Layers with Carbonate Content Inside McLaughlin Crater on Mars

This view of layered rocks on the floor of McLaughlin Crater shows sedimentary rocks that contain spectroscopic evidence for minerals formed through interaction with water. The High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter recorded the image.

A combination of clues suggests this 1.4-mile-deep (2.2-kilometer-deep) crater once held a lake fed by groundwater. Part of the evidence is identification of clay and carbonate minerals within layers visible near the center of this image. The mineral identifications come from the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM), also on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

The scene covers an area about one-third of a mile (about 550 meters) across, at 337.6 degrees east longitude, 21.9 degrees north latitude. North is up. Figure 1 indicates the location of layers bearing clay and carbonate minerals and includes a scale bar of 100 meters (328 feet).

Source: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/multimedia/pia16710.html

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Univ. of Arizona

Amazing Image of Curiosity Parachuting to Mars

Source - NASA Science News for August 6, 2012

With split-second timing, NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has captured an amazing snapshot of Curiosity parachuting to the surface of Mars.

The full story can be found here: http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2012/06aug_parachute/

Salt Water May Flow on Mars

Source - NASA Science News for August 4, 2011

A new study of images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter suggests that salt water may be actively flowing across the surface of the Red Planet.

FULL STORY at

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2011/04aug_marsflows/