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PIA05758: Recipe for 'Bounce' Rock
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
 Spacecraft:  Opportunity
 Instrument:  Miniature Thermal Emission Spectrometer 
 Product Size:  2431 x 2100 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA05758.tif (10.23 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA05758.jpg (158.6 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:

The mineralogy of "Bounce" rock was determined by fitting spectra from a library of laboratory minerals to spectra of Bounce taken by the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's miniature thermal emission spectrometer. Bounce is made-up of 69 percent pyroxene, 20 percent plagioclase, and 11 percent olivine. The pyroxene minerals are primarily calcium-rich varieties, with smaller amounts of a class of minerals called orthopyroxenes. The composition of Bounce is significantly different from that of typical martian basalts seen over much of the surface from orbit by the Mars Global Surveyor thermal emission spectrometer. The rock's composition is, however, similar to that of meteorites thought to have come from Mars. No detectable hematite was found in Bounce.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Cornell/ASU

Image Addition Date:
2004-04-14