HiRISE | Candidate Landing Site over Potential Chloride Salt Deposits (ESP_016354

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

Candidate Landing Site over Potential Chloride Salt Deposits
ESP_016354_1745 Science Theme: Future Exploration/Landing Sites

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There is an intriguing surface unit in parts of the ancient Martian highlands that may consist of chloride salts (like NaCl, or table salt) which precipitated out of shallow lakes as in desert regions of Earth.

It has unusual thermal properties and distinctive morphologies, but lacks spectral absorption bands. All of these characteristics and the geologic settings are consistent with salt deposits. These deposits are often associated with clay minerals that do have distinctive absorption bands.

This particular location has been selected as a candidate landing site for the Mars Science Laboratory or another future rover. Hopefully the HiRISE images won't reveal too many boulders or steep slopes that would be hazardous.

Written by: Alfred McEwen (17 March 2010)

This is a stereo pair with PSP_007058_1745.

Acquisition date
21 January 2010

Local Mars time
15:01

Latitude (centered)
-5.625°

Longitude (East)
353.871°

Spacecraft altitude
265.7 km (165.2 miles)

Original image scale range
29.0 cm/pixel (with 1 x 1 binning) so objects ~87 cm across are resolved

Map projected scale
25 cm/pixel and North is up

Map projection
Equirectangular

Emission angle
24.5°

Phase angle
31.8°

Solar incidence angle
50°, with the Sun about 40° above the horizon

Solar longitude
41.0°, Northern Spring

For non-map projected images
North azimuth: 96°
Sub-solar azimuth: 35.7°

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   (1298MB)

IRB color
map-projected   (542MB)

JP2 EXTRAS
Black and white
map-projected (613MB)
non-map           (624MB)

IRB color
map projected (240MB)
non-map           (463MB)

Merged IRB
map projected (353MB)

Merged RGB
map-projected (339MB)

RGB color
non map           (466MB)

ANAGLYPHS
Map-projected, reduced-resolution
Full resolution JP2 download
Anaglyph details page

DIGITAL TERRAIN MODEL (DTM)
DTM 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.