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Spotlight on Mars
View the spotlight 'Gemstone of the Year'
Gemstone of the Year - 11/06/08
Opal is the gemstone for those born in the month of October, but Mars scientists may claim it as the treasure of 2008. Inside the largest canyon in the whole solar system, opal minerals stretch in a pinkish cream swath, just to the right of a crater filled with dunes.

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Current Images and Weather
Infilled Crater on the North Polar Deposits Olivine, Phyllosilicates, and Ancient Crater Rims View Martian Weather Report
November 17, 2008
Infilled Crater on the North Polar Deposits
High-resolution version
at the UA HiRISE site
June 30, 2008
Olivine, Phyllosilicates, and Ancient Crater Rims
High-resolution version
at the JHU APL CRISM site
November 03-09, 2008
Mars Weather Report
at the MSSS MARCI site
Recent News
Read the release 'NASA Orbiter Reveals Rock Fracture Plumbing On Mars' NASA Space Craft Detects Buried Glaciers on Mars
NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed vast Martian glaciers of water ice under protective blankets of rocky debris at much lower latitudes than any ice previously identified on the Red Planet. >>
Read the release 'Unusual Mound in North Polar Layered Deposits' Unusual Mound in North Polar Layered Deposits
Martian Polar Layer Erosion Looks Striking In a newly released image from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, an unusual mound punctuates dramatic stripes of Martian polar terrain where icy layers are eroding.
University of Arizona release >>
Image and Caption >>
Read the release 'NASA Orbiter Reveals Rock Fracture Plumbing On Mars' NASA Orbiter Reveals Rock Fracture Plumbing On Mars
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed hundreds of small fractures exposed on the Martian surface that billions of years ago directed flows of water through underground Martian sandstone. >>
Read the release 'A Tribute to Mars Exploration' A Tribute to Mars Exploration
As Americans celebrate Labor Day 2008, six flags stand in silent salute to the U.S. workforce on Mars. Three of the flags are on spacecraft still exploring Mars. >>
Read more about 'NASA Spacecraft Photographs Avalanches on Mars' NASA Spacecraft Photographs Avalanches on Mars
A NASA spacecraft in orbit around Mars has taken the first ever image of active avalanches near the Red Planet's north pole. >>
more news >>
Multimedia
Screenshot from the movie 'Peeling Back Layers of a Martian Polar Ice Cap'
Peeling Back Layers of a Martian Polar Ice Cap
Screenshot from the movie 'Carbon-Dioxide Frost Settling from Seasonal Outbursts on Mars'
Carbon-Dioxide Frost Settling from Seasonal Outbursts
Screenshot from the movie 'Video Exploration of Details in Athabasca Valles on Mars'
Video Exploration of Details in Athabasca Valles on Mars
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