PIA07186: A Rock Like None Before, Brushed
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Exploration Rover (MER)
 Spacecraft:  Spirit
 Instrument:  Microscopic Imager
 Product Size:  1994 x 1976 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA07186.tif (2.917 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA07186.jpg (704.5 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:

Scientists viewed a rock like none seen before on Mars when NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Spirit brushed the surface and took magnified images of this rock dubbed "Wishstone." The circular area of interest, measuring approximately 5 centimeters (2 inches) in diameter, revealed darker pieces of material randomly distributed within a lighter-colored matrix. The rock has poorly sorted granular material, with grain sizes ranging from fine to coarse and some grains that are very angular in shape.

Spirit used its microscopic imager on martian day, or sol, 333 (Dec. 9, 2004) to take the four individual frames that are combined into this mosaic view.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL/Cornell/USGS

Image Addition Date:
2004-12-30