- Original Caption Released with Image:
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Mawrth Vallis is one of the oldest valleys on Mars. It was formed in and subsequently covered by layered rocks, from beneath which it is now being exhumed. The rocks surrounding the valley have been observed by the Omega spectrometer aboard the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft, which found them to include minerals with water bound within their structure. Thus, the Mawrth Vallis region is of keen interest to the team using the mineral-mapping Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The CRISM team requested this image by the orbiter's Context Camera in support of a CRISM observation during orbiter's transition phase testing of instruments. The image is centered near 25.6 degrees north, 19.4 degrees west. This area was discussed during an Oct. 16, 2006, news briefing, and related imagery from CRISM and the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera can be found at http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/mro/.
- Image Credit:
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NASA/JPL/MSSS
Image Addition Date:
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2006-10-16
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