PIA00981: "Jenkins Dune"
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Pathfinder (MPF)
 Spacecraft:  Mars Pathfinder Lander
 Instrument:  Imager for Mars Pathfinder 
 Product Size:  1277 x 1239 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Producer ID:  MRPS84931
 Addition Date:  1997-10-14
 Primary Data Set:  MARS_PATHFINDER_PAGE
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA00981.tif (5.209 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA00981.jpg (264.9 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:

This image is of a landform informally called Jenkins Dune and is thought to be a small barchan dune. This feature is less than 1 foot (0.3 m) tall and perhaps 2-3 meters wide. Inferred wind direction is from the left to the right. Near the crest of the feature is a demarcation that may represent the exposure of a crust on the sediments; similar features were seen on sediments on the rock Big Joe at the Viking landing site.

Mars Pathfinder is the second in NASA's Discovery program of low-cost spacecraft with highly focused science goals. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA, developed and manages the Mars Pathfinder mission for NASA's Office of Space Science, Washington, D.C. JPL is a division of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).

Photojournal note: Sojourner spent 83 days of a planned seven-day mission exploring the Martian terrain, acquiring images, and taking chemical, atmospheric and other measurements. The final data transmission received from Pathfinder was at 10:23 UTC on September 27, 1997. Although mission managers tried to restore full communications during the following five months, the successful mission was terminated on March 10, 1998.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL

Image Addition Date:
1997-10-14