PIA12165: 'Block Island' Meteorite on Mars, Sol 1961 (Stereo)
Composition measurements by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity confirm that this rock on the Martian surface is an iron-nickel meteorite. 3D glasses are necessary to view this image.
 Target Name:  Mars
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Mars Exploration Rover (MER) 
 Spacecraft:  Opportunity
 Instrument:  Panoramic Camera 
 Product Size:  1024 x 766 pixels (w x h) 
 Produced By:  Cornell University 
 Other  
Information: 		 You will need 3D glasses 
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA12165.tif (2.356 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA12165.jpg (102.9 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:

Click here for left eye view of figure 1 of PIA12165Click here for right eye view of figure 2 of PIA12165
Left-eye view of stereo pairRight-eye view of stereo pair

Composition measurements by NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity confirm that this rock on the Martian surface is an iron-nickel meteorite.

This image combines exposures from the left eye and right eye of the rover's panoramic camera to provide a three-dimensional view when seen through red-green glasses with the red lens on the left. The camera took the component images during the 1,961st Martian day, or sol, of Opportunity's mission on Mars (July 31), after approaching close enough to touch the rock with tools on the rover's robotic arm.

Researchers have informally named the rock "Block Island." With a width of about two-thirds of a meter (2 feet), it is the largest meteorite yet found on Mars. Opportunity found a smaller iron-nickel meteorite, called "Heat Shield Rock" in late 2004.

Image Credit:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell University

Image Addition Date:
2009-08-06