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Press Release Images: Opportunity
19-Jan-2005
Opportunity Rover Finds an Iron Meteorite on Mars
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On a surface of small-grained martian 'soil' rests a mis-shapen oblong rock, now identified as an iron meteorite.  Its surface is smooth and dark, with many irregular pits gouging the surface.  The large pits are also smooth, and are relics of dramatic erosion that occurred during the meteorite's atmospheric entry.  Some of the pits are now filled with reddish dust.
Iron Meteorite on Mars

NASA's Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity has found an iron meteorite on Mars, the first meteorite of any type ever identified on another planet. The pitted, basketball-size object is mostly made of iron and nickel. Readings from spectrometers on the rover determined that composition. Opportunity used its panoramic camera to take the images used in this approximately true-color composite on the rover's 339th martian day, or sol (Jan. 6, 2005). This composite combines images taken through the panoramic camera's 600-nanometer (red), 530-nanometer (green), and 480-nanometer (blue) filters.

Image credit: NASA/JPL/Cornell
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