PIA05647: 'Punaluu' Under the Microscope
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
 Spacecraft:  Opportunity
 Instrument:  Microscopic Imager
Moessbauer Spectrometer 
 Product Size:  1024 x 1024 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA05647.tif (1.05 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA05647.jpg (150.9 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 three-centimeter by three-centimeter (1.2-inch by 1.2-inch) image of the soil target, informally called "Punaluu" after the black sand beaches of Hawaii, was taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's microscopic imager during the rover's "Eagle Crater" soil survey. The largest particles are similar to those seen in the crater outcrop. There are also some smaller, more irregular rounded particles that have likely been transported by wind. The Moessbauer spectrometer's study of this target pushed some of the particles into the surrounding fine-grained sand.

For mosaic of related microscopic images, see PIA05651.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Cornell/USGS

Image Addition Date:
2004-03-27