Photos: Mars orbiter's abstract impressions
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter dispatches more than 1,500 new high-resolution close-ups of the Red Planet, though many of the images are really studies in blue.
Terra Tyrrhena Knob
This image, according to NASA's terse caption, is of potential high-temperature mineral deposits in the Terra Tyrrhena Knob.
Putative Paleolake
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter has been circumnavigating its namesake planet since early 2006. It sent back its first high-resolution image in March of that year.
Translucent Ice
This batch of HiRise pictures was taken between April and early August of this year.
Hydrate-rich terrain
Hale crater
Long view of Hale crater
Two gullies
Crater with gullies
Sharad feature
Sharad, by the way, stands for "shallow subsurface radar." One of six science instruments on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter along with the HiRise camera, it uses radar waves within a 15- to 25-megahertz frequency band to penetrate up to 1 kilometer into the crust of Mars in the hunt for liquid or frozen water. We're not sure why a Sharad image is included with the HiRise pictures, but we like it anyway.