Planet Mars: The Path Not Traveled | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

Planet Mars: The Path Not Traveled | NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter

The objective of this orbital observation is to determine the nature of a layered butte on Mars that is surrounded by concentric fractures. This location is east of Tinjar Valles, which are an ancient set of outflow channels. This image was taken by NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) spacecraft’s High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) instrument.

Butte: "A steep-sided hill with a flat top, often standing alone in an otherwise flat area. A butte is smaller than a mesa."

This is a non-narrated clip featuring ambient sound. The image less than 5 km (3 mi) across the spacecraft altitude was 296 km (184 mi). 

Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is a spacecraft designed to study the geology and climate of Mars, to provide reconnaissance of future landing sites, and to relay data from surface missions back to Earth. It was launched on August 12, 2005, and reached Mars on March 10, 2006. 

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.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona

Duration: 3 minutes, 33 seconds

Release Date: Jan. 3, 2023

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