Opportunity - Meridiani Planum

Opportunity, a robotic explorer, landed in MeridianiPlanum on January 24, 2004 (Pacific Time). The surface of Meridiani Planum is thought to be rich in a mineral called gray hematite. On Earth, hematite usually (though not always) forms in association with water. Opportunity will look for hematite as a way to investigate the possibility of a past water-rich environment on Mars. At left is an artist's impression of the rover.

Below are images of Meridiani Planum. At left is a MOLA image showing the area where Opportunity landed. The elevations are shown on the key below. At right is a Viking 1 image of Meridiani Planum with the landing ellipse marked. If you click on the Viking image, you will be taken to a larger version.

MOLA	Viking 1 image

Elevation Key for MOLA image.

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