection with ice and sublimation degradation processes.

High resolution images can greatly help to characterize the surface texture and allow us to compare other mid-latitude-type landforms, which may have some connection with ice and sublimation degradation processes.

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:
2013-11-20