Explanation: This sharp view from the Thermal Emission Imaging System camera on NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter is centered on 154 kilometer (96 mile) wide Gale crater, near the martian equator. Within Gale, an impressive layered mountain rises about 5 kilometers (3 miles) above the crater floor. Layers and structures near its base are thought to have been formed in ancient times by water-carried sediments. In fact, a spot near the crater's northern side at the foot of the mountain has now been chosen as the target for the Mars Science Laboratory mission. Scheduled for launch late this year, the mission will land Mars' next visitor from planet Earth in August of 2012, lowering the car-sized Curiosity rover to the martian surface with a hovering, rocket-powered skycrane. Curiosity's science instruments are intended to discover if Gale once had favorable environmental conditions for supporting microbial life and for preserving clues about whether life ever existed on the Red Planet.
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor
Postby Robert Lee Grisham » Fri Jul 29, 2011 5:13 am
Mars;
Was once a inhabatable planet,with seas and life about 5 billion years ago.
But this picture of a crater seems to have a drawn picture in the face of the
south rock ,near the crack in the surface.
07/29/11
Walter Frederick Gale (27 November 1865 – 1 June 1945) was an Australian banker. Gale was born in Paddington, Sydney. He had a strong interest in astronomy and built his first telescope in 1884.
He discovered a number of comets, including the lost periodic comet 34D/Gale. He also discovered some double stars. In 1892 he described oases and canals on Mars. He was awarded the Jackson-Gwilt Medal of the Royal Astronomical Society in 1935 for "discoveries of comets and his work for astronomy in New South Wales."
A crater on Mars, Gale Crater, was named in his honor.
It's a good thing Google exists for the ignoramuses of us!
So impressive! Austere picture of a pock-mark chunk of rock we can't afford to go visit NEW IMPROVED measured in feet and meters ( which is it? We trust all you eggheads succeed is reminding us about the conversion error when the Martian probe crashed ... oops !!! ). Stick to earth-bound observations ( until you get that right : IN COLOR ).
Guest wrote:So impressive! Austere picture of a pock-mark chunk of rock we can't afford to go visit NEW IMPROVED measured in feet and meters ( which is it? We trust all you eggheads succeed is reminding us about the conversion error when the Martian probe crashed ... oops !!! ). Stick to earth-bound observations ( until you get that right : IN COLOR ).
It's a great image! I LOVE Mars pics, and am delighted when one shows up as an APOD. Yay for Gale Crater, and for us being able to see such a splendid image of it!
Curiosity has me curious! Looks like a complex maneuver to land on Mars and I hope it is successful. What has me curious is that it sounds like Curiosity will be going up the mountain after 2 years of exploration. Isn't the terrain a little rugged for that?
Interesting choice of landing spots. If it can hike the mountain and descend again, I hope it can climb the crater wall and evaluate surrounding areas as well
Wow! We've got . Things are looking better at the Asterisk Could also be a mug of root-beer, for the non-alcoholic type, or the younger ones. Now, wheres the Mars bars to go with all the pictures of Mars
This oblique view of the lower mound in Gale Crater shows layers of rock that preserve a record of environments on Mars. Here, orbiting instruments have detected signatures of both clay minerals and sulfate salts, with more clay minerals apparent in the foreground of this image and fewer in higher layers. This change in mineralogy may reflect a change in the ancient environment in Gale Crater.
Mars scientists have several important hypotheses about how these minerals may reflect changes in the amount of water on the surface of Mars. The Mars Science Laboratory rover, Curiosity, will use its full suite of instruments to study these minerals to provide insights into these ancient Martian environments. These rocks are also a prime target in the search for organic molecules since these past environments may have been habitable -- able to support microbial life. Scientists will study how organic molecules, if present, vary with mineralogical variations in the layers to understand how they formed and what influences their preservation.
The smaller hills in this view may provide clues to the modern water cycle on Mars. They contain sulfate salts that have water in them, and as temperatures warm into summer, some of that water may be released to the atmosphere. As temperatures cool, they may absorb water from the atmosphere. The Mars Science Laboratory team will investigate how water is exchanged between these minerals and the atmosphere, helping us understand Mars' modern climate. The hills are particularly useful for this investigation because different parts of the hills are exposed to different amounts of sunlight and thus to different temperatures. Curiosity will be able to compare the water in these contrasting areas as part of its investigations.
This three-dimensional perspective view was created using visible-light imaging by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera on NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and the High Resolution Stereo Camera on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter. Three-dimensional information was derived by stereo analysis of image pairs. The vertical dimension is not exaggerated. Color information is derived from color imaging of portions of the scene by the High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment camera.
The Mars Science Laboratory spacecraft is being prepared for launch on Nov. 25, 2011. In a prime mission lasting one Martian year -- nearly two Earth years -- after landing, researchers will use the rover's tools to study whether the landing region has had environmental conditions favorable for supporting microbial life and for preserving clues about whether life existed.
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor
Know the quiet place within your heart and touch the rainbow of possibility; be
alive to the gentle breeze of communication, and please stop being such a jerk. — Garrison Keillor
Gale Crater
Gale Crater==Let us hear it for the Aussies!
in case you're so inclined to partake..... 
What has me curious is that it sounds like Curiosity will be going up the mountain after 2 years of exploration. Isn't the terrain a little rugged for that? 
