Clay-Rich Terrain in Oxia Planum: A Proposed ExoMars Landing Site
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona
Clay-Rich Terrain in Oxia Planum: A Proposed ExoMars Landing Site
ESP_039154_1985  Science Theme: Future Exploration/Landing Sites
Oxia Planum is an ancient (Noachian epoch) terrain situated to the east of Chryse Planitia at about 18 degrees north. The OMEGA infrared spectrometer on board Mars Express, and CRISM onboard the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, have identified iron-magnesium rich clays like smectite over hundreds of square kilometers.

This image uses HiRISE to show what the surface looks like and whether it is feasible to land a rover on it. In this instance the image was taken with the ExoMars rover in mind (Oxia Planum is one of the leading candidate sites for that mission) but the Mars 2020 mission is another possibility. The image shows that the landscape is flat in this area.

The origin of the clays—perhaps due to alteration of volcanic sediments—is of keen interest to researchers looking for a terrain where traces of life have been preserved and could be studied by a rover. Another issue that rover planners have to be aware of is the presence of dunes which could block the traverses of rovers, but this part of Oxia Planum appears benign in that respect as well.

Note: “Oxia Planum” is an informal name and not an official one.

Written by: John Bridges (narration: Tre Gibbs)  (1 July 2015)

This is a stereo pair with ESP_065448_1985.
 
Acquisition date
03 December 2014

Local Mars time
15:19

Latitude (centered)
18.275°

Longitude (East)
335.368°

Spacecraft altitude
283.4 km (176.2 miles)

Original image scale range
28.4 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~85 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
1.4°

Phase angle
62.6°

Solar incidence angle
64°, with the Sun about 26° above the horizon

Solar longitude
245.3°, Northern Autumn

For non-map projected images
North azimuth:  97°
Sub-solar azimuth:  327.3°
JPEG
Black and white
map projected  non-map

IRB color
map projected  non-map

Merged IRB
map projected

Merged RGB
map projected

RGB color
non-map projected

JP2
Black and white
map-projected   (1036MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (548MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected  (405MB)
non-map           (565MB)

IRB color
map projected  (164MB)
non-map           (480MB)

Merged IRB
map projected  (287MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected  (275MB)

RGB color
non map           (468MB)
ANAGLYPHS
Map-projected, reduced-resolution
Full resolution JP2 download
Anaglyph details page

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
B&W label
Color label
Merged IRB label
Merged RGB label
EDR products
HiView

NB
IRB: infrared-red-blue
RGB: red-green-blue
About color products (PDF)

Black & white is 5 km across; enhanced color about 1 km
For scale, use JPEG/JP2 black & white map-projected images

USAGE POLICY
All of the images produced by HiRISE and accessible on this site are within the public domain: there are no restrictions on their usage by anyone in the public, including news or science organizations. We do ask for a credit line where possible:
NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

POSTSCRIPT
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena, Calif., manages the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, Washington. The HiRISE camera was built by Ball Aerospace and Technology Corporation and is operated by the University of Arizona.