Mars ‘Rock Garden,’ Now in Color

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Last week we shared a 3-D view of the area being studied by the Opportunity rover on Mars; now here’s a color view of this stunning landscape on Mars. Both views are the handiwork of Stu Atkinson, a member of Unmanned Spaceflight and author of the Road to Endeavour blog. This is actually an ejecta field of rocks thrown about after the impact that created this huge crater where the rover is now traversing, and is an exciting region for the MER scientists to explore. Look for more great views of this region as Oppy makes her way around, and eventually inside the crater.

Stu tells us that no one should get too excited about the “green stuff” showing up on some of the rocks, as it certainly is not algae or moss or anything like that. “It’s just the colour balance I’ve gone with and the techniques I use,” he said. “Other versions by people with better software and processing skills than myself will no doubt show that green stuff isn’t anything of the kind, but this is the best I can do. And I unashamedly and apologetically go for ‘pretty picture’ rather than ‘scientifically 100% accurate’. That’s NASA’s job. When their version of this scene appears, it’ll be rather different, I’m sure.”

Thanks to Stu for sharing this image!