Mars Images
This image was acquired at the Viking Lander 2 site with camera number
2. The rounded rock in the center foreground is about 20 centimeters
wide. The angular rock to the right and further back than the rounded
rock is about 1.5 meters across. The dark facet on the upper right edge
of the angular rock has a color similar to basalts on Earth. There are
two trenches that were dug in the regolith to the right of the rounded
rock, as well as one behind and slightly to the left. The gently sloping
troughs between the artificial trenches and the angular rock which cut
from the middle left to the lower right corner of the picture are
natural surface features.
This synthetic high resolution color image was created by combining
standard low resolution Viking Lander color images with standard high
resolution Viking Lander black and white images, using image processing
techniques. In simple terms, the colors are separated from the color
image. Using the computer, those colors are then painted onto high
resolution images covering the same area. The image has had its colors
balanced to approximate what a person would see on Mars. Since the
Martian atmosphere carries extremely fine-grained red dust in suspension
the "on Mars" images are redder.
Credit: Mary A. Dale-Bannister, Washington University in St. Louis.
