Well-Exposed and Diverse Layered Section of Nirgal Vallis
HiRISE PICTURE OF THE DAY: 30 APRIL 2024

A Diverse Layered Section of Nirgal Vallis

Based on data from the CaSSIS instrument, this target was requested in order to provide some additional color coverage and to center on a discrete reddish layer in the exposed section of this terrain. The intent is to produce a digital terrain model to get accurate thickness and orientation measurements of the layers exposed here.



HiRISE Instrument News
Since July 23, 2023, HiRISE observations have lacked data from the RED4 CCD due to a hardware issue, creating a gap in the middle of image products and reducing the color swath to 1 CCD width. We are investigating the hardware issue and may be able to acquire some RED4 data in the future.

Circular Sand Dunes
Sand dunes of many shapes and sizes are common on Mars. In this example the dunes are almost perfectly circular, which is unusual.