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Image of the Day: ‘Murray Ridge’ on Mars

The “Murray Ridge” portion of the western rim of Endeavour Crater on Mars, as seen from NASA’s Mars Exploration Rover

This scene shows the “Murray Ridge” portion of the western rim of Endeavour Crater on Mars. The ridge is the NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity's work area for the rover's sixth Martian winter.

The ridge rises about 130 feet (40 meters) above the surrounding plain, between “Solander Point” at the north end of the ridge and “Cape Tribulation,” beyond Murray Ridge to the south. This view does not show the entire ridge. The visible ridge line is about 10 meters (33 feet) above the rover's location when the component images were taken.

  Murray Ridge NASA

The scene sweeps from east to south. The planar rocks in the foreground at the base of the hill are part of a layer of rocks laid down around the margins of the crater rim. At this location, Opportunity is sitting at the contact between the Meridiani Planum sandstone plains and the rocks of the Endeavour Crater rim. On the upper left, the view is directed about 22 kilometers (14 miles) across the center of Endeavour crater to the eastern rim.

Opportunity landed on Mars in January 2004 and has been investigating parts of Endeavour's western rim since August 2011.

Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/Cornell/ASU

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