[meteorite-list] MRO HiRISE Images - December 5, 2012

[Ron Baalke]

MARS RECONNAISSANCE ORBITER HIRISE IMAGES
December 5, 2012

o Impacts from MSL Tungsten Blocks and Cruise Stage	
  http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_029245_1755

  MSL (Curiosity) in cruise configuration jettisoned two 75-kilogram 
  tungsten blocks just before atmospheric entry, used as cruise balance 
  masses.

o Columnar Jointing on Mars and Earth	
  http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_029286_1885

  Finding evidence for large amounts of liquid water on Mars is important 
  for understanding the planet's climate history and habitability.

o Colorful Fractured Bedrock in Ritchey Crater	
  http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_029542_1510

  The dark, ridgelike lines that cut across the colorful blocks may be dikes, 
  formed when molten rock forced its way into pre-existing linear fractures 
  in the surrounding rock.

o Apostrophe Dunes	
  http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/ESP_029660_1350

  The lack of symmetry within these dunes tells us that there is more than one 
  wind direction acting here. 

All of the HiRISE images are archived here:

http://hirise.lpl.arizona.edu/

Information about the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter is 
online at http://www.nasa.gov/mro. The mission is 
managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a division 
of the California Institute of Technology, for the NASA 
Science Mission Directorate, Washington, D.C. Lockheed 
Martin Space Systems, of Denver, is the prime contractor 
and built the spacecraft. HiRISE is operated by the 
University of Arizona. Ball Aerospace and Technologies 
Corp., of Boulder, Colo., built the HiRISE instrument.