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PIA05648: Where Light Meets Dark
This image of 'Neopolitan' from NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's 'Eagle Crater' soil survey highlights the border between two different soil types, a lighter, finer-grained unit to the left and a darker, coarser-grained to the right.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Exploration Rover (MER) 
 Spacecraft:  Opportunity
 Instrument:  Panoramic Camera 
 Product Size:  640 x 640 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Cornell University 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA05648.tif (300.4 kB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA05648.jpg (35.22 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:

figure 1 for PIA05648
Figure 1 (close-up)

This panoramic camera image of the soil target whimsically called "Neopolitan" from the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's "Eagle Crater" soil survey highlights the border between two different soil types - a lighter, finer-grained unit to the left and a darker, coarser-grained to the right. Scientists are pondering the unusually distinct border between these different soil types. To the lower left and partially hidden by the shadow of the mast is an airbag bounce mark.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Cornell

Image Addition Date:
2004-03-27